This work contains themes and scenes intended for mature readers (18+). It explores intimacy, emotional complexity, and adult relationships through contemporary romance and erotic realism. Reader discretion is advised.
The Line in the Sand
Thirteen Day Ultimatum
During a torrential downpour at pickup, Eve walks Janet to her car with an umbrella and asks her to dinner, but sets a clear ethical boundary: she won't cross the line until winter break begins in thirteen days, when she'll no longer be Connor's teacher.
An Excerpt from this Chapter...
“Janet.” Eve didn’t smile. Her face was wet, her lashes clumped together. She looked serious. Deadly serious. “I want to take you to dinner.”
Janet’s stomach dropped. The bottom fell out of the world.
“But not now,” Eve said. She spoke quickly, cutting off Janet’s panic before it could fully form. “Not this week. Not next week.”
She looked Janet in the eye. Her gaze was direct, unwavering.
“Winter break starts in thirteen days. Friday the 21st. The semester ends at 3:00 PM. I won’t be Connor’s teacher until January. I want to take you to dinner that night.”
She paused.
“Thirteen days. That’s the line. I won’t cross it until then.”
It wasn’t a romantic gesture. It was a contract. Eve was laying out the terms of engagement. She was acknowledging the danger—the school board, the gossip, the power dynamic—and she was offering a loophole. Wait until the grades are filed.
It was the most thoughtful, calculated thing anyone had ever offered Janet.
And it terrified her.
The reality of it hit her. This wasn’t a flirtation in a coffee shop. This was real. This was a relationship that required scheduling, ethics, and risk. A Yes meant stepping out of the fortress. It meant exposing Connor to potential fallout. It meant Mark and Lisa and the whispers.
Her heart hammered against her ribs. The fight-or-flight response kicked in, flooding her system with cortisol.
Run.
She looked at a button on Eve’s wet dress. She couldn’t look at her face.