I like a challenge.
I heard the bed creak on the other side. We were only inches apart.
Go back to work.
Yes, I should.
Good. He got the hint. I tossed my phone to the farthest edge of the bed, but stopped when I saw the screen light up again.
Fine. I’d read it, then turn the phone off.
Or...
Or...?
You could come over.
There it was. I pressed my face into the pillow, stifling a frustrated groan. My brain said no, and it was my choice. Hedidn’t knock on my door—he’d given me the option to come to him. I wanted to send back another quick-witted reply, something to show howunaffected I was by him. But my mind was blank and on fire at the same time. Did I mention how confusing it was to be me?
Charlene and the others were only walls away. What if they saw me enter his room? What if they heard...anything?
I pressed my thighs together at the thought of the things John could do to make me moan too loud. The memory of his hand covering my mouth.
I shouldn’t.
I wouldn’t.
I knocked on his door.
A shuffle. A throaty, “Come in.”
I gave myself one last chance to leave, willing my feet to gain control and save me from myself. I took a deep breath. It didn’t help.
I opened the door.
His hair was ruffled. He was sitting on his bed, collarbone on display, the pristine shirt unbuttoned. John looked like he was ready to shoot a perfume commercial with Bella Hadid. Scoundrel. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” he said, patting the spot beside him on the bed.
“Neither did I,” I replied, closing the door behind me. I leaned my weight against it instead of following his invitation.
He smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. “So why did you?”
“To tell you that this is stupid and has to stop.”
He jutted out his bottom lip. I wanted to sink my teeth into it. “Really?”
“Yes. You’re not that irresistible, Mr. Fancy Author.”
“I believe that. However, I am at an impasse.”
“And why is that?”
He took a deep breath. “If I have to spend another hour across from you, without touching you, I will die.”
I snorted. He was teasing me. “If it were only that easy to get rid of you.”
“It was pure torture to sleep in a bed that smells like you, Nora. Why did you run?”
