Teacher's Pet Complete Series (11 page)

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I lost my job. I’ve never been fired before.”

“Yeah, it does kind of suck. I wouldn’t take it too personal, though. It’s Professor Foster’s loss, not yours, and he knows it.”

I gave him a curious look.

“I know it’s none of my business, and I should probably stay out of it, but I just don’t get it.”

I looked up. “What is there to get?” I found myself getting nervous again. I had a feeling that I knew what he meant by that. I only wanted to make Simon squirm, not put his job in jeopardy.

Dane let out a breath. “Not to bring it up again, but whether the rumors are true or not, I can’t understand why any man would
not
want you near him. You’re beautiful, you’re obviously intelligent and your outfit is superb today, I must say.”

My face flushed. “Thank you.” A shy smile emerged. “That was sweet.”

“You’re welcome. I speak only the truth, as much as I can whenever I can. It keeps my life simple.”

“I don’t know.” I gave him the once-over. “By the looks of you, your life is anything but simple. What is that, an Armani suit? I’m fairly certain no one who lives a simple life can afford something like that, or expensive-looking watches like the one you have on.”

Dane held up his arm and twisted his wrist. “Oh, this old thing? It’s just a Rolex, presidential. It’s nothing.”

“Well, your nothing looks like it would cost me ten years of pay to afford. Actually, now that I’m down to one job, make it twenty years.”

“Ah, you exaggerate. I’m sure you’d be able to afford it in fifteen.”

I smiled. So, he was good looking, rich, charming and funny. There had to be something off about him, but I wasn’t in the mood to find it. He was stroking my ego, and I needed it badly.

The more we talked, the more Dane began to grow on me. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes. His build was thick, much stouter than Simon’s. He was more densely muscled, taller and square-jawed, like a football player. He must’ve been an athlete at some point, even if it was just in his school years. I filed it in the back of my brain to ask him at a later date, if there ever was one.

It was a bright and shiny day outside, much too warm for the suit Dane was wearing, but he didn’t seem to mind having it on, and I surely didn’t mind seeing him in it. We walked out to the guest parking lot, which let me know Dane wasn’t a member of the board. They had special assigned parking for the staff by the front, and we came out the door on the side.

“My lady, your chariot awaits.” Dane pressed the alarm on his key chain and opened the door of a black Aston Martin. It was sleek and low to the ground, looking like something directly off the showroom floor, not something you drive in every day. He gestured with his hand and bowed as I got in. The cream-colored interior looked like the cockpit of an airplane. Instruments and lights stood out and were rather confusing to me. My butt sank and melted in the soft leather seats. It made me feel special just to sit in it.

After letting me in, Dane walked around the rear of the car. He got in and started the ignition. He turned toward me with a mischievous grin and a curious twinkle in his eye. “I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you my full name.”

“Bond… James Bond,” I said, doing my best imitation of the spy.

“Not exactly.” He laughed. “But you’re close. My name is Dane… Dane Foster. Nice to meet you.”

I wasn’t sure I had heard him right. I knew what he’d said, but I was having a hard time believing it. “You’re last name’s Foster? As in—”

“I’m Simon Foster’s brother… his younger brother, to be exact. I’m not too surprised he hasn’t mentioned me.”

I was stunned into silence. I didn’t know what kind of game Dane was playing, or if Simon and he were colluding, but what I did know was that I was getting upset. “Take me back!” I’d had it up to here with all that had happened already, and I just wanted to crawl into my bed and tune out. “Turn this car around!” I screamed.

“What?” Dane glanced at me while trying to keep his eyes on the road. “You don’t want to talk about it? Aren’t you curious?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Take me back to school or let me out. I swear I’ll open this door right now. How much will it cost you if it hit a telephone pole?” I pulled my seatbelt tight. I unlocked the car door and opened it about an inch. I made sure Dane saw that I did it.

“All right, all right; I’ll stop the car,” he said. “We’re already here, anyway. Let me at least buy you breakfast and explain myself. If you’re still upset after that, I’ll drop you off at school and you’ll never hear from me again. We got a deal?”

