Fuck, I still dream about his hands on my body. About the filthy things he’d whisper in my ear in the darkness. The way his cock would slide in and out of me, making my body fucking sing for him. More often than I’d like to admit, I lie awake at night wondering if he’s in bed with his wife, making her feel the way he made me feel, if he’s saying the shit he said to me.

I hate her.

I don’t even know her, and I hate her. She gets the life I wanted. And why wasn’t she with him on Friday?

It pisses me off that this shit is still taking up space in my mind days later, as I walk into class Monday morning. I’m early, as usual. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll probably never be one of those professors who strolls into class a few minutes after everyone else. Nope. My neurotic, type A personality has to be early.

I’m running through my lecture for today when the sound of the door opening catches my attention. There’s still at least ten minutes before class, so I’m surprised to see that anyone is already here. As I drag my gaze from my laptop up to the person walking in, my throat sinks to my stomach.

“Dean Philips,” I bite out. “What a surprise.”

“Good morning, Cash.” The genuine smile on his face pisses me off. “Do you have a moment?”

“How can I help you?”

“There is a literary convention next weekend. I would’ve told you about it sooner, but I just learned about it.”

I can do nothing but stare at him, blinking, for several moments. “You want to take me to a convention?” I deadpan.

“No! No. Sorry, I should’ve started there. I’m seeing if you wanted to attend… without me. Stella is going too. It’s in Fort Worth. You guys could drive down together… or not. It’s just a really great opportunity for a new professor.”

“Oh, uh.” Now I feel like an idiot for jumping to conclusions. Why the fuck would the dean of the university take time out of his fucking weekend to go to a convention? Dumbass. “Yeah, that’d be cool. I’ll reach out to Stella and finalize the details. It’s this weekend?”

“Yes. Okay. Glad you’re going to go. I think it’ll be good for you. And Stella has been to several of these over the years.”

I wish I didn’t notice how fucking hot he looks standing in front of my desk. He’s wearing a gray suit that, as fucking always, looks tailored perfectly to his sexy ass body. A cognac tie is wrapped around his neck, and his unruly black locks are tamed and slicked back. I also can’t help but notice his ring finger is missing something.