Instant Regret by Hazel Parker

Chapter 2

Luke

She’s gorgeous.

Carly Williams had been just a name on my class roster until last night—well, early this morning. But now, since one of my friends and colleagues, Carson, sent me the TikTok of her drunkenly professing her love for me, I hadn’t been able to get the woman out of my head. Drunk—and sometimes not so drunk girls have always been a pain in my class. There’s always one or two every semester that tries to get the grade a different way...

But I’ve never once entertained the idea.

I knew plenty of other professors who did, or who at least had at one point, especially when you were teaching a senior class. However, I happened to like my job and would prefer not to have to defend it in front of the board. Very few got away without losing their job, and once you broke the policy and slept with a college student—no matter how close to your own age they were, it was a hideous red mark on your resume.

Unless you didn’t get caught...

I don’t even know why I’m thinking like this. It’s completely inappropriate.

I blew out a breath as the class funneled out of the room, and Carly begrudgingly trudged down the stairs toward the front of the classroom. Her messy blonde hair was piled on her head, and while she was in just a t-shirt and shorts, those long tan and toned legs were something out of a fantasy. She looked humiliated, and to be honest, the only reason I had asked her to stay was, well...

“From here on out, I would prefer that my name stays off of the internet,” I said sharply. “I have no desire to remotely involve myself in student affairs.”

Her eyebrows raised as if she was surprised by the statement. “Dr. Dean, I didn’t post that video—someone else did. I was just in the video.” She looked a bit confused, and maybe caught off guard. “I would’ve never posted anything like that. My friend was just drunk and—”

“Just don’t let it happen again, please,” I cut her off, my eyes dropping back to the laptop. The door slammed behind the last student exiting the room, and I looked back up, realizing that we were alone.

“I won’t,” she mumbled, and I half expected her to leave right then. However, she didn’t, and went to rocking back and forth on her feet...

Like she was waiting for me to say something to her.

I cleared my throat, meeting her bright blue eyes—fucking breathtaking eyes. “What is it, Ms. Williams?”

“I was just really drunk when I said that stuff,” she said, her voice coming out awkward and full of nerves. “I didn’t, you know...”

I raised an eyebrow at her, my curiosity suddenly peaked. “I don’t pay attention to that sort of thing. It won’t get you anywhere in the class.”

She let out a sharp breath that caught my attention, her eyes going icy as she stared at me. “Um, I would never try to do anything promiscuous to get the grade. That’s absolutely disrespectful to myself—and I don’t have to do anything like that to get a good grade. I think you can see that by how well I’m doing in this class.”

“You are performing well,” I grumbled, hating the fact that this conversation was continuing—and I wasn’t sure why. I usually had no problems talking to any student about just about anything.

But this woman was under my skin.

The musky feminine scent wafting to my nostrils, the tan legs, the perfect natural complexion—and her full, plump lips.

God, I’d like to have those wrapped around my...

“Dr. Dean, it won’t happen again,” her voice grabbed my attention, and I realized I was staring blankly at her face.

That’s embarrassing.

“Yeah, that’s good. I’d hate to have to embarrass you in front of the entire class again,” I chuckled, her cheeks taking on a crimson hue. “It’s much better if we can continue the way that we were. Regardless of attraction, I don’t have relationships with female students.” The words came out all wrong, and the way her eyes widened told me that she took it the wrong way, too.

Fuck.

Her lips parted slightly as we stood locked in a gaze, my mind picturing taking her mouth for myself.

What is wrong with me?

“I never intended—I wasn’t... Everyone has crushes sometimes...” Carly’s voice trailed off, and I tensed my jaw at the admission.

This has gone too far.

“You need to go,” I snapped, letting my stare transform into a glare. “There’s nothing more to be discussed here. I don’t want to hear about your crush or your intentions with the video—I would, however, like for it to be taken down.”

“Well, you’ll have to convince the person who posted it to take it down,” she snorted, her whole demeanor suddenly relaxing in my presence. It was an odd and rather intriguing shift—one that rubbed off on me a little.

Even if she was defying what I had asked of her.

“Who posted it?” I asked, reluctantly—or maybe not so reluctantly engaging in the conversation.

“My friend, Paige,” she answered, glancing up at the clock. There wasn’t another class in the room for another few hours, and it was actually one of mine. “I actually tried to get her to take it down this morning, but she didn’t see the big deal. She’s really popular on TikTok. Way more popular than me,” she added with a laugh, pushing some of her stray blonde hair behind her ears.

Her laugh is magnetic.

“Well, I don’t think internet fame really says much about the quality of a person.” I shrugged, feeling my filter falling a bit to the wayside. “Is she in any of my classes?”

“She’s in this one, actually,” Carly laughed again. “She just didn’t come this morning because she was too hungover.”

“And you’re not?” I retorted with a huff as I shut my laptop and turned to grab my bag.

“Oh, I am, but I don’t miss class. I really don’t need to mess up my GPA before I graduate in December.”

“Ah, I see,” I said with a nod, for some reason the graduation piquing my curiosity even more—that meant she was a senior? Maybe one year past the traditional senior?

At least twenty-two.

I was nearly pushing thirty-two myself, but the fact that she wasn’t a baby in college made me feel a little bit better about the ridiculous level of attraction.

