"I have been called to the Dean's office," Kellan texted the following Thursday while she was between classes and in the library

"Are you concerned?" she texted back.

"I'm not," was his brief reply.

Charlie went back to work, she had several finals to prepare for including the presentation for Kellan's class which was the following Tuesday. He was going in alphabetical order and she was glad that her last name started with a T. The thought of standing in front of him and giving a presentation made her uneasy.

Her phone buzzed again and it was her email. There, in her inbox, was a request for her to come to the Dean's office as well. It was an ASAP request so she gathered all of her stuff, but before she left the library, some instinct made her erase all of Kellan's contact information, except for his emails which were strictly class related.

The stroll across the campus to the Dean's office only took a few minutes. When she arrived she told the secretary why she was there and she was told to wait a moment.

Looking at one of the bad paintings by the school's art student's, she was wondering if maybe the school should close the art department, when she heard another person enter the office and looked briefly over her shoulder to see a tall handsome man in kahki uniform approach the secretary. "Dr. Hilliard," he identified himself causing Charlie to spin around. She looked at the secretary and caught the look of surprise on her face before she flushed.

Kellan, his beard gone and his hair trimmed short, looked at her over his shoulder and gave an apologetic smile. What was he sorry for she wondered, being so handsome or not warning her of his change of appearance ahead of time?

He was absolutely gorgeous. His hair was cropped short but still fell in thick waves. Charlie looked at the whiteness of his neck as he turned to talk to the secretary and for some reason she saw that white stretch of skin on his bare neck as a chink in his toughness. He turned to look at her and suddenly, remembering why they were probably there, she cleared her throat. "Dr. Hilliard, I didn't recognize you."

His clean shaven jaw was very well defined, and she knew for a fact that he couldn't have shaved it more than a few hours earlier because when he had left her that morning he still had his beard, but already there was a shadow of stubble under the skin. His cheek bones were very well defined and his nose looked sharper than usual. He was a classically handsome man.

But the eyes were the same. There green depths were trying to read exactly what she was thinking and she was thinking that now he was way out of her league.

The door opened to the Dean's office and the cool and collected Dean, Michelle Matthews, presented herself. Dean Matthews was a beautiful self-assured forty something who had a lovely figure, jet black hair, and warm brown eyes. She smiled warmly at Charlie and gave a look of disbelief when she saw Kellan.

"Dr. Hilliard?" she asked.

He smiled and nodded. The smile revealed perfect white teeth behind a bit of a crooked grin and she just about groaned out loud. Well, at least he wasn't perfect.

"Charlie isn't it?" The Dean turned towards her, motioning for her to proceed her into the office.

"Yes ma'am," Charlie said, stopping in her tracks when she entered she saw Brad sitting in one of the guest chairs with the fakest look of concern on his face that she had ever seen.

"Charlotte." He rose and moved towards her, and Charlie automatically moved behind the other guest chair avoiding his out stretched hand.

Not saying a word she looked at Dean Matthews and did her best to try to pretend he wasn't there. He was dressed in his dress khakis just like Kellan and looked very serious and professional. One would have to take him seriously the way he looked.

Kellan followed her into the room but kept his face blank as he filled in the space between her and Brad. He had his uniform hat in his hand, and Charlie noticed that he was crushing it beneath his elbow where he had crossed his arms. In fact, Kellan seemed to be filling every inch of the room with his presence. His stance was wide and his hulking arms were flexed as he crossed them.

"I am sorry to have to bring you both in here like this, but Mr. Wren is here on behalf of your parents, Charlie. He is concerned that you're being manipulated into a relationship with Dr. Hilliard."

Charlie took a deep breath; even though she wanted to run she had to do what she could to protect Kellan and his reputation. "No," was all she was able to say.

"Charlotte, dear, we saw you with Dr. Hilliard at the party, and Laura said that you and he acted very peculiar when you all went out for drinks the other night, she said that you looked a bit distressed and was concerned when Dr. Hilliard left the bar with you..."

Kellan took a breath but, knowing that it would be career suicide if he spoke, Charlie cut him off before he could get a word out. "Mother invited me to the party. Neither Dr. Hilliard nor I was aware that the other was going to be there. We did talk during the party, at the buffet if you recall. As for Laura, I dislike social outings and I'm not used to social outings with my professors, so yes I was distressed. But we were with a crowd of people so one couldn't say that it was a private date. If Dr. Hilliard was distressed perhaps it was because he had two women vying for his attention, neither one of which was me." That little devil always stuck its head out when she least expected it. "When I left, Dr. Hilliard offered to walk me to my car, I am sure he didn't want any harm to come to a single girl in a bar parking lot after dark, nothing more. If he returned or did not return to the bar I have no idea since I left alone in my car."

"Of course you're saying all of this Charlotte, he's forcing you too."

"How is he forcing me to say anything?" Charlie looked at Brad, really looked at him with all the hate and accusation that she wanted to throw in his face right at that very moment.

He must have finally got it because he actually took a step back.

"He will fail you if you don't give him what he wants."

Charlie looked over at Kellan, his jaw hard his stance strong. She knew he would say anything she wanted him to. "I do apologize if this embarrasses Dr. Hilliard, but I doubt he is hard up for female companionship, in fact, I am betting that he has to fight them off. I doubt one plain and awkward psychology grad student is going to be someone he feels the need coerce into a relationship."

