by V. K. Sykes
He looked up from his papers as she gave his door a light rap. “Sadie! I thought you weren’t going to be back from Sin City until next week.”
Sadie forced a half-smile. “There’s only so much sin a person can take, Alex.”
He picked up on her mood right away and grimaced in sympathy. “That good, huh?”
“It had its moments,” she hedged. The last thing she wanted to do was make small talk. “Your message sounded important. What’s up?”
He gestured her over to the conference table. “You never have much time for meaningless social discourse, do you, Sadie? I’ve always liked that about you.”
As she sat down, Sadie tried to swallow her impatience but couldn’t manage it. “Has my father been on your case again, Alex? You don’t have to pretend with me, you know. I already got three icy messages from him.”
He sat and started massaging his forehead with two fingers of each hand, just above the eyebrows. “Sorry, I’m fighting a headache. I’ve been here all night. Had to get something down before I lost it. You know what it’s like.”
She sighed. “Sorry for interrupting you. I should have called first, but you made it sound pretty important.”
“No, it’s fine. To answer your question, then, you know very well the depth of your father’s concern about you. And Anthony says your behavior has become increasingly erratic.” He held up his hands when she began to protest. “That’s him, Sadie, not me. Anyway, he’s convinced you need a break from teaching. He sounded me out on the idea of a sabbatical, perhaps in Europe, to allow you to focus all your energy on your research.”
A sabbatical? Europe? How could her father broach such an idea with her department chair without so much as a word to her first? “How thoughtful of you two to arrange my life for me.”
She sounded bitter and didn’t care. It was all just such typical behavior from the people in her life.
Alex shook his head. “Relax, Sadie. Obviously, nobody has made any decisions about anything. He was simply inquiring as to the possibility. On the face of it, the idea is not without some merit.”
“Maybe you haven’t made any decisions,” she said, feeling weary beyond words, “but I have no doubt Dad was trying to get all his ducks lined up so he could present me with a fait accompli, as usual. I bet he’s already talked to his pals in Paris and Lyon.”
“I wouldn’t know about any of that. But if you can think about it objectively for a minute, what do you think of the idea? An initial reaction, nothing more.”
She glared at him. “My initial reaction is that it’s a wrong-headed tactic from a man who fundamentally knows little about his own daughter.”
Alex’s brows shot up. “Sadie, you’re being too hard on Anthony. He loves you and he’s just trying to help. It’s obvious to everyone that the disappointments of the past few months have taken their toll on you.”
Obvious to everyone, huh?
She closed her eyes for a few seconds, trying to sort through her feelings. Yes, her father loved her, but that didn’t mean he understood what she needed or wanted out of life. “Of course I know he means well, Alex. But if I’m going to fix my career and my life, I have to do it right here. Going on sabbatical now would just be running away.”
Alex visibly relaxed. “Well, Anthony will undoubtedly rain hellfire down on my head for saying so, but I actually agree with that conclusion. I told him I would present the idea, but I wouldn’t promise to try to sell you on it. On the contrary, I believe there are other options—ones better suited to your situation.”
Sadie’s mouth dropped open. Alex Koenig standing up to the great and all-powerful Anthony Bligh? Would wonders never cease? “Well, don’t keep me in suspense, Alex. Let’s hear those options.”
Alex nodded, smiling. “As you know better than anyone, your father’s entire career has revolved around his research. Even before he won his first Eagleton, his teaching load in the department had become minimal. He and the university both wanted it that way. There was so much hope he might someday bring a Nobel here.”
Tell me something I don’t already know. “Get on with it, Alex, please.” She could barely rein in her impatience, even though she knew he always preferred a circuitous route to get to his point.
“You don’t have to follow his path, Sadie, no matter how much he wants you to or thinks you should. It’s true that you’re a gifted researcher, like Anthony. But you’re also a truly gifted teacher. One of the best in the department, if not the very best. Your students continually confirm that. All the student surveys have rated you number one among your colleagues, and this year has been no exception. You have a talent for mentoring young people that I’ve rarely if ever seen matched.”
Sadie was well aware of the results of the student surveys, but she’d never heard Alex or any of her other colleagues express such an opinion before. As much as she enjoyed teaching—and she did love it—she’d always viewed it as merely a necessary adjunct to her research work. Math professors didn’t become renowned and remembered through teaching.
“I’m not the only faculty member around here,” Alex continued, “who thinks we’re all so preoccupied with our research that we don’t give enough attention and recognition to good teaching. Well, you can help change that, Sadie. In fact, someday I’d even like to see you sitting in this chair, leading a department where teaching and scholarly research have achieved an appropriate and lasting balance.”
Sadie couldn’t think of a thing to say, amazed by words that were flipping her small world upside down. But even as her brain worked feverishly to process their impact, her heart raced on ahead. Could she have a fully successful career without following step-for-step in her father’s footsteps? By teaching? It seemed such a simple and elegant solution that she could only wonder why she’d failed to come to that conclusion before.
Because Dad would hate it, that’s why.