“While I’m here, though,” Carly continued. “I was wondering if maybe you could answer a few of the questions I have about the mid-term paper coming up. I know it’s not due for some time, but I’m trying to be on top of my assignments this semester. I’m ready to be done.” She tilted her head back with a little amusement in her voice.

Surely, she has a boyfriend.

“I need to head back to my office for a while, but we can discuss it there. I don’t have the guidelines on this computer,” I gestured to the laptop that I had just placed in the bag. “My office is just down the hall.”

She nodded, and I headed out of the side door at the front of the room. My heart pounded in my chest as I led the way to my work office, just fifteen feet away. For some reason, the additional privacy was exciting...

And inappropriate.

“Are you enjoying the class?” I forced myself to ask in a nonchalant voice—the same question that I asked any student that came to speak with me in my office.

“Yeah, I guess,” she answered, her voice coming out a little small as I unlocked the door. “My class load this semester is light, so I think it gives me a chance to invest more of myself into each of them.”

“Ah, that’s always a good thing.” I swung the door open and flipped on the light. My office was always tidy, and it was part of my routine to keep it that way. I had a wall-length bookshelf, filled to the brim with books—mostly business related. I had never really had the intention of becoming a professor, but when the university offered it, I hadn’t been able to refuse. It was easier than trying to run a multimillion-dollar company, which is what I had been doing prior.

“You have a very nice office,” Carly commented as she took a seat in the red leather chair across from the desk. The whole room was tastefully done on a grayscale, using red as an accent color. I had hired someone to fix it up when I took the job.

“I spend too much time here to not have it the way I’d like,” I answered her with a shrug, setting my bag down and taking a seat in my own chair. I adjusted my tie and wiggled the mouse to wake up my desktop computer. “So, what are your questions?”

“Um, give me a second,” she said, sifting through her backpack. “I think you said that topic has to be on strategic marketing relative to an industry of our choice—does that mean like, construction or arts and entertainment? Or like, something more specific?”

I shrugged. “I like to leave that open to interpretation. If there’s something more specific, that’s even better. I prefer to give my students the freedom to make it what they want it to be.”

Her face contorted with confusion. “So I guess that means there’s no wrong answer, then?”

“Precisely,” I laughed, shaking my head. It always confused the smartest students in the class—and based on her grade, which I had discreetly pulled up, she was one of the smartest students in the class.

And that made my lust for her only grow.

There was something about that good-girl thing she had going on that lit my body on fire. My eyes wandered to those tan legs on full display for me, and I pictured my hands running up them, squeezing her thighs...

“So, do interviews count as sources?” she asked, and I jerked my eyes back up to her face. Her cheeks were slightly reddened, and I wondered if she caught me looking at her lustfully...

And did she like it?

“If you can find someone to interview for the paper, then I think that’s fine,” I answered her, clearing my throat. “I think I could count the times that I’ve seen students use interviews as sources on one hand, honestly. Who would you want to interview? Most students don’t ask that unless they have someone in mind.”

“Actually, I was hoping to interview you,” she answered, her tone coming out a bit raspy.

“And what would you want to interview me for?” I asked, my voice losing its confidence. “I can’t think of what I could help you with.”

“You were the CEO of Georgia Tech Sources when you were only twenty-eight years old. You were running a multi-million-dollar company before you turned thirty, and I think that you could definitely be of use in an interview.”

She’s done her homework on me.

“Well, I’ll answer whatever questions you have,” I answered her, noticing the way she squirmed in her seat under my scrutiny. “But I’m not sure if it would be fair to count it as one of your five sources for the paper. I usually don’t let in-person interviews count.”

“But I could still interview you?” She leaned forward, pulling a bit of her lip into her mouth in the most seductive way.

Is she teasing me?

“I suppose,” I said carefully, narrowing my eyes at her as she scooted to the edge of her chair. “You can send me an email with your questions.”

“Hmm,” she answered, unmoving from the way she was sitting across from me. “I guess, if that’s what you want to do. I thought it might be easier if I just scheduled an office appointment.”

“Mmm,” I hummed, my body stirring at the way she was chewing on her bottom lip—and now inching closer to my desk. “You can schedule one online through the portal.” With that, I stood to my feet.

I have to get this woman out of my office.

She instantly stood to her feet as well, and as I rounded my desk to guide her to the door, I caught a whiff of that perfume.

Fucking intoxicating.

“I’ll make one online,” Carly mumbled, grabbing up her backpack. I went to guide her with my hand, but she must’ve missed the gesture, resulting in my hand actually landing on her shoulder.

Fuck.

She spun around, bumping right into my chest out of surprise. Her eyes locked with mine again, and excitement jolted through my body the moment her breasts pressed into me. Before I could mumble out an apology or back up, her lips were on mine.

What the fuck is she doing?

She read me all wrong.

The thought was lost, however, as I leaned into the kiss, drinking in the minty taste of her tongue. Her full lips felt better than I had imagined, and she stumbled back under the force of me. Everything about what we were doing was wrong, and the suddenness was jolting...

And so fucking hot.

My hands went for her, but as I grabbed her hip, my hand hit something—her backpack.

Because she’s a student.