“Order, Mr. Donovan. We need order in our lives.”

She caught the grin he tried to hide as he opened the door for her. In the nearly empty parking lot, he turned to face her. “You have enough order in your life. I’m here to bring a little disorder. I think you’ll prefer that much more.”

He was challenging her and she didn’t know how to respond. She simply liked feeling in control. Time management was the security blanket that ensured she wouldn’t be swept away by her feelings. Whenever she looked into John’s eyes, she knew there was a danger in getting lost in his chaos.

In her undergraduate days, she’d had a devastating crush on a classmate in her Creative Writing class. As she had fallen in love with Phil, her grades had taken a dive as well. She had volunteered to read his short stories and offer him critiques, while she wrote saccharine-sweet poetry about him. After they broke up, it had taken everything in her power to get back in the game and save her final exam grades. The problem was that she hadn’t had a plan back then, but she had one now. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Donovan.”

He nodded. “When we kissed in the History section, you called me Johnny. Do you remember that?”

She shook her head even though she did. It was a slip-up she wanted to avoid speaking about altogether.

“Well you did,” he said, backing away from her. As he walked to his pickup truck, he called over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t mind hearing it more during our scheduled meetups.”

Dang it.

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

By 12:30, Victoria had already taught two classes, shoved the last student conference out the door, and had quickly checked in with the writing center workers. As usual, she was productive and anxious. Today, the source of her anxiety was not work-related, but John-related. Last night, she had been bold enough to send him an email, detailing where to meet and how much time they had. It had taken her nearly an hour to pen a paragraph-long message, that basically said: “I’ll be waiting in my office, come get me.” The thrill of clicking send was enough to make her giggle in her home office. If she only had one week to have her version of a sordid affair, Victoria wanted to get started. She now sat behind her desk wondering what to do with herself. When her phone buzzed, she swiftly grabbed for it. It was a text from John.

Mr. Donovan: What’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done?

Okay, we’re starting. Victoria settled in her chair and thought of interesting things to reply. She enjoyed writing, but she didn’t know that she’d also be a fan of sexting. She was ready to engage.

Victoria: Let’s see... ALLEGEDLY stealing a library book.