His for Now (His #2) (3 page)

But
that wasn’t all they gave me.  As it turned out, they also gave me blisters and sore arches.  Grumbling to myself under my breath, I hobbled over to a bench and angrily kicked my shoes off.  Then, crossing my leg, I grabbed my left foot and started to massage my tender heel.  The relief I felt was almost instantaneous.  I shut my eyes and sighed contentedly as my fingers worked out the aches and pains.

Unfortunately, my relief was short-lived. 

“I thought I saw you come out here.”

My eyes flew open as Mark’s quiet, almost freakishly deep voice interrupted my thoughts. 
He was standing in front of me in his standard uniform:  an open collared shirt beneath a tweed blazer and I’m-too-cool-for-dress-slacks jeans.  It was a good thing he never wore a tie because I may have found myself tempted to strangle him with it.

Without waiting for an invitation, he plunked down on the bench beside me.  “We should talk.”

“I don’t want to talk to you,” I replied tersely, slipping one shoe back on and fumbling around underneath the bench in an effort to locate the other one.  “Actually, you’re the last person I want to talk to.” 

That wasn’t exactly true.  Technically Mark was the second last person I wanted to talk to, the very last one being Hayden Slate.  But Mark didn’t need to know that.  “You’re the second last person I want to talk to” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Unsurprisingly, Mark wasn’t deterred by the icy reception I gave him.  He’d never been one to take me seriously or put me before himself.  For the millionth time I wondered what I’d ever seen in him or why I’d flirted back when he’d started making eyes at me.  All I could come up with was that, as my work colleague, he was just always
there
.  Maybe sometimes there’s something to be said about availability.

“I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry,” he said, catching me off guard.

“Sorry for what?” I retorted.  “There’s a long list of things you could be apologizing for, so you’re going to have to be more specific than that.”  I wasn’t about to let him off the hook.  He’d humiliated me for being a twenty-eight year old virgin, cost me a promotion that pretty much had my name written all over it and had even put my contract position with the college in jeopardy. 

“I’m sorry for all of it,” he told me.  To my surprise he actually sounded sincere – it was the same tone of voice he used when discussing the merits of one video game over another.  That was how I knew he meant business, because to him those damn video games were the pinnacle of his existence.  “That night at my place when you told me you’d never had sex before…”

I cringed.  “Let’s not talk about that.”  Where the hell was my shoe, anyway?  It must have gotten kicked back underneath the bench because I couldn’t find it.  That meant I had two options:  walk away sans shoe or sit there and hear Mark out.  Yes, I had two very lousy options.

Ignoring my request, he said, “I was caught off guard.  It’s weird to know that you’re practically thirty and have never even done the deed, okay? 
My first thought was ‘I wonder what’s wrong with her?’  But I could have been nicer about it.  I’m sorry for making you feel awkward about being a virgin.”

Struggling to maintain my composure, I took a deep breath.  I wasn’t about to let his pathetic excuse for an apology get the best of me and I wasn’t going to let him know how mortified I was to be discussing this with him in the first place.  “
First of all,” I informed him sweetly, “Twenty-eight is
not
almost thirty.  Secondly, not that it’s any of your business, but the virgin label no longer applies to me.”

“What?” Mark asked as though he couldn’t believe it.  “You got laid?  Who is he?”

It was my turn to ignore Mark.  Continuing on, I informed him, “Actually, I should thank you.”

“Thank me?” he repeated dumbly.  “What did I do?”

“You showed me your true colors before I did something stupid with you that I would have regretted,” I told him.  “They say a girl always remembers her first time.  I’m glad that when I look back on it, I won’t be reminded of you.” 

My throat felt tight as I said the last bit and my thoughts inevitably turned to Hayden.  I wished I wouldn’t always be reminded of him when I remembered losing my virginity, but at least the sex had been good…great, actually.
  The undeniable chemistry Hayden and I had shared only made the whole experience – and its abrupt end – smart that much more.

Mark was quiet for a moment.  “
I guess I deserved that,” he finally said.

“
Uh huh,” I nodded.  But then my self-satisfied demeanor shattered.  “Mark, why did you do it?” I demanded.  “The day you sat in and observed my class, you saw how I was getting through to the students.  But you lied on your evaluation and said I’m ineffective in the classroom.  We both know that isn’t true.”

“I saw you struggling to engage the students at the beginning,” he said defensively. 

“Are you kidding me?”  I was dumbfounded.  “They’re a bunch of chatty eighteen year olds,” I reminded him.  “Yeah, it’s going to take some of them a few minutes to settle down, but the point is I got them interested in the discussion.  I got them
thinking
, Mark.  That’s the whole purpose of teaching.”

“I don’t know about that.  It’s a job,” he replied.  “It’s not like any of the stuff we teach in Sociology actually matters in the real world.  It’s all just a bunch of hypotheticals and definiti
ons and abstract concepts.  The students memorize stuff, parrot it back to us and we dole out grades.  They get degrees and we get paychecks, everybody wins.”

“You can’t possibly mean that.”

“Huh?”

“Teaching is more than just a job,” I insisted.  “We’re shaping minds.”

Mark laughed.  “You really believe that nonsense?  It’s kind of cute, I guess.  But you need to lighten up, Daniella.  That’s what I’ve been telling you all along.  I’ve seen how hard you work.  You’re always on campus working late, offering your students tutoring outside of your office hours…you’re going to burn out.”

What would Mark even know about burning out?  He was too busy playing video games and stab
bing me in the back to work hard.  And something about the tone of voice he was using was incredibly condescending, like he somehow knew better than I did.  It was downright insulting.

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

“You are now, yes.  I’ve been watching you,” he told me.  “You seem different lately…happier.  These days you occasionally even leave work before I do!” 

