Seniors in college, Joe and Eva debate Taylor’s interest in the visiting professor of their weekend seminar in this excerpt from Their Rigid Rules. Is Joe right? Or is he just mad Taylor’s drawn to someone else?
***
Sitting on her bed in their dorm room, Taylor bit her thumbnail again. Joe quickened his pace between her and Eva’s beds and mumbled about not protecting her enough. For some reason, Eva smiled and watched him. He didn’t say anything for a while.
“Joey, are you mad at me?” Taylor asked, pulling her pillow onto her lap.
“Yeah, I’m pissed. This is some mess you’ve gotten yourself into,” he replied.
“Me? What did I do?”
“You’re flirting with your professor at the bar and at class. What’s the matter with you?”
With her mouth open, she stared at him then looked at Eva. She didn’t think she flirted although she considered trying. Feeling the tears in her eyes, she buried her face in her pillow.
“What’s wrong with flirting?” Eva asked him. “You can’t go an hour without hitting on a woman. Fess up. You’re really pissed that Taylor’s interested in a guy.”
Taylor looked up as Joe glared. “He’s her professor! It’s wrong,” he replied, scratching the back of his neck.
“Who do you think you are? The sex police?” Eva asked, leaning back.
Taylor’s eyes widened. “Sex! Jeez, we watched a couple of football games. That’s it.”
Joe turned on her. “That is not it. Reese Forester is not a student. He’s a private investigator.”
With her mouth open, Taylor stared in shock.
“Working for whom?” Eva asked.
“I have no frickin’ idea,” he replied, falling into her desk chair.
Taylor’s head spun. How much more confusing could this get? “Can we just call Dr. Morgan?” she asked, handing him the business card.
Joe glared at the card then at her. “No, you’re not calling him. We don’t know who hired Forester. He’s obviously checking into you.”
“What should I do?” Taylor asked, hugging the pillow tighter.
“Until I get those answers, stay away from Morgan,” he replied.
Eva jumped from the bed and stood level with Joe in the chair. “Wait a minute. Taylor hasn’t done anything wrong. They were only watching the game when Reese grabbed her arm. I would think you’d be happy that Dr. Morgan made sure she got home safely.”
“What are Morgan and Forester up to?” he demanded.
“I don’t know, but she can’t stay away from him. We need the credits from his seminar to graduate,” Eva replied.
After Joe stormed from the room, Taylor slid sideways from a sitting position on her bed to a fetal one. She needed to stick with her life plan. Any minor deviation was obviously a mistake.
***
THEIR RIGID RULES on Amazon
REVIEWS
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BLURB
Taylor Valentine, a senior at Western Michigan University, has had her life planned out since kindergarten. After her parents died while she was still in high school, she had perfected it to make them proud. Now, with the help of her best friends, Joe and Eva, she focuses on graduation and a career—romance in the far distant future. However, when the visiting professor enters the lecture hall, her perfect plan hits a snag.
Handsome history professor and decorated Marine, Dr. Stuart Morgan keeps infatuated students at a distance using his own set of strict rules. Nonetheless, he’s drawn to Taylor’s empathetic outlook. When death threats upend his boring life, he inadvertently puts her in danger. With pressure from family and foe pulling them apart, Stuart wonders if they can sustain the stress.
Many refer to me as a weirdo, a dork, and a nerd. After years of introspection, I’ve learned to embrace it and take it as a compliment on my creativity.
The Eclectic World of Christina 