Undone (41 page)

“Hear that, baby?” he asked.

“What? I don’t hear anything.”

“Exactly,” he said as he went back to work on her breast.

His hand traveled between them, his fingers slipping through her wetness and easily finding their way inside of her. She arched her back, pushing against his hand. And then it was gone. He pulled his fingers from Embry and brought them to his mouth, tasting her.

“Mmm,” he said, his eyes dark with desire. “Santa delivered my Christmas present straight to my bed.”

Pound. Pound. Pound.
“Un-cle Luuuuuuke!” Mackayla shouted causing both Luke and Embry to jump.

Luke’s head fell to Embry’s chest as he let out a frustrated huff.

She tugged at his hair, bringing his head up. “Looks like Santa doesn’t want you to open your present just yet,” she said, and pulled him in for a kiss.

“Santa is a sadist.” He pushed out of the bed and walked into his closet. He came out a minute later in the Gator pajama pants and a white T-shirt.

Embry stared in disbelief at his choice of clothing.

He looked down at the pants then back up at her, his lips tipped into a cute smile. “Figured I’d take some of the heat off of you,” he said, bending to kiss her lips. “Merry Christmas, baby.”

She smiled. “Merry Christmas.”

“I’ll go keep the little monster occupied. Why don’t you take a nice hot shower and then come down?”

Embry did exactly as he suggested. After her shower, she slipped into the UGA thong Luke had bought her as a show of good faith—though his family would definitely
not
be seeing her underwear—threw on a pair of leggings and one of Luke’s sweatshirts, and she started downstairs.

“She’s very nice,” Lori said, her voice traveling up the stairs.

“Yes, she is,” Luke agreed.

Embry stopped halfway down the stairs. She knew she shouldn’t eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help herself. She had a feeling they were talking about her, and she wanted to hear what they had to say. She leaned against the banister and listened.

“Pretty, too,” Camden chimed in.

“Beautiful,” Luke corrected.

Embry wished she could see Luke’s face. Something was off about his voice.

“Spill it. Where are you going with this?” he asked.

“I’m pretty sure you know,” Lori answered.

Luke sighed and Embry could practically see his eyes rolling. “I know.”

“Does she?” Camden asked.

Embry’s stomach dropped.
Do I know what?

“Just be careful,” said Lori, her voice pleading. “I don’t want to see either of you get hurt.”

Embry heard a door open down the hallway, and Mackayla came barreling down the stairs. Embry barely made out the words, “not like last time,” coming from Luke before Mackayla shouted “Merry Christmas, Embee!” and threw herself into Embry’s arms.

“Merry Christmas, Mackie,” she replied, and wrapped her arms around the little girl. She carried Luke’s niece downstairs and found everyone in the living room.

“Hey, beautiful,” Luke said as she sat next to him.

“Hey,” she said quietly.

Everyone laughed and opened presents around the fire while Embry silently freaked out inside. After all they’d been through, she didn’t want to believe Luke might be hiding something else from her. So when he wrapped her in his strong arms and whispered, “I love you,” she pushed all other thoughts from her mind.

Embry lay in bed relaxing with Luke. He was reading through legal papers for one of his cases, and he looked downright delicious doing it. He was bare-chested, the comforter covering his naked bottom half, and he wore dark-framed reading glasses. Embry laughed to herself as she pictured the girls in her class that lusted after him and how their heads would explode if they saw how
Professor Brody
looked while he worked at home. The man was pure sex, and he didn’t even know it. Luke glanced over catching Embry mid-stare, and a self-assured smirk lifted his lips. Maybe he did know it.

Embry shook her head, set down her book, and reached for her purse on the nightstand. She pulled out the mail she had stuffed inside and began to flip through it. She opened a few Christmas cards from random family members and skipped past credit card offers and other junk mail. She almost missed the thin envelope with her school’s crest in the upper left-hand corner. Turning it over, she was confused. She had already received all of her loan information for the following semester, and as far as she knew, grades were uploaded onto the university’s server, not sent out in paper form. “Luke?”

“Yeah, babe,” he replied, distractedly.

“Does Whitman send grades out by mail?”

He looked at her, and then his eyes traveled to the envelope. “No, they go up online only. You should get an email when your professors make them available.”

“Hmm, okay,” she said.

Luke went back to his work, and Embry slipped her finger under the flap of the envelope. She unfolded the single sheet of paper, and her entire world stopped.

She sat stock-still staring at the page in front of her, the words “Notice of Disciplinary Hearing” in big bold letters at the top. Her heart stopped dead in her chest and then kicked back in, beating at an erratic and frenzied pace. Her eyes frantically scanned the document. The words
review board, investigation,
and
violation of university policy
jumped from the page.

Oh my God.
She couldn’t move, couldn’t form coherent thought. She didn’t know how long she sat there staring at the paper in her shaking hands before Luke interrupted her.

“Baby?”

She didn’t answer. Couldn’t.

