Professor Cline Revealed (The Professor #1) (11 page)

Emmalynn

After I got home from Mason’s condo, I cried myself to sleep. As much as I wanted to brush it off, I couldn’t.
How do you let something that embarrassing go?
I was literally giving myself to him, but I should have known better. Nothing good would have come out of that situation. He was my teacher, for Christ’s sake.
How could I think sleeping with him was a good idea?

The next two days went by without incident. I used my off time to go over everything we’d learned in class. Melanie noticed how closed off I was and asked if everything was okay, so I pasted a smile on my face. I didn’t want her thinking I was still upset over everything that had happened with Tim. She was the only one who knew about my run-in with the slut-bitch on Wednesday and I knew she was concerned, but I reassured her I was fine. I just needed to stay focused on school.

After a long day of lying around and reading my law books, Friday night approached before I knew it. I had done a great job of keeping my mind busy and not thinking about what had happened Wednesday night, until Victoria called me. I knew why she was calling. I didn’t want to get into it, but I knew if I ignored her, she’d continue to call until I picked up.

“Hey,” I said as I answered the phone.

“Why have you not called me?” she blasted into the phone.

I pursed my lips as I walked to the couch. “It honestly never crossed my mind. I’ve been so busy with school stuff and reading these damn textbooks.”

“You’re telling me that after your night out with Professor Hottie, you didn’t jump at the chance to tell me how it was,” she scoffed. “You’re killing me. I’ve been dying to know how it went. I have no man, so I’m living through you right now. Spill the beans.”

I bit the inside of my cheek as she spoke. I didn’t know what to say. I really didn’t want to tell her what happened and live out my embarrassment again. “Nothing happened,” I finally said after a few moments. “We had dinner together, but something came up and he had to leave.”

“Ugh, man, that really sucks. Are you guys going to meet up again?”

I shook my head to myself. “No, I doubt it. I’m actually glad things didn’t go as I thought they would. I don’t think it would have been a good idea. I’m already feeling weird about seeing him on Monday now.”

That wasn’t a lie, because I didn’t know how I was going to face him in class. I knew it would take everything I had to focus on the lesson and not his body or how he’d felt pressed against me. Although, all I really had to do was think about how he’d left me there, but I couldn’t get the way he made me feel out of my head.

It was a catch-22.

“Does he know you’ve changed your mind?” Victoria asked.

I sighed. “No, but he will. That is if he brings it up again, which I’m not counting on. Anyway, I have to go get ready for work. Are you guys coming out tonight?”

“Yeah, that was another reason why I was calling you. We were invited to Dean’s place. You remember that nerdy guy with the thick, black glasses Becky had a thing for sophomore year?”

“Yeah.” I laughed.

“Apparently he got offered some swanky job which pays a helluva lot and he’s throwing himself a party.”

“Oh, well, have fun and be safe. I probably won’t get out of work until around two, like usual.”

I was always missing the fun nights out.

“Wish you were going,” she pouted into the phone. “Next weekend we’re having a girls’ night. So, make sure your ass is off. You need it.”

I smiled at her words. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I already know I’m off, so go ahead and start planning something. Nothing too extreme. Maybe I’ll see if Mel wants to go out, too. She needs a night out. She works way too much.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

I brought the phone down into my lap and stared at it. I wouldn’t think about what Monday was going to be like. First, I needed to get through the weekend.

~*~

I arrived at Costello’s around six and headed to the employee lounge in the back of the club where Tiffany and Erica were already changing into their uniforms.

“Hey, girl,” Erica greeted me. “I thought you were going to be taking some time off, now that you’re in law school. Shouldn’t you be studying or something?”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I’ve been studying for the past two days. I’m only going to be working every other weekend,” I stated as I opened my small locker. “I need the money. I can’t just quit.”

I placed the bag, which carried my work clothes, on the floor and started taking my clothes off to get dressed for the night.

“I completely understand that,” Erica said.

“How are your classes going?” Tiffany asked.

“They’re good so far. It’s a lot to take in, but I work better when I have a lot to do. The busier my mind, the better.” I grabbed my low V-neck white tee from my bag and placed it over my head.

After putting on my black thigh-highs, I slid my black skirt over my hips and zipped it up. We were allowed to wear anything we wanted to the club as long as it was a white top and black bottoms, but it needed to be conservative. Aaron, the manager, always looked us over before we went out onto the floor. Tiffany had joked that it was his favorite part of every night. Who would get pissed about having to look over the staff to make sure they weren’t showing too much cleavage? He would always say, ‘We’re running a nightclub, not a brothel. We don’t need to show the customers all of your goods.’ I knew he loved his job.

When we were all dressed and ready for the night, we made our way out to the bar area.  Aaron stood at the bar talking to Max and Janice, the bartenders, so we waited until he was done to get his approval. I thought it was time he finally trusted that we knew what was deemed appropriate, but it was his way of always keeping control of the situation.

When he was finally done, he turned from the bar and glanced our way. He looked us each over with a nod and we were finally on our way to get our duties done before the crowd entered.

After situating each section and wiping down all the tables, we were ready for the night.

The crowd started to trickle in around eight and it was in full swing from there. The weekends always brought in a big crowd and I loved it. The more people there, the faster the time went by.

The one thing I loved about Costello’s was it was known for its regulars. It was a place for business professionals to kick back and have a good time, a place that didn’t involve a bunch of dance music, but a mellow atmosphere.

