become.
He’d forgotten the excitement of it until her eyes flew wide and she wound her arms around him and pressed so hard against him she penetrated the layers of distance he kept between him and the rest of the world. It was as if she’d pulled him out of a cave despite his protests then flung him into the sun.
It had rocked Nic to his foundation. He hadn’t known sex could be like that. She’d been inexperienced but it hadn’t mattered. Her response, the total surrender in her eyes—all of it had been more than Nic had ever dreamed possible. He’d found something precious with Lizzie. He’d fallen asleep with her in his arms planning breakfast and thinking the world might not be such a bad place after all.
Then she’d taken it away. Done what everyone else he let himself care for did. She’d left.
She’d walked out of his hotel room and disappeared, leaving him empty except for the raging hunger he’d been unable to slake with anyone else. Last night he’d tried but had ended up leaving a beautiful girl in tears when he told her it wasn’t working.
Pam’s hand on his forearm under the table kept Nic from clawing the table in half. She handed him a pen. He didn’t read the paperwork. He signed it, handing over almost two billion dollars he’d never see again. A family debt paid.
Family? The word was laughable. He shared the Maretti name but they were not his family. Not that he needed one, Nic reminded himself. He didn’t need anyone, other than the woman sitting next to him in this farce of a meeting, and the large man standing by the door, who never left Nic’s side. Both Pam and Tag, the head of his security team, had enormous salaries in return for keeping the world away from him.
Nic didn’t need anyone else.
“Miss Sellers, are we boring you?”
Lizzie's chin slipped off her palm as she straightened in the uncomfortable desk. Cringing, she ignored the snickers and took a deep breath. “No, sorry.”
“Maybe you aren’t interested in Riemann surfaces.”
Heat crawled up the back of her neck and she wiped her hand across her face, hoping to stop the angry color burning under her skin. Hatton wasn’t the most fascinating lecturer in the department. Normally she fooled him into thinking she was paying attention, but today she was off her game.
She wasn’t back in the real world yet. Everything was slightly out of sync. Sleeping with Nic had been a huge mistake. She was haunted by the glide of his hands over her, the way his legs felt tangled with hers. She could still feel him and taste him. She couldn’t close her eyes without the night replaying itself for her. Had he been disappointed? Had he not called because their night hadn’t been anything special?
Lizzie swallowed hard and tried not to fall apart.
He hadn’t called because she’d walked out on him.
“Sellers!”
Her attention snapped back to him again. He was staring up at her from his podium, eyebrows raised. Had he asked her a question? Lizzie wasn’t sure. She searched the last few minutes but there was nothing. And there was never nothing. Tears burned her throat and panic started to set in. She’d never felt so out of control before.
“We’re waiting—” Hatton leaned against the podium.
This confrontation had been brewing all semester. It had started when she’d asked him a question he couldn’t answer the first week of classes. She hadn’t meant to embarrass him, but she’d ended up making a serious enemy. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let him get to her and she managed to ignore him. Now, on the last day of class, she bit down hard on the inside of her lip and tried not to say something she couldn’t come back from.
“Or are you all out of your famous questions?”
She was on her feet before she realized what she was doing.
“You take one step and you’re out. The rest of you get out, class dismissed.”
The room quickly emptied out, but he took his time packing his messenger
He’d forgotten the excitement of it until her eyes flew wide and she wound her arms around him and pressed so hard against him she penetrated the layers of distance he kept between him and the rest of the world. It was as if she’d pulled him out of a cave despite his protests then flung him into the sun.
It had rocked Nic to his foundation. He hadn’t known sex could be like that. She’d been inexperienced but it hadn’t mattered. Her response, the total surrender in her eyes—all of it had been more than Nic had ever dreamed possible. He’d found something precious with Lizzie. He’d fallen asleep with her in his arms planning breakfast and thinking the world might not be such a bad place after all.
Then she’d taken it away. Done what everyone else he let himself care for did. She’d left.
She’d walked out of his hotel room and disappeared, leaving him empty except for the raging hunger he’d been unable to slake with anyone else. Last night he’d tried but had ended up leaving a beautiful girl in tears when he told her it wasn’t working.
Pam’s hand on his forearm under the table kept Nic from clawing the table in half. She handed him a pen. He didn’t read the paperwork. He signed it, handing over almost two billion dollars he’d never see again. A family debt paid.
Family? The word was laughable. He shared the Maretti name but they were not his family. Not that he needed one, Nic reminded himself. He didn’t need anyone, other than the woman sitting next to him in this farce of a meeting, and the large man standing by the door, who never left Nic’s side. Both Pam and Tag, the head of his security team, had enormous salaries in return for keeping the world away from him.
Nic didn’t need anyone else.
“Miss Sellers, are we boring you?”
Lizzie's chin slipped off her palm as she straightened in the uncomfortable desk. Cringing, she ignored the snickers and took a deep breath. “No, sorry.”
“Maybe you aren’t interested in Riemann surfaces.”
Heat crawled up the back of her neck and she wiped her hand across her face, hoping to stop the angry color burning under her skin. Hatton wasn’t the most fascinating lecturer in the department. Normally she fooled him into thinking she was paying attention, but today she was off her game.
She wasn’t back in the real world yet. Everything was slightly out of sync. Sleeping with Nic had been a huge mistake. She was haunted by the glide of his hands over her, the way his legs felt tangled with hers. She could still feel him and taste him. She couldn’t close her eyes without the night replaying itself for her. Had he been disappointed? Had he not called because their night hadn’t been anything special?
Lizzie swallowed hard and tried not to fall apart.
He hadn’t called because she’d walked out on him.
“Sellers!”
Her attention snapped back to him again. He was staring up at her from his podium, eyebrows raised. Had he asked her a question? Lizzie wasn’t sure. She searched the last few minutes but there was nothing. And there was never nothing. Tears burned her throat and panic started to set in. She’d never felt so out of control before.
“We’re waiting—” Hatton leaned against the podium.
This confrontation had been brewing all semester. It had started when she’d asked him a question he couldn’t answer the first week of classes. She hadn’t meant to embarrass him, but she’d ended up making a serious enemy. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t let him get to her and she managed to ignore him. Now, on the last day of class, she bit down hard on the inside of her lip and tried not to say something she couldn’t come back from.
“Or are you all out of your famous questions?”
She was on her feet before she realized what she was doing.
“You take one step and you’re out. The rest of you get out, class dismissed.”
The room quickly emptied out, but he took his time packing his messenger
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