However, when they stepped into the Student Life Office and neared the door of Dean Harris’s office, a familiar pair of voices made her stomach lurch, and she instinctively tightened her grip on Nick’s hand as she lifted her gaze and spotted Lawrence and Claire Holt standing in front of Dean Harris’s desk. Trey’s parents hadn’t yet seen them, too focused on their heated discussion with the dean to notice anything else. Nick quietly backed away, tugging on Beth’s hand, and she had a few moments to hope they might escape without drawing the Holts’ attention.
Unfortunately, Claire happened to glance over her shoulder, perhaps sensing someone watching her. She scowled but turned her attention back to Rob for the time being.
“You were quick enough to give Nick Hammond disciplinary probation so he could continue his education,” Lawrence Holt snapped. “So why has Trey been suspended?”
“The charge against Mr. Hammond, as you well know, was a misdemeanor,” Dean Harris explained. “The charge against your son is a felony. According to university policy, a student who is charged with a misdemeanor may be placed on disciplinary probation if he or she has no prior disciplinary record, and Mr. Hammond has been an exemplary student here. Felony charges involving the physical harm of another student require temporary suspension regardless of prior disciplinary record. I thought I made that clear when I spoke with you following Trey’s arrest.”
“This is an outrage!”
“I understand your frustration, Mr. Holt, but I have to follow policy.”
“We’ll just see about that. You can expect a lawsuit, Dr. Harris.”
“Do you as you feel necessary, but this is one lawsuit I can guarantee the university will not simply settle out of court in an effort to keep costs down. You don’t have a leg to stand on because—in both cases—I acted according to university policy. Here. Perhaps you would like a copy of the student handbook so you may refresh your memory. If you will excuse me, I believe there are a couple students waiting outside who need to speak with me.”
The Holts left Dean Harris’s office with matching sneers on their faces. Rob followed them out to where Nick and Beth were waiting in the chairs across the hall from the Student Life Office. Lawrence and Claire both jeered at them but passed by without so much as a word. With a twitch of his fingers, Rob beckoned Nick and Beth to join him in his office. He closed the door behind them.
“Please tell me this doesn’t have anything to do with Trey or Rich or Eric or any of that,” the dean said as he flopped with a distinct vexation in the chair behind his desk. He gestured for them to sit.
“Oh, it won’t take long,” Beth assured him. “And don’t worry. Why we’re here has nothing to do with the Holts.”
“Fantastic. In that case, please proceed.”
“Do you still need chaperones for the trick-or-treaters?” Beth inquired.
“I do indeed.”
“Nick and I would like to help out.”
Rob grinned. “That is the first piece of good news I’ve had all day. Thank you both. I’ll get all the information to you by next Friday, but since you’ve both done it before, you already know the drill.”
“Yes, we do,” Nick said.
The dean glanced between them for a moment, then smiled. “I have to say that I’m very pleased to see you more like your usual, cheerful self, Beth. So do us both a favor.”
“What would that be?”
“Don’t listen to the radio this afternoon. Mr. Holt let it slip that he’ll doing an interview, and I’d be willing to bet you will be the topic of discussion.”
“Thank you for the heads up, Rob,” Nick said. “Beth, if that’s everything, we should probably get back over to Mathews and get started on those rice crispy treats.”
They left Dean Harris’s office to the sound of his laughter. Just as they passed out of the Student Life Office, Beth swore she heard him say, “Always knew they’d make a cute couple.”
She glanced up at Nick and grinned.
“I heard it, too,” he murmured with a tender smile. “And I think he’s right.”
Taking her hand again, Nick pulled her down the hallway toward Mathews. Her excitement about Halloween, having been briefly dimmed by their almost-encounter with Trey’s parents, rebounded. She pondered what costumes she and Nick could come up with on such short notice, and glanced up at the poster of the iconic Life magazine photograph V-J Day in Times Square with the sailor kissing a nurse hanging just inside the main doors of JDC.
“I know what we can do!” she piped.
“Do for what?” Nick asked.
“For Halloween costumes.” She stopped and pointed at the poster. “Do you think your grandpa would let you borrow his World War II combat gear?”
“Possibly, but he was Army, not Navy.”
“Oh, close enough. Grandma Livia still has her old nurse’s uniform, so we could dress as a wounded soldier and nurse!”
Nick shook his head and laughed. Tilting her head, she frowned at him with her lips curved in a confused smile. “What is so funny?”
“You are, love. You are so cute when you’re excited.” He dipped his head to kiss her. “That sounds like a good idea, so we’ll look into it this weekend, all right?”
“That was easier than I thought it would be.”
“Why? You’ve always been good at coming up with costumes and decorations and craft ideas and whatnot. Maybe you should have majored in one of the design fields instead of business and marketing.”
He held the door open for her and promptly took her hand when they were back outside. Beth chattered away about their costumes, and he listened, though she could tell he was humoring her. Not in the bored way that Trey used to, but rather in a way that made her feel like he was acknowledging that she was simply better at it than he was and content to let her make the plans.
“Well, well, well.”
