Bad Professor (An Alpha Male Bad Boy Romance) (115 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Fenton

I
tried not to look at Kya anymore, but I could feel the look in her eyes. I had
had that look before. She still smiled, she still danced, but her eyes were far
away. She was on the other side of the wall I put up. Now, there was nothing
but business between us.

The party kept
going and I kept up with it. Sienna did not notice that I switched out lots of
the tequila shots for water. She was too busy with her cameras and they were
too busy with her. The reality show was exhausting and her plastered on smiles were
wearing me down. I was glad when the party finally started to break up.

My swollen eye did
bother me. Kya had been the only one to ask about it. My shoulders were stiff,
my arms sore, the effort of the fight was finally weighing down on me. The
crowd inside the suite thinned out and once the music stopped, I switched back
to real Tequila. There was no wall of people hiding Kya from my sight. It was
time to get drunk.

I did not know why
I had to keep her at a distance. Winning the fight, signing the endorsement,
admitting that she could be an integral part of my life – it was all too much.
I needed to take a step back, but now it felt like a step off a jagged cliff.

"You did
good, kid," Aldous said. He held up his phone. "My wife wants to say
hello."

"Hello, Tia.
Yes, thank you. Yeah, you're right it is about time for me to move my stuff out
of your basement. Yes, I'll tell him. Okay, goodnight," I said.

Aldous laughed.
"She figures now that you're up the next rung you can afford to get your
own place. Gotta say I wouldn't mind it being somewhere around here. Tia
either. She wouldn't mind kissing those cold winters goodbye."

"You like it
here, too?" I asked.

"Aha! See, I
told you he was thinking about making Vegas his base," Kev said. He swayed
against Aldous and threw an arm around his neck. "I love this town. I knew
you'd love this town. Let's do it, let's move here."

"Whoa, slow
down, Kev. How much have you had to drink?" I asked.

"Enough to
tell you that this is the best idea Team Fenton has ever had," he replied.
"I mean, come on, most of your fights are out here or in Southern
California. We could drive there like in a convertible across the desert."

"You've been
watching too many movies," Aldous said.

"Who has time
for movies? I've been getting this guy gigs, then getting to the gigs, then
making sure he doesn't misbehave enough to get dropped from the gig. I'm
exhausted," Kev said.

"What makes
you think living out here would make it any different?" I asked.

Kev eyed a few of
the beautiful women on their way out of the party. "I could relax by the
pool here in between. You know, take in the sights."

I took another
shot of Tequila and let the warmth wash over me. "Alright, say I was
interested. You really think we could make a go of it out here?"

Aldous smiled.
"Here is better than anywhere. Tia's sick of you living in our basement.
I'm sick of being on the road. Kev's right, most of the fights are around here.
Weekends with the family would be really nice."

"Yes! Yes!
This is what I was telling Kya," Kev said.

I stopped cold
then slammed another shot. "You talked to Kya about moving to Las
Vegas?"

"Yeah, she
was thinking about it on her own. No more lonely little house in Chicago,"
Kev explained. "She wants to set up shop here."

"What are you
three talking about so cute over here?" Sienna asked. She was still on,
even though she waved to her exhausted camera crew as they left.

"We're
talking about living in Vegas," Kev said. He sidled closer to Sienna and
gave her a sloppy smile. "What do you think about that?"

"Yuck, it's
good for a weekend, good for some fun shots for the show, but I'm not sticking
around," she said.

"Well, good
luck with that," Kev told her. He rolled his eyes at me and followed
another trio of pretty ladies out to the elevator.

"Good
night," Aldous said. "We'll talk shop in the morning, not too
early."

I stood in the
door and expected Sienna to leave, too. Instead, she smiled and laid a very
long kiss on my cheek. Then, she sashayed over the white sofa and curled up
close to the fireplace. She crooked a finger, indicating I was supposed to come
and sit with her. For a minute, I hesitated. Kya was tipping the careering
staff and directing some of the party clean up. She refused to look at me, so I
went to sit with Sienna.

"I had a good
time tonight," Sienna said. She ran a hand up and down my sore bicep.
"You'd make a good regular on the show. I think fans will like you as much
as I do."

"And, if they
didn't?" I asked.

She pouted her
pink lips. "My fans like what I like, otherwise what is the point in
starring in your own reality show?"

"I have no
idea," I said. My eyes wandered to Kya. For one split second, her green
eyes flashed across mine. Then, she turned and disappeared through a side door.

I wanted to follow
her. I burned to know if she was sneaking off to see that horrible golfer. I
could round out the night by punching him clean in the face.

"Fenton? Did
you hear me?" Sienna asked.

"No, sorry,
what?"