Alex sat quietly, watching her with an encouraging smile on his face. If he thought it was possible...
But more importantly, did she think it was possible?
Well, why not? She’d just spent the better part of a week doing things she once would have said were impossible for someone like her. If she learned nothing else from her time in Las Vegas—and her time with Nick Saxon—it was that she could do pretty much whatever she wanted. The consequences wouldn’t always be pleasant, but Sadie knew she could survive and grow stronger, no matter what. And she could do it without the help of her father.
Suddenly, she felt like clouds had just parted, allowing a glimpse of sun to sneak through.
“So, let me make sure I’ve got this straight,” she said. “You’re saying I could scale back my research in order to focus on teaching, and you and the department would be fine with that?”
Alex nodded. “Absolutely. I’d want you to mentor our junior lecturers, and any other professors who’d like help with their teaching techniques. There’s a real need for that, as I’m sure you realize. In time, you might think about devising some kind of formalized program to do just that.”
Excitement rippled through her, charging her with energy. More than anything, that reaction told her she was on the right track. “You’ve given me a lot to consider, Alex. I think this could work, but you need to let me run it by my father. He will not be pleased if we go in this new direction.”
In fact, he would probably disown her.
Alex gave her a knowing smile. “Don’t underestimate Anthony. He might just surprise you, Sadie. He loves you very much, and wants only what’s best for you.”
Sadie took that bromide with a grain of salt, but there was only one way to find out—by standing up to her father. She’d never really done that before—not about anything meaningful—but she’d just spent a week breaking barriers and taking risks. Surely she could handle one more, even if the consequences were life-changing.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Nick grabbed a beer out of the fridge and cracked it open, still in a daze
at how quickly his life had changed over the last three days.
Three days. That’s all the time it had taken him to land a new job. Not his life’s ambition, for sure, but a decent job. In seventy-two hours, he’d gone from the humiliation of knuckling under to the chief and running Sadie out of town, to the satisfaction of knowing he’d never have to work another day for Buzz Carson.
Ironically, what had driven him to quit the Desert Oasis—Carson’s set-up—had also proven to be the key to landing the new position. After he’d spoken to his mother, Nick had wasted no time in confronting his boss. Carson hadn’t hid his amazement that Nick had actually followed through on his orders and blacklisted Sadie. The chief’s newfound, grudging respect over that constituted the highlight of their brief weekend meeting.
Instead of a shouting match, they’d had a more or less civilized conversation. When Nick announced his resignation in a professional manner, Carson—no doubt relieved to get rid of him—had agreed to give him a strong recommendation. The next day, Nick discovered his reputation was solid when he was asked to interview for the chief of security position at the Sunrise Canyon, a new, relatively small hotel and casino complex on the eastern edge of the city. News travelled fast in Sin City, and the general manager of the Canyon had heard right away about Nick’s resignation and wanted dibs on him before anyone else. The money was a little less than his salary at the Oasis, but it was enough for his and his mother’s needs. And he’d be running his own security department now, even if it was a mere fraction of the size of the Desert Oasis’s. Most importantly, he’d be able to continue to provide well for his mother, and spend lots of time with her.
Okay, landing another casino job wasn’t exactly his dream. Nick didn’t want to work in casino security forever, not even as the top man. But the new position would provide a good income while giving him the time he needed to build toward the career he really wanted—something where he could work with the military. That was all in the future, and the future was looking a whole lot brighter.
But he still had one more thing to set straight.
Nick headed to his desk in the living room and booted up his computer. It took only a few minutes to find what he needed.
* * *
Sadie let her eyes roam over the twenty-eight young souls in her Fundamental Mathematics class. The group had been with her since the beginning of the January semester. A talented and enthusiastic bunch, she had enjoyed every moment with them and had high hopes for their success. But until last weekend’s discussion with Alex, she’d rarely stopped to reflect on the complicated but thrilling business of turning young minds on to the incredible beauty of high-level math. She wondered now how she could have missed something so obvious, but she wouldn’t let it happen again.
All weekend, Sadie had mulled over the implications of Alex’s startling recommendation. Not that she had any doubts about the wisdom of taking on the challenge. That had felt right from the moment the words reached her ears. No, the remaining issue was how to deal with her father. She no longer feared confronting him, but she had to work everything through in her own mind before she even let him know she was back in town. She had sworn Alex to secrecy on that score.
By Sunday evening, she had finally felt ready to beard the lion in his den. She hopped into a taxi and showed up at the door of her father’s downtown condo with a confident smile and a bottle of Knob Creek, his favorite bourbon. When she broke the news that she had every intention of concentrating in future on teaching instead of research, his dignified features went slack. He’d sunk down into the sofa as if the life had been sucked out of him.
But this time, Sadie had refused to give in to the guilt and apprehension that had predictably washed over her. It had taken three difficult hours of talk and almost half a bottle of bourbon between the two of them, but she finally convinced her father that her happiest moments had always been in the classroom, not buried in her office, grinding through research or churning out yet another academic paper. By the end of the long evening, her father had even managed to shock the hell out of her by admitting he regretted not putting more energy into his own teaching. Though a grudging admission, it signaled the first step on the road to understanding, and to building a new relationship with him—one based on mutual respect for each other’s choices.
