Текст книги "Undone"

Автор книги: R. E. Hunter

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 20 страниц)

11

Thursday morning came too fast, and Embry decided to take a mental health day. Other than contracts the day before, she hadn’t missed a class yet, and Wednesday’s events seemed like as good an excuse as any to take time for herself.

Standing over her bathroom sink, Embry splashed cold water over her face and inspected herself in the mirror. Her eyes were puffy from crying and small, dark circles had formed from lack of sleep. After she had cried herself out the night before, she slipped into an uneasy sleep. She woke every few hours to check her phone. Luke hadn’t tried to contact her since she asked him to leave. Part of her was glad he was respecting her wishes. The other part still clung to what they had and wished he would call. Luke had torn down all of her carefully crafted walls, and she was determined to spend the day building them back up and focusing on herself.

She pulled back her long hair, threw on gym shorts, a tank, and running shoes, found some hard rock music on her iPod, and set out on a long, head-clearing run. Between Luke and school, she hadn’t taken enough time for herself, and she missed her runs. Arms pumping and shoes slapping against the pavement, she concentrated on matching the beat of Fall Out Boy blasting through her headphones. She ran until she thought she’d collapse then caught a second wind and ran some more. By the time she jogged back into her complex, she was sweaty, spent, and feeling more like herself. She was ready to try to put Luke behind her and tackle the rest of the semester.

Checking her phone, she found texts from Jeremy and Morgan. She told Jeremy she’d come down with a bug, and he promised to send notes from the classes she missed. Morgan, being Morgan, wanted to make sure Embry wasn’t trying to drown herself in the bathtub. She suggested drowning in vodka instead. Great friend.

Embry settled on the couch, caught up on her reading and legal briefs, and tried to mentally prepare herself for her first class with Luke as her professor.

* * *

Embry started Friday morning feeling great. She’d actually slept through the night instead of tossing and turning. Unfortunately, as she stared at her lunch and listened to Jeremy catch her up on what had happened in class the day before, Luke was all she could think about. She picked at her salad as Jeremy filled her in on what happened to their professor. Coleman had fainted on Tuesday evening and was taken to the hospital where they discovered a leaking aneurysm in her brain. She had emergency surgery to repair it and everything had gone well, but she wasn’t out of the woods yet. She’d be taking the rest of the semester off to recuperate, and that’s where Luke came in. Unfortunately, Luke’s appearance at Whitman was bigger news than Coleman’s medical emergency.

Apparently Embry wasn’t the only one with Luke Brody on the brain. It was painfully obvious that the girls in her class were bent on impressing their hot new professor. Embry studied the group at the next table and shook her head. Usually dressed for class in sweatpants with their hair a mess, the girls had gone extreme makeover crazy and were decked out in sweater sets and pearls. She felt underdressed in her messy ballerina bun and sundress. As if they weren’t annoying enough, Embry couldn’t escape their shrieks and whispers about Luke. Her Luke. She mentally slapped herself. She had to stop thinking about him. He wasn’t hers anymore. He couldn’t be.

Jeremy nudged her. “What’s on your mind, B?”

“Nothing, just thinking about Coleman.” It was a lie, but a plausible one.

“I’m sure she’ll be all right.”

Embry nodded distractedly. Just then, the girls erupted into a fit of giggles, and she heard Luke’s name again. She cringed at the way they said it with such familiarity. Familiarity she actually had just a few short days ago. The man she had been falling for was her professor, and she realized she really didn’t know him at all.

* * *

Embry let out a small sigh of relief when she entered the classroom and saw that Luke wasn’t there. Feeling exposed and raw, she attempted to settle in and keep her mind off of him. She decided to use Jeremy as a distraction.

“So what are you up to this weekend, Casanova?” she asked.

“Who, me?” Jeremy said, with a sexy wink.

“Yes, you. Don’t play coy. I know your game. Different girl, different section, every weekend.”

“Hey, don’t believe everything you hear.”

She laughed. “I heard it from you.”

He playfully put his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, you got me. This is a stressful environment. A guy needs to blow off some steam every once in a while.”

Embry rolled her eyes. “So which of the slutty sisters is it this week?”

“Nah, I had the sisters last week. I’m moving on.”