"I was saying
we should head into the master bedroom," she stood up and shimmied in
front of me before sticking her hands out. Even though there were only a
handful of catering staff left, she still checked to make sure someone was
watching her.

I looked away. Kya
had slipped out to the balcony, and I could just barely make out her outline in
the dim morning light. Sienna pulled my face back to her and leaned down for a
long, lip-glossed kiss. She tasted of strawberry, the fake flavor that in no
way reminded me of the actual fruit. I could not do it.

"I'm tired.
Too many rounds with Maxwell Lewis. I'll walk you to the door," I said.

Sienna stood up
and pouted. She planted her hands on her hips and posed. "You can't be
serious."

"I fought
tonight, remember? I'm sore and I'm tired." I heaved myself off the white
sofa and walked her to the door.

"I sent the
cameras away and everything because I wanted some private time with you."

"Thanks for
thinking of me," I told her. "Goodnight."

Sienna's face had
the red tinge of a coming tantrum. I felt bad for the caterers waiting for the
elevator. They shuffled off towards the service elevator and I locked the door
behind them.

When I turned
around, all I could see was Kya. Pale streaks of orange broke over the horizon
and her silhouette was clear, standing alone to face the sunrise.

"Hell of a party,
huh?" I asked.

Kya jolted against
the balcony railing, surprised that I had joined her outside. She swiped at her
cheeks and turned away from me.

"Are you
crying?" I asked. "Are you okay?"

"Don't be
stupid. I don't have anything to cry about. I came out here to celebrate.
Business success and all that," she said.

I could not keep
my hands from wrapping around her shoulders. She pulled against the railing,
stiff from my touch, but I did not let go. I turned her slowly and pulled her
against my chest. Kya fought me, but then gave in for one sweet moment. The sky
brightened and she nestled her head under my chin.

"It's too
early in the morning for business," I said.

"Then, I
should go," Kya said. She pulled away and headed for the door.

"Is that all
you can do? Run for the door? Because that's exactly what you did the other
morning," I snapped.

Kya whirled to
face me, her eyes flashing emerald in the early morning light. "Excuse me?
Of course, I left. What did you expect me to do?"

"Me?" I
asked. "I guess I was fooled by your reputation. I thought you'd have the
decency to stick around. I didn't know you were one of those love 'em and leave
'em girls."

"Of course,
you would confuse that with a woman that has some dignity," Kya said.

"Dignity? Is
that what you call skipping down to the pool to flirt with your next potential
client?" I asked. My hands throbbed as my fingers curled into fists. I
should have iced them hours ago, but I welcomed the pain. It only made me
angrier at Kya. "Excuse me, if I thought you moved on a little too
fast."

“You think I'm the
one that moved on fast? You're the one that invited a stripper to the suite.
Let me see if I have the timeline right– we had sex in front of the fire, we
ate omelets, you invited the stripper to come join you, we had sex again, and
then you fucked a stripper in the room next to mine!"

I burst out
laughing. Kya's faced bloomed with an angry blush and she whirled towards the
door again. I lunged towards it and land the flat of my hand hard against. Kya
tried, but she could not pry the door open with me leaning on it. I laughed
even harder when my phone started ringing.

"What is
wrong with you?" Kya asked. "Is that her? By all means, answer it.
I'll get out of your way."

I pushed against
the door, giving Kya no choice, but to retreat to the opposite end of the
balcony. There was no other door.

"Hello, Sis?
Yeah, thanks. Yeah, I'm in a good mood, but you'll never guess. You were right.
About Kya. Yeah, that's exactly what she thought." I said. I held out the
phone. "Dana Maria wants to talk to you."

"What?"
Kya asked. She gave the railing a wild look. "Why would I want to talk to
her?"

"Because
she's my sister. My sister came over that morning and you met her at the
door," I said. My phone beeped and I looked at the screen and laughed.
"Here, she's sent a pic of her holding out her driver's license."

Kya crept towards
me and glanced at the phone. "And, her middle finger," she said.

"That's my
sister!" I tried to stop laughing, but it erupted out of me again as I
hung up on Dana Maria.

"It's not
funny," Kya said. She crossed her arms tight over her chest. "I
thought, I mean, you know what I thought."

"Well, now
that you know, what are you thinking?"

Kya covered her
face with her hands. "I'm thinking that I screwed everything up by going
out with Jackson. It really was just to sign him. I mean, he wanted a real date
and I was mad but, well, you were there. Nothing happened."

"Yeah,"
I said. "I was there. And, I forgot to tell you thanks for not letting me
get Tasered." I pulled her hands from her face and wrapped her arms around
my waist. "Business or not, you're there when I need you."

