Free Love and Chemistry by Cheryl Dragon Page B

off.
    “You’ve got tenure.” She nodded. “I might be fired.”
    “No, and if that were to happen, worst case, you go back and be a student full time. I can afford you.” He smiled.
    She shook her head. “That’s not how I am. Thanks but no.”
    “I understand, but it is an option.” He kissed her head before she headed to her car.
    He went to his. They’d end up at the same place, but they hadn’t been leaving at the same times lately. Still, for those few minutes, he missed her.
    * * * *
    The next morning, it was time to face the grumpy old man. Marcus had never found fault with Colin’s work or demeanor before. Now it might be a different story. He knocked sharply on the office door, and Marcus called for him to come in.
    “Sir, I wanted to explain.” Colin wanted to get his story out.
    Marcus held up a hand. “First, sit.”
    Colin sat down and knew this would be torture.
    “Now, I know what I saw. I’m not a monk, so there’s nothing that needs to be explained. She’s a beautiful woman, but I don’t think that sort of playing around is good for the department morale. I can’t tell you what to do off campus, but here let’s not stick it to our admins. We don’t need a lawsuit.” Marcus leaned back in his chair.
    “There won’t be a lawsuit. Minny and I have been dating for well over a month now. We haven’t made a big deal about it. Technically, she reports to you, so it wasn’t an issue of supervision, and we wanted to make sure it had real potential before we said anything officially.” Colin cleared his throat.
    Marcus smiled. “Well, that’s nice to hear. Some of the group were worried you were some repressed type who might go a bit postal one day.”
    Colin frowned and wanted to argue but held his tongue. No reason to bring up kink or self-control virtues now. Marcus seemed happy. There was a more important point to make.
    “I don’t want it to reflect badly on her. She and I have both been doing a lot of extra work and not seeing each other as much. You know she applied to school here, and she was telling me all about it. We got excited.” Colin felt as if he were in the principal’s office.
    “I’m sure she’ll get in. Considering her challenges in high school, I’m sure the admissions board will give her every chance. I had her high school transcripts sent in. She did well her sophomore and junior years. Things went downhill. It’s very clear. Now, I can’t condone sexual acts on campus. If a student had walked in, relationship or not, it’s a bad example. Hell, married or not it’s not a good move where anyone can catch you.”
    “I know, I apologize. It won’t happen again.”
    “Good.” Marcus nodded. “In your own office behind a locked door, I don’t give a damn.”
    Colin smiled. “Thank you. Minny was worried about her job. I hope you’ll reassure her.”
    “I don’t want to discuss this with her. No, you can. I’d prefer to pretend it never happened. I look at Minny more as a daughter, and I don’t want to say the wrong thing. And considering you two do work in the same department, I think you need to be careful during the daytime hours.” Marcus drummed his fingers on the desk. “In fact, IT is looking for a new admin, but they haven’t posted the job yet. If you and she wanted to put a little distance between you during working hours, I’d be happy to recommend her for it before they put the position out there. That way this sort of spontaneous affection doesn’t happen again. I’d hate to lose her, but it might be overall for the best if you two aren’t on top of one another all day.”
    “I’ll mention it to her.” Colin realized no one was going to even get a write up. “Thank you.”
    “I’ll give her an excellent recommendation for anything she wants to do, and she’s not losing her job. But once the others in the department find out you’re dating her…well it might be tense for you.” Marcus nodded.
    “They’re just