AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And then I hear a sound that is unmistakably not emanating from the speakers. It’s a door squeaking open behind me.
I spin around – and not in a dancing move. It’s very clear what’s happening.
Someone is at the door.
I am discovered. In this room. Yet again.
So much for feeling very, very naughty.
10
EMMA
“How long have you been watching me, August?”
I look at the handsome boy standing in the doorway of the movie room, both relieved it’s not his mother, and also a tiny bit angry that he has been spying on me in a moment of joyful vulnerability. Hell, I know I’m in the wrong for being in here in the first place, but what I was doing was intensely personal, and I’m pissed off that he felt like he could just simplywatch like an audience member at a theatre.
“Long enough,” he replies calmly in that deep, unfazed tone of his. His blue eyes shine behind those cool academic glasses and fixate on me.
I’ve never really noticed how tall he is before. He towers above other late-teen boys his age. He has fully grown into a strapping young masculine male. All his brothers are like this – all of them blessed with godlike Penmayne genetics.
“You were watching me dance?” I ask, my voice shaking.
My breathing is shallow. Following those performers on the large silver screen has completely knocked me sideways, even with Irina’s brutal training regime.
“You’re amazing, Emma,” he remarks.
His sincere, short compliment makes me blink. My instinctive anger suddenly softens. It’s like he knowsexactlyhow to disarm me with just a few cool words.
“Don’t start teasing me now,” I reply to the boy standing in the doorway. “I can’t take that.”
“You are amazing, though,” he says, deadly serious. “Really fucking good, Emma. You said you did dancing, but I didn’t even think it was likethis. You really should try to go pro.”
“I am.”
“Good,” he replies.
He takes a step towards me.
“Good?” I ask.
“It’ll be a shame to see such beauty and such talent go to waste,” he explains.
What did he just say?
“Are you calling me beautiful?” I ask, stammering despite my best efforts.
“Andtalented,” he adds with a cheeky smile, taking another step towards me. “I’m not just about looks here. I do also appreciate raw, unfiltered flair and personality.”
“Good to know,” I whisper. “It’s good that you’re not just another shallow rich boy.”
“Here,” he says, now reaching within touching distance of me, looking at my forehead. “Some of your hair has gotten loose. You’re sweaty.Wet.”
“Loose?”
“Let me fix it,” he whispers, slowly reaching out and tucking a loose strand of my hair back behind my ear. “There. That’s better. I can see you better now.”
“And why would you want to see me better?” I ask teasingly.