“Hey,” he said, stroking his hand down her arm. “Are you all right?”

She turned to him, tears spilling from her eyes. “They know,” she whispered as she handed him the letter.

“What?”

She watched as his eyes scanned the page and grew wide. “Fuck,” he breathed out and scrubbed his hand down his face. He looked over at Embry, his eyes filled with concern. He reached for her, pulling her close and squeezing her hand. It was the only thing keeping her grounded. “We’re gonna get through this, baby,” he said reassuringly. “I promise you.”

Embry crawled into his lap and buried her head in his chest. “I don’t understand how this happened.”

His arms came around her and he held her tight. “I don’t either. But we can’t focus on that. We have to figure out how we’re going to handle this.”

“It’s in two days, Luke. What am I supposed to do?”

“How long have you had this letter?”

Embry shook her head against his chest. “At least a week. I’ve been spending so much time here, I forgot to check my mail. Why?”

“I’m surprised I haven’t been notified. But it doesn’t matter if you opened it a week ago or today, they like to handle these things expeditiously. When there’s been any kind of accusation like this, they launch an investigation immediately.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

“I know how the school procedures work. It’s just what they do.”

“How can you be so calm about all of this? Aren’t you worried?”

He stroked his hand over her hair and placed a kiss on her head. “Of course I’m worried, baby. But one of us has to be calm. I don’t want anything jeopardizing your future, including me.” Luke slipped a finger under her chin, bringing her eyes to his. “We knew this was a possibility. I thought we were in the clear with the semester being over, but apparently we’re not. So all we can do is figure out what our options are and prepare you for that meeting. Okay?”

“Okay,” she agreed.

And prepare they did. Luke pulled up copies of the university’s conduct code and disciplinary procedures online and read through them until he could practically recite them from memory. He came up with every question he thought Embry might be faced with in front of the review board, and he quizzed her until she was comfortable with each answer, repeating them automatically.

“When did we first meet?”

“When you took over for Professor Coleman.”

“Had you seen me before that?”

“If you were around campus, I didn’t notice.”

“Do you ever speak to me outside of school?”

“Yes. We communicate by phone regarding our research.”

“Have I ever been inappropriate with you?”

“Of course not. You’re my professor.”

“Did I offer you any special help with assignments?”

“No, never.”

“Did you do anything to gain favor with me in class? To persuade me to alter your grade?”

“Other than study hard and be prepared for class, I’ve done nothing that would give me an unfair advantage over the other students in my class.”

Embry lay in Luke’s bed the night before the hearing, snuggled in his arms as he breathed evenly, sound asleep. His family had already gone home, and she was left alone with her thoughts. She went over all of the possible outcomes of the hearing—expulsion, probation, failure, Luke losing his job. Each of those things worried her, but she realized that as much as she didn’t
want
any of those things to happen, she’d be okay as long as she didn’t lose Luke. They’d get through it. They’d be okay, as long as they had each other.

She snuggled closer, her thoughts wandering. What if she had met Luke in a different place or time? As she lay there, asking herself those questions, she realized that she wouldn’t change a thing. She would risk everything to protect what they had. She could survive without law school but not without Luke.

Embry stood in front of the bathroom mirror the next morning. She dressed business casual in a black pencil skirt, white button-down, and gray cardigan. Her hair was tamed and pulled back into a sleek ponytail and her makeup was muted.

Luke came up behind her, brought his arms around her waist and placed a light kiss on her cheek. “You look perfect. Stop worrying. It’s going to be okay.”

She turned in his arms to stare up into his eyes for some sign that he was lying, but all she saw was sincerity. “You really believe that, don’t you?”

“I do. Just do exactly what we practiced. Don’t deviate. Deny everything and get as much information from them as possible.”

Embry took a deep, calming breath. “Okay,” she agreed.

“Then come home to me. We’re going to have an amazing New Year far away from all of this.”

Embry rested her forehead on his chest, trying to compose herself. She looked at him, her eyes foggy with unshed tears. “That sounds amazing.”

“It will be. I promise.”

She pushed up onto her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Pulling back, she looked over his business suit. “Where are you going looking so dapper? I thought you had the day off.”

“I do. Just have some running around to do and loose ends to tie up before our trip.”

“All right.” She pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I love you. Wish me luck.”

“I know.” He gave her that gorgeous Luke smile and a smack on the ass as he walked her to the door. “I love you too, beautiful. Good luck. Give ‘em hell.”

Embry walked out the door to face the firing squad alone.

This can’t be happening.
That thought ran on a constant loop through her head as she sat in the cold, uninviting classroom, the smell of antiseptic invading her nostrils. A shiver crept up her spine, and she couldn’t tell if it was from the temperature or her nerves. Maybe both. She sat on a hard plastic chair, hands gripped in her lap, her foot tapping furiously against the linoleum. The anticipation was killing her. She studied the three people at the front of the room, their heads bent together as they whispered amongst themselves.