Fraternization Rule (Risque Contracts Book 3)(3)

It was completely irrational, but I gritted my teeth at the idea of another man providing my Charlotte with a place to live. Even if he was married to her sister.

My determination to have her permanently in my house, in my bed, was renewed. There wasn’t anything for her to figure out, she was going to be mine. End of story. Rings and babies came to mind, but she was young and I didn’t think she’d be ready for all of that now, even if she sounded all dreamy when she talked about her nephew. I wasn’t happy about giving her time to adjust to the idea of those things, but I was trying to be flexible. I’d give her a year. Maybe.

I’d made millions on my books, there was no need for her to work ever again. Once she gave me a son or daughter, she’d be home with them anyway.

I shook my head, trying to clear away the jumble of thoughts, narrowing them down to one goal at a time. Step one was getting her in my bed. Once I had her there, I’d make sure everything else fell into place.

She was about to walk through the door when I called her name, “Charlotte.” She stopped instantly, almost frozen, then slowly pivoted in my direction. Her soft brown eyes were wide, and confused. Her pretty little mouth parted in shock.

“I’d like to see you in my office after the exam on Monday.”





Chapter 3


Charlotte


“So, you’re totally fine if I toss out your box of signed books?” My sister’s voice was laced with ironic humor. Understandably so since she knew damn well that I’d kill her if she did any such thing.

“What? No! Not my preciouses.” I ran forward and got between her and the box in question. “I stood in line for hours to get some of these babies signed. They are my most prized possessions. You can’t throw them away.”

“You know I didn’t mean it,” she reassured me. “But I had to do something to grab your attention. I don’t think you’ve heard a word I’ve said. Is it finals? Don’t worry about them so much. You’re set to graduate a semester early when the trend is to take five years instead of four. You’ve already been accepted to your top two grad school choices. In the grand scheme of things, these last few tests won’t mean much, and knowing you I’m sure you’ll ace them anyway.”

“It’s not finals,” I admitted, pausing to gather my thoughts, trying to find the words to properly explain to Elisa why I’d been so distracted. I took a moment to appreciate the beauty of my new fully furnished apartment before walking over to the couch and slumping down onto the soft cushions.

She followed me over and sat down beside me. “It’s time to spill the beans, Charlotte. I’ve let you get away with keeping your lips zipped, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t noticed you’ve been off lately. For months.”

“Crap,” I sighed. “It must be more noticeable than I thought if you noticed, since you’ve had your hands full with Brysen and Gregory.”

She crossed her arms over her chest, a sure sign she wasn’t about to give up on getting me to talk. “Yeah, and if you want to tell me without my hubby listening in and taking over, you better start talking now.” She glanced down at the diamond watch on her wrist, a gift from Brysen at the birth of their son. “They left for their walk to the park five minutes ago.”

“Which means we have maybe five minutes left,” I joked, well aware that Brysen didn’t like to leave his wife’s side. It didn’t get me a laugh from my sister. She just glared at me, tapping her foot while she waited for me to begin my story. I’d run out of time.

“There’s this guy,” I began, and her eyes lit up.

“A guy,” she breathed. “I should have known! I can help with a guy situation a lot easier than I can with the whole grad school thing because I didn’t want to unduly influence you. Tell me all about him. Did you meet him on campus? Is he part of the reason you’re having a hard time picking which school to attend next year?”

“You could put it that way,” I drawled, interrupting her litany of questions. “And yes, I did meet him in class.”

“Is he a senior too? Are you waiting to hear which grad school he’s been accepted to or is he planning to head straight into the job market after graduation? And why haven’t I met him yet?”

“Lissa!” I snapped. “You aren’t making this any easier for me, so I might as well just spit it out. Gabe isn’t a student. He’s a professor. I’m in love with one of my professors.”

“Your professor?” Brysen barked out from behind me. I hadn’t heard the door open when they returned. “What the fuck is his last name? The bastard should have known better than to mess around with one of his students.”