Her jaw dropped, and she shoved him in the arm. “Jeremy! I was just kidding!”

“I wasn’t,” he said, nudging her and throwing another wink her way.

Embry wrinkled her nose. “You’re gross.”

The energy in the room suddenly shifted, and the hair on the back of Embry’s neck stood on end as she felt Luke’s eyes on her. She knew the minute he entered the room. She felt him as if they were planets in orbit, always circling, each aware of the other at all times. If the shiver that ran through her wasn’t enough to tell her that Luke had walked into the room, the lack of annoying giggles and chatter was the other clue.

As Luke set up at the podium, the girls around the classroom sat up and primped. They pulled out their mirrors to check their makeup, stuck out their chests, and fluffed and tossed their hair. Embry would’ve felt self-conscious in her simple sundress if they hadn’t looked so utterly ridiculous. It was like watching an episode of National Geographic.

Reading Embry’s mind, Jeremy leaned in and whispered in his best British accent, “The twenty-something female dresses in brightly colored cardigans and pearls in order to attract her mate.” Embry could barely contain her laughter as he continued. “As we observe the twenty-something in her natural habitat, we see her stick out her chest, a mating ritual designed to attract the male with her ample cleavage.”

Embry flew into a fit of giggles. Jeremy would never know how thankful she was for him at that moment. Then Luke looked up, and her heart stuttered. He stared at her for a beat, his mouth set in a straight line, and she saw the muscle in his jaw working. She raised her eyebrows at him—taunting—and watched as the shutters went down behind his eyes. He turned away, tension rolling off of him. His reaction was all Embry needed to boost her resolve. She sat with a smug smile as Luke began class.

He stood behind the podium, casual and in control. He owned the room. He owned any room he entered. He was a bit more dressed up than normal in black dress shoes and pants and a white shirt, unbuttoned at the collar and showing off his tanned skin. His sleeves were rolled up in his signature Luke way, causing Embry to feel warm. She shook her head, annoyed that he had an effect on her.

“All right, everybody,” he addressed the class. “We’re going to pick up where we left off on Wednesday and talk about damages for breach of contract.” He picked up the index cards with everyone’s names and pictures. He shuffled them mindlessly. “Until I get to know y’all a bit better, I’m going to leave the index cards alone. So how about a volunteer, instead, to give me the facts on Hawkins versus McGee?”

Embry’s arm shot up without her permission. Jeremy caught her eye and gave her a horrified look. They never volunteered. But she continued to hold her hand in the air. Luke saw her, but he was stalling, and she took pleasure in watching him look around the room uncomfortably before coming back to her.

“Okay,” he said, pointing at her. “Br—”

Her wide eyes caught his, and he coughed, effectively covering up the fact that he had almost used her nickname. She let out a relieved breath when he made a show of flipping through the index cards to find her picture.

He pulled her card and looked at her. “Miss Jacobs?”

“Yes, Embry.”

“Embry.”

The way her name rolled off of his tongue was pure sex. His deep voice combined with the southern twang did things to her. It wasn’t fair.

“We missed you in class on Wednesday,” he said.

Her ears heated, and a flush crept up her neck. She couldn’t believe he was calling her out in front of the entire class. What a dick. “I was ill,” she said with a bit more attitude than was necessary.

Jeremy nudged her, raising his eyebrows in question. She ignored him and focused her attention on Luke.

“Well then, I hope you’re feeling better. Why don’t you give us the rundown on the hairy hand case.”

“Actually,” she said haughtily, “we’ve covered this case already.” She didn’t even recognize the person speaking. She never behaved that way, but she didn’t care; it felt good.

“Have you?” Luke asked, unfazed.

“Yes, we have. The boy burns his hand on an electrical wire. He goes to a doctor to fix the scarring, and the doctor wants to experiment with skin grafting—”

“Hold on a second, Miss Jacobs.” Luke held up his hand. He turned to the blonde in the front row who was frantically waving her hand back and forth. “Yes,” he paused to find her card in the pile, “Ashley?”

The girl nodded.

“Okay, Ashley, did you have something to add?” he asked.

Embry watched, mouth hanging open, as Ashley twirled her over-processed hair and batted her eyelashes at Luke. “Actually, Professor Brody, we haven’t covered this case yet.”

