No Escaping My Billionaire Professor

Chapter 4

KAREN

My eyes fluttered open slowly, and a satisfied sigh left my lips. The bed was incredibly soft, the sheets expensive and smooth against my skin.

But this wasn't my bed.

I sat up quickly, and the sharp pain between my thighs brought everything rushing back.

Matt. Jessica. The cookies scattered across his floor. The word deadweight echoing in my skull.

Then the club. The creep at the bar. And Rek.

Heat flooded my face as I remembered everything in vivid detail. His hands on my waist. His lips on mine. The way he'd looked at me like I was something precious instead of something broken.

The hotel room. His question, “Are you sure you want this?”, and my breathless answer.

Oh God.

I looked around the room, searching for the man who'd given me the best night of my life.

He wasn't anywhere.

I pulled myself out of bed, wincing at the soreness, and walked to the bathroom. Empty. I checked the sitting area of the suite. Nothing.

He was gone.

I walked back to the bedroom and checked the time on my phone. It's almost nine AM.

Six missed texts from Abby, each one progressively more panicked.

“How's it going?”

“Are you good?”

“Karen, I'm getting worried.”

“Text me back or I'm calling the police.”

“Seriously, I will file a missing persons report.”

“I WILL FIND YOU.”

Guilt twisted in my stomach. I typed back quickly, “I'm fine. On my way back. Sorry for not texting.”

Her response came immediately, “THANK GOD. Get your ass home.

I set my phone down and stared at the empty hotel room.

Maybe Rek had to go to work. But it was Saturday. People barely worked on Saturdays.

Maybe he regretted it. Maybe he woke up, looked at the stranger in his bed, and decided to disappear before things got awkward.

Maybe this was exactly what one-night stands were supposed to be. No strings. No complications. No messy morning-after conversations.

I got what I wanted, one carefree night to forget about Matt and my failures and everything that made me feel like deadweight.

Mission accomplished.

So why did waking up alone feel so hollow?

I shook my head and started gathering my clothes. The dress Abby had lent me was wrinkled beyond recognition. My shoes were on opposite sides of the room. I found my underwear draped over a lamp.

Heat crept up my neck as I remembered how they got there.

I dressed quickly, my hands shaking. What had I been thinking? I didn't do things like this. I didn't have one-night stands with strangers in hotel rooms that probably cost more per night than my monthly food budget.

But last night, I didn't want to be the girl who thought things through. I'd wanted to be reckless. Wanted to prove I wasn't the deadweight Matt said I was.

And now I was doing the walk of shame back to Abby's apartment, smelling like expensive cologne and regret.

Perfect.

I grabbed my bag and headed for the door, pausing when I caught my reflection in the mirror.

My hair was a disaster. My makeup was smudged. I looked exactly like someone who'd had a one-night stand.

But underneath that, I saw something else. Something that looked almost like satisfaction.

For one night, I'd felt wanted. Desired. Like I mattered.

Even if it was a lie. Even if Rek was already halfway across the city, forgetting my name.

It felt real.

I took a breath and left the hotel room.

The Uber ride back to Abby's felt like the longest twenty minutes of my life. I kept my head down, avoided eye contact with the driver, and prayed I didn't run into anyone I knew.

When we finally pulled up outside Abby's apartment, I practically ran to the door.

She opened it before I could knock, took one look at me, and raised an eyebrow.

"Walk of shame?"

"Good morning to you too," I answered with enough sass to match hers, walking past her into the apartment.

"You haven't answered my question," she said, closing the door behind me.

"You haven't acknowledged my greeting," I shot back. "Why are you cranky this morning?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe because you had fun last night and I didn't."

I scoffed. "You're the one who didn't want to come."

"I know." She rolled her eyes. "Which is why you're going to tell me everything."

I sank down onto the couch. "What makes you think anything interesting happened?"

"Hello!" She waved her hands dramatically. "Your walk of shame says otherwise."

"Ugh, fine." I raised my hands in surrender.

Truth was, I wanted to tell her. Needed to tell someone what had happened before it started feeling like a dream.

"I had sex with someone," I said, heat creeping into my cheeks.

"Uh, duh. That much has been established." Abby sat beside me. "I need details. All of them."

So I told her everything. The drunk guy who grabbed me on the way to the bar. The creep who wouldn't take no for an answer.

And Rek, tall, gorgeous, mysterious Rek who'd saved me and then made me forget my own name.

"Oh wow," Abby said when I finished. "You wouldn't have had time for me even if I was there."

I smiled. "I was kind of busy."

"Yeah, keeping busy." She rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. "Do you regret it?"

I thought about Rek's hands, gentle and sure. About the way he'd looked at me like I mattered. About feeling, for just a few hours, like I wasn't deadweight.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

Abby squeezed my shoulder. "Well, I'm glad you're safe. And I'm glad you did something reckless for once." She stood.

"But now you need to shower, eat, and get ready for reality. Classes start in two weeks, and you have four science courses to conquer."

My stomach dropped. "Abby…."

"No. We're not doing this. You are not failing." She held out her hand. "But first, shower. You smell like regret and expensive cologne."

I laughed despite myself and took her hand.

Two weeks passed in a blur.

I settled into Abby's spare room, unpacked my things from the dorm, and tried not to think about storm-gray eyes and cedar-scented cologne.

I told myself it didn't matter. Rek was a stranger. A beautiful mistake. A moment of recklessness that was over now.

I had bigger things to worry about.

Like Calculus II.

Like passing my required science courses without Matt's help.

Like proving I wasn't deadweight.

The night at Mirage became a memory I tucked away, something that happened to a different version of me. A girl who was brave enough to be reckless, if only for one night.

Now I had to be the girl who survived her final year of college.

Even if I had no idea how I was going to do it.