The Phantom is Professor Stone.

Chase Stone of Stone Enterprises.

Professor Chase Phantom Stone.

No matter how many times I said it or how many different ways I twisted it together, I was still having trouble believing it. I paced back and forth in the bathroom for what felt like hours as I tried to wrap my head around the whole thing.

Part of me was a nervous wreck. I’d just kissed Chase freaking Stone—a man I had a wild amount of respect for. Not only that, I practically idolized him for his career and his slightly unusual but totally effective manner of teaching. I felt like I learned more in his class than I had during my first three years of college combined.

On the other hand, I was thrilled. I had a crush on Chase ever since his eyes locked on me during his first day of class. At first it was only because I found him so attractive, but that changed during our first real conversation.

The one that began with him telling me I was the shining star of the class and ended with the demand that I call him Chase from that point on.

In the middle of that conversation, he offered me private tutoring sessions once a week—something akin to an internship, but wouldn’t interfere with my other courses like a real one would.

Thinking back, I wondered how I managed to miss the signs. I was the only one in any of his classes who received private tutoring and I wrote it off because of his comment about working for his company one day. He was just training me for a job and that was all there was to it, or so I convinced myself.

My boyfriend at the time was less enthused about the opportunity. Our relationship hadn’t exactly been strong to begin with, but that’s when things really started getting rocky. Had Mike been jealous of the time I spent with Chase instead of him? Or did he see something in the way Professor Stone looked at me that I didn’t?

The truth of it was... I did see it. I saw the fondness in his eyes and how his warm smiles only appeared for me. I was the one who made the mistake of interpreting it as friendly instead of romantic.

I couldn’t stop myself from wondering how different things might have been if I had recognized it back then. Would Mike and I have broken up sooner? Would something have happened between us during those private sessions beyond business talk and pleasant conversation?

No. I was sure that even if I’d been single, he wouldn’t have made a move. Above all else, Chase was a proper man—a gentleman, even. While I was his student, nothing would have happened between us.

Of course, the summer following my graduation might have been a lot more eventful. As it was, I ended up going with Mike on a long road trip to visit his family and some old friends in Arkansas. We were both under the impression that spending the whole summer together would bring us closer, but it ultimately backfired.

Mike frequently dropping me off at his mother’s house so he could go drinking with his high school buddies hadn’t helped any. I remember sitting in his old bedroom, frowning as I scrolled through Facebook and saw the adventures my friends back in New York were getting into.

All I could think was: I passed up a job with Professor Stone for this?

Even though he’d made it clear the job would be waiting for me whenever I wanted it, I was too embarrassed to face him when I finally got back to the city just after Labor Day. I took a part-time job at a drugstore while I worked on psyching myself up to see Chase again to ask if he was still willing to give me a chance.

All the confidence I managed to regain was shot to shit when I found out about Mike’s new girl on the side. A friend of his texted me about the infidelity—saying he felt like I deserved to know and asking for my discretion when it came to confronting Mike. While he was kind enough to tell me, he didn’t want to wreck his friendship over something that really didn’t concern him.

Instead of asking Mike directly about the rumor, I set up a ruse and caught them in the act one evening when he thought I was staying with a friend.

After that, all my energy went to finding a place to live and moving. My apartment wasn’t glamorous by any stretch of the imagination, but it was mine. With everything that was going on, I didn’t even have the time to think about Chase, let alone go to the Stone Enterprises building to see him.

I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. Not with everything Chase had done to bring us back together. While I was still incredibly nervous, I was also giddy about the lengths he had gone to.

Did he really throw this whole party for me?

I recalled our first meeting in the hallway when he said he planned to focus all his attention on me and the answer was clear. Everything was for me—for us.

Any thought I had of leaving flew out the proverbial window. I promised him I would stay, but even if I hadn’t, there was no way I could walk away. Not now. Not when my crush was within reach.

Not when I could still feel the ghost sensation of his lips against mine.

With a fresh determination, I stepped back into the hall and made my way toward the music once again. The security guard who reprimanded me about being in the back earlier merely raised an eyebrow as I walked past. I could feel his eyes on me during my walk down the hall, ignoring the sensation along with the other guests as I went right to the front door.

I startled and stepped back as the door opened to let in a guest, locking eyes with my target almost immediately. I saw the flash of panic on his face as I caught the door with my hand.

“You know who I am, right?”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Jonas nodded.

“I thought so. I want to see Chase. Now.”

He cocked his head to the side and grinned before he turned around to face the man holding the guest list, who’d been watching our exchange with a raised eyebrow.

“I’ll be right back.” Jonas slipped inside and jerked his chin in the direction of the staircase. “Ladies first.”

Here we go.