Luke gave her a face-splitting grin, totally feeding into her infatuation. “Thank you very much, Ashley.”

She let out a small giggle and beamed at him.

He turned back to Embry, eyes narrowed. “Maybe Miss Jacobs has been reading ahead. Whether you’ve covered it or not, let’s hear the rest of it, Embry.”

She wasn’t about to let some skank in the front row make her feel stupid. She lifted her chin, glared at Luke and continued with the facts. “The doctor promised Hawkins a one hundred percent good hand before the surgery. He took skin from the boy’s chest, grafted it to his hand, and the boy wound up with a hairy hand.”

“And what did the court find as far as damages?”

“Well, Professor,” Embry emphasized the word, “they found that the boy had relied on the doctor’s representation, which didn’t turn out to be true.”

“Meaning?” he prompted.

“Meaning”—she stared into his blue eyes and poured all the meaning she could into her words—”he lied.” She saw a crack form in Luke’s cool demeanor. To anyone else, he would appear calm and collected, but the tense set of his shoulders and the way he rubbed at his neck told her a different story.

He took a breath, most likely trying to compose himself. “I’m not sure he lied,” he said carefully, “he just didn’t fulfill his guarantee.”

Embry raised her eyes to the ceiling and let out a huff. “Either way, the doctor guaranteed a one hundred percent good hand, but Hawkins was left with scarring, “ she paused for effect before continuing, “and a hairy palm to top it off.”

Jeremy choked on his laughter next to Embry and she stared Luke down, a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

“Okay, Miss Jacobs, thank you for your enthusiastic statement of the facts. But what did the court actually decide?” he asked, irritation clouding his usually clear blue eyes.

“They found that damages should be determined as the difference between what Hawkins was promised, a one hundred percent good hand, and what he received, a hairy palm.”

“Thank you,” he said, turning to address the entire class. “So let’s discuss the significance of this case on how damage awards are determined.”

He outlined the finer points of the court’s decision as Embry looked on with disgust at him, at herself. She couldn’t believe she had behaved that way in front of the entire class. She was motivated by her hurt and anger, but now that Luke had moved on, she could see how childish she had been. She kept quiet the remainder of class, taking notes but not bothering to pay close attention to Luke or his interaction with the other students. By the time they finished, she was downright depressed.

As they packed up, Jeremy leaned over. “What’s gotten into you?”

She gave him doe-eyes, feigning innocence. “What do you mean?”

The look on his face told her he wasn’t buying it. “You know what I mean. I’ve never seen you like that. It was a ballsy move, pissing off the prof like that, Jacobs.”

“Oh, come on, I was just—”

“Miss Jacobs?” Luke’s voice stopped her short.

Embry looked at Jeremy with eyebrows raised before turning toward Luke.

“Yes, Professor?” She winced at her own tone. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep the snark from her voice.

Jeremy pinched her side, and she noticed Luke’s eyes following Jeremy’s hand. The muscle in his jaw jumped once more.

“Please come see me before you leave.”

Jeremy rose from his chair, grabbing his books. He leaned in as he walked past her. “You’ve gone and done it now.”

She swatted at him. “Shut it, Jer.” After packing up her computer and books, Embry slipped her tote over her shoulder and walked toward Luke. She looked behind her only to realize that the rest of the students were exiting the room … and they were alone.

As soon as she was within reach, he pounced. “What the hell was that?” he whispered harshly.

“What was what?” she asked, shrugging. She was desperately trying to keep her cool, but she felt heat creeping up her neck at Luke’s obvious anger.

He ran his hand through his short hair, letting his frustration show. “What the fuck, Bree? It’s one thing to be pissed at me, but taking it out on me in the classroom? What’s gotten into you?”

Her eyes went wide, and she worried at her bottom lip. She had no answer. All of her bravado had disappeared, and she was left with uncertainty. She felt empty and unsure. Looking into his eyes, she saw nothing but frustration and anger, and it made her nervous. She’d never seen him that way and was completely unprepared for his reaction. She also wasn’t prepared for the heat pooling between her thighs. When Luke was angry, his southern accent got stronger. Embry felt a little foolish and a lot turned on.

