"Mom. Guess what?" Brittany barely paused before continuing in an upbeat voice. "I got an R.A. position!" Her young voice was enthusiastic.
Renee didn't know what that meant, but could tell it must be good. "Great, baby. What's an R.A.?"
Brittany answered in a rush of sentences. "It's a resident advisor. I'm really young to get it only going into my second year. But I must have been impressive because I didn't even have to come back for a second interview. Mrs. Cobb, the lady in charge of resident life, looked at my application and resume and hired me on the spot."
"Hired you for what? What is resident life?" Renee was happy for her daughter, but didn't want her burdened with a job. She needed to keep her grades up, so the scholarship money would keep coming in.
"It means I'll continue to live in the freshmen dorms next year, and be kind of like a big sister. Kids will come to me with problems, or just questions and I help them out. Of course, I'm supposed to report any alcohol or drug use or stuff like that, but I don't think that's going to be much of an issue because I haven't run into anything like that this year. Well, not in the freshmen dorms, anyway."
"And they'll pay you for this?" Renee questioned.
"Well, not really. I just get my room for free. All you have to do is buy me a meal plan next year. And hopefully every year after that."
Renee felt a huge knot of stress dissolve and relief take its place. "Are you serious? We don't have to come up with the dorm money? And you don't actually have to work any extra? You just have to live there and answer questions?"
"Yeah, Mom. That's basically it. I didn't want to tell you before I applied for it because I didn't want you to get your hopes up. But now we can celebrate. Yay!"
Renee thought back over the conversation of the night before and was still amazed at the sense of relief she felt. The financial burden of college was almost non-existent now. She was very lucky to have a smart, responsible daughter. And now she was free to quit her job and leave this hysteria-inducing environment. So why should she stay? It dawned on her all at once the actual choice she had now.
She could quit this job or… Or she could quit dancing around him and let him catch her. Sudden images provoked her curiosity. He was absolutely the sexiest man she had ever met in her life. He had been an object of fascination for her since the first time she laid eyes on him.
There was no question he wanted her. She wasn't stupid. She knew the signs. He was like a bull with a red flag waving in front of his face. How much would it take to push him over the edge? Could she be so subtle that he never knew what hit him?
She bit her lip and wondered if she should even try.
****
Later that afternoon she got her chance when he came prowling out of his office, looking for the file she was working on. She started out the enticement well enough, but chickened out halfway through.
Handing the file to him, she pushed her chair away from her desk just enough to draw his eyes
down to her legs where she slowly crossed them. With a subtle movement, she reached down to her thigh with a hand that trembled and smoothed away an imaginary wrinkle. As his eyes followed her, she lowered her hand to her ankle and slid it back up toward her thigh again, this time going underneath her skirt and dragging it a bare inch above her knee before making a small production of trying to cover her legs.
She lifted her face back to his and froze. His eyes were riveted on her, his nostrils flaring and slashes of red marking his cheekbones.
Robert felt the kick to the guts exactly where she aimed it. The impact of her movements hit him. Her eyes held his for two seconds and then dropped away.
But not fast enough.
The game had just changed.
Lust slammed through him. He reached out and took the pen she held from her fingers. He saw the small gasp she tried to hide. "You think you can possibly win against me, baby?"
Renee felt a quiver of fear slide through her veins. She hadn't expected him to call her out. She wasn't ready for this yet. She gritted her teeth and tried to bluff. "I don't know what you mean."
"Don't you? You're a hot little package, but don't for one minute think you can take me on." He reached out and grabbed her chin between his fingers and lifted her face. "Trust me. You couldn't handle the results."
He turned and slammed back into his office.
Chapter Four
Saturday night, Robert sat in the bar at the Ninth Street Wine Grotto and nursed his second beer. He refused to question himself on his choice of location. Running into her here two weeks ago had been a coincidence. It wouldn't be repeated. Frustration gripped him. This wait was intolerable. He had to push her into quitting. He needed her naked. Under him. Over him. Down on him.
The picture of her face when his bitch of an ex-wife had called was emblazoned on his brain. Her eyes when she realized he wasn't married. The fear. The relief. The confusion.
She wasn't immune to him. Far from it.
What had pushed her into the sexy little charade of seduction she had tried on him yesterday? What was in that gorgeous head of hers? Something had changed with her. He was going to find out what it was.