Beth barely managed to contain the shriek of surprise. Trey’s parents stood at the bottom of the concrete ramp. Beth and Nick had been in Dean Harris’s office only a short time but not so short a time that the Holts wouldn’t have had time to make it out to their car, which she spied in the small parking lot between JDC and the eastern wing of Mathews Hall. Their gazes flitted from Nick and Beth’s joined hands to their faces and back again so obviously that Beth wanted to laugh. Her momentary shock vanished, and she was mildly surprised at herself. Shouldn’t she be terrified of facing Trey’s parents for the first time since before the rape?
“Looks like Trey was right about you, Mr. Hammond,” Mr. Holt remarked. “You did covet her.”
Nick’s relaxed expression immediately darkened. “First of all, I have never coveted anyone. Beth is and always has been my best friend. Secondly, why are you still here? Were you waiting to ambush us?”
“Absolutely not,” Mrs. Holt said huffily.
“Right,” Nick retorted with an uncharacteristic sarcasm. “It’s just a complete coincidence that you see us outside Dean Harris’s office, and you just happen to still be here when we walk out of the building.”
“It is a coincidence. We didn’t expect to bump into you here.”
“We are both students of this university, and we both live on campus, so I don’t understand why you’re surprised, Mrs. Holt.”
“It doesn’t matter why,” Beth interrupted before Trey’s parents could retort. “What do you want? Because you obviously want something.”
“I’m not sure I can even speak to you, Ms. Carlyle. For almost a year, you have been part of our family, and we came to adore you.”
The haughtiness in Claire’s voice so sharply contrasted her words that Beth snorted. While Trey’s parents had treated her kindly, she never would have said they adored her, and they certainly hadn’t welcomed her into their family. She had always, at most, been treated like a regular guest. Because Trey’s mother obviously expected her to respond, Beth remained silent, waiting for Claire to say whatever it was she needed to say. Not that I have any obligation to h
ear her out.
Nick also seemed to be possessed by the same curiosity because he stood silently by her side with a protective arm around her.
“I cannot believe that you would make such a terrible and false accusation against Trey,” Claire finally continued. “But after reading what that Darryl boy said about you, I suppose I shouldn’t be so surprised.”
“We may be young, Mrs. Holt, but we are certainly not stupid,” Nick said. “We are both very well aware that the owner of the newspaper is an old friend of your husband and that he would likely publish anything you asked him to… including a lie. And, yes, what Darryl told Trey was, in fact, a lie. Good day to you both. Let’s go, Beth.”
They brushed passed Trey’s parents and started toward their dorms at a comfortable walk.
“We always believed you were such a sweet, innocent girl, but it is all too clear now how wrong we were. It’s a shame it had to come to this,” Lawrence called.
Beth spun on her heel and marched back toward the Holts. “I was still sweet and innocent until your son raped me,” she snapped. “I tried to take the high road and let it go without making a scene, but Trey wouldn’t let me. First he accused Nick of assault, and then he and his pals began harassing us on a daily basis. He gave me no choice, Mr. Holt. He is a lying, self-serving piece of—”
“That’s enough,” Nick said quietly but firmly. “They’re trying to intimidate you, Beth, hoping you’ll back down because, deep in their hearts, they know Trey is guilty, and they’re terrified of how that will tarnish their family name. We’ve humored them long enough.”
Beth was very aware of Nick’s hand pressed to the small of her back as they walked away, preventing her from turning around and launching another string of accusations at them, and she was grateful. Getting into a heated argument with Trey’s parents would only create more problems, and she had more than enough already.
Back in Nick’s room, she sat on his couch. Her enthusiasm for decorating and making rice crispy treats had waned. Nick sat beside her, and she let him pull her into his arms.
“Don’t let the Holts get to you. They’re scared because they know the evidence against Trey is too solid.”
“I just wish I had someway to prove beyond a doubt that it was rape and not what they’re trying to make people believe. I want this to be over so we can move on with the rest of our lives.” She twisted in his embrace to kiss him soundly and was thrilled when he kissed her back without a trace of his usual reserve. “I am tired of feeling like I have to hold back because everything we say or do might be used against us.”
“It’ll only be a few more weeks, sweetheart.”
“A few weeks too long.”
“You’re not getting… impatient, are you?” he asked with an enticing playfulness in his voice.
“I really am.”
She snuggled into him, trailing her fingers absently over the planes of his chest and stomach. The transition from best friends to boyfriend and girlfriend had been so seamless and effortless that she was amazed it hadn’t happened sooner. When they’d opened themselves to the possibilities, a beautiful physical chemistry had blossomed into a passion she had never encountered. Thus far, the circumstances that had finally breached the barrier had kept them from indulging, but Beth admitted it was becoming more difficult with each passing day to suppress her desire.
It’s so natural, she thought, glancing at his face, and so easy to love you.
She swung her leg over him and straddled his waist, tugging at the flannel and T-shirt he had tucked into his jeans. He eyed her but said nothing and made no move to stop her. Emboldened, she freed his shirts, unbuttoned the flannel, and peeled it back over his shoulders. He sat forward so she could slide it down his arms and off, and when it was discarded to the cushion beside them, she slowly inched the T-shirt up, enjoying the sensation of soft, bare skin beneath her hands. The heat of him chased the lingering chill from her fingers, and when Nick allowed her to pull his shirt over his head, a different kind of heat erased the irritation from the encounter with the Holts.
