Addy And The Smart Guy (Big Girl Panties #3) (3 page)

But then the door clicked shut. She jumped. Frowned. It was unlike him. Whenever they were together in the office, he always left the door open. He was very conscious of propriety. Just last year a well-known professor in the psychology department had been caught in a scandal involving two of his freshman students, a male and a female. Drugs had been involved. The publicity had seemed to never end.

Dr. McDaniel had more than his fair share of young, female admirers, but he was always extremely formal and distant, never wanting to invite scandal. Even a rumor could destroy his reputation, and maybe his career. The dean had been on a personal mission to eliminate all incidences of improper fraternization between teachers and students. Just the fact that Addy was the teaching assistant to a single, good-looking professor automatically put her and Dr. McDaniel on the dean's radar.

So for him to close the door seemed a major lapse in judgment. She shook it off, continuing the task at hand. She'd be leaving in a few minutes anyway.

"Got big spring break plans?" he asked

She laughed because it was funny. She didn't need to explain to him why it was funny, he already knew what a tame life she led.

When he didn't say anything else, she found her fingers hovering over her keyboard, waiting. But waiting for what? He was still there. Standing back by his desk, she suspected. What was he doing?

She turned. He was facing her, but not looking at her. He was frowning down at the floor and holding an envelope.

Her heart sped up. She began running through possible scenarios. Had she done something wrong? Had he done something wrong? Did that envelope contain bad news? Did somebody die? Get fired?
 

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

He looked up as though just realizing she was there. "What? Oh, yeah. Everything's fine." He leaned back against his desk, blinked, and looked away.

"Oh," she said. "Okay. Good." She hesitated and turned back to her laptop.

"I'm going on vacation," he said.

Um, okay
. "Oh, cool," she said. "Taking the girlfriend?" She couldn't say the name of the woman Dr. McDaniel had been dating the past few months. She'd met her. Seen her around. She was gorgeous, mid-thirties like him, sophisticated and pretty much perfect in every way.
 

"No," he said.

Her fingers paused again. "Oh." She went back to typing up a work schedule for herself.
 

"I have this cabin out in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Nobody there knows me. It's quiet. Secluded."

She checked her email one last time to make sure she hadn't missed anything. "Sounds real pleasant."

"It is. I'm flying. In the morning."

She nodded, then shook her head at the amount of work she had to do. "Well I hope you have fun. I'll be doing all your work for you, it looks like."

She'd meant it as a joke, but he hadn't laughed. Huh. Weird.

"And you don't have to think about this now, or anything," she said, "but when you get back, I think you're going to have to meet with that Gwen Morris. Yesterday she gave me this lecture about how her father paid for her to take 'Dr. McDaniel's poly-sci 101 class…not Addison Hart's.' I'm sorry. I don't know what I did to piss her off, but she's got it out for me."

"I'm sure you'll handle it," he muttered.

"I can't, is what I'm saying. I mean, I don't know what she wants or believe me, I'd give it to her just to shut her up—"

"Addison?"

He rarely called her by her given name. It was usually Ms. Hart to him. She swallowed and turned, frowning up at him.
 

"Um. This is for you." He crossed the room and handed her the envelope.

She took it and stared at it.

"Like I said, I'm leaving in the morning. Have to be at the airport at nine to get through all the security. But…again, this place. Nobody knows me. Or you. It's…it's really nice. I just…I wanted you to have that…" He nodded toward the envelope. "Just in case."
 

Then he turned and just left.
 

Addy sat twisted in her chair, staring at the door he'd left open. What the hell? She opened the envelope. Inside was a round trip ticket to North Carolina. "Holy shit," she whispered.

"What the hell kind of a proposition is that?" Addy shrieked. She paced the floor of her apartment in her socks, sweatpants and t-shirt. Maya and Zoey sat on the sofa and watched her, their heads turning side-to-side like they were watching a tennis match. "He just hands me a plane ticket less than twenty-four hours before the flight. I mean, my God!"
 

"Okay," Zoey said, "but we're kind of burning daylight, right? Don't you need to pack?"

