Addy And The Smart Guy (Big Girl Panties #3) (16 page)

"Well?" Erika asked.

Grey shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I kissed Addison on Tuesday. We'd lie about it, but because of the circumstances, more than one person heard her confess it. As to the rest, it's bullshit."

"Doesn't matter. It's out there. Your credibility is undermined. Now I have to allow Dr. Markham to investigate Addison's thesis to make sure no favoritism has occurred. You're off her thesis committee. You're officially no longer her advisor. God, I can't believe this." She closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

"How bad is it for her?"

Erika threw up her hands. "You know how this is, Grey. It's not a legal issue, it's an ethics issue. If she's truly done the work herself, and the committee is convinced of that, then she'll receive her degree without a problem. Of course, the damage to her reputation is unavoidable. I know Addison fairly well, and I'm certain this is going to be very hard on her."

Grey knew it was. Addison was proud of her image, proud of her reputation. He only wished he could take this off of her. "Okay," he murmured. "How bad is this for me?"

"I think we need to shut this girl down. I have a meeting scheduled with her parents on Monday. We'll talk about the consequences of libel and see if we can resolve this as quietly as possible."

"My job?"
 

"It's ultimately up to the board. I don't see them letting you go as a result of the thing with Addison…I'm assuming she's perfectly complicit in whatever it is the two of you have going.
 
Provided she assures me that she hasn't felt coerced in any way, I'm certainly not going to recommend having you fired over it. But again, there's the damage to your reputation. At this point, it's all about reassuring parents and alumni that Gwen's accusations are a hundred percent false. If we can regain their confidence, then you should be okay."

Grey nodded, but still felt disheartened. To have this on his record was humiliating. "Have you gotten in touch with Addison?"

"I've sent her an email. I hope to meet with her on Monday as well."

He sighed. "I intend to talk to her in person about this, today." He lifted his eyes to Erika's.

Erika narrowed her eyes. "Just be discreet."

"Of course."

"Grey?"

He'd been about to stand. "Hmm?"

"Off the record…what's going on between you two?"

A bitter laugh escaped his lips. "Off the record, huh? Does that exist in this situation?"

"Honestly, it's base curiosity on my part. Off the record. Just two friends talking."

He arched a skeptical brow, but figured it didn't really matter now. "I never so much as touched her hand until two weeks ago."

"What happened two weeks ago?"

"I bought two plane tickets to my summer cabin and gave her one. She joined me. We promised to end it after the week was out, but…"

"But that's easier said than done."

He nodded once. "That kiss on Tuesday, the one that nearly killed me, that was my only indiscretion this week. I swear, I've been a goddamn saint since I started teaching here. I make one selfish, impulsive decision, and shit rains down on me. And her. She doesn't deserve this. She's an angel. I'll never forgive myself for putting her through this."

"She's a big girl, Grey. She doesn't strike me as the type to blame anyone other than herself for her decisions."

"She's not. That's one of the amazing things about her."

Erika leaned back with a sigh. "Let this mess fizzle out and then date her. A post-grad student, living independently. As long as you avoid conflict of interest, there's nothing strictly against the rules about it."

"I don't really see it going anywhere. Attraction's about all we've got. We both want different things."

Erika shrugged. "I'm just saying that there's no need to deprive yourself because of your job. If she were an eighteen-year-old undergrad, this would be a different story altogether."

He thanked her for the counsel and left, heading straight for Addison's apartment. He knocked, but there was no answer. He turned around, leaned back against the wall next to the door, and pulled up her number on his phone. It went straight to voicemail.
 

"Addison, call me back," Grey said. "I need to see you."

He hung up and decided to wait. Maybe she'd just gone out to eat with her friends. He sat on the floor against the wall and checked Facebook. Addison's friend had posted a photo of her two kids and boyfriend playing in a sheet fort. Grey smiled as he remembered playing in a sheet fort with Addison.

He scrolled through and saw that Addison's mother had posted something on her wall.
 

Tried to call you. Please answer your phone.

Addison had responded:

Sorry, Mom. Will call you back soon.