"I still don't believe you. I'm worried about you Charlotte, so are Mom and Dad."

Tabitha would have a stroke if she heard herself referred to as Mom.

"Mother has not worried about me since I was fifteen years old, as you well know, so I honestly have no clue why you're here or what you want." Charlie sent more hate his way and he flushed.

"Don't you?" he asked cryptically. "Have Hilliard explain it to you."

"Look, there seems to be a lot of personal baggage here but Charlie denies a relationship with Dr. Hilliard. Dr. Hilliard do you also deny the relationship?"

He paused looking at Charlie. "Yes."

"Very well, if you have no proof then I suggest we end this conversation right now." Dean Matthews rose to her feet.

Charlie and Kellan turned to leave.

"Check their phones."

"Their phones?" Dean Matthews seemed astounded by the request.

"Yes, see if there's a record of a relationship."

"No Mr. Wren, that is an invasion of privacy. Their word is good enough for me."

"Then you'll never know."

Dean Matthews sighed. "Charlie do you mind?"

"Charlie shook her head as she reached for her phone, avoiding Kellan's eye as she turned it on and handed it over.

Dean Matthews handed the phone to Brad and waited as he scrolled through it.

Not finding anything he held it out towards Charlie and she refused to take it. Kellan reached over and took the phone handing it back to her.

"Dr. Hilliard?"

He handed his phone directly to Brad who scrolled through it.

Eventually he passed it back over to Kellan.

"Are you satisfied now Mr. Wren?" the woman sighed.

"They're lying."

"Do you have proof?"

"No."

"Then goodbye Mr. Wren." She walked over to the door and held it open for him to leave. After he had gone she turned to them with an apologetic smile on her lips. "I am sorry about all of that."

"May we go now?" Charlie asked.

"No, wait a moment until he's gone. I would hate for you to bump into him in the hall." She watched the two of them closely, speculation in her eyes.

Kellan stood there with his arms crossed watching her right back. Charlie was fiddling with her phone.

"I hope the two of you continue to keep a low profile at least for two more weeks," she finally said and Charlie immediately looked at Kellan to see what his reaction was.

He was smiling. "Thanks Michelle, how's David?"

"He's good. He's working at the VA and I think it's doing him good to talk with the others."

Kellan nodded. "He is a good man."

"I think so too."

They passed a few more minutes talking about nothing specific before she moved behind her desk. "The coast is probably clear now. Good luck with finals Charlie."

Kellan held the door open for Charlie and she walked ahead of him out of the office and down the corridor. When they passed the closed stairwell he grabbed her arm and pulled her through the door.

"What if someone sees?" she hissed as he pushed her under the set of steps in front of them.

"I do covert for a living. I know how to make sure no one saw us."

Charlie reached up and touched his smooth face, tracing the lines around his mouth. "You have a crooked smile."

He smiled showing it to her. "I'll take your word for it."

"It makes you less perfect."

"I am far from perfect Charlie. If I was I would have told Brad exactly what we could do with my phone instead of keeping my mouth shut and denying our affair."

Charlie chuckled resting her head against his chest. "No keeping your mouth shut was perfect. I was nervous that you were going to say something that was going to get you fired."

"I admit I was nervous when you handed over your phone." He pushed some loose hair behind her ears.

"Some gut instinct made me erase it on my way to the meeting. What about you, yours was clean too?"

"I use mine for work, I clean it every hour out of habit.

They were silent as Charlie ran her hands through his shorter hair.

"I didn't know that I was getting a haircut or shave today. It was an order from my commanding officer."

Charlie had a hard time believing that Kellan took orders from anyone. "You'll be a shock this afternoon in class." She swallowed hard fighting tears. Now everyone would see the real Kellan and it wouldn't be her secret.

"I'll have to beat them off," he teased.

"Yes, you will. You'll have your choice of beautiful coeds." She tried to pull away from his warm arms, not at all happy with her thoughts.

"You sound jealous."

Charlie shrugged. "You made it clear that in a few weeks you were leaving. There really is no reason to get jealous it would be a bit pointless."

"But you are." He pulled her close. "I feel like a teenager stealing kisses."

Charlie played with the collar on his shirt not looking at him.

"What's bothering you now?" he asked, stepping back from her.

"What did Brad mean when he said, 'have Kellan explain it to you.'?"

"Nothing worth worrying about." He pulled her close again.

"How did the Dean know about us and is she going to report us?"

"I guess she's good at reading people, which is why she ended the interview once she realized Brad was not what he seemed. She and her husband are friends of mine, and as long as we don't force her to report us she won't." He tilted her chin up with his gentle fingers.

"Look we have class in a few minutes and I really want to kiss you, are you done with the questions?"

"For now." Charlie nodded looking up at him.

"How do you not see how beautiful you are?" he asked as he drew her to him. He reached up and let her hair down running his hands through it. "I wish you were presenting today so it would be all over and you would no longer be my student."

"Tuesday."

"Tuesday," he agreed as he pulled her in for a kiss. Eventually he pulled away just when Charlie thought her legs were going to fold under her. "Don't be late to class Ms. Temple."

"Yes, Dr. Hilliard."

He moved back into the hallway and Charlie took a moment to gather her thoughts and wait for her legs to begin working again before class started.

What Brad had said was still bothering her. She was worried that something was going on that she was unaware of and she didn't like that at all.