I thought it over. While I was doing so, Dane pulled into the first floor of a four-floor parking garage. He turned off the ignition and sat patiently waiting while looking straight ahead at a wall like a dunce. As soon as I opened my mouth to tell him I wanted him to drive me home, a hunger pang hit my stomach like a cannonball. It churned and growled loud enough for him to hear. Dane didn’t look my way, but he smiled.

“Fine.” I turned toward him. My skirt hiked up to expose my inner thigh. “But you better tell me what the hell is going on, Dane, and I want to know it all. There are way too many secrets when it comes to Simon’s life, and if he’s not willing to share them with me, then you will. I didn’t even know he had a brother, and now that I think about it, I don’t know much about him period. So please spill everything.”

Dane looked amused by my aggression. He didn’t seem shaken up or surprised in any way, instead seeming slightly amused. The smile on his face told me he savored these moments, like it turned him on or something. The pervert. It would figure, him being Simon’s brother and all. Was the whole family like this? I would hate to meet their father. Half of me wanted to hightail it back to the school by myself and just forget I’d ever met either of these two, but my high heels and my growling stomach kept me from making the trek. Plus, if there was a chance I’d get any answers at all, I had to stick around.

Dane’s eyes dropped down to my thighs. When I noticed, I pulled my skirt to cover my knees, but there wasn’t enough material to manage it.

“Do you like crepes?” he asked, snapping out of whatever lust-filled fantasy he was having.

“I do.” I pursed my lips at him to let him know that I was not thrilled by his wandering eyes.

“Perfect, well, I know this great little place. You’ll love it. So if you’re done with your rant, we should go.”

Dane was a take-charge type of guy, not unlike Simon, but he was a lot smoother, more of a playboy type that would charm you out of your panties rather than rip them off your hips. It was in the way he walked with a long, smooth gait, the way he talked with a calm tone of confidence. His expressions of movement were effective and precise. His smile could be deadly to a lady. So yes, he could definitely charm you out of your panties. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a collection in a drawer.

We walked into a quaint little French crepe shop that smelled like rich pastries and aromatic spices. It had fancy red booths along the left side of the wall, with a lot of light coming from the clear glass front. A beautiful barista hung out behind the counter, and behind her was a menu on a black board written in multiple colors of chalk. There was also a shiny brass espresso machine that she worked with incredible speed. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d chosen this particular eatery for the view.

“What do you think?” Dane whispered in my ear from behind. It sent a chill down my neck, which spread throughout my shoulders. I stilled my body so it wouldn’t show. I wasn’t going to be caught up that way by another Foster—no way, no how.

“It’s nice,” I said over my shoulder. “Do you bring all your girls here?”

He chuckled. “That depends. Do you want to be my girl?”

“Hardly.” I rolled my eyes, but I was flattered. It made me really start to regret my lack of experience. Perhaps if I wasn’t so naïve and desperate, I would’ve been able to work my feminine wiles—play hard to get.

“Well, in that case, I definitely don’t.”

We took a corner booth in the back. I ordered a chai latte and a spinach and feta crepe with a small bowl of fruit. Dane ordered green tea and an omelet. “Why would you come to a place that made crepes and not order one?” I asked him.

Dane stretched his arms across the back of the booth. “Because I’m conscious of my weight, and my abs are depending on me.” He grinned. “No, seriously, I’ve had every crepe on the menu twice over. They’re all good, but there’s only so many of them you can eat. The one you ordered is my favorite. You have great taste.”

“Thank you, but you know you’re full of it, right?” I tipped my latte to my lips. “You would complement a girl with a big hairy mole if you thought it would get her in the sack.”

Dane grinned. “I see you’re going to be a tough nut to crack.”

“Is that what this is? You want to crack me open and see what’s inside?”

“Well, the thought had crossed my mind, to be honest. Although I’m fairly confident whatever’s inside is delicious.”

My face got warm. I was sure it was changing colors, but I pushed my way through it. “I thought the deal was if I came here with you I’d be able to ask the questions that I wanted. Has that changed?”

“Nope.” He took a sip of his tea and slouched down to get comfortable. “Go right ahead. I’m an open book.”

