6. Conflict of Interest
Chapter Six
Conflict of Interest
Grant
“Okay, okay, look—” Fia drops herself in the chair opposite me and Cade. “—this is not a coffee date. We’re actually trying to get things done here.”
I watch some kind of look pass across Cade’s face, like he wants to say to his fiancée, “Could’ve fooled me,” but then thinks better of it.
“Fia’s right,” I agree, leaning back in my chair. “How are we doing this?”
I’m asking like it’s casual, but I already have a bad feeling about this as we sit in Fia’s neat office with the lights dimmed at the end of a long day of teaching and grading.
We need to divvy up students for mockup sessions as part of Intro to Therapeutic Intervention for Sex and Relationships Counseling.
I know it’s one of Neve’s classes.
“Okay.” Fia slaps her palms to the table, rattling her mug and mine. “We need to work out who’s going with who.”
Cade sips his coffee, eying me over the rim. The smirk that curves his lips is shit-eating. I know what he’s going to say.
“We could randomize. I don’t mind,” he mumbles, popping one shoulder in a shrug. Of course he doesn’t; he never does. I’d like to say I don’t know why it’s annoying me so much, except I do.
Fia lowers his cup to the table again, her engagement ring glinting in the dim amber light. “Randomizing would be the best thing to do, but we can’t.”
I clear my throat, knowing I’m about to shoot myself in the foot.
“Fia’s right. We can’t do it randomly as we normally would; neither of you can take Neve,” I say, even as the words almost make my throat close. “It’s a conflict of interest for both of you. You’re her sister,” I say to Fia, “and the university knows you’re engaged,” I add, glancing at Cade.
Cade studies me. “So, she has to go with you.”
I swallow my reaction. There’s no reason they’d suspect anything, but I still feel like they’ll read it all on my face, no matter how good I am at hiding it.
“I don’t see any other way to do it,” I say flatly, trying too hard to keep my voice even. “Not without creating a conflict of interest.”
I’m so full of shit, talking about creating a conflict of interest as if I’m not creating one by doing this. But if I didn’t suggest it, it’s the way things would have to be anyway, simply because Talan knows about Fia and Cade, and not about anything between me and Neve.
Fia hums, noting something down in her diary. “Thank you for being conscientious. I was a little worried about where she’d go.”
My stomach drops, and I can’t stop myself from asking, “Why?”
She glances up. “Well, as you said, she can’t go with Cade or me, because there’s a clear conflict of interest there.” She shrugs. “But I was concerned you might not be comfortable taking her for the simulated sessions.”
I quirk a brow in question, though I think I already know what she’s referring to.
Fia registers it easily. “Because of that night at the bar,” she qualifies unnecessarily. “I could tell you were… uncomfortable.”
“I wasn’t,” I say, too quickly.
Cade’s brows shoot up to his hairline. “Really?”
I force a shrug, making my shoulders roll somewhat naturally. “It didn’t bother me.”
Fia studies my face, but seemingly finds nothing of concern.
“It’s fine,” I say. “She can go with me.”
I note it down in my own diary—as if I’ll ever forget it—then keep my gaze dropped.
Fia hums again. “Let me know if she does anything inappropriate. I’ll talk to her.”
I tilt my head. “Do you think she’d do something inappropriate?”
Cade chuckles. “I don’t know—is calling you Professor Daddy Grant King inappropriate?”
I try not to react, but Fia notices how stiff my body goes in my seat. I force a laugh, but it doesn’t deter her. When I look up, her gaze clashes with mine, and we fall into some kind of silent standoff.
Cade, clearly aware of the tension, shrugs. “It’s not like it’s totally against the rules,” he reasons. “Talan’s pretty progressive on that front. Even for professor-student relationships.”
I exhale, measured. He’s right—they’re fine with relationships between adult students and professors, as long as it’s disclosed, kind of akin to HR if we were colleagues—but that isn’t the point.
Fia folds her hands on the table, her gaze pinning me in place. “Is there something going on between you and my sister?”
Cade nudges her in the arm, obviously still amused. “You gonna give him a shakedown, baby?”
Fia doesn’t react, just leans forward, looking at me expectantly.
I exhale a slow breath, weighing the pros and cons—because if Neve doesn’t go with me for the simulated sessions, I’m not sure what will happen to her grade for this class—then lie through my teeth when I say, “No. Nothing is going on with me and your sister.”