As if he could sense her discomfort, Luke visibly softened. His eyes closed, and he took a breath, relaxing his tense shoulders. When he opened his eyes, they were bright blue and sad. He reached for her but hesitated. He must’ve thought better of it because he let his arm fall back to his side. She would have welcomed his touch at that moment, and his resistance stung. She was an emotional basket case; hating him one minute, desperate for his touch the next.

“Are you finished grandstanding in class?” he asked. His voice was smooth and calm, but there was still a hint of warning underneath.

Her snark wanted to make a comeback, but Embry tamped it down. Embarrassed and uncomfortable, she twisted her hands and continued to chew on her lip. “Yeah,” she mumbled. “I am.” She looked at Luke, his closeness making her feel things she didn’t want to feel. “I am pissed at you, Luke. Really pissed. But I shouldn’t have brought it into class like that.”

“Fine,” he said, “it’s already forgotten.”

“It is?”

“Yes, Bree. That’s not why I called you up here.”

“It’s not?”

“No, it’s not.” He shook his head in frustration. “Well, it was part of it. I mean … what the hell?”

Embry watched as he ran his hand through his hair again and tried to calm himself. It was a rhetorical question, and she didn’t have an answer anyway. Unless she wanted to admit that she was acting out because he’d hurt her.

“I need to talk you about your research position with Coleman,” he continued.

“Wow, okay,” she said, taken aback by the subject change. “I hadn’t even thought about that. I guess I should start looking for a new job, huh?” Her shoulders slumped as defeat filled her. The good news just kept on coming.

“Not necessarily,” Luke said.

Embry perked up. “Really?”

“I’m taking over.”

“Taking over what?” she asked.

“I’m taking over the research.”

“Oh.” She still didn’t fully comprehend what was happening.

A small smile crept over Luke’s face as she processed his words.

“Oh!” she said again, realizing the implications of what Luke had just said. “So then me and you?” She gestured between them as a blush rose on her cheeks.

“Yes, me and you,” he said, his sea blue eyes boring into her green ones. “I’ll supervise, set the parameters, and report the findings back to Professor Coleman.”

She felt elated and crushed all at once. She wouldn’t lose her position, but it meant working closely with Luke. Can I do this?

When Luke reached out again, he didn’t stop himself. Resting his hand on her shoulder, he looked into her eyes. “Look, I know this is a lot to digest, but we can make this work. I want to make this work.”

Embry didn’t hear his words. She was too distracted by the searing warmth on her shoulder. His touch caused a reaction in her that she couldn’t control no matter how pissed off or hurt she was.

Luke continued to speak. “I don’t want you losing your position. I know how hard you work, and the last thing you need is to serve beer on the weekends instead of focusing on school.”

Embry agreed with that. She wanted the research position on her resume. It would open doors for her, especially if Coleman got published and Embry’s name was on the research. But could she and Luke really work together? “Can I think about it?”

Luke dropped his hand from her shoulder and brought it up to rub his neck. “Yes, think about it. But I want you to consider one thing.”

“Okay,” she said, warily.

“If we’re going to do this, if we’re going to make this work, I need you to hear me out first. You have to let me explain why I did what I did.”

12

Embry sat on her living room floor, back against the couch and long legs splayed out on the carpet. Her hair was in a haphazard ponytail, and her right hand gripped a bottle of her favorite white wine.

“You are one hot mess, my love,” Morgan said, walking into the living room with two plates of steaming hot pizza in one hand and her own glass of wine in the other.

“Hah,” Embry scoffed, taking a swig straight from the bottle. The sweet taste lingered on her lips, and her head was becoming cloudy enough to relax.

“And classy, too. What happened to your glass?” Morgan looked around for the missing object.

“I ditched it about the same time I decided to go to town on the whole bottle.”

“Nice. Not that I don’t love drunk Embry, because I do, but what brought this on?” Morgan slid onto the floor beside Embry.

“Seriously?” Embry eyed her best friend. “You have to ask?”

“I know who brought it on. But when I spoke to you earlier, it seemed like you two were playing nice.”

“That was before I had the chance to think about him trapping me into hearing his explanation.”

“Oh, so before the half-bottle of alcohol was consumed?” Morgan countered.