But what Grey noticed was Addison's location. St. Claire. She'd taken her friends back home. He stood and jogged down the stairs out of the building to his parallel-parked car. He needed to see her. It felt weird using information from Facebook to track her down, but he needed to give her a heads-up about Gwen, and St. Claire was only forty minutes away. Twinges of desperation were clawing at his chest. If she were here, he was certain he wouldn't feel so upset about it. Addison always managed to calm him down.
 

He sped down the interstate and made it past the city limits of St. Claire before he realized he didn't know where her home was. Or if she'd even be there. He searched his memory. She'd spoken of the town so often, there had to be something useful in his memory.
 

Harley's. The bar she hung out at. She said it was called Harley's even though it belonged to her friend Jayce. It was a few minutes after three. Grey decided to see if the bar was open. He found it fairly easily since it was right on the corner of Main Street. He parked in the lot behind the bar and walked around to the front entrance.
 

There was music playing on the jukebox and a few tables with customers. An old guy sat at the counter. Jayce was behind the bar, wiping it down. He did a double take at Grey and grinned. "Professor!" he said in greeting.

Grey made his way to the bar. "Jayce, right?"

"Yes, sir. I almost didn't recognize you, dressed casual like that. What can I get you?"

"Uh, just information. I'm looking for Addison."

Jayce's friendly demeanor vanished. "She call you?"

"No. As a matter of fact, I've been trying to call her, but it keeps going straight to voicemail."

"Have a seat. I'll give Maya a call, see if I can get her over here for you."

"Thanks." Grey sat and looked around at the bar. Raw brick walls. Black leather furniture and low lighting. Through an archway was another room with a stage for a band and dance floor. A sign hung next to the archway promising live music from some local band tonight.

Jayce came back behind the bar. "Addy's at her mom's, apparently."

Grey stood and pulled out his phone. "Do you suppose I could have the address?"

"To her mom's? You don't want to do that, man."

"Yeah. I really do."

"Listen, I don't think she'd appreciate you showing up on her parent's doorstep like that. Her mom will definitely raise hell with the university if she finds out about you and Addy."

It suddenly struck him. "Addy," he muttered. "You call her Addy."

Jayce shrugged. "Everyone around here does."

"She likes it? She prefers it?"

"I assume so. At least, she's never complained."

Grey frowned down at the bar, wondering why she'd never mentioned it. "I need to see her today."

"Hang out here," Jayce said. "I guarantee you after a visit to her mom's, she'll be around for a drink. She's staying over at Maya's place tonight, too, so she'll turn up eventually."

Grey glanced at the door. He could just knock on her parent's door and let her know he was in town. Still, Jayce was right. It was a bad idea.

"Come on," Jayce said. "Let's shoot some pool before it gets too busy. Hey, Janice! Come man the bar, will ya?" A blond woman made her way to the bar with a smile. Jayce led the way to an empty pool table. Grey was glad his parents had kept a billiard table in the basement. The rules of the games were different, but at least he knew how to play. He chalked a cue while Jayce racked the balls.
 

They played eight-ball, but didn't bother keeping score. Jayce said, "Mind if I ask you something, Professor?"

Grey did mind, but he didn't want to say so. "Shoot."

"If you had a woman say she loved you and wanted to spend the rest of her life with you, then you proposed to that woman, and she said no…what would you think about that?"

"Well," Grey said, lining up a shot. "First of all, I'd never propose. But for the sake of the hypothetical, I guess I'd assume she wasn't ready for the commitment."

"You wouldn't maybe question her love a little?"

"I happen to believe that love is a fluid concept. It ebbs and flows. Means different things to different people. So yes, I suppose I might question her love."

Jayce took his turn, calm, but frowning slightly.
 

Grey shook his head and tried not to smile. "If this is about Maya, from what I understand, she's newly divorced. I imagine you just need to continue communicating with her and back off of the commitment thing."

"Yeah," he said, cracking another striped ball into a corner pocket. "I'm just ready to commit. It's hard being there and her not being there."

"As a confirmed commitment-phobe, I can tell you with absolute truth that the worst thing you can do is push her."

