Chapter 2

Jenica Roberts.

I read the name on repeat all day, my gut clenching each time.

She’d signed up for my class. Her name was on the damn roster.

Jenica Roberts is going to be my student.

No. No fucking way.

It’d been hard enough to keep my eyes off of her at the wedding, to ignore the way that tight bridesmaid dress had accented all her feminine curves.

Fuck. It made me hard just thinking about it. That slit up her right leg had been designed purely to torture me. The way it had moved as she walked down the aisle, giving me a sweet peek at the long legs beneath the silky fabric.

The groomsman she’d been paired with had sure as fuck noticed.

Hell, every single male in attendance that wasn’t a family member had noticed. She’d been the most beautiful woman in the room. The poor bride hadn’t stood a chance against the allure of Jenica Roberts.

And now Jenica was enrolled in my course.

She’d probably taken it thinking it was a favor to me or a way to show her support.

Well, I’d just pull her aside after class, say “thanks,” and tell her to take something more suitable to her interests. Not that I really knew much about her studies anymore. We hadn’t exactly kept in touch much outside of the usual social media posts.

Her brother kept me updated.

But he had never mentioned her major.

So, naturally, I’d looked it up in the system after reviewing the roster—International Marketing and Global Business.

The same degree I’d sought when enrolled here.

Something about that made me warm inside.

Which I couldn’t afford to feel.

Jenica Roberts was off-limits. She always had been. Always would be. It didn’t matter that she’d blossomed into a stunning woman or that she had a body meant to tempt even a saint to sin. She was Jax’s little sister. Not that she looked all that little now.

Well, she was still only five foot six, making her a good eight inches shorter than me, but somehow that just highlighted her femininity even more.

All those curves.

The ink decorating her right forearm all the way to her fingertips.

It’d been an unexpected surprise. One I found myself wanting to memorize with my tongue.

Yeah, she definitely cannot take my class.

I would end up distracted all damn semester.

This would be fine. I’d just have a chat with her and dismiss this false notion of solidarity and move on.

Easy, I thought, setting up my laptop near the podium of the classroom. Simple, even.

Except one look at her stepping through my classroom door turned that notion upside down and inside out.

Holy. Fuck.

She entered with her blonde hair pinned back into an elegant bun, a pair of glasses perched on her button nose, and a dress that hit her midthigh.

Which gave me a fantastic view of those long legs.

She used to run track in high school. It showed now as she strolled across the room without even looking at me. Maybe she hadn’t noticed I was here. Maybe she didn’t want to make things awkward by acknowledging me. Either way, I absolutely recognized her, and it would be hard as hell to concentrate through this lecture knowing that she was wearing barely any clothes.

All right. That wasn’t really fair. The dress was modest in that it lacked cleavage, but it was fitted to her curves, showcasing her flat stomach and pert tits. Thin straps held the fabric up on her slender shoulders, though I suspected the dress would stay without the adornment, as it was practically glued to her skin.

“Hey, Jen,” a redheaded male greeted as he entered, making a beeline for where she’d chosen to sit in the second row.

“Hey, Carver,” she returned, giving him a beautiful smile. “How was your holiday break?”

“Good. Boring.” He shrugged out of his bag, letting it hit the ground beside his chair as he sat beside her. “You?”

She shrugged. “Good. My brother got married.”

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “Made the holidays interesting.”

“I bet,” he replied, the two of them engaging in more small talk as others trickled into the room.

I tried not to listen to Jenica’s sweet voice as she continued speaking, but her presence drew my attention in a possessive kind of way.

I didn’t care for the way Carver kept looking at her. His dark eyes danced over her dress in obvious appreciation—an appreciation she appeared to be completely oblivious to.

So innocent, I thought, sighing.

Yet another reason I couldn’t have her.

I didn’t go for innocents. I preferred experienced females.

But a sick and twisted part of me rather liked the notion of teaching this female a few things.

Not. Happening.

