Another Visit From the Dean

Leila

I winced. His cold shoulder was deserved, but I hated it. I hated that I had to push him far, far away. It was about the last thing I wanted to do, but it was necessary.

With all the students gone, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was tempted to go to the café in the hopes I could accidentally run into Christopher grabbing some lunch. I wanted to talk to him and explain my behavior.

I couldn’t. I had to stick with my plan to keep things strictly professional between us. No lunches. No funny stories. No sexy smiles and definitely none of those heated looks that always seemed to pass between us.

Hands off the goods.

“Knock, knock,” Dean Johnson’s voice cut through the room.

A cold knot of dread filled my stomach. I turned to look at the doorway, hoping like hell it was in my head and he wasn’t really standing there. “Dean Johnson,” I said, my voice higher than usual. “What brings you by?”

Guilt pounded in my brain. I looked down at my chest, making sure there wasn’t a giant scarlet