Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 93942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93942 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“You’re not what I thought you were—and that’s a good thing.” Her smile was small, but still noticeable.
“Right back at you, gorgeous.”
We stood there in that small room full of coats, and for the first time since we’d met, the air between us didn’t feel hostile. It felt like something else. Anticipation, perhaps?
“Do you think we could kind of… start over?” Zoe looked so earnest when she asked. As if there were any chance I’d say no to that.
There wasn’t.
“I’d like that.”
“Me too.”
Her smile was soft and tentative, nothing at all like her usual, ‘I’m going to take the world by storm’ energy. “How do we do that?”
The vulnerability in her voice landed somewhere deep inside me. She was being open, honest, and earnest. I owed her the same, except in this case, I knew the answer. “We start back at the beginning.”
“The beginning?”
“With lesson one.”
It took her a beat or two before comprehension dawned, but I could see the moment my meaning became clear. “Lesson one was kissing,” she said softly, and then she stepped into my arms.
Her eyes closed as I cupped the sides of her face. She looked so damn beautiful like this. There was need in her expression, but no fear. No nervousness. And no hesitation.
She melted against me as I lowered my mouth to hers. This wasn’t the uptight young woman desperate to prove to her privileged classmates that she belonged. It wasn’t the nervous virgin who’d boldly asked for lessons.
It was Zoe. The real woman with genuine grace, intelligence, and passion was often hidden by her outer beauty. But I saw that now. I saw her.
And I kissed her in a way I’d never kissed anyone before. It meant something now, and that made every sensation so much better. The way her curves pressed into me. The way her fingers settled at the back of my head, pulling me closer. The way she clung to me as if she never wanted to let go.
I sure as hell didn’t. I kissed her slowly, taking her mouth, claiming her body as my hands moved all over her. She was real. She was layered. And she was mine. That was true even if she was also ours.
But she deserved better than a kiss in a cold cloakroom. It wasn’t easy, but eventually I broke the kiss, opening my eyes to find hers dazed and blinking, as if waking from a trance. I sure as hell felt like I just had.
Then she smiled, and it damn near made my heart burst.
She wiped her swollen lips with the back of her hand, which was somehow sexy as fuck. When she spoke, her voice was husky. “How do we let them know that we worked it out?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they already know? We should try the door again.”
Zoe looked a little doubtful, but when she turned the knob, sure enough, the heavy door swung inward. She beamed at me. “I guess this means we passed.”
I smiled. “I knew we’d be at the head of the class.”
I followed her out, and this time, I wasn’t watching her shapely ass, or the way her hips swayed in that tight skirt when she walked. This time, I saw all of her.
My smile faded as Kai appeared at the top of the stairs. Zoe made a beeline toward him, and I hastily followed.
“Hey,” said Kai. “Where—” he stopped, when I violently shook my head behind Zoe.
He was even more confused when Zoe smacked him with a tight little fist. “You have to stop doing that.”
Kai rubbed his arm as if she’d hurt it, though I was fairly sure that connecting with his massive bicep had hurt her fist more than the other way around.
“We can work out our differences without you two locking us in together,” Zoe said, shaking her head. “Again.”
Kai’s gaze sharpened, and I wondered if perhaps he could hear the change in her tone. Finally, he cocked his head to the side, looking sternly at her. “If you two have finally quit it with all the arguing, then this’ll be the last time.”
“Good,” Zoe said, no longer sounding mad.
Kai deliberately avoided meeting my eye. “You don’t look too upset,” he observed to Zoe. “Did you two kiss and make up?”
Since that was exactly what we’d done—though not in that order—I grinned.
“We went back to the basics.” Zoe gave me a quick smile before she headed downstairs.
Nonchalantly, I started to follow her, but Kai shot his arm out, blocking my path. I gave him an innocent smile.
“We locked you in again?” Kai asked, arching a brow.
“She thinks you did.”
Kai shook his head, this time in admiration. “Pretty smooth. Did it work?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t help grinning as I shoved his arm out of the way and followed in the direction Zoe had gone. “I think it did.”