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Chapter One
Kara
Eight Months Ago
My arms were full of notebooks, slides, and a full-on mish-mash of pamphlets, color copies of charts, timelines, and God only knew what else; I’d lost track.
I looked like a walking advertisement for the next issue of “Nerds Weekly.” My eyes were glued to my watch as I counted down the minutes until I was needed back in the main lecture hall.
God knows, no one wanted to make Professor Too-Big-for-Her-Pants wait. The bags on my shoulders—they probably weighed as much as I did at this point.
I was just looking up to make sure I was in the right hall—all of these white corridors looked the same—when it happened.
I slammed into someone; it was a wall that was all man. My heart hammered as I fought to stay on my feet. And most importantly, I had to not drop the armful of crap I held. If I had to put these stupid slides in order again, I might just have to quit. Give up the ghost’s chance in hell to make something of myself.
I never thought getting a job here would mean doing grunt work. I had a Master’s Degree in American Literature and a minor in Greek Mythology for Christ sake. I was here to teach and yet… No. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—kick a gift horse in the mouth. My brother had probably sold his soul for a chance at me getting on staff here.
For his reputation and standing here alone, I’d behave.
The prestigious Angel Hill Academy was the best private college in upstate New York. It was a ‘by invitation only’ kind of place. The hoity-toity of the rich society sent their minions here for the best kind of education. And probably more than a few were here to keep them out of jail or rehab. Was I being judgmental? Yes. Was it a fair assessment? Also, yes.
Not all of the students here were jerks, nor had shitty attitudes, just the majority. In my opinion at least.
The majority of them had that ‘I come from money’ air about them. Us mere peasants were here to serve them and be at their beck and call.
That sounded nasty and hateful. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just, I didn’t come from money. I’ve worked my butt off for years to get what I wanted. I didn’t have Daddy to run home to with my hand out. Ugh, not that I’d do that anyway. My family came from a long line of hardworking, blue-collar types. Nothing was ever handed to us, and some days, this place and its money got under my skin. I would admit that. But being a part of these young people’s lives, helping them thrive, made it worth it.
The man I was about to crash into grabbed ahold of me, keeping me upright. The movement jarred me back to the here and now.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I stammered out.
Running into people in the halls was not my favorite thing to do. It was like my first day here all over again. Two years had passed and yet, here I was, the same thoughts and reactions prevalent. At least back then, I could blame it on being a little unsettled and a lot out of place.
Talk about being a little fish in a big pond. I still felt that way, and that was mostly what I based my days on. Trying to be the woman I needed to be while showing them I could do this.
I wasn’t just here because my big brother had said I should be.
I had a feeling this sense of inadequacy would never wear off.
“Why the rush?” His deep voice rolled across my senses as my brain came back on-line.
Ian Sterling was a fellow professor here at Angel Hill. He’d been the one to interview me on the first day since he was also a principal member of the board that ran the school. That day, the nerves were something I’d never forget. I had been straight out of college, wet behind the ears, and panicking the entire drive up. Would I be good enough? Was I ready to just jump into something like this?
It was a big leap for me. I’d skipped the lily pads in the water and gone straight to leaping across the pond.
Unease has been my best friend on the daily since then. I’ve never seemed to find my niche or to fit in. I was tolerated at best. No one was outright obnoxious or mean; it was just a feeling in my gut. I wasn’t treated quite the same as everyone else. Especially by Ian.
It was still weird and unreal that I was here—teaching. Like, some of these kids were only a few years younger than I was. It was odd at times, in the beginning, to say the least.
Now though, it wasn’t so bad. Once I’d hit thirty, my life started to make sense a bit more. And I didn’t feel so out of place.
“Sorry.” I looked around me to make sure I hadn’t dropped anything. I swear, if something was out of place or missing, I’d lose my mind.
“No worries, beautiful. How about you make it up to me with a cup of coffee in my office?”
Make it up to him? Coffee? His office? The last time I’d gone in there—his office—he’d kissed me. Don’t get me wrong, there was usually nothing wrong with a good kiss. But the man knew what he was doing; it just wasn’t right. He was my boss for all intents and purposes. A colleague. A—he was trying too damn hard. And he was kind of pushy. That wasn’t my thing. I wanted a man who could make me submit in the bedroom, not one who tried to control me everywhere.
“No thank you. I have to get to the lecture hall for my next class. Professor Sykes is probably already there, scowling at the door, waiting. She will skin me for being late again.”
