My Bad Boy's Secret: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (189 page)

"Miss Klein! So glad you are here. We are all very excited to get started. Just a few more students to wait for, and then we can get going on the trail."

He looked passed Ava over at me with a questioning look. She quickly started to make up an excuse, "Oh Professor Smith, this is my neighbor, Zak. My car broke down, and he gave me a ride. Zak is an ex-Navy Seal."

She said putting me on the spot. I wasn't happy about people knowing my profession or my private life, and she knew it. She was taking a jab at me. It was punishment for what I had said only minutes before. She had a grin on her face that said she had accomplished annoying me.

"A Navy Seal?" The professor said, arching his eyebrows. Well you should join us Zak, it could be good to have someone with your skills with us on the trail."

Ava's comment had backfired on her, now I would be trailing her and I knew that annoyed her. "I would be glad to. I have to come back to pick up Ava anyway. I might as well enjoy the hike with you all." I said smiling at Ava and the professor.

I looked at her as I got out of my truck and smiled my most charming grin. I joined her and the group of students that had gathered. My focus was on Ava, scanning the surroundings. I had to make sure that no one had followed us.

"Students! Can I have your attention? This is Ava's friend, Zak. He is an ex-Navy Seal. He will be joining us on the trail. We will be getting started in five minutes. Ava, if you'll stop over with me, we can go over your notes." The professor said to the group of students. As soon as he said it, I saw a bunch of starry eyed college girls stare at that me as they batted their lashes. The Navy Seal angle is always something that caught their attention. Great, now they would be distracting me. I watched Ava and the professor as he laughed and kidded around with her. I didn't like it. It wasn't very professor like, then again he was a young professor. Looking at his hand told me that he was not married. Dangerous territory, professors were notorious for dating their students. Then again, I shouldn't be talking.

A few minutes later we were headed out on the trail. I walked behind Ava a few students back. Trying to remain invisible. It was a steep climb until we reached a clearing. Then Ava went into action. I was very impressed watching her work. If she was nervous she didn't show it. She knew her information very well. She taught the class in a very precise and elegant manner as she pointed out the different vegetation surrounding her. She went through all the facts of how the vegetation was a little bit different then on ground level of the island because of the heat. There was always a lot of heat coming from the lava rocks underneath. It was an active volcano after all. The more I watched her, the more I fell for her. She was in her element, and it was attractive. And I wasn't the only one noticing, as I glanced over at the professor watching her, I could tell that he wasn't watching her with admiration the way a professor would to a student, he was watching her with lust. I felt myself grow jealous. There was a slight rumble underneath our feet.

"Don't worry everyone! The volcano is always stirring. This is normal activity. Let's continue on this way up the trail,” the professor said calming everyone down and leading the way. It didn't escape my notice that he put his hand on Ava's shoulder leading her up the path. I felt myself grow flushed in heated anger, the heat from the volcano wasn't helping my hotheaded state of jealousy.

"So, you're a Navy Seal?” a bouncy blonde with blue eyes was at my side flirting with me. "That must be very dangerous work. You have to be very fit to do that, don't you?" She looked me up and down, obviously checking me out. She was giving me her ‘fuck me’ eyes. I didn't want anything to do with it. That was until I noticed that Ava was watching. What was the harm in causing a little jealousy, I thought.

"Yes it is very dangerous work. You have to be a very skilled man to do that kind of work. I am very good at it. I have very good skills." I said leading the girl on as I smiled at her.

AVA

As we rode in Zak’s truck as he drove me to class, to the trailhead of the Volcano Park, I could not keep my mouth shut any longer. I needed answers. I kept looking over at him assuming that he would say something. He just kept looking in the rearview mirror, watching and waiting to see if we were followed. He was in full Navy Seal mode. It was an unnerving thing to me. I needed to talk to him. I needed to know. He was fidgety and I think he knew that I was on the verge of asking a question because he reached over and turned up the radio. I narrowed my eyes at him knowing exactly what he was doing. Finally, I had enough. I reached over and turned the volume down and looked at him. It took a lot of courage to ask what I was going to ask but there was no other way around it so finally, I said, "Are we ever going to talk about it?"

I saw him Flinch as I asked the question. It obviously made him very uncomfortable and annoyed. Finally he steadied himself and said, "No, we won't talk about that. Let's just focus."

I was angry with his answer. He wasn't going to get off that easy. There was nowhere for him to go. We were in a truck and he was trapped with me. So I continued on.

"That is not acceptable to me. You fucked me and then you were cold to me. You have to tell me why, I deserve to know."

He looked shocked by my words. I don't think he would expect me to be so blunt. I stared at him, as though I could stare the answers out of him. Then he looked at me, but only for a second and then back at the road and finally said, "I can't tell you why. It's part of my past. All I can tell you is that I shouldn't have done it, it's against the rules. I jeopardized your safety by becoming involved."

What the hell does that mean? I thought to myself. What the hell is he hiding from me? There was obviously more to his story. He had secrets just like I did. I crossed my arms feeling angry and ready to continue my interrogation when I realized we were pulling up to the park so I took off my hat and wig and began to get ready for class and to be the normal girl, Ava Klein once more. I had to put on my college face. I was now the responsible and intelligent student, not the woman running from thugs in a disguise.

