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“How did you buy it, then?”
“I’m a bestselling writer, Ellie, but I use a pen name. Nobody knows it’s me.”
“Are you serious?” I gasp.
He smirks and nods. “I’ve only ever told my best friend that. I feel comfortable telling you because I know we’ll be together forever.”
“Why do you use a pen name?”
“I started writing when I became a professor. My stories are thrillers. Gory. Low-brow, some unenlightened people might call them. They are from my time with the dogs and tattooing, the people you meet there… The fact is, the faculty looks down on stuff like this. Then my pen name went viral for a while, and people tried to figure out who I was. It added to the mystique. Now, it actually helps me.”
“That’s bull crap,” I say. “It’s your work. Your talent.”
“People all over the world get to read and enjoy it.”
“I think you should tell people. You deserve recognition. It’s not like somebody hired you, or you signed an NDA or anything like that. This is your work.”
“The only recognition I need is yours,” he says, leaning over, finding my lips.
“Go on then,” I say after we kiss. “Give me your pen name.”
He grins. “This is how you know I’m serious.”
He gives me the name. I search it online, gasping to see that several of his novels have over five thousand reviews. As somebody who has spent a fair amount of time on Kindle, I know that’s legit. Then I see the whopper, the first in a series of eight, with ninety thousand reviews.
“Is that the one that paid for the house?” I ask.
He chuckles, shooting me a wink. For a brief, precious moment, all the other ugliness doesn’t exist.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Max
I cradle the small of her back, guiding her through the restaurant. She’s wearing a dark dress. The material is soft, hugging her curves. We’re twenty miles outside the city, and this restaurant is quiet.
Even if we were at the college, I’m not sure I could stop touching her. She’s too addictive—her smell, her everything. I could barely sleep last night thinking about her, remembering the kiss and what she said. The bond we formed.
“It’s a good thing we’re in public,” she says, smiling vivaciously.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
“It’s just… Well, never mind.”
I smirk, reaching over and touching her hand. She flinches as though she’s going to tell me to stop, as though she’s going to say no, professor. Then she curls her hand around mine, clasping it tightly.
“I was thinking about you-know-what. The fact I’m a you-know-what.”
When she laughs, I grin in delight. There’s something so infectiously perfect about her. It makes me feel less weighed down by the past and lighter. Maybe that’s the love pumping through my veins.
“I love that you’re a virgin,” I say, leaning forward, lowering my voice so only she can hear.
“Why?” she whispers.
“It’s what I said during your failed tattoo attempt.”
“I haven’t forgotten about that, by the way.”
I laugh. “I know you’ll hold me to it. It wasn’t just talk. It means you’re completely mine. Nobody else ever gets to touch you, to be with you. You belong to me.”
“Can I get you some drinks to start?” the waitress says, smiling as she approaches the table.
We order some sodas, then spend some time looking over the menu.
“So you were just going to go your whole life alone, huh?” Ellie asks.
“I’d resigned myself to it,” I tell her. “After what happened with…”
“It’s okay,” she murmurs. “We can’t pretend forever.”
“I knew I couldn’t just do something for the sake of it. I would’ve stayed for the kid. I really would have, but from then on, I knew if I was going to have a family, I needed to be crazy about the mother.”
“And that never happened?”
I shake my head.
“It was years ago,” she says.
“I’ve dated, but honestly, I’ve never felt anything. All the dates I’ve ever had don’t compare to that first second I saw you. Before I knew who you were and remembered to feel guilty since you were a student. Just you, so beautiful, so shy, so confident at the same time. So you, Ellie.”
She slides her hand across the table, taking my hand. “That moment was so perfect. I remember it too. Everybody was swooning over you. I looked over, thinking, yeah, right, but then I saw you, and I knew why they were swooning.”
I chuckle. “Swooning? Really?”
“You can’t tell me you don’t notice.”
“I’ve never paid attention. Before you, the idea of even looking at one of my students like that seemed ridiculous.”
The waitress brings our drinks.
“What are you thinking food-wise?” she says. “I’ve heard boiled lobster is the best,” she smiles.
“Why are you smiling like that, hmm?”
She grins wider. “Like what?”
“Like you’ve got a secret.”
“It’s just some of the funny things that happen at the restaurant. The people you get to watch.”