Shyness flitted briefly as she took in the lines of his torso, admiring the smooth contours she hadn’t yet allowed herself adequate time to appreciate. She wanted to trail kisses all over him but decided to take this one step at a time and save that for later. Besides, she doubted Nick would let her take it that far. Although he certainly seemed to be enjoying the attention. Pleasure hazed his eyes, and a faint smile brightened his face. Slowly, as she slid her hands over his skin, his eyes drifted closed, and he rested his head against the back of the couch, giving her unspoken permission to play.
He wasn’t, as she had thought before, as muscular as Trey, but though he lacked the rigid contours, he was toned and incredibly sexy. She permitted herself a moment or two to compare them and decided she definitely preferred Nick’s physique to Trey’s blockier build.
“Is it still awkward for you?” she inquired.
“Is what awkward?” he asked. His words were slightly slurred with a combination of complete relaxation and desire that drove Beth’s heart rate up a notch.
“Getting a little more physical with me.”
“Not anymore,” he mumbled.
“Does this feel good?”
“Very.” Abruptly, he opened his eyes, and in a blink, was entirely alert again. One corner of his mouth quirked upward. “But we do still have rice crispy treats to make.”
Laughing, she rolled off him and bounced to her feet. When she met his gaze, she saw that he was grinning. The lack of pressure to push the boundaries of what she was willing to do was liberating, and she hoped life with him would always be like this, so easy and so unhurried. Looking back over their long friendship, she believed it would be.
“All right. Let’s go make those rice crispy treats.”
It was as if allowing Beth to test her willingness to engage in more intimate physical contact had ignited an inferno. In the two weeks since he’d let her play, her shyness had all but disappeared, and Nick found himself, like now, frequently having to stop her before she got carried away. With desire muddling his brain as she stroked her hands from his navel up his stomach and chest to his neck before burying her fingers in his hair and kissing him with such breathtaking demand, it was only the thought of how fragile she had been in the minutes and hours and days following the rape that kept him rooted in reality.
“Make love to me, Nick.”
At first, he didn’t answer, unable to form a coherent explanation of why he couldn’t. He lay on her bed with the length of her body on top of him and their legs tangled, and it was nearly impossible to resist the temptation to claim her sleek body, but he would not jeopardize everything they had worked so hard to regain no matter how incredible he knew making love to her would be.
“No,” he said, taking her face in his hands and curling up to kiss her. “You’re not ready yet.”
“I’m pretty sure I am.”
“Pretty sure and certain are not one and the same. It’s too soon, love, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now.”
When she opened her mouth to object again, he kissed her tenderly and stroked her cheek with his thumb. He compared the beautiful confidence that radiated from her now to the fear that had shadowed her eyes after the rape, and began to gather an explanation that would help her understand.
“You wanted to wait until marriage.”
“It’s a little too late for that now,” she replied bitterly.
He knew the resentment in her voice wasn’t directed at him, but it made him flinch. He folded his arms around her and cradled her head against his chest with his heart aching for her.
“It’s not too late. You made a promise to yourself, and just because Trey violated that promise doesn’t mean you did. That vow still stands, and I choose to respect it.”
She tucked her hands under him and shuddered, reminding him far too much of those days following the rape, and he was more certain than ever that he was ri
ght. She had come so far, but she still had a long way yet to go.
After a while, she sniffed and let out a sigh, but when she spoke, there was a trace of humor in her words. “Are you sure you can wait that long?”
“I’m certain of it. All I have to do is remember that night.” He stroked his hand over her silken hair. “And, if I may be completely honest… after this whole ordeal, I will never look at sex the same way.”
“What do you mean?”
“The thought of you getting pregnant from the rape terrified me, Beth. I never thought about it quite like that forced me to. A guy can have his fun and walk away with no real consequences if he so chooses, but if the girl gets pregnant, she has to deal with it. Either she puts her body through the changes and possible complications of pregnancy or she has an abortion and faces who-knows-what consequences of that decision. How is that fair?”
“It’s not, but it would never be like that with you, Nick, because you’d be right by my side through everything.”
“Yes, I would, but that’s not the point.” He kissed her forehead. “Let’s just wait, all right?”
Grudgingly, she nodded in agreement.
“Besides, I hear that waiting until marriage makes the wedding night all that much better. A year, two, five… I don’t care how long you need. I’ll wait. Because I love you.”
“Does that mean you want to marry me?” she inquired with a quirk of her lips
“Maybe I do, but let’s keep taking things one step at a time, okay? Starting with getting our costumes on.”
Before she could try to talk him into picking up where they’d left off, he lifted her off him, closed his mind to the darker thoughts that had infiltrated it, and bounded off the bed, yanking his flannel on as he scooted out the door. Word might be out that he and Beth were dating, but that didn’t mean it was a good idea to flaunt it just yet by walking out of her room half naked. Not until after Trey’s trial, and even then…. Well, it wasn’t in his nature to flaunt anything. That was Trey’s mode of operation.
First Instinct Page 28