She’d left her father’s apartment feeling more contented about her career than she had ever been. As for the rest of her life, though, she still had the hollow ache in her chest whenever she thought of Nick. But she had to believe that the pain would pass in time. Even if she never saw him again, she would always be grateful for the way he helped her see herself in a new light—as a strong, gutsy woman willing to take chances. That was a life lesson she would never forget.
The class period was drawing to a close, so Sadie wrapped up her lecture by urging the students to see her for help during her new, expanded office hours. She gathered her papers, shoved them in her briefcase, and started to follow the last of the kids out, stopping behind three girls who had clustered at the classroom doorway. They seemed to be in a tizzy about something.
“Oh, my God,” one of them said in a loud stage whisper. “That guy looks like a cop, but is he ever hot.” The young women giggled like teenagers as they furtively stared across the corridor.
The hairs lifted on the back of Sadie’s neck, but she shook her head, mentally chastising herself. Nick would never come to Chicago. And if he did, he sure as heck wouldn’t come looking for her on campus.
Murmuring a farewell to the students, she brushed past them and into the hallway. Then she stumbled to a halt, stunned into abject idiocy as she took in the tall, gorgeous man who leaned against the wall opposite her classroom, apparently indifferent to the admiring looks of the dazzled coeds. Even if she hadn’t been able to see his face, Sadie would have recognized the sheriff merely by the way he stood—as if he owned the territory and was keeping an eye out for bad guys on the loose.
A few seconds later, both her feet and her brain came unstuck. She wanted to run to him and throw herself into his arms, not caring whether she made a spectacle of herself in front of her students. But then the brutal, vivid memories of their last time together came flooding back. Nick had banished her from the casino and from his life, and had walked away without so much as a goodbye hug.
Clutching the briefcase defensively to her chest, Sadie turned and blindly strode back into her classroom, heading toward the lectern...to do what? She hadn’t a clue.
Carefully putting the case down with trembling hands, she forced herself to turn around. Nick was now leaning against the doorjamb, his long, muscular body looking perfectly at ease. Even as she silently cursed him for surprising her, she couldn’t help absorbing him with a greedy gaze.
He’d forsaken his usual business suit for a burgundy sweater and a black leather jacket over faded jeans, soft enough and tight enough to showcase everything he had to offer. With a pair of Ray-Bans over his eyes, he reminded her of a hero in a cop movie—the tough-as-nails, sexy detective that every woman wanted to entice into her bed. Although a small smile played around his lips, the fact that his eyes were hidden made it impossible to read his expression. What the hell was he doing here?
Nick took off the sunglasses and hung them from the neck of his sweater. “Mind if I come in, Professor? I’ve come a long way to find you.”
Sadie swallowed hard, nerves tightening her throat. “Indeed you have, Sheriff,” she said stiffly. “But aren’t you well outside your legal jurisdiction?”
Whatever it was he wanted she would not make it easy for him. She was done with easy, and with letting people push her around.
He gave her that killer crooked smile that had always reduced her brain to mush. “When it comes to you, sweetheart, my jurisdiction is the whole damn world.”
Sweetheart? Oh, this was bad. Already she wanted to give in to whatever he might want from her.
She injected as much frostiness into her voice as she co
uld muster. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I have office hours now and students are expecting me. Please tell me what you want in a few brief sentences, or we’ll have to make arrangements to speak later.”
He snorted, damn him, clearly seeing through her officious bluster. “What I want, Professor Bligh? Okay, then. What I really want is to take you back to your place for a night of mind-blowing sex—one where I make you come at least three or four times. But I suppose that would be a little presumptuous under the circumstances, wouldn’t it? At least not without taking you to dinner first.”
Her knees gave a wobble, but she forced herself to shoot him a look full of razor blades.
He sighed. “That’s what I thought.” He glanced out the open door into the corridor. “Maybe it would be better if we went somewhere for coffee or a drink?”
Sadie shook her head. “I’m going to be late for my office hours,” she lied. Truthfully, she didn’t know what she wanted, except for a few minutes by herself so she could get her wits into some kind of working order.
Nick gave her a soulful look that battered through a few more of her defenses.
Score one for the sheriff.
“Come on, Sadie. Please. Let’s at least sit down.”
“All right. Just for a minute.” She sat down in a chair beside the lectern. In her prim gray suit, with her legs and her hands clasped in her lap, she knew she must look the proverbial schoolmarm. In contrast, Nick looked like the sexiest man west of the Appalachians. The thought darted into her head that they could be characters out of some silly porno flick.
Not that she’d really ever seen one, of course, but now that the image had forced its way into her head, she couldn’t help thinking about Nick, naked and going—
Stop thinking about sex, you idiot.
He eased his big frame into one of the student seats in the first row, giving her a tentative smile. “Sadie, I quit the Desert Oasis.”