"And, how
about now?" Kya asked.

I tipped her sweet
lips to mine. "I need you now more than ever."

CHAPTER THIRTY

Kya

I
could not stop a tear from sliding down my cheek. The
 
fight, the party, the misunderstanding – it
was scarier than the roller coaster that hung off the roof of the Stratosphere.
Fenton brushed the tear away and leaned down to kiss me.

The soft murmur of
his lips against mine erased the past few days and my body leaped at the close
memory of his touch.

"No dancers,
no golfers, just us," Fenton said.

"No reality
stars, either?" I asked.

He pulled back and
shook his head. "God no. She was most definitely just using me for her
personal gain."

"You don't
think that's what I was doing?" I asked. "I mean, of course, the
contract is good for me, too, it's just that–"

He cut me off with
a searing kiss that warmed me more than the brightening sunlight. I leaned against
his hard body and gave into the explorations of his lips and tongue. Desire
lapped against my body, crashing like waves against the rocks when his teeth
nipped at my lips.

"Aren't you
sore?" I asked. "I don't want to hurt you."

"How
come," he asked in between feather light kisses, "you are the only
one that has ever asked me that?"

"I don't want
to hurt you," I said again.

"Then, you
won't." He took my hand and led me inside. The master bedroom shared the
same view as the balcony and the sunlight was just reaching the edges of the
king-sized bed when he laid me down on top of the covers.

I shifted, rolling
so he was underneath me, and paused to run my hands along his hard arms. I
marveled at the contours of his muscles, the cut and flex of his arms. Fenton
laid his head back against the pillows and closed his eyes in ecstasy. I
continued my light caresses of his taut body, unbuttoning his shirt and letting
my lips drift down his chest to the ridges of his stomach.

I tested his abs
with my teeth and he sucked in his breath. It came out in a ragged sigh as I
kissed my way along the waistband of his pants. Before I could continue my
explorations, his hands locked on my arms and pulled me up to his lips for
another melting kiss.

Lying on top of
him, I could feel the solid ridge of his desire. I eased myself over it and
rubbed, teasing us both. His hands were under my dress, slipping down my
panties, and then loosening the buttons of his pants. I sat up and pulled my
dress off over my head.

Fenton sat up to meet
me, his hot kisses dropping from my lips to my breasts, his tongue flicking out
to tease my nipples. I raised my hips up, lifting my breasts higher, aching for
his kisses. He pulled one nipple into his mouth and tugged until I moaned at
the sweet jolts it sent through my body. His hands circled my waist and guided
me over him. I answered his nudge against my melting heat by widening my knees
and sliding slowly down over him.

The throbbing
pleasure and pressure of him deep inside me made me arch my back. Fenton's
strong arms held me there as he rocked my hips against him. Then, he moaned and
lay back, biting his lip to stop from going too fast. I leaned over him, my
nipples tracing his chest as I slowly swept my hips back and forth. The
friction and the building pressure took my breath away. Our lips panted
together, the kisses open and interrupted by cries of pleasure.

I felt his hands
lock on the curve of my back, Fenton spurring me to a faster rhythm, wanting me
to ride him as the wave swept us both up and over a dizzying climax.

I fell against
him, shuddering with the aftershocks of ecstasy. Fenton tucked me next to his
body and wrapped the duvet around us both. He kissed my forehead and before I
could smile, we both fell into a deep and peaceful sleep.

#

When I woke up, it
was with a strange sense of déjà vu. From the white edges of my pillow, I could
see the signs of a wild party. Furniture from the suite's living room was
stacked against the far wall of the master bedroom, beer bottles and empty
glasses were on every available surface, and streamers thrown out by the DJ
were crushed into the white carpet.

My body was heavy
and languid, but not from a churning hangover. I smiled against my soft pillow
and then turned my head. Fenton was fast asleep, his black hair tossed over his
eyes, his stubble rasping against the pillowcase as he settled in deeper. We
had come full circle from that first disastrous morning when I accidentally
woke up in his bed.

I smothered a
giggle as I reached for my phone, just as I had that first morning. It lay in
the middle of the floor, dropped there as we had stumbled in the night before,
tangled in our passion for each other. I was expecting my boss to call at any
moment, and I did not want to disturb Fenton. I tried to slip out of bed and
mute my phone, but it rang before I could reach it.

A shriek tore from
my throat as an iron-banded arm snaked around my waist and hauled me back into
bed.

"Let it go to
voicemail," Fenton said. He buried his sleepy face in my hair and snuggled
me down beside him. "You're not getting trying to sneak out again, are
you? I seem to recall it didn't work that first time, either."

