Bad Boys Do (Donovan Brothers Brewery 2)

“Why aren’t you getting any, by the way?”

The waiter finally approached, bearing martini glasses. “Oh, thank God,” Gwen groaned. “The topic of celibacy requires lubrication, don’t you think? No pun intended.”

“That was totally intended.”

Gwen waggled her eyebrows in answer. “I don’t know why I’m not getting any, honestly. Half the reason I started working at the university is because I thought it’d be a great place to meet good men.”

“And is it?”

“Does it look like it is?” she asked, taking a swig of her green drink. “No, after seven years of working there, I’ve finally realized that I’m a second-class citizen. Nobody there wants to date someone with a GED.”

“You didn’t finish high school? What happened?”

“Oh, the usual stupidity. Shortsighted teenage rebellion. I’ve been taking two classes a year at the U for a while, but that’s a long haul. I’m going to be the college secretary with no high school diploma for quite a while yet.”

“Come on,” Olivia said. “Surely not every guy cares so much about that.”

Gwen frowned. “You know how it is. They start out focused so completely on tenure that they can’t think of anything else. Then once they get it, they’re competing for prestige. There’s nothing prestigious about me.”

“Your boobs are pretty prestigious.”

“Christ, if you make me spit out this drink, you’ll be in trouble. But…you’re right. These men don’t know what they’re missing out on.”

“Well, they know a little bit,” Olivia said, gesturing toward Gwen’s cleavage.

When Gwen laughed really, really hard, her cleavage bounced, and even Olivia found herself staring. She felt a brief moment of utter jealousy.

“Oh, don’t glare at me that way,” Gwen said. “I’d rather have Jamie Donovan than my awesome breasts.”

“Yeah, but you get to keep your breasts forever. Jamie’s just a loaner.”

“Are you sure?”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “Come on. I’m not an idiot.”

“You know who is an idiot? Victor.”

“In some new way?” she asked.

Gwen nodded. “Yes! I talked to Lewis’s assistant. I gather there was some sort of trouble.”

“He did it, didn’t he?” Olivia groaned. “I knew it. That bastard.”

“So someone really did rat you out?”

“Yes! Victor, obviously. He called Lewis and told him I was sleeping with a student. The irony’s so thick I can barely breathe.”

“I don’t think Victor’s the one who did it.”

“What do you mean? You just said he was being an idiot.”

“Sure, but that’s a constant, isn’t it? What I meant was that Victor called Lewis afterward. From what his receptionist could gather, Victor called to assure Lewis that you’d never do anything inappropriate.”

“Oh.” Olivia shook her head in confusion. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, but that’s not the crazy part. Victor told Lewis that this was all just a rough patch. That you two were going to reconcile.”

“He did what?”