Addy froze and turned to face her friend. "You think I should go? You think I should just throw away three years' worth of good behavior on a whim?"

Her friends gawped at her.

The moment of panic suddenly drained, and Addy collapsed into an armchair.
 

"Addy, this is a one-time opportunity," Zoey said sternly. "Believe it or not, most women go their whole lives without their secret crushes dropping plane tickets into their laps. I mean, it's so suave and worldly."

"Worldly?" Addy laughed. "He was a nervous wreck. Didn't even make eye contact most of the time. But you do have a point. Grey dates a lot of rich, sophisticated women. He'll have expectations, if I do go."

Maya winced. "I hate to see you think like that, Addy. He liked you enough to invite you on a trip. He doesn't expect anything from you."

"From my personality, no. But in terms of looks and behavior, I'm sure he's acquired specific tastes. I only wish I knew what he liked."

"You need to do what makes you comfortable—" Maya started to say.

She was interrupted by Zoey who bounced forward. "Does this mean we're going lingerie shopping?"

Addy stared blankly at her.
 

A few minutes later, they were in Addy's Mercedes, driving to the mall. Zoey practically danced down the corridors to Victoria's Secret. Addy and Maya rolled their eyes at each other and tried to maintain a little more dignity. Of course, Maya lost all self-control the moment they walked in, and Addy was left to herself, trying to decide just how slutty to dress for the professor.
 

"Addy!" Zoey shouted from across the store.

Pressing her lips together, Addy thought how much she felt like a mother embarrassed by her children whenever she brought her two friends shopping.

Zoey was holding up a black, strappy bra and thong set of some sort. "You gotta get this!" she shouted.

Addy circumvented the rack of nighties in front of her and wound her way to Zoey. "Could you attempt to be a little more discreet?"

Zoey simply snorted. "Look at this." She held it up and demonstrated the way the straps would fit. "This is the kind of thing you put on under a fur coat and be all like, 'Hello, Professor.'" She lowered her voice in mock seduction, which made Addy laugh.
 

"I think she should wear this," Maya interrupted, holding a fur-trimmed, sheer chemise against her body. She turned to the side, stuck her ass out, and said, "I'm just an innocent little thing, Professor, won't you educate me in the worldly art of physical pleasure?"

Addy laughed even harder, her face turning bright red. "Stop it, both of you. Seriously, I'm just going to stick with black lace. You can't go wrong with black lace."

"Sure," Zoey replied, "but get something more adventurous, just for fun. Like this." She grabbed a lace baby doll with pink hearts that would just cover her nipples.

"God, no."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not me."

"Oh, that's crap. We both know this is totally you. There's a wild, slutty minx beneath that prudish exterior."

Maya, holding a black, cutout bustier said, in her mock-sweet voice, "Professor, you just bring out the animal in me."

"For God's sake," Addy berated. But she had to admit, they weren't wrong. She wanted to be naked in front of Grey. She wanted to seduce him with sexy lingerie. The thought excited her. Thrilled her in unexpected ways. So, with a sigh of frustration at knowing how much they were going to keep teasing her, she grabbed the bustier from Maya and the babydoll from Zoey.
 

In the end, they all left with something nice to wear for their men. Addy had far more than she needed for a one-week love affair, but the experience had been fun.
 

After that, they bought at-home waxing kits and went back to Addy's apartment. Once again, Addy found herself in foreign territory. She stood in her bedroom staring at the box while Zoey and Maya laid out towels and warmed up wax. "I just don't feel right doing this. I've never…groomed…in this manner," she said.

"You're gonna be glad you did," Zoey said, as she warmed the wax in a miniature crock pot on the dresser.

"Hold on," Maya said. "Addy, this is about you and your comfort. If you want to go au naturel, then that's fine."

"I just don't know what he expects."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Look, he doesn't have expectations. You'll show him who you are and as you two get to know each other, you'll learn each other's preferences. So…this is about how you want to prepare yourself."

Addy thought about it. Being her first time ever thinking about it, she wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say. "I…I don't think I want to be completely bare," she said. "But I wouldn't mind sort of…touching up some areas…if that makes any sense."