Deep down I knew Mark was right:  I
had
been happier.  But it wasn’t because of anything work-related and for Mark to try to take the credit was laughable.  It was because of Hayden.  For a brief time, being with the mysterious heir had awakened something inside of me.  When I’d left work at a reasonable hour, it had been so I could spend time with him.  And yes, for a time I’d been walking on air, so to speak.

Then I’d unceremoniously come crashing back to earth.

Since I wasn’t sure I could trust my voice, I didn’t reply.

“
I bet you feel a lot better now that the promotion is off the table,” he predicted.  “If I know you – and I do – you were working yourself half to death just to try to climb the corporate ladder.”  His voice earnest and husky, Mark informed me, “It was only a matter of time…you were going to fall, Daniella.”

How was I supposed to respond to that?  I would have liked to respond with
my fist
but I thought better of it.  Instead, I slipped the shoe I’d finally managed to locate back on as I entertained thoughts of beating Mark over his big stupid head with it. 

“I can help you,” he offered generously.  “I can put in a good word with Clancy
at our next poker game and make sure the department renews your contract next year.  It’s what any good friend would do.”  He paused and I saw him look at me in the moonlight.  “Although I’d be willing to be more than friends again,” he said, suddenly putting his hand on my knee.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I hissed,
jerking my leg away like I’d been burned.

He chuckled.  “I never took you for the type to go au natural but I have to say I’m digging it.
  What do you say, Daniella?  Let’s cut out of here early.  We can go back to my place.”  In what I suspected was supposed to be a seductive voice, he suggested, “I can teach you anything you want to know.”

Abruptly, I stood up.  Hands on my hips, I
glowered down at him with contempt.  He was such a clueless moron that he didn’t even seem to realize how insulting he was being.  It was as though he thought I’d buy his good guy act and fall back into his arms, thanking him profusely for sparing me a life of career-related stress.  On top of all that, now that he knew someone else had found me desirable, he suddenly wanted me again.  What a dick.

“Please don’t fool yourself into thinking you saved me from professional burnout,” I told him, my words deliberate and staccato.  “You wouldn’t know professional burnout if it bit you in the ass, Mark, because you don’t
even know the meaning of the word professional.  It’s sad, really, that you felt compelled to sabotage my career prospects to get ahead.  It’s pretty pathetic that you’re so threatened by me.  I don’t need your help to get ahead and I certainly don’t want you to ‘teach’ me anything.  You’re reprehensible.  It will catch up with you one day.”

I
heard him inhale sharply and then he climbed to his feet, arms crossed.

“You’ve always been so high and mighty about all the time and energy you put into your work,” he spat.  “
You could chain yourself to your desk and it wouldn’t matter.  I’m the one with the contacts in the department, not you.  In the end, that’s all that matters.  It’s what secures promotions.  You should be thanking me for bringing it to your attention early on before you waste what’s left of your youth on a pipe dream.”

“
Fuck you!” I shouted after him as he walked back inside.  In retrospect that wasn’t the most eloquent or clever response I could have come up with, but at the time those were the two words that came to mind.  And it felt pretty good to say them.

As I
plodded back to my car with sore feet feeling defeated, I didn’t think my night could get any worse.  But then it did.

“Daniella?”

I stared at my phone incredulously as though it had just sprouted tentacles and started levitating.  I’d deleted his number but it didn’t matter than the screen said “Unknown Caller” on it.  I recognized the barely-there hint of an accent at once.  It was Hayden. 

I was shocked he’d be calling now after all this time and even more shocked by the emotions stirred up by hearing his voice.
  For a moment I froze, unable to move or respond.  All I could do was gape at the phone in horror.

“Daniella, are you there?”

A million thoughts swirled around in my head.  I’d certainly thought about the things I’d like to say to Hayden if given the chance – hurtful, angry things that would let him know exactly what I thought of him.  But now that the opportunity had presented itself I was drawing a blank.  So I did the only thing I could think to do.  I hung up.

He called back immediately.  I gawked at my phone in
dismay, watching it vibrate on the dashboard of my car.  When I didn’t pick up, he called back a second time…and a third.  I was so stunned that it was a wonder I made it home in one piece.  It was a good thing there wasn’t much traffic on the road.

When I got home and worked up the courage to pick up my phone, I found that
Hayden had left me a voicemail.  Reluctantly, I listened to it.

“Look, Daniella,” he said, his voice loud and clear on the message, “I’
m sure you hate me.  I hate myself for what I did to you.  I can’t even begin to tell you how sorry I am for what I had to do but please just trust me, I had my reasons.  If I’d had any other choice…any other choice at all, I would have taken it, believe me.  I’m rambling.  Sorry.  Daniella, I need to talk to you.  It’s urgent.  Just hear me out.”

Scoffing, I listened to the voicemail a second time…and then a third.  The words he’d chosen were strange and infuriating.  He said he’d “had to” treat me like dirt because he had no other choice.  What utter nonsense.  Angrily, I deleted the message.

Moments later, my phone rang again.  Once again, it said “Unknown Caller” on the screen.

This time
I answered.  “Stop calling me!” I snapped, prepared to hang up immediately.

“Don’t hang up,” Hayden ordered in that strict, authoritative voice that usually made me tingle from head to toe…and in certain places in between.  This time it had no such effect. 
I just felt numb, and a little annoyed.  “You need to listen to me Daniella,” he said.  “I need to meet with you.  I’m outside.”

“You’re
what
?”

“I’m outside.  I came back to talk to you so please just hear me out.”

My breath caught in my throat as I crept over to the front door and peered out the window.  I didn’t see any limo outside, but I’d known Hayden to rent a car on occasion so that didn’t mean much.  For all I knew he could be parked at the side of the house rather than the front. 
Oh God, he was really out there.