I was pirouetting inside. I was dancing, my body tingling from the joy of unexpected bliss. I had feelings for Cody, but they had been rejected. Here another amazing man had shown me a glimpse of his deeper feelings.
“I need to meet with you, Ashley. I think we should discuss this properly and plan how to deal with it.”
He wanted to meet me again. The rest didn’t matter. My internal thermometer was climbing sky high. I felt myself getting carried away, and I hope Ridgley might do the carrying.
“Yes, that would be great. If I can, that is…”
Ridgley caught my meaning. “Oh, I’ll see to the details. Don’t you worry. And how are you dealing with Cody Barnes situation?”
Cody Barnes situation? To me Cody had always been a person, not a situation. I’d shared a little about our love affair, but not in depth as I didn’t know what he meant.
“Sorry, what situation?”
“I heard Cody is going to get married.”
My mouth tried to find words, but my lips just made empty shapes. I saw Joanna Laws face in my mind. It felt like someone had just kicked me in the gut. I was spinning. Ridgley didn’t get an answer.
The lecture theatre door slammed against the wall. I saw Ridgley’s body launch into the air, he shifted the other way. But when he landed his knee was still against mine and on balance, he looked guilty as hell. We both looked at the door. Amanda stood there, with her mouth open, blushing, clearly sensing the dynamic between us. After three seconds she spoke. “It’s Brandon. He’s coming right now.”
“Oh…” I said. Ridgley stood too and looked tense.
“This can’t go on,” said Ridgley.
“Amanda. Professor Ridgley wants to have a meeting with me to help with some stuff…”
Amanda looked at Ridgley and I felt him squirm under her gaze. I saw the girl stifle a smile under some mock seriousness. “Of course.”
“Can you help cover that for me?” I asked.
“Yes, yes, but come on. I’m supposed to be watching you.”
“Okay, I’m coming.” I stumbled up and walked away, reeling. Cody getting married? That wasn’t in the script... I looked back at Ridgley. He smiled. I don’t think he knew what he’d said about Cody had such significance for me. But at least now I knew… There was nothing to hold back for… If Professor Ridgley wanted me, I would give myself to him. Before I would have hesitated, but Cody had already moved on. I had lost the man I thought I loved. Now I was free and I was hurting. I hoped that meant I was dangerous. With Ridgley’s help, Brandon Lynes wouldn’t know what hit him. I hoped it hit him as hard as what had just hit me.
Six
I was lonely, in shock and still needed to get Brandon Lynes out of my life. Now it seemed I needed to get over Cody Barnes too. In a funny kind of way I felt Cody had betrayed me, even though I was the one who had ran out on him. He would never see it that way, but I had only left him to help him. I hoped he would understand and wait for me but it seemed my hope was wasted. Since the night I had left him in York I guessed Joanna Laws had been tending to his wounds… probably in more ways than one. Cody didn’t show for the seminar. I guessed he was still avoiding me.
As soon as my seminar was over I went home with Amanda at my shoulder. I knew she wanted to pry about Ridgley, but I wasn’t opening up to her. Number one, could I trust her? Number two, I was glad someone else she wanted was interested in me. Hey, a girl can’t be nice all the time, right?
“So. Did you kiss him? Was he better than Brandon? Was he better than me?” said Amanda, grinning as we walked home.
I laughed. “Nobody in the whole history of planet Earth is better than you, sweet lips.”
“Wow. I never saw that coming! Professor Ridgley is the latest in the long line to fall for Ashley Pearson.”
“Hey, keep it down,” I said, looking around the busy urban streets of New Cross.
“What? No one can hear us,” she said. And she was right. There were plenty of people around the smoggy street, but the bus noise, the blaring horns and all the other street noise drowned us out.
“So, are you going to?”
“Am I going to what?” I said, holding back a grin.
“Oh, you so are! You lucky bitch. I need to know where to get that perfume you use. Hot guys just seem to fall at your feet.”