"Perfect sense," Maya said and hugged her friend. "Here, let me hug you once more. Because after we go through this together, I don't think we're gonna be looking each other in the eyes for a while."

They wound up each choosing a private corner of the bedroom. After cleaning and prepping, they spread wax where they wanted, waited for it to dry, counted to three and ripped.

Screams followed by wicked cursing followed by laughter. And then they repeated the process.

"My vagina hates me so much right now," Zoey said, as they lay sprawled on Addy's bedroom floor.

"It's actually your vulva," Addy said.

"Oh, shut up." The women took turns in the bathroom, cleaning themselves up, but staying in the bathrobes they'd donned for the experience.
 

"I'm sad for Jayce," Maya said. The last one out of the bathroom, she gingerly sat on the bed next to Zoey and Addy who were lounged back against pillows. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to give him his Friday night lovin'."

"His Friday night lovin'?" Zoey laughed. "You have a schedule or something?"

"We have spontaneous sex. But Friday nights are guaranteed. We always do something extra special and fun on Friday nights. Like last week it was pretty weather, and we went up on the roof and did it. So that was our on-the-roof sex."

"How many kinds of sex are there?" Addy asked.

"I'm finding out, a lot. Jayce is pretty creative. Hide-and-seek sex is the best. He catches me in a room without windows, turns off the lights, and then tries to find me. That's my favorite so far."

"I like hot tub sex at the moment," Zoey said. "I tend to find something I like and just do it until it gets boring. Hot tub sex has been hot for about a month, now."

Addy turned around on the bed, leaning back on her hands, facing them. She just stared at them both, in awe of how easy it was for them to talk about something so personal. "Guys, I need to tell you something. I need you to not laugh at me or tease me. I really need your support and…and…"

"You're a virgin, aren't you?" Zoey asked. "I knew it." She threw up her hands in frustration. "Does the professor know?"

"No," she sighed. "I've never told him, anyway. Maybe he assumes."

"Okay, well, it's not that big of a deal. You're twenty-four. It's not going to be too scary. It's just like a self-made orgasm, except you've got someone else on top of you, that's all."

"Jeez, Zoey," Maya said, rolling her eyes.

"I've never…" Addy stopped. She couldn't even say it, it was too embarrassing.

Zoey's mouth dropped. Thankfully, Maya stepped in. "Never had an orgasm?" she asked.

Addy shook her head, feeling suddenly ashamed—a rare sensation, for her.

"It's not a big deal," Maya said. "Zoey's been self-pleasuring since she was twelve, but I never touched myself until after I left Damon. You just be honest with the professor about your lack of experience, and he'll take care of everything."

"What if I can't? I mean, it's not like I haven't tried. I have those…feelings. But just touching myself…I just can't. It's too weird for me, and I feel like I'm doing something, you know, sinful. I just can't get past that."

Maya needed to think on it, which gave Zoey the opportunity to swoop in and, in her brusque way, just say, "Power through it, sweetie. It gets really good, trust me."

"Zoey, come on," Maya said. "Addy, do you want to do this with him?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Then trust me, he'll get you where you need to be. But if you're succumbing to pressure—"

"I'm not. I'm really not," Addy said. "If I didn't want him, I'd toss his plane ticket in the trash and sue him for inappropriate conduct. Oh, God, which is totally what my parents will do to him if they find out. I need a cover story. They're going to wonder why I haven't visited them. They may even come up. They pop in, like, all the time."

"Okay, but first," Maya said. "You're okay? With the sex thing?"

Addy exhaled and closed her eyes. She nodded. "As okay as I can be. I just wish I'd slept with some guys before, so I wouldn't be going into this blind."

Maya laughed. "I'll bet money the professor is the kind of guy who likes that you saved yourself for him. What guy wouldn't?"

Addy hoped she was right.

"Cover story," Zoey said. "I got it. We invent a girlfriend, just like in
The Importance of Being Earnest—
"

"Oh, I love that story," Addy said, suddenly growing sentimental.

"I know," Zoey said bitterly, clearly not appreciating the many times that Addy had made them watch that movie. "As I was saying. We invent a girlfriend. We'll name her…Lilly Kennedy—"