Chapter 20
“I’ve missed you,” he admitted.
A heavy knock on the door interrupted their moment and they quickly broke away from each other. Edward glanced toward the door as he quickly sat down at his desk, opening the first book on the pile in front of him. The door was slightly open, causing him to feel uneasy at what the intruder might have seen or heard. The last thing he wanted was to cause trouble for Eva. He didn’t know the consequences for dating a professor but he was sure it wasn’t good. The last thing he wanted was to get Eva into trouble.
He pointed at a paragraph in the book and took a deep breath. “Come in,” he called out.
When Gracie pushed the door open and walked inside, he forced a smile.
“So, this is the part you should be concentrating on for the quiz coming up,” he said, looking at Eva. She quickly looked at the page, catching on to his act.
“Okay, thank you Professor. I will work on that. Hopefully it will help my grade.”
She quickly stood up and scooted out of his office, leaving him wondering if she was going to wait for him or if she was cancelling their date before it even got set in stone.
“Gracie. Hello. I was just helping out a student in my class.” He kept his eyes on her face. Did she see them kiss? Did she hear them talking?
“I’m surprised a student is doing poorly so soon. It has only been a couple of weeks and she already needs help?”
“She is just having a little trouble catching on. She is trying to avoid falling behind I guess. If only all my students felt that way, huh?”
She eyed him suspiciously, making him feel uneasy.
“What can I do for you?” He was antsy and wanted to get her out of there as soon as he could.
“I haven’t seen you all week and I wanted to stop by.” She walked closer to him then behind him, dragging her finger along the collar of his shirt. “I was hoping you would have called me. I was hoping we could have gone out for drinks or dinner or… something.”
“Yeah, I have been swamped all week. Trying to get used to everything, learning the ropes and helping my students. I’m sure you know how it is.”
“I guess I do,” She said in passing. She ran her hands down his chest, still standing behind him. “Let’s make it tonight,” she whispered in his ear. “We have the weekend, Eddie. I want you.” She kissed his neck hard and started breathing heavily. She tried turning him around but the chair wasn’t cooperating, so she gave up and stepped back in hopes that he would push himself away from his desk.
He did, but he got up on the other side of the chair, keeping it between them. “Gracie, what are you doing?”
“Do I have to hit you over the head with a brick? Are men really that naïve about what a woman wants?” She walked up close to him and pressed her chest against his. Her arms dangled to her sides as if she was trying to push him into the wall with her breasts. Everything she did was awkward and a bit creepy. “I’m trying to wine you,” she said, pushing into him. “I’d love to dine you.” She stretched her body upwards, her lips closer to his. “Maybe even sixty….”
“Okay,” he said, urgently. He stepped back and turned away from her, moving so his desk was between them. “I really can’t do this.”
“Oh, I understand. Your office isn’t the appropriate place for you. You are traditional, aren’t you Eddie? You a little old school?” She walked around the desk toward him with a devious grin. “You like to fuck in the bedroom?”
He stayed away from her and tried reasoning with her, but knew it was futile.
“Gracie!” he snapped. He held the palm of his hand out toward her and looked her directly into her eyes. “Stop this.”
“Wow, I’ve heard of hard to get, but this is ridiculous. A good looking guy like yourself shouldn’t have a hard time with women.” She looked genuinely concerned. She shook her head like a mother would do looking down at a small child who tripped and fell over his rocking horse and skinned his knee until the blood trickled down his tiny little leg. “Let me take care of you.” She moved closer to him as he stared at her, concerned that something was mentally wrong with the woman. “Let me show you how to love.” She slid her arms around him and pressed her cheek against his chest. Her hands cascaded up and down his back, humming vibrating through him from her mouth.
He looked down at her, wondering just how unstable she really was. He knew he had to put an end to whatever she had conjured up in her head about the two of them.
“Gracie. We need to have a talk.”
She looked up at him, her finger snapping up toward his mouth. “Shhh. Don’t talk.” She pushed him gently backwards until he sat on the edge of his desk and straddled his leg. “Just feel,” she whispered.
Before he could stop it, she had her mouth on his while her hands groped and grabbed at his chest, arms and groin. She moaned as if they had been connected this way for longer than the few seconds it took for him to come to his senses. She pressed her crotch into his upper thigh and moved back and forth as if he was actually fucking her.