“No one’s fallen anywhere, Amanda. So keep your sweet lips sealed.”
“Mum’s the word, Ash. But I have to know details. Measurements. Methods. Musculature. I want to know the lot.”
“Nothing might happen. He might want to just help me.”
“Yeah, help you out of your underwear.”
“You don’t know that,” I said, defensively.
“But you do. You can’t wipe that glazed –eyed look off your face.”
“Yeah…” I said. But my glazed eyes were just as much to do with Cody as they were about Professor Ridgley.
As soon as I got home, I fired up my laptop and went to my emails. I typed in Cody’s email address and typed fast.
“Hey Cody. Thanks for the letter explaining why I hurt you so much. Sorry about that. Congratulations on your engagement to Joanna Laws. Cody Barnes, the quickest draw in the west!”
I sent the message before I had a chance to stop myself, and then I opened another page in the browser, tracked down the college website and started looking for Professor Ridgley’s email address.
This time I typed more carefully. The Professor wasn’t stupid and neither was I. There was attraction between us, but as yet nothing had been said openly. If he wanted to, Tom Ridgley could still act like a typical back-tracking guy and pretend nothing had happened between us. I wanted to see how this was going to play out and quickly. If the Prof was going to play those kind of man games I wanted to rule him out soon. But if he was going to help me, I would be able to advance my escape plan, and enjoy some intensely pleasant moments along the way. But I had to be careful for Ridgley’s benefit, not just mine. The Prof had taken a huge risk in speaking to me alone like that. I guessed there had to be rules in place for college teachers – boundaries to stop them getting intimate with students and staff. Of course there were. My email had to be careful not to offer evidence to prying eyes who would seek to cause the Prof harm. Here’s what I wrote:
Dear Professor
Thank you for your offer to help me with my current situation.
I would be grateful if we could meet up to discuss how the college can help me.
I am available any weekday afternoon this week.
Thanks,
Ashley
That was good enough. It was as plain as vanilla, nobody could read anything juicy into that. I sat back, and pressed send, all satisfied with myself, when I was suddenly aware of Brandon breezing into the front room behind me. I shifted the laptop and minimized the screen. I looked up and saw him watching me. His mouth was a pout. He looked good, but he also looked like a petulant teenager. I couldn’t stand him, no matter how damn hot he was.
“Have a physical weekend?” I asked. “You look all tired out.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” He said.
“Oh, nothing.”
“Yeah, right. What I do when I go out is none of your business, Ashley. You made that plain already.”
“You know Brandon, you’re dead right. It is none of my business.”
“You’re acting funny. Ever since Luke and I got back last night. Don’t think I haven’t noticed, and don’t think I’m stupid, Ashley. I’ve got my eye on you.”
“I don’t care if you think you’ve noticed anything, Brandon. Because my life is none of your business.”
“Oh yes it is. The worse you treat me the more it becomes my business. Do you understand?”
“No. No, I don’t.”
“You will. Don’t you dare try anything, Ashley, or things will get worse for you.”
I closed my laptop down and folded my hands over it. When Brandon was all done staring at me, he le
ft the room and I sighed in relief. He had almost seen my email, I know it. I had to be more careful, yes, and at the same time I had to do everything that I had planned. And I would do it, no matter what consequences Brandon had in mind.
Seven
That night I checked my emails with bated breath, nervous of being caught, and eager to see that Ridgley was still interested in me… if that’s what this was. Maybe I had it all wrong and he just wanted to help me. But his sparkling eyes, and the softness of his embrace… surely there was something there… Yes. I wanted to punch the air, and celebrate, but I kept my high feeling as quiet as I could. I clicked his email open.
Ashley,
I was greatly distressed by your situation. I believe you have enormous potential to do well in this field. I am intent on finding a way for you to reach that potential, and I know some of my colleagues feel the same way. I have not discussed your difficulties with staff as yet, as I feel it is only right I discuss the matter with you first. Because I believe this is an urgent matter, I would be grateful if you would come to me in room E12c at five fifteen tomorrow afternoon. I hope this is a good time for you.