Embry smiled, held the bottle up, and swished the liquid around. “That too.”

“Okay, so what’s really the problem?”

“There is none. I’m okay. I just wanted a bit of alcohol to help me decide if I wanted to spend the rest of the semester working one-on-one with my sexy, kind-of-sort-of ex-boyfriend-turned-professor.”

“Well when you put it that way,” Morgan joked.

“I don’t want to hear his explanation. I would rather just put it behind us and try to have some semblance of a professional relationship.”

“How about this,” Morgan suggested. “Dig into that delicious New York pizza. Let’s polish off the wine and have some fun, and we’ll worry about Luke later.”

“I like the sound of that,” Embry said, taking a large bite. “Oh my god, so good.” Melted cheese and sauce dripped down her chin. “Real pizza … You have no idea how much I’ve missed this.”

“You really are in rare form tonight,” Morgan teased, throwing a napkin at Embry.

The girls polished off the pizza and finished their wine. They talked about school, the past, their families, and everything else while keeping the conversation far away from Luke. Morgan connected her iPod to the speakers, and they danced around the apartment, drinking and singing.

After they collapsed on the couch, Embry rested her head on her best friend’s shoulder. “Thanks, Morgs.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” she said, nudging Embry. “You know Brett’s going to have to come get me since you got me drunk.”

“Brett!” Embry cheered. “I miss him. Tell him to come pick your drunk ass up so I can say hello.”

“You call and tell him,” Morgan said. “Then maybe he won’t yell at me for standing him up tonight.”

“You stood him up?”

“You needed me.”

“I did. Now give me your phone so I can get your man over here.”

“Okay,” Morgan said, tossing her phone at Embry. “I’m just going to lay down in the guest room for a bit.”

“Seriously? You always pass out!” Embry whined, chucking a throw pillow at Morgan as she disappeared down the hall.

* * *

A knock sounded on the front door a while later.

Embry jumped up and flung the door open. “BRETTY!”

“Hey, Bree-Bree,” he said, his big brown eyes shining down at her.

Brett swept Embry into a huge hug, completely dwarfing her, and she immediately felt better. Getting teary-eyed, she pulled away from the comfort of his arms.

“Come on in. Your girl is passed out in the guest room,” she said, motioning toward the hallway.

“Typical.” He rolled his eyes.

“Want something to drink?” Embry asked as Brett followed her through the door.

He surveyed the empty wine bottles on the kitchen island. “Is there anything left?”

“Har har. I have beer in the fridge.”

“Sure, whatever you have,” he said, arranging his large body on the couch.

Brett Parker stood at least six feet, four inches. His size and muscles could be intimidating, but he was a big softie underneath. His sandy mop of hair, big brown eyes, and toothpaste-commercial smile gave him that perfect All-American look. He was like the big brother Embry had never had.

Brett, Embry, and Morgan had grown up in the same town. Brett’s parents were close with Embry’s and she’d spent a lot of time with him when they were younger. He had always been Embry’s protector, but by the time she was mixed up with Jack, Brett was away at college.

Embry grabbed a beer, snapped the cap off, and brought it to Brett. She plopped down on the couch next to him and let out a huge sigh.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.

“No. But I probably should.”

“Morgan gave me the Cliff’s Notes version. What’s going on?”

“Well, you probably don’t know the newest development. Luke is not only my professor, but he’s taking over my research project as well.” She filled Brett in on their conversation as well as Luke’s ultimatum: if she wanted to keep her position, she’d have to hear him out.

“Okay, so what’s the issue?”

“What good will it do?” Embry threw her arms up in the air. “We’re done, over. Even if he explains himself and I understand or forgive him, we can’t be together, so what’s the point? I’d rather not rehash our feelings when there’s nothing we can do about them. I just want to move on.”

Brett looked on with sympathetic eyes as Embry continued to relay her feelings about Luke. Before she knew it, she had given him the entire back-story and he was completely up to speed on their screwed up attempt at a relationship.

“You want honest or you want sugar-coated?” he asked.

“You know I want you to be honest with me. You’re the one person I know always will be.”