Jayce scratched, cursed, and handed Grey the cue ball. "You know, Addy was my backup plan."

Grey looked up at him sharply. "What?"

Jayce suddenly wore a hint of a grin. "Back when I figured I'd never have Maya. Addy was my backup. We did the whole promise thing, if we weren't married by the time she was thirty, we'd marry each other. I always figured she and I would work pretty well together. We both want lots of kids. She's hot. I'm hot." He shrugged, like it was as simple as that.

Grey felt heat in his blood, but he didn't know why. "Do you think she's too hot for me?" The question just came out. He wasn't aware he'd even had it on his mind.

"Absolutely," Jayce said with a smirk.

Grey stood to his full height. "You know, I don't get it. She seems to attract these jock-types, but Addison is an intellectual woman. She needs someone who can keep her mind stimulated. I worry she'll fail to see that and marry some Neanderthal only to find herself severely bored and burdened with babies a few years down the road."

"So marry her yourself, if you think you're so right for her."

"I'm not right for her. I don't want what she wants. I just think she's wrong about what she wants."

Jayce laughed. "You think you know better than she does what's good for her?"

Grey glared at Jayce for a moment before lining up a shot and sinking two balls. He circled the table and took out another one. Then another. The game was his. Jayce racked the balls again.

"She wants marriage and kids," Jayce said. "She never said she wants those things now."

Grey chewed on that for a while. The door opened, and a blond man came in. He smiled and waved at Jayce before heading toward them. Grey stood and Jayce introduced them.

Kellen smiled brightly. "
The
Dr. McDaniel? I feel like I'm meeting a celebrity."

In spite of himself, Grey was flattered. It always thrilled him to think that Addison had spoken of him to her friends.

"He's waiting on Addy," Jayce said, handing Kellen a pool cue.
 

"Oh? Where is she?" Kellen asked, leaning over the table and lining up a shot.

"At her parents'."

"Really? You don't think she'd tell them about the baby this soon, do you?"

Grey's head snapped up, and his eyes went wide. Jayce stared blankly at his friend and said, "The fuck is wrong with you?"

"What?" Kellen asked.

Jayce gestured toward Grey.
 

Kellen frowned. "What? Oh. Shit. I'm sorry, man. I mean, I don't know who she's been seeing or anything…I didn't think about her not wanting you to know."

"She's been seeing him, Kel. Have you been living on the moon?"

Kellen threw up his hands. "Okay, so what did I miss? She went out with that Ben guy last night and—"

"She spent the week with me, last week," Grey said. "Did you say something about a baby?"

"She spent the week with you?" Kellen asked.

Jayce gaped at him. "Your woman tells you nothing."

"Zoey doesn't share other people's secrets with me. How did you know about it?"

"Maya tells me everything."

"Shit."

Grey leaned on the table, gripping the edge, and closed his eyes, breathing deeply for patience. At last, he looked up at Kellen. "Baby?" he prompted again.

"Uh. Yeah. Umm…." Kellen looked to Jayce for help.

"This morning the girls took tests for fun," Jayce answered, with one last head-shake for Kellen. "Addy's came up positive."

The ground beneath Grey's feet suddenly became unstable. "It's not possible."

"Addy's gonna kill you," Jayce was saying to Kellen.

"How's this my fault? Zoey should have told me."

"No, this is totally on you. You don't just go blabbing about someone else's business."

"I was just asking a question."

Grey stumbled back from the table. "I gotta see her," he said.
 

"You'll have to wait," Jayce reminded him. "You ready for a drink?"

Grey didn't know what to do or say. He found himself falling into a seat at the bar and accepting a glass of whiskey. He downed it and gritted his teeth against the burn. Jayce refilled the glass for him, but Grey just stared down into it. "This can't be happening."

"Is it really so bad? Making a baby with the woman you love?"

"I never said I love her. I don't want this. I don't want children ever."

"Calm down," Kellen said.

Grey looked over at him, but he hadn't been talking to Grey. Grey turned to see Jayce glaring at him with fire in his eyes. Though he was the same height as Jayce, Grey was quite certain he would be destroyed in a hand-to-hand fight with the guy.