I cleared my throat, calling the class to order. It was a minute or two early, but I’d never been one to stick to a schedule. Either you were early or you were late. And in this case, I had four students who were “late,” as they arrived while I was introducing myself.

“Hello, I’m Logan Pierce. I’m not a real professor, so I’ll just go by ‘Pierce’ for the course,” I started, my gaze drifting to Jenica.

She gave me a little smile.

I didn’t return it.

“I’ve been asked by the university to teach this course because of my experience with Wakefield Pharmaceuticals.” I cleared my throat. “Particularly, my work in their social media marketing wing.”

I pulled up the company website to give a tutorial on the enterprise and what they specialized in—blood products, plasma, and a variety of orphan drugs. There were also numerous research wings that I reviewed, just to provide a high-level summary on my background.

Then I went into the social media wing, showing them the various sites where consumers spoke directly to my team.

“The point is always being accessible to answer questions,” I continued. “There is a lot of misrepresentation in the media about the pharma industry, as well as a lot of conspiracy theory propaganda. The purpose my team seeks to fulfill is the dissemination of facts, ensuring consumers understand the truth about our products.”

When I’d first pitched the idea to my marketing manager, she’d laughed. But someone else had overheard my idea, and the next thing I knew, the CEO of the company was at my desk asking for details.

I left that part out in my introduction, though, instead focusing on my team and their purpose in the social media market.

“So what I’m going to teach you this semester isn’t just how to use these tools, but how to apply them in various industries. And at the end of the term, you’ll write a paper detailing your own use of social media in an out-of-the-box-style strategy to rival my own.”

A few of the students exchanged glances, some of them appearing intrigued.

Jenica merely continued to study me, her blue eyes giving nothing away.

I continued into a discussion on the course syllabus—most of which had been outlined by the professor who usually taught this course—and the subtle changes I intended to make to the curriculum. I also had a list of guest speakers who would be stopping by throughout the semester to provide their own experiences with social media.

Everyone seemed excited by the time the class finished, our first week together off to a positive start.

A few students stayed around after class to ask questions.

Jenica started to leave, her blonde hair shimmering beneath the lecture hall’s fluorescent lighting. “Miss Roberts,” I called after her. “Stay for a minute.”

She paused at the doorway, glancing back at me with a raised brow. Then she said something to Carver, who had stopped beside her with a startled expression. She laid her hand on his arm and smiled, speaking too low for me to hear. He grinned at whatever it was and gave her a nod before leaving her inside the room.

“Sorry about that,” I said to the student who had been in the middle of asking me a question. “I have a question for her about her schedule and didn’t want her to leave.”

Jenica’s eyebrow arched again at that statement, her arms folding across her chest in a way that told me she hadn’t appreciated my comment.

I ignored her and focused on wrapping up the conversation with the student in front of me. The girl had two classes she needed to miss due to a study abroad program over spring break that would run a week into the latter half of the semester. “Email the details,” I told her. “I’ll make sure your assignments can be done abroad.”

“Thank you, Professor Pierce.”

“Just Pierce,” I replied with a smile.

The girl’s cheeks flushed prettily, her lips curling in a way I recognized.

But it did nothing for me.

Not just because she was a student, but because a much more appealing female stood only a few feet away at the classroom door.

“Thank you, Pierce,” the girl—Emily—reiterated.

“Is that everything?” I asked, cutting off the flirtation before she could get the wrong idea.

She blinked. “Um, yep.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you next week, then.” This course was only on Monday evenings, allowing me to work remotely for Wakefield Pharmaceuticals on the other days of the week.

“Right,” Emily said, her brow furrowing as she stumbled backward a little.

I almost winced on her behalf.

But I had to set this precedent now. The rules might be a bit gray as a visiting professor; however, I had no desire to toe the line or engage in anything unsavory.

Besides, these females were too young for me.

Jenica included.

Although, she didn’t appear all that young now as she walked toward my desk.

The door shut behind Emily, leaving me very much alone with Jenica.

