Time for Change by Sam Crescent Page B

working, keep her close to him.
    “How can you take care of
me? You’re only putting in part time hours at the hospital.” The words blurted
out of her before she could stop them. She went back to nibbling on her
sandwich.
    “Did your date not feed
you?” he asked, stepping closer.
    “He ordered my food, but he
ordered everything I hated.”
    Chris nodded, and she was
brought back to the fact he knew what to order her. She’d told him everything
about herself. He took her other sandwich, took a bite and wrinkled his nose.
Before she could stop him, he took the sandwich out of her hand and threw it in
the trash.
    “Hey, I was eating that,”
she said.
    “No, that was not fit for
animal consumption let alone human.” He nudged her out of the way, and started to
make her a fresh sandwich. His presence made it hard for her to focus on
anything else.
    His hands, which had been
all over her, were expertly making her a sandwich. She snorted and made to
move. He reached out, placing an arm over her stomach. She looked down at the
hand then up at him. His dark gaze was focused on her. Chris stepped in front
of her.
    “This is not funny,” he
said.
    She couldn’t speak even as
he unknotted her blanket. Slowly, the blanket fell to the floor, leaving her
naked.
    He tore some of the fresh
sandwich and pressed it to her lips. “Open.”
    Rachel took the sandwich he
offered and chewed. His fingers lingered on her lips, stroking.
    “Claire accepted part of me.
She quit work and decided to raise our baby. It took me time to make her do it. I’m not going to change who I am. I’m set in my
ways.”
    “You’re only forty-two.”
    “And you’re twenty-six. I
know what I want. I won’t budge.”
    “What if I want to work?”
    “There’s nothing to stop you
from going back to college, and I finally figured out why you quit college,” he
said.
    She remained silent, not
believing him. He’d never once questioned her decision to quit.
    “I did some digging. One of
your professors was a predator. He would bribe students with high grades so
long as they spent time in his bed,” Chris said.
    Rachel felt tears spring to
her eyes. She recalled being summoned to his office. The shock at hearing his
proposal had disgusted her. He would give her the right grades so long as she
did everything he said. The professor had felt her up. Instead of fighting him,
she’d run and never returned to the college.
    “How did you find out?” she
asked.
    His grip tightened on her
hip. “I found out because I did some digging. One of the girls wasn’t so happy
about being blackmailed for sex. She took him on, the college and won.”
    “What do you mean?”
    Chris smirked. “The guy
tried to make out the girl was a predator. He thought the other professors
would have his back. He was surprised when the other staff were disgusted with him. I believe he did jail time and can no longer work in a
position of such responsibility.”
    “Why are
you telling me this, if you knew?” She kept her gaze on his even though it took every ounce of willpower
not to look away.
    “I want to know why you
didn’t tell me. I know the answer ‘ cause I know you,
but I need to hear it from your lips.”
    She tucked some hair that
had fallen behind her ear.
    “He said it would be my word
against his.”
    “And?” Chris asked.
    “I didn’t think anyone would
believe me.”
    “And why was that?”
    Rachel hated herself at that
moment. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me because who’d try to blackmail
the fat girl into bed.” The words felt bitter rolling off her tongue.
    “The professor wanted you,
Rachel. You’ve got to see what other men see.”
    She shook her head. He
wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her from moving away.
    “You’re a sexy, desirable
woman. The professor sees what so many men see. You’re beautiful inside and
out. You’ve had so much loss, and yet you’re always happy.”
    “Stop,” she said, pressing a
hand