He tried moving back but each time he did she would lean into him, groping him and sucking on his lip. “Gracie!” He turned his head to the side and pushed her off him with more force than he should have used.
With a thud, she hit the floor and looked up at him with hurt filled eyes. “Eddie?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to….” He fed his fingers through his hair, frustrated that the situation turned so quickly. He held his hand out to her to help her up, but she remained where she landed. “Let me help you up. Please.”
She reluctantly took his hand and he hoisted her up onto her feet.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
She looked up at him and a smile formed on her face. She launched herself toward him again, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him wildly.
“Gracie,” he mumbled. “Please.”
“Mmm, I know,” she cooed. “We can lock the door. It’s okay to be spontaneous.”
“No!” He snapped. “Stop this, now!” He grabbed both her arms and shoved her backwards, holding on to her tightly.
“You’re hurting me,” she said quietly. Her voice trembled.
“Listen to me.” He didn’t back off. “You have to stop coming on to me this way. The only relationship I want with you is colleague to colleague. We are co-workers, nothing more.”
“But, I can make you feel so good.” She tried to move into him again, but he held her where she stood.
“I don’t want to have any sort of intimate relationship with you. Do you understand that?” He talked to her as if he was scolding a small child.
She rounded her back and cowered her shoulders forward, lowering her head and wincing through her tightly closed mouth.
Edward didn’t know how to take it. She was acting like a rotten spoiled teenager who wasn’t getting what she wanted. He would have taken her over his knee if he didn’t think it would turn her on.
“Are you… breaking up with me?”
“Gracie, we were never dating.”
She looked up at him and her sadness faded into anger. She slowly stood up tall and straightened her shoulders.
“You men are all alike,” she said in a gruff voice. “How dare you think you can lead me on then turn me away when my heart falls into your hands.”
“Um, excuse me? We had one date, and it wasn’t even really a date.”
“So what’s the quota? Two dates? Five? Fifteen!” She got in his face and started screaming at him. “How many dates have to happen before I am allowed to fall for a guy!”
“I think you are being a little unreasonable.” He went back through his memories to make sure he never came on to her or gave her any reason to think they had something between them, but he couldn’t think of any. “Gracie, let’s just sit down and talk about this.”
“No! You had your chance. You’re just a big asshole.” She turned away from him and walked toward the door.
He kept this mouth shut, hoping she would leave, but when she turned back toward him he knew it wasn’t over.
“Don’t forget how much I helped you! If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have gotten your precious file for your precious research. I risked my job for you. I didn’t have to do that ya know.”
He nodded. “I know, and I am grateful to you for that.”
“If it wasn’t for me you would be in jail right now for breaking and entering. I gave that disgusting fat fuck of a security guard a god damned blow job to get you out of that mess!”
“Yes,” he said, simply, disgusted at the memory flooding back to him.
“You’re lucky I was there. You’re lucky I was keeping my eye on you. I could have just let Ronnie take you to the cops.”
Something turned inside Edward’s stomach. She was stalking him. What kind of woman was this? He began to wonder if she was psychotic, or dangerous. He tried going along with whatever she said to wrap this little soirée up and get the hell away from her before something happened.
“And I thank you for that, as a friend.”
“Of course, it’s always as a friend.” Her tone was sarcastic as she walked around the room flailing her arms in the air.
“Listen, Gracie. It’s nothing against you. You’re a beautiful woman. It’s just that…. I just got out of a bad relationship and it still hurts. I guess I just need time to myself.”
And like a light switch, her anger turned off. “Awe,” she pouted. “You poor, poor baby.” She quickly walked to him and put her arms around him, comforting him and petting him. “Did she hurt you bad?”
“Yes,” he pouted, playing into her sympathy.
“Did she cheat on you?”
“Um, she did. Yes.”
“Did you catch her? Was she in bed with another man? Naked and fucking him hard when you walked in on them?”
He leaned back to look at her face. Was she serious?
“Did you beat the hell out of him like he deserved?”
“Uh, no. I didn’t catch them. I found out through a friend. Hey, listen. I have to get out of here. I have to meet some of the guys.” He pulled away from her and quickly walked to the other side of his desk, gathered his things and shoved them in to his bag.
The whole time he did this, she watched him with sympathetic eyes.
“If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, you can call me,” she said.
“Thank you,” he said, picking up his case. He walked through the open door and left Gracie there by herself.