“You were going to leave without speaking to me?” I asked, adding a teasing flair to my tone.

She didn’t smile, her bag instead falling to the ground beside my desk as she crossed her arms again. “Was there something to say?”

My brow furrowed. “Hello, maybe?”

“Hello,” she repeated. “Anything else?”

Now I was scowling. “What’s with the attitude?”

“I don’t have an attitude,” she returned. “I’m asking what you want, Pierce.”

I almost corrected her with Professor Pierce, which made no sense since I’d just told the class not to call me that. But I found myself wanting to hear it from her lips.

Which was precisely why I needed her to drop this course.

“Look, I appreciate you showing up to support me”—even though she hadn’t been all that supportive yet—“but you don’t have to take this course for my benefit. I’m sure there’s something else you would rather study instead.”

Now it was her turn to frown. “I’m not taking this course for your benefit. I’m taking it for mine. And there isn’t another course I’d rather study.”

Well, shit. That wasn’t the response I’d expected at all.

“Okay…” I needed a new avenue, then. “Surely you can see how this is a bit of a conflict of interest. I mean, you’re like a little sister to me. Grading you feels wrong.”

“But I’m not your little sister,” she bit back, her tone one I’d never really heard her use before. Yes, she sometimes showed her irritation at being teased. But this was different somehow. This was… more. “There’s no conflict of interest, Pierce. You’ll grade me on my performance. End of discussion.”

“No, not end of discussion,” I retorted, a bit miffed by her dismissal and the manner in which she’d delivered it. “Look, Goldilocks—”

“I prefer to be called Jenica here,” she interjected, her irises reminding me of liquid fire. “I’m also turning twenty-two in ten days. I’m not a kid anymore, Pierce.”

Okay, wow.“That’s a nickname I’ve used—”

“Since I was a child,” she finished for me. “Yeah. I know.” Her arms tensed across her breasts, her body completely closed off, just like her expression. “I’m not a kid. I’m not your sister. I’m not Goldilocks. I’m a student. An adult. A woman. And I would appreciate you seeing me as such. Now, if we’re done…” She trailed off, bending to pick up her bag and dismissing me again.

“No. We are not fucking done.”

She paused and then straightened again, arching a brow. “Excuse me?”

“What the hell has gotten into you?” I snapped. “Did you have a rough day? Did that Carver guy say something to you?”

Her brow crinkled. “Carver?” She shook her head as though to clear it. “What? No. My day was fine. At least until you attempted to make me drop your class. Which I won’t be doing, Pierce. I can handle your course. I’m a good student.”

“I never said otherwise.”

“No, you just implied it by saying I was only here to support you. This is an advanced course. I had the grades and background to take it, and it suits my curriculum for graduation. I have no intention of dropping it.”

“You can’t take my class, Jenica.” Steel underlined my tone. Because I could not handle her here all semester. Especially not with this side of her coming out to play. She was checking all my “bratty sub” boxes right now, making me want to bend her over this desk and paddle her ass until she was a sobbing, wet mess and begging for my cock.

Which I absolutely could not do.

Jax would kill me.

“I can take your class,” she countered, her chin jutting out in an adorably regal manner. “I am taking your class.”

“Don’t make me go to the administration, Jeni,” I warned her. “I’ll do it.”

“Jenica,” she corrected. “And sure. Go ahead, Pierce. No idea what your complaint will be, as we’re not related.”

I blew out a breath in exasperation. “You’re practically my sister. That’s an absolute conflict.”

“Except I’m not,” she returned coldly. “You’ve seen me twice in the last three years. We barely know each other now.” She shrugged. “But if you feel that strongly about it, go to the administration. Otherwise, I’ll see you next week.”

She bent to pick up her bag, dismissing me for a third time.

“Jenica.”

“The answer is no, Professor,” she replied, glancing over her shoulder at me. “I’m not withdrawing. If you want me out, you’ll have to force me out.”

And with that, she walked her sweet ass out of my classroom.

Fuck.