Chapter 54: The Conversation Behind the Locked Door.

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: The Conversation Behind the Locked Door.

Iris walked down the long corridor toward the department head’s office with her heart beating so violently against her ribs that she was beginning to wonder if Alexander could hear it from several feet ahead of her.

The Business Administration building had never felt this crowded.

Usually, the corridor would be filled with the familiar sounds of students hurrying between lectures, lecturers discussing assignments, and the occasional laughter drifting from one classroom to another. Today, however, it felt as though the entire university had decided to descend upon the department at once.

The moment word had spread across the Campus Pulse app that Alexander Grant, the billionaire CEO of Grant Enterprises, was not merely visiting Emerald Heights University but had officially become a professor teaching the final-year students, the campus had practically erupted.

Students from the lower levels had gathered outside the building simply to catch a glimpse of him. A few lecturers had joined the crowd under the pretense of trying to restore order, while several students were openly taking pictures whenever they managed to get their phones above the sea of heads.

Professor Whitmore, who had always been notoriously strict about disciplined, had eventually been forced to step outside with several other lecturers to keep the students from blocking the entrance.

Iris had watched the commotion in disbelief. She still couldn’t understand how Alexander had managed to accomplish all of this so quickly.

Professor Whitmore wasn’t a man who bowed easily to wealth or influence. He had rejected sponsorship proposals from wealthy alumni before when he believed the university’s academic standards might be compromised. He had even once sent a prominent politician’s son out of his class for disrupting a lecture.

Yet Alexander had somehow walked into Emerald Heights and acquired the department head’s office, a teaching position, and enough authority to command the attention of half the university.

There had to be more to his arrival than a sudden decision to teach. Iris glanced at his broad back as he walked ahead of her.

She had been asking herself that question ever since their first lecture. Who exactly is Alexander Grant?

The answer she had been given was simple. He’s a billionaire CEO. But nothing about the man in front of her was simple. And now he had asked her to meet him privately.

That was the part that frightened her.

Iris deliberately maintained several feet between them as they walked, pretending to be fascinated by the dull walls. She had no intention of walking too close to him when her mind was already betraying her badly enough.

Every time she caught the scent of his expensive cologne, memories she had spent the past few days desperately trying to bury resurfaced without permission. She tightened her fingers around the strap of her bag.

Please let this be about academics. She repeated the thought silently. Let it be about an assignment, a project, my grades....Anything. Anything except that night.

Alexander stopped before the heavy wooden door of the department head’s office, and Iris stopped several feet behind him.

He opened the door without saying anything and stepped inside. She took a slow breath before following. The moment she entered, she realized that the office had changed.

Completely.

The old department head’s office had been respectable but modest. Professor Whitmore had never been interested in appearances. There had been a large wooden desk, several shelves overflowing with books, a few chairs for visitors, an old air-conditioning unit, and stacks of papers that seemed to multiply overnight.

And right now.....this office looked like it belonged to the executive floor of a multinational corporation.

The furniture was dark and expensive. A polished desk dominated the room, while sleek leather chairs sat opposite it. The bookshelves had been reorganized, and the walls now displayed tasteful artwork and framed photographs. Even the lighting seemed different, warmer and more deliberate.

Iris stared for a moment. It seems him coming to emerald heights wasn’t just a spur of the moment and his arrival was well prepared, due to how the office now looked. Whatever Alexander’s reason for becoming a professor was, it hadn’t been an impulsive decision.

She swallowed and took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Alexander was already sitting behind the desk. He leaned back in the large leather chair, one arm resting casually against the armrest while his eyes remained fixed on her.

He looked entirely too comfortable. As though the office had always belonged to him—which, in a way, it probably now did

His gaze dropped briefly to her hand. "Close the door Iris," he commanded, jis eyes returned to hers. "And lock it. We need to have a serious conversation.

Her fingers remained on the doorknob. There was something about those words that made the tiny hairs along her arms rise.

"Why does it need to be locked?" she asked carefully. She understood why the door can be closed, but why would she have to lock it.

Alexander’s expression didn’t change.

"Because I don’t want someone interrupting us every thirty seconds. The entire building is already behaving like a zoo because apparently the students have discovered that a billionaire CEO can also stand in front of a classroom and teach."

Despite herself, Iris almost smiled, well....almost. Then she remembered that she was alone in a locked office with him. And immediately, the smile disappeared.

Alexander watched her struggle with the decision. He had given her an entire week without disturbing her. A week in which he had deliberately stayed away despite every instinct inside him demanding otherwise.

His beast had been particularly difficult, restless beneath his skin whenever the thoughts of Iris resurfaced and furious whenever she wasn’t.

He had wanted to give her space and time with her family, because soon, he was going to take her from them.

But now she was standing in front of him again, and every instinct he possessed was reminding him exactly why staying away had been so difficult.

Her scent filled the room, it was warm and familiar. And she belonged to him. Alexander’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly before he gestured toward the door.

"Iris."

Something in his tone made her finally turn the lock. The click echoed through the room. She turned back around and found him watching her. She leaned against the door, telling herself that distance from him would help, because now in an enclosed space with him, she found that she couldn’t help with the naughty thoughts that took root in her mind.

Her hands tightened around her bag. "So," she began cautiously, "what did you want to discuss sir?"

"Come here."

She stared at him. "Professor—"

"Come closer."

Iris remained where she was, not daring to walk closer to him.

Alexander tilted his head slightly. "We can hardly have a conversation with you standing against the door as though it’s your only means of escape."

"I don’t think that’s unreasonable."

One corner of his mouth lifted. "What precisely are you imagining I might do? Eat you whole?" A sardonic glint entered his eyes.

Her cheeks warmed. There it was again...the double meaning. Iris couldn’t help the thoughts taking root in her mind. Thoughts of his face, buried between her thighs..... resurfacing. He did infact ’eat her’. And she swallowed hard at the thought.

The faint amusement disappeared from his face. "Come here Iris, I won’t ask again."

Iris let out a small, almost imperceptible sigh, a deep exhalation that did little to calm the frantic beating of her heart. She pushed off the door, her walk slow, deliberate, until she stood a respectful distance from his massive, undeniably expensive desk, putting the large piece of furniture between them.

"You asked to see me, Professor?" Her gaze meticulously avoided his, preferring to study the intricate patterns on the expensive Persian rug.

Alexander looked at her, then at the desk, then back at her and smiled. "You are very determined to keep something between us."

"I think the desk is doing an excellent job."

A quiet breath escaped him that might have been a laugh. "Sit down."

"I’d rather stand."

"Of course you would." He rose from his chair, and Iris immediately regretted refusing to sit.

Alexander’s movements were unhurried as he came around the desk. There was something almost predatory about the way he moved, something that made her instinctively straighten.

He stopped a few feet from her.

"Do you know what I find fascinating, Iris?" He continued his walk to her and Iris took a step back.

His movements fluid, almost feline, shedding the skin of the academic professor with unnerving ease. His voice, now deeper, more personal, filled the room.

"The sheer audacity of a woman who spends a night screaming my name, only to leave a flimsy piece of paper instructing me to forget she ever existed."

God help her, Iris thought, as a wave of heat washing over her, and a cold dread seeped into her bones at the same time.

This was it, then. It was not an academic query she obviously prayed for, but the inevitable reckoning about that night...