Best Friends Forever (7 page)

“Please, Detective
Morgan? 
 
Please?” 
 
I clasped my hands together and
practically begged. 
 
The big
gruff cop got a faint glimmer in his eye. 
 
“Well, I must say I’m a bit of a
sucker for a beautiful woman begging me for a favor.” 
 
Wait a minute! 
 
Is he
 
flirting
 
with me? 
 
Oh. 
 
My. 
 
God.
 
 
I bit my lip and simply stared at him,
unsure of how to respond. 
 
Grant
frowned first at Detective Morgan and then at…
wait. 
 
Why is he frowning at me? 
 
I’m not the one doing the flirting.
 
 
Suddenly, the big cop grinned and shook
his head. 
 
Wow! 
 
He is so much better looking when he
smiles. 
 
Not as good looking
as my Grant but not bad…not bad at all.
 
 
“I suppose that could work…so long as
you both agree to take full responsibility for Cynthia.”

“Yes, of
course.” 
 
I nodded
enthusiastically. 
 
“But,”
Cynthia looked worried. 
 
“I
can’t go back to my dorm room. 
 
What
if Brit and Tanya are there?”
 
I bit my
lip and met Grant’s eyes.
 
He slowly nodded
as if he understood.
 
Bending close to
me, he whispered in my ear, his breath tickling.
 
“She can stay at my apartment and I’ll stay
with you.
 
You okay with that?”
 
I shivered in anticipation.
 
Turning to Cynthia, I found myself offering,
“You can stay with us until we make arrangements with the college for a new
dorm room for you.
 
How’s that?”
 
“But...are you sure, Ms. Mac?
 
Professor Thomas?”
 
I nodded.
 
“You can stay at Professor Thomas’ apartment.
 
He spends most of his time at mine just down
the hall so you’ll have the place to yourself.”
 
Oh my god.
 
Grant and I have just taken a serious step in
confirming what everyone on campus believes...that we are a couple, more than
best friends.

Grant smiled at
Cynthia.
 
“You’re more than welcome to
use my apartment for a few days, at least until we get this whole mess sorted
out.
 
And if you need anything in the
meantime, Ms. Mac and I will be just two doors away.”
 
I chimed in, “I think you’ll like it,
Cynthia.
 
It’s in a good, secure building
and there’s a stop for the campus shuttle half a block away so you’ll have no
problem getting to classes.”
 
“Do...do
you think they’ll still let me go to class, Professor Thomas?
 
I mean...after what I did, they’ll probably
expel me.”
 
Tears began to fall from her
eyes again.
 
Heartbroken, I stood and walked
around the table.
 
Sitting next to the
young girl, I wrapped my arms around her and she buried her face in my
shoulder.
 
“We’re going to do everything
we can to make sure that you stay in school.”
 
I looked at Detective Morgan, seated on the other side of her,
questioning.

The big cop, a gleam
of interest in his eyes, smiled at me.
 
“Given that it appears that Cynthia was forced to participate, I’m sure
we can get the judge to go easy on her, also.”
 
He glanced up at the young cop.
 
“Are the crime scene techs finished here?”
 
“Yes, sir.
 
They finished up a short while ago.”
 
Morgan nodded.
 
“Well then, it
looks like I can release your library back to you, Ms. MacDonagh.”
 
He took a small key and unlocked Cynthia’s
handcuffs, as she rubbed lightly at the marks the cuffs left.
 
Standing, Morgan stuck his hand out to
Grant.
 
“Professor Thomas, I’m holding
you responsible to ensure Cynthia shows up at the police station before noon on
Monday.
 
Are we clear?”
 
Grant stood and shook the detective’s
hand.
 
“Absolutely.
 
I have an appointment with the Dean and the Snows
at nine a.m.
 
We’ll have her there right
after that.”

Grant, still gripping
Morgan’s hand, leaned close to the man and murmured something that I couldn’t
hear.
 
I noticed the detective’s eyes go
wide at he glanced over at me.
 
Releasing
Grant’s hand, he stepped back and cleared his throat.
 
“Well, now that that’s cleared up, I’ll be
heading home.
 
Cynthia, I will see you
Monday morning at the station.
 
Ms.
MacDonagh, it was nice meeting you.”
 
If he had a hat, he probably would have
tipped it to me.
 
I nearly giggled at
that thought.
 
Detective Morgan and the
young uniformed cop quickly left.
 
As
Cynthia and I stood, I had a terrible thought.
 
“Wait a minute.
 
What about the
broken window?
 
We can’t leave it like
that, someone might come in and do even more damage.”
 
Bobby grinned.
 
“We’ve already got it covered, Meri.
 
Maintenance is boarding it up as we speak.”

“Wonderful.
 
Thank you, Bobby.
 
Now, we need to get busy cleaning the place
up and assessing the damage.”
 
Grant held
up his hand.
 
“Not tonight, babe.
 
There’ll be plenty of time to start
tomorrow.
 
Poor Cynthia’s dead on her
feet, so we need to get her home.”
 
“But
I want to help, Professor.
 
I
need
to help.”
 
I stood.
 
“Grant’s right, Cynthia.
 
You need
to get some rest.
 
We’ll come down
tomorrow afternoon...oops...this afternoon and take a look at what needs to be
done.
 
Okay?”
 
She gave us a shaky smile.
 
“Okay.
 
You’re the best, Ms. Mac.”
 
She threw
her arms around me in a hug.
 
Releasing
me, she hugged Grant briefly.
 
