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“What are you doing here, Dr. Pierce?” she asked, still staring at the counter.
“You can’t keep avoiding me.”
“I’ve done pretty well so far.” Her head tipped, and her eyes flashed in my direction. I took in the hurt before she looked away again.
“Please, let me talk to you.”
“Well, Dr. Pierce, looks like I’ll continue to keep avoiding you, because I’m off. You’ll have to find another girl to watch tonight.”
“I don’t want anyone else.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
Fuck. There it was again, the hurt. I opened my mouth to tell her how much I wanted her when Charlotte placed the water in front of me and looked between the two of us. “Everything okay?”
Holding my breath, I waited for Oaklyn to say something to have me removed. It would have been easy for her considering it was common knowledge that Daniel only protected one thing more than the club members, and that was his employees. She could say I was harassing her, and I’d probably be escorted out. Depending on how much she divulged or exaggerated, she could have my membership revoked.
Relief washed over me when she nodded her head just slightly. “Everything’s fine.”
I had to take it as a sign that maybe she didn’t want me gone as much as she claimed. I had to try.
“Oaklyn,” I began when Charlotte walked away. “Please, talk to me.”
“Callum,” she sighed. My name coming from her lips soothed me, and some of the tension in my shoulders relaxed. She opened her mouth to say more but was interrupted.
“You’re off, Oak,” Jackson said walking up to her other side. “See you later this week?”
She turned her back to me and hugged Jackson. “Yeah, I’ll see you next time.”
I faced the bar, not wanting to see her in his arms. A primal part of me, one that had never existed before, wanted to scream that she was mine. Drinking my water, I watched her walk toward the back room without even a goodbye, and I was left facing the shirtless boy who was able to touch Oaklyn whenever he wanted. He gave me a narrow-eyed stare, but I didn’t waste time giving one in return. I threw a twenty down on the bar and went to wait outside the employee lounge. I wasn’t ready to give up so easily.
It wasn’t long before she was coming out, bundled up and ready to go. Her eyes were on her phone, so she missed me standing there.
“Oaklyn,” I said, getting her attention.
She looked up and rolled her eyes before returning them to her phone. “I’m tired, Callum. Can we not do this?”
Instead of answering, I looked down at her phone at the Uber app she had open. “What are you doing?”
“Ordering an Uber,” she answered like it was obvious. Which it was. I just didn’t understand.
“Why? Where’s your car?”
“It needed some work and it’s taking longer than they expected.”
Checking the time, I saw it was almost one in the morning, and I hated the idea of her taking an Uber. What if something happened?
Placing my hand over her phone, I stopped her. “Let me drive you home.”
Her skin was soft and her pulse along her wrist jumped at my touch, lighting a fuse in my fingers that shot through my arm to my chest.
“Callum—”
“Come on,” I interrupted, halting her rejection. “I’ll feed you on the way.”
“It’s after midnight. Nothing is open.”
“Just . . . please.”
No one was near us as we lingered near the entryway of the club, and I waited for her decision. She finally looked up and locked her eyes on mine for what seemed like the first time since Wednesday night. We were in our own bubble. The world no longer a part of the energy surrounding us.
“Fine.”
I barely held my smile back as I led her to the car. Oaklyn had a lot of pride, and I didn’t want to gloat in fear of her backing out.
I’d ended up taking her to Waffle House with the intention of sitting down so we could talk, but when we got there Oaklyn, hesitated to get out.
“What’s wrong?”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be the best idea for me to stroll in with my professor in the middle of the night.”
“Shit. I didn’t even think.” I was so damn focused on just spending time with her that I didn’t even consider our positions. I forgot she was my student. I just saw her as the woman I needed to be around. “Okay. Tell me what you want, and I’ll order and bring it back out. We can eat in the car.”
“Just a waffle and some bacon.”
When our orders were ready, I grabbed them and rushed back out to the car. Oaklyn watched me fumble with the bags, a hesitant look on her face as though she still wasn’t sure how the night would end. “Smart thinking about people seeing us. It was packed in there.”
