The Fight Club - Boxed Set
Page 90
“Yep.” Conner leaned closer. “He’s too old for you.”
Sabrina’s eyes widened. If actual flames could have come from her ears, they would have. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Nope.” He had to fight to keep from grinning. “And don’t cuss. Like I said the other night, I don’t like to hear those words coming out of your mouth.” He wanted to bring this woman to her knees and teach her a lesson about disobeying him. His hands twitched at the desire.
“And like I said last time, fuck you. I’ll bet Doug is fucking younger than you. Who the hell do you fucking think you are?”
Conner laughed. “You aren’t a very good submissive, are you?” Her feistiness only made him harder. He wanted to drag her across his lap for her blatant defiance, yank her sexy jeans over her sexier ass, and spank her foul language out of her until she begged him to fuck her in the sweetest words he’d ever heard.
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Doug? He seemed to find me perfectly demure. You, on the other hand, bring out the worst in me.”
“Are you still seeing him?”
“None of your fucking business, asshole.” Now she was goading him. He seriously doubted she talked like that normally.
Conner lurched forward and took her chin in his hand, forcing her to meet his gaze. “I do not let my submissives cuss, Sabrina. I don’t like it. Save that foul mouth of yours for someone else. You’re far too pretty to have that shit spewing out of your lips.”
“Good thing it doesn’t fucking matter what the fuck you think, since I’m not one of your submissives.” She yanked her chin free and leaned against the door. Two seconds later, she surprised him again by jerking the door open and climbing out of his Mustang. Before he could comment, she leaned in to meet his gaze. “Nice knowing you.” She slammed the passenger door shut and walked away.
Conner watched her through the rearview mirror as she waltzed across the parking lot to a car nearby and climbed inside. She held her head high the entire time, never once glancing back. He smiled as she started the engine of her cute little red Honda and drove away. Oh yeah. She was totally his. There was no denying that anymore. Whatever notion he’d had of shaking her vanished under her sharp tongue. He was going to love training her to obey him.
And she was going to love submitting to him even more.
She was his.
He chuckled when it occurred to him he was right back where he started, however. No address. No phone number.
But he knew she was into him. Nobody gave a man that level of shit without wanting him to fuck her hard. In addition, she’d followed him to the arena. She could just as easily have smoothed things over with Doug and been out at another club with him. Instead, she’d spent her Friday night stalking Conner and getting in his face.
Sexy as hell.
He moaned, wondering how long it would be before he would see her again. Without waiting for him in the parking lot of the university again or hanging around Extreme, she didn’t have any more information about him than he had about her.
He wasn’t concerned. She’d come around. Or he’d find her.
There was always that e-mail address…
Chapter Four
The beginning of Conner’s second workweek since Sabrina came back into his world was busy. Besides the usual classes he taught, midterms to grade, and office hours to hold, he got called into the dean’s office on Monday afternoon.
After his second class, he trudged to the building two doors down from him, wondering what the hell this meeting was all about. He’d never once been called to meet with the dean in all his years teaching.
The receptionist smiled and nodded at the closed door. “Go on in. They’re waiting for you.”
They? Conner adjusted his tie and entered Dean Sheffield’s office.
Dr. Sheffield stood from the mahogany table next to the window as Conner stepped inside. “Dr. Bascott. Please, have a seat.” The woman didn’t smile as she lifted her gaze. Two men sat around the table. They both glanced up uncomfortably. Conner knew them in passing.
Shit. This couldn’t be good. What sort of “fuck me” sign had he been wearing attached to his back lately?
Conner took a deep breath and made his way to the empty chair.
Dr. Sheffield held a stack of papers in her hand and tapped them on the table as if they needed to be straightened as Conner took his seat.
“Is something wrong?” Conner glanced at the two men flanking Dr. Sheffield before aiming his gaze straight at the dean.
“I sincerely hope not, Dr. Bascott. But we do have reason to be concerned.”
Conner furrowed his brow. “Go on…”
Dr. Sheffield introduced the other two men as members of the ethics committee while Conner nodded and held his breath.
“We’ve received some disturbing e-mails in the last few days concerning your possible involvement with a student here at the university.”
Conner stopped breathing. “What?” He gripped the edge of the table with both hands. His head spun.
Dr. Sheffield continued. “These are printouts of the e-mails we received over the weekend.”
Conner lifted the pages, but he kept his gaze on Dr. Sheffield for several seconds before lowering his face. When he did, he was stunned. Three e-mails—their contents printed out on the pages in front of him. Each e-mail was similar and sent to a different faculty member, not just Dean Sheffield, but the university president and the head of the language department as well, Tina Chang. Oh, great. Now he would have to speak to Tina also.
Conner’s hands shook as he read the lines indicating he was involved with a student, had been meeting with her secretly, and should be investigated.
When Conner lifted his gaze, he found Dr. Sheffield frowning. “Who did these come from?”
“We have no idea, Dr. Bascott. We were hoping you could tell us.”
“Of course not. These’re lies. I have never, nor will I ever be involved with a student here.” And thank God I’m not lying.