I had just dropped off some drinks and was headed back to the bar when I looked to my right to see a group of men entering. I stopped and stared as my heart sank to my stomach. Piercing blue eyes stared back at me.

The men walked in and headed toward the back wall, leaving Mason trailing behind them. He gazed at me as he made his way past. I couldn’t deny the spark that ignited every single time we were around each other.

He smirked as he finally passed and broke eye contact, breaking me from my trance. I took a deep breath and frowned as I made my way to the bar.

After what happened Wednesday night, why would he show up to my place of employment?
He knew I worked there. Was he playing games?

I placed my tray down, unloading my dirty dishes onto the bar, and told Janice my order. I turned my head and looked behind me to see where the group was sitting and sighed in annoyance as I closed my eyes.

They were in my section
. Of course
.

Images of that night flowed through my mind. The way he’d pressed me against the window. The way his hot breath felt on my neck. His touch, which sent waves of pleasure through my body. But the image which stood out the most was that note. Two little words.

My body flushed and a heavy feeling danced around in my stomach as I dropped off drinks to a few customers. I could feel his eyes on me, but I never turned to look. I didn’t want to acknowledge him at all, but I
did
play up my interaction with the customers. I always flirted the tiniest little bit to ensure good tips, but I may have upped my game at that point. I knew it was childish, but I wanted to feel empowered. After what he’d done to me, I needed to feel wanted, even if it was fake.

Placing the empty tray under my arm, I headed to Mason’s section. You never realized how hard it was to
not
look someone in the eye when they were staring right at you, until you were put in that situation.

I smiled at the guy he was sitting next to as I approached.

“Good evening, gentlemen. What can I get for you?” I asked, looking at the other three men while avoiding Mason’s gaze entirely.

The guy next to Mason laughed at something one of the men said before he looked up to me.

“Here we go. We can ask,” he leaned forward to read my nametag, “Emma, here, her opinion.” He laughed as he moved back in his seat.

The guys laughed again and I raised an eyebrow as I placed a hand on my hip, waiting for him to speak again.

“So Steve here has bet me $100 that every night club keeps a tally on how many times a couple is found fucking. Can you help me win this bet, cutie, because Costello’s doesn’t seem to have a lot of hidden places to fuck in secret?”

My mouth parted at his question and my eyes immediately darted to Mason. He had a grin on his face as he looked me over.

“Um…” I stood there with flushed cheeks and wide eyes as I looked at the men, not knowing how to answer the question.

“See, man,” the guy said to Steve. “Pay up.” He waggled his fingers.

“Hang on a minute,” I blurted with a smile as an idea formulated in my head. If I was going to play this game with them, I’d make it interesting. Especially since Mason was sitting right there. Yes, it was immature, but I didn’t care. “Are you referring to customers or employees?” I asked with a smirk and the men burst out laughing, except for Mason.

I turned to look at him with a smile on my face and he didn’t look happy. I wanted to ask him what was up his ass, but that would go against trying to ignore him, although I wasn’t doing a good job of it anyway.

“Both,” Steve said with a laugh.

I smiled. “Yes, but you didn’t hear that from me,” I said with a wink. “Now, tell me what you want to drink before my boss comes over here and drags me away.”

The men gave me their orders, including Mason, and I left to service a few tables before heading to the bar.

I caught my eyes drifting to his table every chance I could, and I knew then that the night was going to last longer than usual. Then school popped into my head. If I couldn’t focus on work, then how the hell was I going to focus on school when he was the one teaching the class?

Letting out a heavy breath, I gave my order at the bar and waited.

“Everything all right, Em?” Erica asked as she stood beside me, unloading her tray.

I gave her a small smile. “Yeah, it’s great. We’re packed tonight, huh.” I looked around the bar and only a few tables were vacant, but the night was still young.

“More money, honey,” she said with a wink as Janice placed some drinks on her tray. “When are you taking your ten-minute break?”

I looked at the clock and noticed it was already ten-thirty. “Um, I can take it after I drop these drinks off.” We all got two ten-minute breaks during the night since we worked over six hours.

“Sounds good. Let me know when you get back on the floor,” she said as she took her tray and walked off.

Max placed drinks on my tray and I headed off to my customers. I could go all night without taking a break, but rules were rules. All I did was sit in the back, anyway. I’d much rather stay busy and help the time go by faster.

After dropping a few drinks off, I headed toward Mason’s table, staring at him on the way. I couldn’t divert my eyes. Trying not to look at him was taking way too much effort.

I got to the group and placed their drinks on the table. They were engrossed in a conversation so nobody paid any attention to me, except for Mason.

“I’ll be taking a short break, so if you need anything before I get back, please flag one of the other waitresses down,” I said with a smile, then walked off.

I needed to get some water. My body was flushed and I felt overheated being so close to him.

After dropping my tray off at the bar, I headed toward the back room. I figured I’d get some water then use the restroom before I went back on the floor. That should take up at least part of the ten minutes so I didn’t have to sit back there doing nothing.

I walked through the door and flung it behind me, but it didn’t bang closed. Instead, it clicked softly. I spun around to look at the door and jumped in fright with my hand over my chest. Mason was standing there, leaning against the door with a smug look on his face.

“What the hell are you doing back here? You aren’t allowed in here.”

He gazed at me without saying a word as I stood there, heart racing. His eyes roamed over my body, then back up to meet my eyes.