Having him on the trip walking the trails was an unplanned part of my day. So when the professor saw him as he was dropping me off I had to come up with a quick lie, "Oh Professor Smith, this is my neighbor, Zak. My car broke down, and he gave me a ride. Zak is an ex-Navy Seal."

I knew this would annoy him. He didn't like people knowing who he was. And I had just said his name and his profession. It was payback for everything he had just said in the truck. I wanted to punish him. By the look on his face, it worked. There was a hint of restrained anger on his face. I grinned a brilliant grin that I flashed his way. I was feeling proud of myself. That was until it backfired on me.

"A Navy Seal?" The professor said arching his eyebrows. Well you should join us Zak, it could be good to have someone with your skills with us on the trail."

Crap! That's exactly what I did not want to happen. I needed to be able to concentrate during this walk on my work. Now Zak would be with us. Not only would it be distracting but his constant looking over his shoulders for somebody chasing us made me paranoid. And I would find it hard to switch into Ava, the college student. His very presence wouldn't let me forget who I really was. I looked at Zak and he smiled at the professor’s invitation. I just rolled my eyes at him as he accepted.

So far so good. I was doing better than I thought I would be when leading the class on the field trip. Professor Smith was giving me all his attention. But there was something else to it though. I felt like he was flirting with me, and I secretly welcomed it. I sort of hoped that Zak would be watching, and that it would show him that I was a desirable woman. I wanted him to know that other men wanted me. Instead, I saw something that made me jealous. Amber, one of the slutty campus girls was all over Zak, flirting and teasing him. It took all my strength to not go over to her and slap her in the face. I was so jealous and angry. This is when I knew I had real feelings for him. This was not a fleeting infatuation. He was my man, and I wouldn't have some trollop trying to take him away. I knew that as soon as the professor announced that Zak was a Navy Seal; the women would flock to his side. It was when I was feeling the thoughts that the second tremor shook underneath our feet. This was the second one, the first having been brushed off by the professor only a few minutes earlier. Now however, this one lasted longer and was more violent. Zak was at my side in a flash. He quickly took control of the situation, away from the professor as he yelled "Everyone get down the mountain as fast as you can! Watch your step, falling would not be good in this situation! Let's go! Let's go!"

Zak grabbed my hand and ran down the trail pulling me along with him. The students and Professor Smith was behind us, running as the mountain trembled underneath us. This particular volcano was indeed active but it didn't hold a threat to the island. However, if you were on the volcano you were in very serious danger if it went off. Even a slow lava flow eruption was deadly, but safe if you're watching from a safe distance.

We were all in a panic as we made it down the trail looking back at the volcano wondering if we would be alive in a few minutes. The adrenaline rush of this type of fear from Mother Nature was intense. More intense and running from the thugs that chased me. None of us knew if we would make it as it was a very unpredictable volcano. The screams of my fellow classmates were hard to ignore. Zak continued to yell out encouragement and commands as though he was commanding his own team. It was very impressive and made me feel safe and secure.

Finally, we all made it to the parking lot and he put me in the truck as he moved around to the driver side, jumped in and drove off.

"This is hard. I have to choose! It's not like me to leave that many people behind but they will have to fend for themselves because my number one priority is you. I have to get you out of here," his voice was frantic as he peeled out of the parking lot. I could see the pain in his eyes as he wanted to stop the truck and organize everyone's retreat out of there and make sure that everyone got out safely. The pain of choosing his responsibilities to his fellow man over me was obvious on his face. I was quiet and said nothing. My heart was racing as I wondered if we would die in a sudden surge of lava. As I watched in the mirror I could see that the entire class was now in the parking lot jumping in cars, including the professor. I could see a park ranger truck arriving, which made me feel better. They would oversee the evacuation. We sat in silence and panic as we drove back to the apartment building. It was a lot to take in. We were in danger together almost all the time. I turned on the radio to the news station; the emergency broadcast.

"This is a soft option and anyone within a mile of the volcano should be ready to evacuate if necessary. However, the rest of the island is safe, as this is not seen as a major eruption. For the most you can expect a slow lava flow and a few tremors."

The man said over the radio. I sighed in relief; as soon as we are a mile away from the volcano we would be safe. My apartment was on the other side of the island so we should be safe.

I looked over at Zak as he processed the news the radio was saying. He seemed relieved as he exhaled, but his hands were still tightly gripping the steering well.

"Thank you," I said so softly. It was almost a whisper. "Thank you for getting me off the mountain so quickly. I know it was hard for you to oversee just one person, instead of helping out the whole group. Thank you for your sacrifice. I'm glad you were there."

He said nothing in response but I could see his hands loosen up on the steering well as he felt some calm come over him.

We sat in silence on the way back to my apartment, leaving the danger of the volcano for the possible danger of the thugs that were watching, looking, searching for me.

When we arrived at the apartment building something we did not expect confronted us. "Duck!" Zak yelled at me as we slowly pulled into the lot. I only got a brief look but I could see two police cars with their lights on parked in front of my apartment.

"I'm going to pull out of this parking lot quietly and casually, but I need you to stay low." Zak ordered in a calm voice.

“OK, what do you see?” I said with my head was in my lap. In the distraction of the volcano I forgot to put on my disguise. I was just so glad to be alive, that I didn't even think about it. Now there was commotion. Now there was something new staring at my apartment, and obviously, it had to do with me.