Dr. Sheffield let out a long breath. “That’s about as I expected.”
“What? That I would deny these allegations? Hell yes, I will deny this shit. It’s not true.” Conner tried to control his volume, but it was tough. Who the fuck would do this to him? He sat up straight and set the pages on the table in front of him, tapping the top one with a finger. “Can’t anyone trace these? It’s a university for Christ’s sake. The place must be filled with dozens of people who could hack this address and get more information on the sender.” He tried to chuckle, but came up short. Hell, the most qualified hackers around were probably students.
“Not yet.” Dr. Sheffield nodded at the printouts.
Conner dipped his head and tried to catch his breath and control his emotions.
“I’m going to have to ask you some hard questions, Dr. Bascott. It’s policy. You understand.”
“Of course.”
“Is there any validity to these e-mails?”
The two other men in the room squirmed in their seats. They were both younger than Conner. Before this incident, they had both looked up to him. Now they appeared uncertain. Conner couldn’t blame them, but he was still pissed. Who the hell would do this?
Conner shook his head. “Nope. Not one word is true.”
“So, you aren’t dating a student.”
“I am not.”
“You’ve never had any relations with a student?”
“Never.”
“And you can’t think of any reason someone would suspect you were or try to frame you?”
“No.” Conner pursed his lips and thought back on everything that had happened in his twisted life for the past ten days.
Sabrina.
If anyone saw him with Sabrina, it was a long shot. One quick conversation outside Extreme where the only witness was Frank and one argument in his car outside the arena Friday night. The chances of someone witnessing that were slim. As far as he knew there weren’t many stu
dents who were aware he was an MMA fighter. It wasn’t a secret, but he didn’t publicize it, either.
If these allegations had come up before he’d encountered Sabrina at Extreme, he would have shit a brick. It would have been extremely farfetched for someone to have seen him interact with her two months ago at King Pizza. But he still would have pissed his pants worrying about it, since at the time he didn’t realize she was not a student any longer.
But after last week, he knew Sabrina was not only significantly older than he’d suspected, but also no longer a student. He’d broken no rules. Not even his own.
How the fuck could this be happening to him within days of running into Sabrina Duluth, though? Was it a coincidence? There was the distinct possibility this had nothing to do with Sabrina at all. If someone wanted to frame him for his supposed involvement with a student, why pick someone who wasn’t enrolled? That made no sense at all.
And there was no way Conner was going to drag Sabrina into this mess. She’d done nothing wrong. Besides, there was nothing to drag her into. Involvement with her made him guilty of nothing.
He still didn’t intend to mention her name.
“Dr. Bascott, this is very unfortunate.”
“Yes, it is.” Conner sat up straighter and stacked the pages. “May I keep these?”
“Of course. We have copies. Look them over. See if anything rings a bell.”
“I will.” He made eye contact with the two men at the table and then lifted his gaze to the dean. She was all business. Her face was impassive. Her perfectly fitted gray suit was wrinkle free. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, not one lock out of place. “Dr. Sheffield, I give you my word these allegations are unfounded. I know you have to follow up on this, and I understand you need my cooperation, but you’ll never find anything because there isn’t anything to find. I have never at any point done anything inappropriate with a student in all my years of teaching. Not now. Not ever.” He was beating this over the head, but he wanted to be sure everyone in the room was clear.
“Do you have any students in any of your classes that are perhaps doing poorly, failing, or seem angry with you?”
“Not that I’m aware of. No.” Conner shook his head. “Hell, I haven’t even seen a student during my office hours this past week. I’m as perplexed as you.”
Dr. Sheffield pursed her lips. “I hear you. And I’m terribly sorry about all this. It’s my job and the job of the ethics committee to ensure these allegations are untrue. While we investigate, please be sure you’re engaged in absolutely nothing unseemly.”
“Of course.” It occurred to Conner that being a member of the BDSM community could be seen as unbecoming to someone. He rarely saw anyone he knew at Extreme, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t seen him. He’d run into Tina Chang there one time, but she wasn’t a regular. Perhaps another teacher? Or even a student? Someone who wanted to hurt him? It made little sense. If someone wanted to damage his career simply because he enjoyed a little kink on the side, why not come right out and say so instead of twisting it into false involvement with a student?
What about Tina? It was insane to think she would do something like this to him. But was it a coincidence he’d turned her down for Saturday night and now this? Ridiculous fake allegations? He couldn’t imagine her stooping so low, but it would be ingenious to send the false allegations to the dean, the president, and herself. Shit. Would she try to get him fired over a rejection to date her? If so, she was crazier than he thought.
Conner stood. “If I think of anything, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I’d appreciate if this didn’t leave this room. I have a stellar reputation at this university. I love my job. I would hate to be dragged through the trenches over a bunch of lies.”
“You have our word. The other recipients of the e-mail know better also.” Dr. Sheffield stood, as did the other gentlemen. “Without any specifics, I’m not inclined to take this seriously. If whoever this is wants to nail you to the wall, it makes no sense why they haven’t come right out and told us who the mystery student is you’re supposedly involved with. That, and the fact your reputation on this campus is completely unblemished, leaves me with no choice but to assume your innocence. I’m on your side in this, Dr. Bascott. Please don’t prove me wrong.”
