DIRTY LESSONS WITH MY PROFESSOR

Millie stood outside Professor Blackwood’s office with her hand half-raised, wondering if she’d completely lost her mind.

Angel’s words kept looping in her head. ‘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, it had almost sounded doable.

Now, staring at the closed door, it felt insane.

She looked down at herself.

Faded jeans that had seen better days. Cheap sneakers she’d bought on clearance two years ago. The soft curve of her stomach under the oversized sweater she tugged down out of habit.

Ridiculous.

She’d spent the entire walk across campus telling herself her body didn’t matter. She was here because she needed help.

She was twenty-two, a single mom to a six-year-old, working three jobs, drowning in bills, and about to lose the scholarship that was the only thing keeping her head above water.

She didn’t have time to stand outside an office having a crisis about her thick thighs when her life was falling apart.

The babysitter had just raised her rates again. Her landlord wanted her out the second the lease ended. And the letter from the Dean sat in her bag with a threat to terminate her scholarship if her grades didn’t improve.

She couldn’t lose it.

Not when Maya depended on her.

Not when college was supposed to be her way out.

Fuck it.

She was doing this.

She knocked.

No answer.

Of course. She'd just turned to leave, half-relieved, when the door opened behind her.

“Did you want something, Ms. Carter?”

Millie nearly jumped out of her skin.

She spun around and had to tilt her head way up to meet his eyes.

Professor Blackwood was even more imposing up close—tall, perfectly put together, dark hair neat, those sharp grey eyes looking at her like she was an inconvenience he’d rather not deal with.

His mouth was set in a thin line. Even when he wasn’t angry there was something unnerving about the way he stared.

And when he was angry, it made people feel about two inches tall.

Millie had always thought he looked like a hawk watching prey.

Her legs felt shaky.

“I–I wanted to talk to you, sir.”

One dark eyebrow lifted slightly. “It’s not office hours.”

Oh no.

“Sir, I really—”

He cut her off.

“Come in. You have five minutes.”

He walked inside, leaving the door open. Millie hesitated for half a second before hurrying after him.

His office was exactly what she’d expected—immaculate, severe, almost completely empty of anything personal. No photos or clutter. Nothing that suggested a real person lived behind the desk.

Then again, Professor Adrian Blackwood had never seemed like a normal person to her.

The Blackwoods were one of those families people recognized without needing an explanation. Hotels, tech companies, private equity, shipping, old money that made regular people uncomfortable just saying the name.

Adrian was the youngest of three. Thirty-five. And unlike his older siblings, he’d refused every family business.

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 could afford to be brutally honest with anyone.

He didn’t care if a student was rich or poor, connected or nobody. Bad work was bad work. Excuses only made it worse.

Millie was starting to think she’d picked the absolute worst man on campus to beg.

He sat down and turned on his computer. She stayed standing.

His brows ticked up. “Five minutes, Miss Carter.”

She gripped the strap of her bag tighter.

“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 apologize for them, there’s nothing to discuss.”

Heat crawled up her neck.

“Sir, I—” She swallowed. “I need to pass.”

His fingers stilled on the keyboard. Slowly, he looked at her. “That isn’t how grades work.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

The quiet question made her stomach twist.

Blackwood leaned back in his chair.

“You’ve missed almost a third of my lectures. You’ve failed to submit work on time. Your exam results are among the lowest in the class. Yet you’ve walked into my office expecting me to hand you a passing grade.”

“I’m not expecting you to just give it to me.”

“Then what exactly are you expecting?”

Millie opened her mouth.

She’d practiced this all morning. She’d planned to explain about Maya, the jobs, the babysitter, everything. Looking at his face, she knew none of it would matter.

She swallowed hard. “If I fail this class, I lose my scholarship.”

His expression stayed unreadable. “That is unfortunate.”

Her 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 stayed calm, almost bored. “I’ve heard it all, Miss Carter. Sick parents. Children. Jobs. Financial problems. Personal problems. I understand life can be difficult. None of those things change the requirements of my course.”

Her fingers curled tighter around the bag strap.

She hated this.

Hated standing here like some stupid kid begging an angry teacher for mercy. Hated how small he made her feel without even raising his voice.

Angel’s words floated back. ‘You don’t actually have to do anything. Just maybe… flirt a bit.’

Her stomach twisted.

She looked at him. There was no way. She couldn’t flirt with this man. She barely knew how to flirt with anyone.

What was she supposed to do—smile? Touch his arm? Bat her lashes?

The idea almost made her laugh.

A girl like Angel could pull that off. Millie couldn’t.

She wasn’t the kind of woman men looked at twice. She was the one who wore loose sweaters so no one would notice her stomach. The one who avoided mirrors in clothing stores. The one who still remembered every mean comment she’d ever gotten about her weight.

She drew a slow breath. “Please, Professor.”

Blackwood’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “I don’t give special treatment, Carter.”

Millie stared at him and let her eyes water. Her tired green eyes with the dark circles Angel had insisted looked “bewitching.”

Maybe they’d work on him. Who knew?

“I’ll do anything to pass, sir.” She hesitated, voice small. “Anything.”

The word hung between them.

Something shifted in his expression. His gaze moved over her face, then settled back on her eyes.

“Anything?”

Her heart started pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat.

She thought about Maya. About the letter in her bag. About everything that would fall apart if she walked out of here empty-handed.

Then she nodded. “Anything.”

The corner of his mouth curled. And then he laughed.

Millie stood frozen, eyes still wet, as Blackwood chuckled under his breath. His gaze dropped, sliding down her body. She shifted her bag in front of her stomach without thinking.

When he spoke again, his voice was ice-cold.

“I can have you expelled for this.”

Her stomach dropped. She stared at her worn sneakers. This had been a mistake.

He kept going, voice lower now. “There are students who never miss a class. Who work hard on every assignment and paper just to scrape a pass. And then…” She could feel the weight of his eyes. “…dumb, empty-headed little sluts like you think you can get a good grade by offering to suck a dick.”

His voice dropped even further, into something that made the back of her neck prickle.

“Do you think that’s fair, Millicent?”

Hearing her full first name in that tone made her shiver.

Before she could answer, he nodded toward the door.

“Lock the door, Carter. Come here. Let me see the skills you’re so confident will earn you a passing grade.”