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When he reached me, I gripped his wrist, pulling him down to straddle my thighs. Lifting my hands, I gently tugged his lip from between his teeth, smoothing my thumb across his soft skin. He exhaled, giving me a hesitant smile.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. Gage caught me by surprise, too. He’s…he’ll be like a dog with a bone now, though, just to warn you.” Leaning forwards, I did what I’d been dreaming of since the last time I’d seen JJ. I kissed those delicious plush lips, feeling them curve into a proper smile beneath my touch.
“Hi,” he said when he drew back.
“Hi. Have you had a good day? Drink any more overpriced sugary desserts?”
His smile widened, his eyes sparkling as he slid his hands onto my shoulders. “Drink any more soulless brews? My day was good, yeah. We nailed the section of the choreography I’d been worrying about, and?—”
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” I missed you. I captured his lips again, coaxing his mouth open with my tongue. It was risky because my door wasn’t locked, and I wouldn’t put it past Gage to barge in again, but I couldn’t hold back from kissing JJ. It felt as necessary as breathing.
Eventually pulling away from him, although it was the last thing I wanted, I stroked my fingers through the waves of his hair, pushing it back from his face. Inside, a part of me was demanding to know what I was doing, because in the thirty years I’d been alive, I’d never once done this. Never caressed someone just because I wanted to and I knew they’d enjoy the feeling, too. But it was as if my hands had a mind of their own. My other was holding his waist, my thumb lightly rubbing over his hip bone, and even my confusion at my own actions didn’t stop me.
“Tell me more about your choreography while I finish up here.”
One brow rose, his gaze searching mine. “Do you really want to know, or are you just being polite?”
“I want to know.” I did. I wanted to know because it was important to him, and honestly, that fucking scared me.
As I put the finishing touches on the final slide of my lesson plan, saved my work, and then shut everything down, JJ described to me how he’d reworked a part of the choreography for his group showcase dance with Alyssa and Leo and how it had all come together today. While I didn’t understand the technicalities of what he was telling me, I got the general gist. Seeing his face light up as he spoke just highlighted how passionate he was about this and how much it meant to him. My job meant a lot to me, sure, but had I ever felt that passion?
When he finished speaking, he smiled at me. “I guess I should tell you about the idea I had that I mentioned in my text. Your friend beat me to it, though.”
“What?”
“I was going to suggest that you invite a few colleagues for drinks, somewhere relaxed and neutral, where you can leave easily.”
I groaned. Loudly.
There was no getting out of this, was there?
13
“What are we doing here? Really?” Niccolò stared around us, his brows raised as he took in the upmarket wine bar we’d just entered. “This isn’t our usual kind of place.”
Dexter tapped his chin, his lips curving upwards. “I dunno about you, but I’m getting ideas for a scene with a hot businessman in a bar. Working off some tension after a hard day in the office. I’m sure I could re-enact this in the studio.”
I rolled my eyes, tugging them both forwards. “Be quiet, both of you, and I’ll tell you why we’re here. Long story short—I had a one-night thing with a man who turned out to be one of the lecturers at LSU—and no, I didn’t know who he was at the time, and he had no idea I was a student. We ran into each other again by accident when I was delivering one of Ander’s assignments to him. By the way, Ander doesn’t know about any of this, and neither do any of his friends. Please keep it to yourselves.”
Nic’s eyes were huge as he stared up at me. “Why?” he breathed, completely enraptured. It made me smile.
“Because he’s got a reputation for being a bit…uh, harsh. I’ve heard complaints about him from almost all the business studies students I know. And that leads me to our mission tonight.” Pausing for a moment, I debated the best way to phrase my mission without giving away too many details. “I want to see how he acts around his work colleagues outside of a work environment. I want to know if this brusque personality extends to the people he works with or if it’s just reserved for his students.”
“But why?”
“Because—”
“You fucked again, didn’t you?” Dexter interrupted, narrowing his gaze. “It wasn’t just a one-night thing.”
“So what if I did?”
“You don’t fuck people more than once…not unless it’s uncomplicated. And from the little you’ve told us, this sounds to me like the very definition of complicated.”
“It’s not complicated.”
“Then why do you need to see how he acts around his colleagues?”
“Because—because…I’m interested.”