“Thank you
both so much, Professor Thomas.”
 
“You’re
welcome, Cynthia.
 
Now, if you two ladies
are ready, let’s go home.”

As we walked out
through the mess in the front room of the library, I heard Cynthia gasp.
 
“Oh my gosh, I...I didn’t realize how bad it
was until just now.
 
I’m...oh gosh...I’m
so
sorry.”
 
I wrapped an arm around her and helped her
step over the broken glass.
 
“It’s
repairable.
 
I’m just glad you weren’t
hurt by those terrible girls.”
 
“Me,
too,” she whispered softly.
 
We reached
Grant’s car but Cynthia stopped before climbing in the back seat.
 
“Oh no, I forgot.
 
All my clothes and my books and laptop are in
my dorm room.”
 
My heart melted at the
look of dismay on her young face.
 
“I
have an idea.”
 
Looking around, I saw
Bobby supervising the workers who were boarding up the broken window.
 
“Bobby!”

The young security
guard came jogging over.
 
“What’s
up?”
 
“What time do you come in to work
tomorrow?”
 
He grinned.
 
“I’m off tomorrow so I thought I’d come help
you clean up inside.”
 
“That’s very sweet
of you but...we have a big favor to ask of you.”
 
He looked carefully at Grant as if asking
permission.
 
Grant sighed and nodded.
 
What is
it with men and their territorial attitudes?
 
Bobby grinned.
 
“Sure, whatever you need, Meri.”
 
“Cynthia is staying with us for a few days
until the college can move her into another dorm room.
 
Would you mind escorting her to her dorm
tomorrow afternoon...I guess I should say
this
afternoon...so she can pick up her things?
 
It’s not safe for her to go alone.”

Bobby’s grin got even
bigger as he met Cynthia’s eyes.
 
He bowed
gallantly.
 
“It would be a pleasure to
escort you, Cynthia.”
 
“Thank you,” she
murmured as her face turned bright pink.
 
Oh, they would make such a cute
couple.
 
Grant slid his arm around my
waist and murmured in my ear, “Matchmaking, babe?”
 
I grinned up at him.
 
“Maybe.”
 
Bobby and Cynthia agreed on a time to go to her dorm before he headed
back to the library to make sure it was secure.
 
Climbing in the car, the three of us headed home.

Grant

Meri reached across
the console of my car and held my hand all the way home.
 
She tried to put on a brave front but I could
tell that she was devastated at the vandalism in the library.
 
Feeling as if I was at least partially to
blame, I squeezed her hand and apologized.
 
“I’m so sorry, babe.”
 
She gave me
a tired smile before replying, “There’s no need for you to apologize,
Grant.
 
You had no control over those
girls.”
 
“No, but maybe if I’d gone to
the Dean or Brittany’s parents sooner, we could have prevented this from
happening.”
 
“I don’t know if Brit’s
parents would have believed you, Professor Thomas,” Cynthia spoke up from the
back seat.
 
I met her eyes in the
rearview mirror.
 
“What do you mean?”

“She told me that this
is the third college she’s attended since graduating high school last
year.
 
I got the idea, from things she’s
said, that she’s had problems in the past with
fixating
on her professors and at least one teacher in high
school.
 
When her teachers went to her
parents, she would be withdrawn from that school and enrolled in another.
 
Maybe...” her voice tapered off.
 
“What?”
 
Meri turned and looked around the seat at her.
 
“What were you going to say, Cynthia?”
 
“Just that, maybe now they’ll see that her
actions are some kind of cry for help and they’ll get her the help she
needs.”
 
Meri glanced at me and smiled.
 
“That’s very astute thinking, Cynthia.
 
I’m sure you’re right.
 
Between your testimony and Grant’s talk with
the Dean and her parents, let’s hope she gets all the help she needs.”

I grinned at the two
women.
 
“By the way, Cynthia, what
exactly are you majoring in?”
 
She offered
us a wide grin.
 
“I haven’t picked a
major yet but I’m leaning seriously toward psychology.
 
I’d like to be a therapist for abused
children.”
 
Meri’s smile lit up her
face.
 
Damn, woman, but I love your smile.
 
Hell, I love everything about my sweet Meri.
 
“Cynthia, that’s fantastic!
 
I’m sure you’ll be a wonderful
therapist.”
 
My Meri is so sweet and caring.
 
Cynthia is involved in trashing the library and she not only takes the
girl home with us but she encourages her and gives her comfort.
 
She’s going to make a wonderful mother someday.
 
Wait a minute...Meri as a mother?
 
I tried to hide the grin that crept over
my face.
 
The thought of Meri pregnant
with
my
child made me squirm in my
seat, trying to hide my growing erection.

I was so turned on,
thinking about Meri having my baby, I nearly missed the turn into our parking
lot.
 
Turning at the last minute, I heard
Meri giggle quietly.
 
“And just what’s so
funny, gorgeous?”
 
“Just a bit
preoccupied are you, baby?”
 
Pulling into
my parking space, I noticed her gaze is on my lap and my very obvious
erection.
 
I felt my face flush as she
giggled again.
 
As Cynthia got out of the
car, I leaned close to Meri and murmured quietly, “The more you giggle, the
harder it gets, babe.”
 
“Oh…my.”
 
After one last giggle, she quickly climbed
out of the car and closed the door.
 
I
slowly counted to ten in an effort to keep from embarrassing myself before
climbing out of the car and joining the two ladies on the sidewalk.