"Who says I
wanted to sneak away?" I asked over my shoulder. I wriggled my backside
against his warm body and Fenton moaned. "I just didn't want my phone to
wake you up."

"You're
right, that quiet ring was much more disturbing than you shrieking."

I turned over and
slapped my pillow over his head. "That was your fault for grabbing
me."

"Fine, go,
turn your ringer off and come back to bed," he said.

He was
irresistible with his black hair all tousled and his blue eyes a deeper, sleepy
shade. I gave him a long, deep kiss before I slid out of bed. "I'll be
right back."

I grabbed an
oversized white robe from the bathroom and tied it around me before I snatched
up the phone and slipped into the living room to check my voicemail. Instead of
my boss, it was my real estate agent. He sounded panicked. I glanced back in
the bedroom and Fenton was curled up sleeping again, so I called him back.

"There you
are, wait, are you still out of town?" my real estate agent asked.

"Yes, why?
Oh, no, I scheduled the inspection for today," I slapped a hand against my
forehead. "I'm sorry, but I got hung up with work."

"Kya, you
can't afford to forget about this place. It's perfect for a young, single
executive like you. And, there's been another offer, a cash offer. I can do the
inspection for you. We can close on this place by this afternoon," he
said.

I could not
breathe. The idea of losing the house was not what choked me, it was the house
itself. Once I closed on it, I would be putting down roots in Chicago. What if
I belonged somewhere else?

"I don't want
to rush into anything," I said.

"This isn't
something to wait on, they want to take the other deal," he said.
"I've got to tell them something today."

I cleared my
throat. "Then, tell them I'm out. The other people can have it. There will
be other houses."

"Not in this
neighborhood, not at this price. Remember the equity you can build with
it?" My real estate agent started to panic.

"I'm just not
ready. I'm sorry. We can talk more soon," I said. I felt bad, but I hung
up the phone. My guilt was forgotten as soon as I caught sight of Fenton
sitting up in bed. His black tattoos stood out against the white sheets and he
rumpled his black hair while he yawned.

He pulled on a
pair of boxer briefs and stood up. "I suppose you've got to be getting
back to Chicago soon," he said.

I wondered how
much of my phone conversation he had heard. "Maybe," I said.

"It'll be
good, getting home, I bet. I mean, I'm happy you're here, but we both need to
concentrate on work, stay focused. Right?" He stretched and headed for the
bathroom without even looking at me.

"Work.
Right," I said. I started to follow him, I needed to look in his eyes to
understand what he was saying, but my phone rang. "Speaking of work, it's
my boss."

Fenton waved me
off and closed the bathroom door. I hesitated, but answered my boss' call.

"You pulled
it off, you genius agent vixen!" James shouted.

"Too early
for yelling, never a good time to call me a vixen," I said.

"I'll call
you lord and master if you tell me the contract I sent out this morning is
going to be signed by Fenton Morris. We will have the biggest party when you
get back!"

I wandered out
into the living room and leaned my forehead against the window. Vegas was
bright in the late morning sun, and there were people teeming far below. The
words "when you get back" sank into my stomach and I did not feel
well.

"What if I
don't come back?" I asked. "What if I stay in Vegas and work from
here for a while? Would that be okay?"

"Okay? Okay?
Are you freakin' kidding me? Can you imagine all the people you can sign? It'll
be like shooting fish in a barrel. Plus, I'll have good reason to fly out on
the weekends and check in," James chuckled at the thought. "Just get
Fenton Morris signed and I'll add a move stipend on to your bonus."

"There's the
door. Gotta go," I said. I hung up the phone, but Fenton beat me to the
front door of the suite.

He signed for the
papers and ripped open the manila envelope. "You don't waste any time, do
you?" he asked.

"I sent my
boss the message before we talked on the balcony," I said.

"Your boss.
He's still going to give you a bonus for signing me, right?" Fenton asked.
He grabbed a pen from the desk by the door.

"Actually, he
just sweetened the deal," I said.

Fenton cut me off.
"Well, here's to your picket fence and your private office and all the
perfect stability that comes with it."

"You say that
like it’s a bad thing," I snapped. "Like it’s so unreasonable to want
a little stability. I guess that's not in your lone wolf agenda, huh?"

"Come on,
Kya, you're seriously telling me you haven't enjoyed being let off the leash
here in Vegas?" He asked. He signed the contract hard. "This is all
the stability I need for now. I'm not stupid enough to predict what the future
holds and what I might want from it."

I crossed my arms
over my chest. "Sure, you can't even predict what you'll want in the next
five minutes, though it certainly seems like it’s not going to be me."

Fenton flung the
contract aside and grabbed my arms. His kiss was hard, demanding, and left me
breathless.