by West, Jade
My heart was pounding to a fresh new tune, and my tummy was fluttering at the thought of being without him. But there was excitement too. Excitement and so much ambition to do my very best in this place.
The first week of socials was intense. I made friends – not least with pink-haired Emily, who shared a load of her humour with Holly. I hung out dancing in bars with student discos, and exploring campus, and speculating about our lectures with a load of other antiques students I met up with through the online portal.
And then it arrived. My very first one.
I was so nervous. Insanely nervous and insanely excited.
This was it. Truly it. My first step into my real degree course.
Mum and Dad had sent me a fresh load of pings with good luck, sweetie all over them, and I was buzzing. Really buzzing and really alive.
I sent off a final message to Miles as I headed on in there, telling him I was ready to roll and would let him know who was presenting this string of lectures just as soon as I found out.
Maybe Charles Hanson, he replied. He’ll be a great speaker.
I only hoped it was Charles Hanson, I’d watched him so many times on the daytime TV shows over the years.
There was a wave from Kelly Ryan when I got inside, one of the girls I’d met on the portal. I took a seat right next to her with a smile, and got my notebook ready with my pen all set to scribble, and the room was a simmer of voices for our very first lecture.
Here it was. The real deal.
I was a tingle of nerves when the back door opened and in stepped our new expert. I prayed it was Charles, I really did, knowing full well he was passionate about Maple and Co. furniture just like I was.
But it wasn’t Charles Hanson.
It was a tall, broad man in a suit, with salt and pepper hair at his temples.
It was a man with a smirk on his face, and a huge amount of confidence in his posture and his stare, scanning right across the seating until his eyes landed on mine.
Holy. Bloody. Crap.
I shook my head in disbelief as he cleared his throat and addressed the room.
“Good afternoon,” he said. “I’m Miles Lindon of Lindon and Associates, looking very forward to be here with you this term as your guest lecturer.”
I couldn’t hold back my laugh, keeping it as quiet as possible as he called up his first lecture slide for the presentation.
It was only when he took a break in the topic to let everyone finish their scribbles that I caught his eye for one extremely long second.
I love you, I mouthed, and his smile spoke it right back.
I realised all over again in that moment just how much he loved me right back.
I held back a long time when the lesson was finished, slowly bagging up my pens and notepads as everyone streamed on out of there. He was still standing at his lecture desk. shuffling papers of his own when I finally stepped on down there to the front, and leant with my hand right alongside him.
“So,” I said. “Quite a surprise you were holding back this time, wasn’t it? Thank you for another perfect gift for me to out gift so many others.”
His eyebrow matched the cockiness of his smirk. Just the way I loved it.
He leaned in close, and checked the room was empty before he pressed his mouth to my ear for a whisper.
“What on earth makes you think this was a gift for you?” he asked, and ran his fingers up my spine. “Now get yourself bent over this desk,” he told me. “I think it’s about time I was the teacher. I’ve been waiting a whole fucking lifetime to live out this sweet little fantasy. Make sure it’s a blouse and skirt for you next guest lecture please.”
And I smiled.
I smiled and pressed my mouth to his, and giggled at his incredible filth for the hundredth time.
Then I bent myself over his lecture desk, and became his real Catherine Whitehurst.
The real Catherine Whitehurst he loved so much more as me. Faith Martin.
His one and only for the rest of all time.
THE END
Acknowledgments
As always, there is so much to say in thanks to so many people.
John Hudspith, my incredible editor, who I adore so much that he’s stuck with me for all time, even if I am like tinkerbell on smack some mornings at five a.m. Sorry!
Letitia Hasser, who is always my incredible cover designer. Thank you for being so insanely awesome AND this time for psychically giving me the exact same tie on the cover as my actual Miles Lindon muse on my favourite photo of him.
Thank you to Give Me Books, even though I’ve caused them a nightmare with this release, and to my incredible street team and Sam for being so tireless.
Isabella, you have been so good to me, as always. Honestly, you are amazing through every strain of the journey. Through words, and laughter, and crazy, and moaning, and excitement and tears. Thank you for it all.
Jo, thank you for your soul. You are always there on the other side of the messenger window for me, and you mean so much.
Thank you to my amazing readers, and all the bloggers who support me so much every step of the way.
And to my friends. Jana and Siobhan, Leigh and Lauren and James and so, so many others of you amazing authors that inspire me so much every day.
To Boo – Boos foreverrrrr – and Maria, and Nick, and Lisa, and Lynne, and Tom and Sue.
To Hanni, who has had me wetting myself hilariously so often recently in the early hours of the morning when I should be sleeping.
And to Dom. Apologies for Michael Bolton, but he’s always got some good words to say for so much, even if that is the most embarrassing night of my whole life.
I hope you know he has another one called Missing You, which is quite a ballad, so if you want to avoid getting that one over at six a.m. one morning then I suggest keeping the pings coming through.
I am joking.
Of course, to Mum and Dad and Nan and Brad and Stevie. To Misha, and Rodia. To Andrew and Wendy for an Ireland trip I’ll always remember and for being so awesome. And to all my amazing aunties and uncles and cousins that I appreciate so much.
And to anyone else I’ve inadvertently missed out because I’m still hung up on Mr Lindon.
Thank you all. :D
About the Author
Jade has increasingly little to say about herself as time goes on, other than that she is an author, but she’s plenty happy with that fact. Living in imaginary realities and having a legitimate excuse is really all she’s ever wanted.
Jade is as dirty as you’d expect from her novels, and talking smut makes her smile.
Since recently being diagnosed with epilepsy she’s adjusting to a new life and enjoying the meds very much.
She’s also trying to get her hair rainbow coloured through the help of an incredibly talented hairdresser – thanks, Megan. That hairdresser discovered for herself earlier this week that talking smut very definitely does make Jade smile.
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