“You’re hurting, I get that. He fucked up. But that’s what guys do. We fuck up. Especially when a beautiful girl is involved. From what Morgan said, she hasn’t seen you this happy since …” Brett’s fists clenched in his lap.

Embry knew it was hard for him to talk about Jack. He carried a lot of guilt over the fact that he hadn’t been around for Embry during such a bad time. She put her hand over his, drawing his attention back to her.

He blew out a breath. “She said she hasn’t seen you this happy since before Jack. I get that Luke lied and hurt you, and now you’re in an impossible situation. But I think the real reason you don’t want to let him explain is because you’re afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“You don’t want to deal with your feelings for him, and if you never let him explain, you’ll never have to. You can put the blame on him, never face what you felt for him, and pretend to move on. But you won’t move on,” Brett said.

“And why is that?” Embry asked somewhat defensively.

“You were falling for him.”

Embry blanched at the easy way such a big statement rolled off Brett’s tongue. She knew she was falling for Luke, but hearing it out loud made it real. All of a sudden, that deep ache in her chest began to throb. She crossed her arms, looking like a five-year-old on the verge of a tantrum. “Was not.”

“You’re not ready to admit it, and that’s fine. I’m not saying you should go all Say Anything outside his window, but if you keep all your feelings stuffed inside, they’ll eat you alive.”

She sank into the couch, feeling defeated.

“Or if you’re dead set on shutting him out and losing a great job,” he continued, “I hear Hooters is hiring.” Brett nudged her, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Oh shut it, Parker,” she said, smacking his arm.

Morgan chose that moment to stumble down the hallway rubbing her eyes. “What about Hooters?”

Brett let out a hearty laugh and stood to greet his girl. “Hey, the party has arrived!” Morgan face-planted into his chest. He shook his head, wrapped her in his arms, and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “Girls’ night was successful, huh babe?” He shot Embry a wink over Morgan’s head.

Morgan groaned and mumbled something unintelligible.

Brett laughed again. He pulled back and forced Morgan’s head back to look at him. “I’ll take that as a yes, baby?”

She smiled at him, whispered, “Take me home,” and lifted up onto her toes to plant a kiss on his lips.

Embry blushed and looked away, not wanting to intrude on their private moment. Had she and Luke looked like that? Happy and in love? Well, maybe not in love, but getting there. The realization that she would never have that with him broke her heart.

“All right!” Brett announced, bringing Embry out of her thoughts. “Time to take my lush of a girlfriend home.”

Morgan smacked his chest playfully. “Hey, I’m an overworked law student, it doesn’t take much these days.” She pulled Embry into a hug. “You okay?”

Embry nodded into Morgan’s shoulder. “I’m good. Thanks, M.”

Morgan smiled. “Anytime, you know that. Take care of you, Breebear.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Brett grabbed Embry in another big hug. “Good to see you, beauty.”

“You too. Thanks for the advice, big bro.”

He gave her one of his award-winning smiles and started toward the door where his girlfriend waited. “Just remember, guys do stupid shit all the time, but the majority of the time, it has something to do with a girl.” He winked. “Hear him out, B.”

Brett and Morgan walked out, and Embry settled back on the couch. Her head was all over the place. She was pissed at Luke, but she missed him. She was torn between hearing him out and staying as far away from him as she could. Flipping on the TV, she attempted to distract herself with late-night reruns. Even an hour of mind-numbing reality television didn’t help, so she shut off the TV, cleaned up the kitchen, and headed to bed.

Sleep wouldn’t come easy, and she knew it. Staring at the ceiling, she let her thoughts drift to Luke. He’d probably have a good explanation. It may not excuse him from lying, but somehow, she was sure he’d had good intentions, however misplaced. But then where would she be? Her anger at Luke was the only thing keeping her sane, helping her keep distance between them. If she heard him out and forgave him, then what? Brett was right—she was in an impossible situation. Was it easier to stay mad at him and ignore the feelings that kept rising to the surface?

She knew she was kidding herself. There was no ignoring Luke. The best she could do was figure out a way to coexist with him. Before she could change her mind, she grabbed her cell phone and typed out a quick text to Luke.

Okay, let’s talk.

Butterflies took up residence in her stomach as she hit send. Too nervous to wait for his response, she shut off the phone and went to sleep.