Her Collateral Bride: A Lesbian Age Gap Romance

and she wouldn’t have picked someone who wasn’t a

professional.

“Not shower with you,” Claire bit out, nearly choking on

the words. They were bitter in her mouth. “Attend class with

you, yes.”

“He can’t do that! My professors will have a shit fit.”

“Then they’ll have a shit fit or you won’t attend. If you like,

I can contact them on your behalf.”

Haley looked at her incredulously. “And say what?”

“I’d give them a legitimate reason for you to have a

bodyguard with you. Some bullshit that they’d believe.”

“You’re giving them absolutely no credit.”

“I can’t see that it would be so bad to have him sitting in the

back somewhere, unnoticed. He’d like it, I’m sure. Listening

to you play.”

Haley’s mouth dropped, then snapped shut just as quickly.

Claire had been very thorough in her research, but they’d

already discussed that. It was adorable that Haley tended to

forget. “Do you have a piano?” Haley whispered.

Claire’s chest expanded with something foreign, a set of

emotions she didn’t want to feel. She was good at shutting that

down. She’d learned from the best, or rather, the worst. Her

father taught her so many lessons throughout her life. The best

way to stay alive and endure was to give him nothing at all.

Claire hated the shiver that clenched her, the sick feeling in her

gut. She didn’t want to think about her dad, so she didn’t. It

had been years since his death. She’d dealt with what he’d

done to her in healthy ways. Therapists and all that. She was

beyond that, and he was dead and that was all there was to

remember now.