“Okay, do you have any other siblings? Is there another brother waiting in the wings that’ll pop up and surprise me someday?”

“No.” He laughed, but I found nothing funny. I had the bad feeling I was being toyed with, and I didn’t appreciate it. “There’s no other brother. We have a sister, but she’s too busy being a self-centered diva to bother with Simon’s affairs. Or mine, for that matter.”

“That’s interesting. I would think someone like Simon would come from a close family.”

Dane shifted in his seat. “Close is a relative term.”

The barista came back with our order. She placed a large, round plate in front of my face, with my food neatly arranged and smelling like heaven. My crepe had the rich and tangy aroma of feta cheese. The steam went up my nose and made my mouth water. She also placed the small bowl of berries on the side, with a dollop of real whip cream on top. My stomach lurched in protest of me not feeding it sooner. I rubbed it until it calmed and shoved a forkful of crepe in my mouth.

I knew Dane had ordered an omelet, but I had no idea it would be that big. It had to have been made with a half-dozen eggs, tomatoes, turkey bacon, green onions and cheese. “What are you, Fred Flintstone? That thing is huge. How in the hell are you going to eat all that?”

“The same way I do everything else.” He winked. “Slowly and with care.”

I ignored his innuendo. The last thing I needed was for the spider to set his trap and for me to fall into it willingly. It was amazing how quickly I was learning not to fall for all this charm and nonsense. If nothing else ever came out of my brief romance with Simon, at least there was that. “What else do I need to know about your family? I’m not used to giving interviews. So you’ll have to help me out here.”

“Well, I can tell you we’re rich… grotesquely so, actually. You wouldn’t know it by the looks of my brother and how he chooses to live his life, but yeah, my family has shitloads of money. You might have heard of my father before.”

And then it hit me. “Wait a minute. You’re not
the
Fosters of Foster Capital Ventures, are you?”

He nodded. “Yup, one and the same.”

“You and Simon are the sons of Cornelius Foster, the billionaire?” I ran my fingers through my hair. “Why didn’t I figure that out sooner? I did a ton of research on Cornelius for my thesis. Your dad is amazing.”

“Yeah, he seems to think so.”

“And you don’t?”

“Well, let’s just say I’m not his favorite son. That honor goes to Simon, him being the oldest son and heir apparent to the throne. He’s been groomed to succeed my father since birth. The fact that he’s an economics professor is no accident, believe me.”

“Okay, well, what happened?”

“He and my dad got into it. They had a falling out because Simon refused to take over the company. You know, Dad isn’t getting any younger, so someone has to do it. Unfortunately, it won’t be Simon, by the looks of things.”

“So Simon for all intents and purposes should be a billionaire right now and the head of Foster Capital Ventures?”

“Yup, you got it.”

“Wow, I wonder why he didn’t tell me.”

“Well, he’s not exactly proud of it. The guy is allergic to excess. Have you seen the motorcycle he drives? It’s deplorable. I swear I don’t understand him at all. He’s far from the brother I grew up with. Something happened to him along the way. When we were kids he wouldn’t spend a penny before he figured out how to make it back with interest. I guess people change as time goes on.”

“That’s for sure.”

“I’m not sure I should tell you this, but he does really like you. So leading a conversation with ‘Hey, by the way, I’m rich’ probably wasn’t the best way to go. Not unless he was trying to get in your pants.”

“Is it safe to assume that’s your usual shtick?”

“It doesn’t hurt. But why say anything when it’s obvious?” He pulled at the cuffs of his expensive suit. “Anyway, back to what I was saying. Despite his obvious faults, the one thing he has gotten right is you. I’ve never seen him be so into a woman like this.”

“He talks about me?” I thought that Dane was going to clear some things up for me, but I found myself even more confused than I had been before. With the way Simon acted, I had thought he was mostly interested in my body, and then with how he treated me that morning, I was sure he had no feeling for me at all. But here was his brother sitting in front of me telling me that Simon had mentioned me and actually liked me. I was diving headfirst into a world I clearly didn’t understand. Despite all the stereotypes, men were apparently just as complicated as women.