Chapter 14

Julie

Julie barely slept at all. When she got up, her emotions were a mess. She turned her phone on, but she didn't want to. She had an early class, and there was no way she was leaving it off when her sister was eight months pregnant and looking like she was ready to pop any day. As soon as Julie heard the ding, she knew it was either Cody or her father. They were both bad options, so instead of checking the messages, she hurried to the bathroom to shower. Then she quickly got ready for class, looking more like a college student than a teacher when she walked out the door.

By the time she got to her first class, she couldn't take it anymore, so she brought up her messages. It was Cody. He did have a point. she was so busy thinking about what her dad wanted, and she shouldn't have been. It was her life. What did she want? She wanted to stay. As much as she'd wanted to work with her dad since she was a little girl, she wasn't sure anymore. Julie wanted to teach. She loved it. Seeing her students learn and have a good time doing it made her happy. It made her feel like she was making a difference. It might not have been a difference in the world, but it was a difference in the lives of college students. That was what mattered to her.

When her first student walked in, she set her phone down and prepared for class. Each student that walked in greeted her with a hello and a smile. Yes, that was what made her happy. As soon as the clock hand landed on the twelve, Julie dove right in to what she had planned to teach that day. When the alarm on her phone rang out, she knew the class was over. Each student made a point of saying goodbye, and Julie made sure to tell each of them to have a good day and good luck studying. Their next class would be their final exam, and she didn't want any of them to stress over it. Part of her was sad to see her first set of classes coming to an end, but another part of her was so happy for the kids having one more semester under their belts.

Once Julie's last class had ended, she was exhausted, so she collected her stuff and walked toward the door. Her phone had been dinging like crazy, but she hadn't checked it once, and that made her proud. It hadn't been an easy task, but she'd done it.

She pulled the door shut and locked it behind her. When she turned around without looking up, she ran into a wall of muscle in a suit and jumped as her things fell to the ground from her arms.

“Damn!” she heard him hiss, as he went down on his knee and began picking her things up from the floor.

“Your suit,” she yelped, as she pulled at his arm for him to get up.

“Screw the suit,” he growled out from deep in his chest. “I'm sorry. I didn't know you hadn't seen me.”

“It's fine,” she said, as they both stood up. “I wasn't paying attention.”

She quickly reached forward to pull her things from his arms, but he pulled back.

“You're done for the day, right?” he asked.

“And you know that how?” she snapped.

“I have my ways,” he said, with humor filling his words, but she didn't smile.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“You haven't answered my messages,” he said.

“So, you're the one that's been interrupting my classes all day then?” she asked.

“No, I wouldn't do that,” he said, in a serious tone. “I text you once last night and once today. Who else has been texting you?”

“What do you care?” she asked.

The playful look left Cody's face as he stepped forward toward her. He shifted the things he was holding to one arm, as she took a quick step back. When he stepped forward again, she had nowhere to go. As her back hit the door to her classroom, his body pushed against hers, leaving not a single inch between them. His free hand landed on the door next to her face, and the moment she looked up and their eyes connected, his mouth crashed down over hers. Cody swallowed her gasp and thrust his tongue into her mouth, and before Julie even realized what she was doing, her hand dove into his hair and held it tight between her fingers. She thought they couldn't get any closer, but she was wrong. Cody's body pushed hers even harder against the door, and she felt her body melt into his, lost in the most intense and amazing kiss she'd ever experienced in her life. She felt her nipples pebble into hard points against her shirt, as her chest pushed forward against his with each deep breath she took. The heated feeling that flooded her as she felt his hardness press against her had her ready to climb his body and wrap herself around him.

Julie was feeling and thinking things she'd never experienced before, and when Cody finally released her mouth so they could both catch their breath, she knew she had to get away from him. There was so much she needed to think about, and having his body touching hers had her mind a jumbled mess. She couldn't think straight, not one bit. Just as she opened her eyes to tell him she needed to go, his forehead came down gently against hers and he looked into her eyes.

“I do care,” he said, in the softest, sweetest, sexiest tone.

“You do?” she whispered.

“I do,” he answered. “I'm sorry, Julie, so damn sorry. Thank you for defending me. Can you forgive me?”

As Julie stood there, with his body closer to hers than it had ever been and feelings moving through her that she'd never felt before, she knew there was only one answer to give, and she hoped with everything in her that she wouldn't regret it.

“Yes,” she answered, as a smile so damn wide filled her face. “I can forgive you.”