“The kiss says you do.”
“Shh!” Lila snapped her head up.
Luc now stood on the opposite side of the anvil. There was no one in the entrance, and she didn’t hear footsteps or voices in the corridor, but how could he say that so casually? Why did he have to be so unnervingly close to her while he said it? Close enough he might as well have been murmuring it in her ear.
Maybe he thought he had nothing to worry about if they were caught breaking the rules, beingsoindispensable, but Lila wasn’t supposed to do grandiose things for all angelkind.Shehad to worry. She needed him to leave before she did something else she regretted.
“Didn’t you hear me?” she bit out. “I want to be alone.” Lila punctuated this statement with a withering scowl.
“Oh, I heard you. But you’re fun to annoy. Did you know that?” His silver-gray eyes sparkled.
“You want to hang out with me so you can annoy me? Hard pass.”
“No.” Luc chuckled.
“Thenwhy?”
“I don’t know. You kissed me?” Amusement tugged at his mouth.
“Stop saying that!” Lila hissed. She left her hammer lying on its side and wiped her clammy palms on her robes.
Luc snickered. She didn’t think she’d ever seen him laugh so much. He was ridiculously serious, even at mealtimes. Not that Lila ever peeked at him from across the dining hall.
“Look, I didn’tmeanthat, okay? Forget it happened.”
“I don’t think so.” Luc squinted. “You don’t do stuff you don’t mean.”
“Sure, I do! I act like I care about Castor all the time!” Lila slapped her hand over her mouth.
Had she really said that?Out loud?
Stop talking, Lila. Stop talking. Do not engage.
Luc raised his eyebrows.
“Then how about this?” He smirked. “I don’t tell anyone you kissed me. In return, you work with me on a special project of mine. Which you also can’t tell anyone about, by the way.”
“I—”
“Oh, and also, you kiss me again. Now.” Luc leaned toward her, but she stepped back, picked up her tongs, and thrust the still-cooling end of her steel bar at him.
“Have you lost your senses?!”
“Are you going to do something with that?” His gaze flicked down to the bar.
She slammed it down on the anvil, and the clang rattled through the workshop.
“You have a lot of nerve demanding that, even for you. It’s against the rules. Aren’t you supposed to beperfect?”
“What’s the point of being perfect if you can’t have imagination?” Luc circled around the anvil, and Lila watched him approach with silent dread. What further stupidity could he drag her into? She knew she should run, but she was rooted to the spot.
“Sometimes, to have imagination,” he admonished, “you have to break rules. But you should know that becauseyouhave imagination.” Luc dipped his chin, and she tilted her chin up on impulse, though he wasn’t much taller than her. She regretted it immediately; he seemed to take in everything with those eyes, especially the thoughts she didn’t want him to see. Like how easy it would be for them to kiss again.
“You’re the only angel in our class who can understand and appreciate what I’m working on,” he continued. “I want your opinion on it.”
Lila’s heart stuttered. She felt lightheaded. His haughty tone should have annoyed her, but it didn’t.
I want your opinion.
