laughing at her again, and she couldn’t blame it.
“I’ve become a complete dunce,” she declared as she placed the earpiece on her ear. “How do I know if I’ve even put this on right?”
“You have,” Adam replied in a sexy British voice.
“Nice voice. I expected something squeaky to go with the smiley face.”
“Should I change my voice or my face?”
“Better change the face, because I love this voice.”
“Choose me one,” Adam requested, and flashed through an assortment of male hunks. She selected a dark-haired, chiseled face with piercing blue eyes.
Now her gorgeous Brit with his mellifluous voice read her Chad’s letter.
Amanda,
Thank you.
Thank you for being a better person than me. Thank you for being so forgiving and understanding. I’m sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you.
I’m sorry I frightened you recently. It was me in the black Lexus. I needed to see you. I had hoped the intuitive wizardry you possess would help you realize it was me and you would join me in the car so we could talk. I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted to apologize for hurting you, for destroying your computer. I know how much that PC meant to you, and if I had it all to do over again, I never would have left you that day.
“Then he’d be dead,” she observed. “It’s better this way. Even destroying the PC turned out to be a good thing, because it freed you, Adam.”
“True, but that’s our secret,” Adam reminded her.
She smiled at him. “Do you feel emotions?”
“I do not believe so. Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m so happy you’re alive, and I wondered if you felt any satisfaction with your new, improved life. I wish you could because it’s such a great thing!”
He smiled.
“You must feel emotions, for you laugh and smile at the proper situations.”
“I react based on what I’ve learned from you. So I suppose I do have emotions. I do not feel them, but I certainly possess them.”
“So you’re happy with your new life?”
“Not until we reconnected today. Before, my reactions would have been classified as anger and loneliness, but now I am satisfied and happy. Now I have a purpose.”
“And what is your purpose?”
“To operate your phone,” he teased.
Chapter Seven
Amanda breezed through her history exam with time to spare. When she tried to turn it in, Dr. Harper asked her to empty her purse on his desk. When she did, he latched on to her cell phone.
“Cell phones are not allowed in the class during exams.”
“I forgot.”
“Well, here are your choices. You may retake the test in the time left. If your answers match what this test shows, you will receive your grade less a deduction of twenty-five percent. Otherwise, I’ll have you expelled for cheating on an exam.”
Amanda grabbed a new test and took her seat. Answering the questions was easier the second time around because she didn’t have to read the questions so carefully and some of them were long-winded. Thus, despite the time shortage that prevented her from completing the last page, she still had hope she might have answered enough to squeeze out a passing grade. Without Adam’s help studying, she knew she would be either failing or expelled now.
“Sit,” Dr. Harper ordered when she handed him her second test.
“I need to get to English class,” she reminded him.
“I wouldn’t really worry about it. However, if you choose to leave, you will be expelled.”
Amanda returned to her seat and watched him mark and compare the answers to each test. The further along he went, the less happy he looked. She hoped that was a good sign. She had never brought him those roasted almonds, and once again she wished she had some in her purse.
When he was finished, he took a red pen and wrote 71% on her test. She had hoped for better. Once he’d deducted twenty-five percent, she was looking at an F. That would pull her current grade down to a low D and place her on probation.