Conner nodded and left the room.
He fumed all the way to his office. There wasn’t a single thing he could think of that would cause someone to frame him for something so serious. Crazy.
He was late for his slotted office hours, and as soon as he rounded the corner he found a student standing outside his office.
Angelica Hudson. She pushed off the wall and righted herself as he approached, pasting a big smile on her face. “Dr. Bascott. I was afraid I had my days and times mixed up.”
“Nope. Sorry. I was in a meeting.” He unlocked the door, trying to muster the energy to speak to this undergrad. He’d had her in class last semester, and this semester she was in another of his classes. It wasn’t unusual. If she was an English major, it would be expected.
At the moment, he was in no mood to speak to anyone. But that wasn’t Ms. Hudson’s problem.
He rounded his desk. “Please, have a seat. What can I do for you?”
She bounced as she walked. Hell, she bounced as she sat.
He imagined she was quite popular. She seemed very friendly, almost too friendly most of the time in class. She flirted mercilessly with at least two of the male students before and after class.
When she leaned forward to open her backpack, her shirt gaped open, showing way too much cleavage. But hell, he wasn’t the fashion police. And what did he care? He certainly wasn’t interested in her. She was probably nineteen at best and not his type at all physically. It occurred to him that it would be nice if someone pointed out that her shirt was too small and too low, but it wasn’t going to be him.
“I was hoping you could take a look at my outline for the next paper we’re doing. I’m worried I haven’t hit all the points you suggested.” She held out a printed piece of paper.
She wasn’t the best student in his class. She wasn’t the worst either, but he didn’t usually get mediocre undergrads in his office to go over their potential outlines for a paper that wasn’t due for another two weeks.
He narrowed his gaze at the page in front of him, not looking at it. Instead he let his mind run rampant in another direction. Absurd, really. He was losing his mind if he thought this bubbly student had anything to do with him being framed for inappropriate behavior. Surely it was simply his recent encounter with the dean that had him on edge and paranoid.
Angelica Hudson was no more likely to be framing him for dating a student than the pope.
“So, what do you think?”
Conner jerked his gaze up to glance at her. He hadn’t actually read a word of her outline yet.
She leaned over his desk with her arms crossed loosely on the surface, causing her enormous breasts to push up and forward. A boob guy would find her delightful. Conner was not a guy who enjoyed large breasts.
“This is a good start. I don’t know what you’re worried about. I’m sure it will be fine. Start the research, and if you have any questions, come back and see me.” He handed the paper back to her. It could have been the lyrics to a nursery rhyme for all he knew or cared right then.
It wasn’t like him to so blatantly dismiss a student, but his mind was preoccupied. He promised himself he would give her more of his undivided attention in a few days. He glanced at his watch. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Hudson. I have another appointment I need to get to. Why don’t you get the paper started and come back next Monday, and I’ll take another look.”
She smiled and took the page back from him with a syrupy sweet grin that made him cringe for no good reason. “Of course. Thanks for your time. I’ll get to work on this and stop back by.” She flipped her long black hair over her shoulder as she stood. Flirtatiously? Surely not.
Jesus, Conner. Get a grip.
Moments after Angelica left his office, someone else knocked on the open door and stepped inside. Tina Chang. Of course.
Her brow was furrowed, and she shut the door behind her.
“What’s this crazy accusation about you dating a student, Conner?” She cut straight to the chase and plopped down in the chair Angelica had vacated.
He leaned back, in no mood to have this chat, or any chat, with Tina. “I don’t know. But it isn’t true, of course.” He watched her closely, hoping her face would divulge something.
Her shoulders slumped. “Well, thank God. I’d hate for you to get in trouble for something you didn’t do.” Was that sarcasm in her voice?
Conner didn’t move.
Tina tapped the desk. “I really needed you Saturday. It would have been nice if you could have done me that favor.” She pouted. A grown woman with a PhD pouting—and possibly blackmailing him. Fuck.
He hesitated. Was it a coincidence she combined these two issues in one sitting? Either she was extremely stupid or very very smart. Or clueless. “I already had plans. And Tina, we are not dating. You really shouldn’t lead your family members to believe that.”
“I know.” She trailed a finger along his desk, her voice lowering. “Is it because you practice BDSM? I could give that a try, you know. I’ve been to your club once. It wasn’t too bad.”
He sat forward. “No. I’m not interested in you that way, Tina.” Lord. The woman was desperate.
She lifted her head and narrowed her gaze. “You seemed interested enough when your tongue was in my mouth.”
Jesus. That was so long ago. And besides, it was her tongue in his mouth, not the other way around. “I’m sorry if you felt misled. I was tipsy. So were you.”
She pouted again. “Well, think about it, Conner. We could make a good couple. If you gave us a chance.” She turned and left the office, not saying another word.
Was that a threat?
He shook his head and gathered the papers on his desk that needed attention at home that evening. First, he needed to go to the gym and blow off steam.