Chapter 1
“Apparently, Professor Blackwood has a thing for curvy redheads. Just give it a try. You don't actually have to do anything. Just maybe… flirt a bit. Cry a little too. He's a man. He'll reconsider.”
At her most desperate, the words of her friend had sounded at least doable to Millie.
But now, standing in front of Professor Blackwood’s office, Millie wondered if she'd completely lost her mind.
She looked down at herself.
At her faded jeans, the cheap sneakers she had bought two years ago because they had been on clearance, and the soft curve of her stomach beneath her sweater.
Millie tugged the sweater down instinctively.
Ridiculous.
She'd spent the entire walk across campus telling herself that her body didn't matter.
She was here because she needed help.
She was a twenty-two-year-old woman with a six-year-old daughter, three jobs, a mountain of bills, and a scholarship she was about to lose if Professor Blackwood didn't give her a passing grade for his course.
She didn't have time to stand outside an office having an existential crisis about her huge thighs when her life was falling apart.
Her babysitter had raised her rates. Her landlord wanted her to move out as soon as her lease ended. And she'd received the dreaded letter from the Dean, threatening to terminate her scholarship if she didn't get her grades up.
She couldn't lose the scholarship.
Not when her daughter depended on her.
Not when college was supposed to be her way out of this mess.
Fuck it.
She was doing this.
She raised her hand and knocked.
No answer.
Well, she'd tried her best.
She turned to leave when the door suddenly opened.
"Did you want something, Ms. Carter?"
Millie nearly jumped out of her skin.
She spun around to see Professor Blackwood standing behind her.
She stumbled back a few steps, tilting her head up to look at him.
He was even more imposing up close.
Tall and impeccably dressed, with dark hair that was neatly styled and piercing grey eyes that stood out against his sharp features, he stared down at her stonily.
His dark brows were drawn together, his mouth pressed into a thin line.
Even when he wasn't angry, there was something unnerving about the man's stare. When he actually was angry, it could make a person feel about two inches tall.
Millie had always thought he looked like a hawk watching its prey.
Her legs trembled.
“I–I wanted to talk to you, sir,” she stuttered.
His eyebrows lowered slightly.
“It's not office hours.”
Oh no.
“Sir, I really—”
He cut her short.
“Come in. You have five minutes.”
He walked inside, leaving the door open.
Millie hesitated before hurrying after him.
His office was exactly what she'd expected: immaculate, severe, and almost completely devoid of anything personal.
No photographs. No clutter. Nothing that suggested a real human being lived behind the desk.
Then again, Professor Adrian Blackwood had never seemed like an ordinary human being to Millie.
The Blackwoods were one of those families people recognized without needing an explanation.
Their name was attached to hotels, technology companies, private equity firms, shipping interests, and enough old money to make ordinary people uncomfortable.
Adrian Blackwood was the youngest of three Blackwood siblings.
He was thirty-five
And unlike his older siblings, he had inherited none of the family businesses.
Apparently, he'd refused.
Instead, he'd built his own reputation in academia and engineering. By thirty, he'd become a distinguished researcher and earned tenure at one of the most prestigious universities in the country.
That didn't make him less intimidating.
If anything, it made him worse.
He didn't need the university.
They needed him.
Which meant Adrian Blackwood had developed a reputation for being brutally honest.
He didn't care if a student was rich or poor.
He didn't care if their parents were politicians, CEOs, celebrities, or nobodies.
If their work was bad, he told them it was bad.
And if they made excuses, he made them regret it.
Millie was beginning to think she had chosen the worst possible man to beg for a second chance.
Blackwood sat down and turned on his computer.
Millie remained standing.
His brows ticked up. “Five minutes, Miss Carter.”
She gripped the strap of her handbag.
"I–I wanted to talk about my grades."
His expression didn't change. “I’m aware of your terrible grades, Miss Carter. Unless you're here to offer an apology for them, there's nothing to talk about.”
Her cheeks burned.
“Sir, I—” Millie swallowed. “I need to pass.”
His fingers stopped moving over the keyboard. Slowly, he looked at her. “That isn't how grades work.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
The question made her stomach tighten.
Blackwood leaned back in his chair.
“You've missed almost a third of my lectures. You've failed to submit work on time. Your examination results are among the lowest in the class. Yet you've come into my office expecting me to give you a passing grade.”
"I'm not expecting you to give it to me."
“Then what exactly are you expecting?”
Millie opened her mouth.
She had practiced this conversation all morning.
She'd thought of explaining about her daughter, her jobs, the babysitter—everything. But it was clear he wouldn't care.
She swallowed. “If I fail this class, I lose my scholarship."
Blackwood's face remained unreadable. “That is unfortunate.”
Millie's heart sank. “I can't lose it!”
“You should have considered that before you started failing.”
“I did consider it.”
“Clearly not enough.” His voice was calm. “I've heard it all, Miss Carter. Students have sick parents. Children. Jobs. Financial problems. Personal problems. I understand that life can be difficult. But none of those things change the requirements of my course.”
Her fingers curled around the strap of her bag.
She hated this.
She hated standing here like some stupid child begging an angry teacher for mercy.
More than that, she hated how small he made her feel.
She remembered Angel's words.
‘You don't actually have to do anything. Just maybe… flirt a bit.’
Her stomach twisted.
She looked at Professor Blackwood. There was no way. She couldn't flirt with this man. She barely knew how to flirt with anyone.
And besides, what was she supposed to do?
Smile? Touch his arm? Bat her eyelashes?
She almost laughed at the thought.
A woman like Angel could pull something like that off. Millie couldn't. She wasn't the kind of woman men looked at twice.
She was the woman who wore loose sweaters because she didn't want anyone noticing her stomach. The woman who avoided mirrors in clothing stores. The woman who still remembered every cruel comment she'd ever received about her weight.
Millie drew a slow breath. “Please, Professor.”
Blackwood's eyes narrowed slightly. “I don't give special treatment, Carter.”
Millie stared at him, letting her eyes water. Her tired green eyes with the dark circles, that Angel assured her looked like bewitching fuck-me eyes.
Maybe they'd move Blackwood. Who knew?
“I'll do anything to pass, sir.” She hesitated. “Anything.”
The word hung in the air between them.
Something changed in Blackwood's expression. His gaze moved over her face before settling back on her eyes. Her green, hopefully, bewitching eyes.
“Anything?”
Millie's heart started pounding.
She thought about everything she stood to lose.
Then she nodded. “Anything.”
His lips curled at the corners, and in the next second, he chuckled.
Millie stood frozen, eyes still wet with tears as Blackwood laughed. His eyes ran down her body, and she found herself drifting her bag to cover her stomach.
When he spoke, his voice was freezing.
“I can have you expelled for this.”
Her stomach knotted as she looked down at her worn sneakers. This was a mistake.
He continued. “There are students who never miss a class who work hard on their assignments and papers just to pass. And then…” she could feel the weight of his gaze. “...dumb, empty-headed pretty little sluts like you think you can get a good grade if you offer to suck a dick.”
His voice lowered, dropping to a chilling bass. “Do you think it's fair, Millicent?”
Her first name on his lips has her shivering.
Before she could speak, he nodded at the door. “Lock the door, Carter. Come here. Let me see the skills you're so confident will give you a passing grade.”