I look forward to seeing you then.
Tom Ridgley
Nothing in his email could have given anyone any reason to believe there was any sexual attraction between us. But because of our earlier chat and embrace, I felt he had charged certain words with extra meaning. He was distressed by my situation… he was intent on finding a way… and seeing me was an urgent matter… Those things felt like metaphors to my love-starved mind. I felt Ridgley was telling me he was emotionally involved - that he needed to see me. Reading those things, dwelling on them, I was beginning to feel the same way.
Right before lights out, I snuck into Amanda’s room. She was reading and listening to some old-folk type music. She looked up and gave me a half grin. She must have seen something on my face. I was wired with nerves and excitement, and I whispered. “Five fifteen tomorrow. Can you cover for me?”
The girl rolled her eyes and nodded. “Just so long as you keep your part of the bargain too…”
“What…?”
“To help me get out of this place…”
I nodded and mouthed the word “thanks.”
When I stepped into the corridor Luke was standing there, sipping a beer from a can. He looked at me and said nothing.
I stepped past him, and walked into my boudoir, the living room. The sofa creaked as I laid down onto it. I couldn’t sleep. I thought of the meeting tomorrow, and my way out. Sometimes Cody’s face drifted across my mind, but I swept it away with memories of Ridgley’s embrace. I felt hot and giddy and restless. I just couldn’t sleep. I imagined Ridgley’s skin, taut over his wiry muscles. I imagined him without his shirt on, his face full of determined passion. My imagination just wouldn’t stop. Without thinking about it, as soon as I was sure the others were quiet, my hand slid down my body as if of its own accord, and slid across my belly, beneath the top of my jogging trousers and the silk of my panties. If I was going to get any sleep at all, I would need relief from my restless desire. Quiet as a mouse, I pressed my fingers where I needed them and teased myself softly. I stroked my body to a quiet orgasm as I imagined what Ridgley would look like naked. As I came I shook quietly and bit my lip as I thought about what the Professor intended and just how urgent his need for me was. I was not satisfied, but my fingers had subdued my fire enough to sleep.
***
The next morning I had already wished the day away. I couldn’t help it. And I saw Amanda’s amusement whenever she looked at my face. By three pm I was a total fidget in my seminar, barely aware of the topic being discussed. Thankfully this was a Cody-free zone, or my head would have been totally wrecked. By four pm, I was free. Amanda’s alibi was that we both needed to study in the library until six, and after that we would then be home. I hoped forty five minutes was enough for my discussion with Professor Ridgley.
At a quarter to, I couldn’t read any longer, and Amanda laid her study guide down and looked at me.
“What is going to happen here, Ashley? Is this a part of your grand plan or is Ridgley about to change it all? I need to know…”
“Aside from the fact this guy is the hottest lecturer in the whole college, and I’m not sure whether he wants to help me or smooch then help me, nothing has changed. Look on the bright side. He’s going to help us either way. You’re getting out of this mess, whatever happens.”
“I don’t know, Ash. Ridgley means well, and he’s hot, that’s a given… but if he thinks he can beat Brandon, I think he’s mistaken. Please tell me you’ve not pinned all your hopes on him, have you? I was hoping there was more to your little plan than that.”
“Oh there’s more. But right now I need to find out where Ridgley fits in…”
Amanda laughed. “I think we both know the answer to that one.”
I laughed nervously, knowing the moment had arrived.
“You better walk me there… in case the spies see…”
Amanda shrugged and packed her bag. “So long as you don’t need an audience.”
E12c was one of the cupboard-like rooms in the English department corridor. I hadn’t thought about the time of the meeting aside from its potential awkwardness with Brandon. But since Amanda came up with the library excuse, Brandon hadn’t been a problem. Now I was in the corridor I noticed how quiet it was. The corridor was on the first floor, a small thoroughfare of claret and red, sealed off from the rest of the building by double doors on each side. The business of the day had been concluded. There were no more scheduled seminars or meetings now, and if they were sensible most lecturers would already be drinking across the street at the Loampit Inn or gone home to visit their wives. Wives, I wondered for a split second… then I remembered I had seen no wedding ring on Ridgley’s hand. But what about girlfriends? I wondered. I waved at Amanda who had left me outside the double doors. I made a cheesy grin because it was hard to smile. I still couldn’t 100% trust her and I wondered if she was going to run to Brandon to tell him everything. And at the same time I really didn’t think so. She needed me now. I gave her hope.
I hesitantly knocked at the door of E12c. I looked myself over, flattened down my smart black skirt, and pulled my blouse down nice and snug over my breasts. I had dressed more maturely than normal. I was aiming for classy, sexy hopefully. Time would tell. The Prof opened the door and gestured for me to come in with a flourish and a foxy smile of shining white teeth. His room was far tidier than Cantor’s and he had a desk lamp producing low light, and an iPod dock producing some quiet classical music. Either the Prof was relaxing after a day’s work or he was trying to create an ambience. The thought had my stomach fluttering, and my abdomen tingling all over again. I hadn’t stopped tingling all day at the thought of him.
“Step into my office. Thanks for coming Ashley.”
“Thanks for seeing me,” I said.
He smiled at me and pointed to a soft seat near his desk. He didn’t take the desk seat. He sat down opposite me in another soft chair. His eyes momentarily roamed across my body, taking in my attire, and then he settled back. I studied his face. Just what made him so attractive? Was it his age and authority? He was around forty, but in very good condition, athletic and toned, but more than that, he had a fine face and with deep dark eyes and a bright white smile. I think his smile won most of all. When he smiled in a lecture, half the class melted. Now he was in front of me I was already swooning inside.
“How did you manage to get away from Brandon?” he asked.
“Amanda is covering for me. We said we were studying, and we were until five minutes ago.”
“I’m sorry you have to lie about this. You shouldn’t have to do that.”
“I know. I’m twenty-three years old. A grown woman. I should be free to do what I want to do.”
“Absolutely.” I hoped he picked up my hints about being a grown woman. I couldn’t have hinted anymore if I tried.
&nbs
p; “So, I intend to bring your situation up with Mr Cantor and arrange a meeting with the Dean…”
“Really? I’m not so sure about the Dean…”
“He has a duty to protect you… as do I,” said Ridgley.
“Brandon thinks the Dean is under his influence.”
“I think Brandon Lynes has delusions of grandeur,” said Ridgley, laughing. He was fidgeting, twisting a ring over and over on his little finger. Yet at the same time he seemed so calm.
“Oh, I’d agree with that. Brandon is totally delusional. But that’s what makes him dangerous, Mr Ridgley. And that’s why I have to play along with him until I’m totally safe.”
“You must call me Tom.”
“Tom, then.” I smiled. “I feel so odd calling you Tom. You’re Professor Ridgley!”
“I know. But then, this is not an academic situation, is it?”
I smiled and let my eyes linger on his a little too long. I gambled.
“Isn’t it?”
His lips formed a reluctant grin. I saw a new sparkle in his eyes.
“No. This is about your welfare.”
“Yes. It’s good to know you care about my welfare…”
“Yes. Yes, I do. And I’m going to see that you get the result you need. The college must help you to safety and ensure the rest of your time here is supported all the way. The college must make amends.”
“Thank you, Tom. But do you think that’s possible… or even realistic?”
Tom smiled. “Yes, I do. Because I can help, and so can Mr Cantor.”
There was a moment of quiet while we simply sat in each other’s presence. We were enjoying each other’s appreciative smile. We were in that moment of sweet calm. The eye of the storm.
Vengeful Heart: Fighting Heart Erotic Bad Boy Romance Series Book 3 Page 4
