“Good morning, Doctor Thornheart,” said Sylvie from across the table, smiling brightly as she clutched her own mug.
“Good morning, Sylvie.”
“So…umm…where is Doctor Pendragon?” Sylvie asked tentatively, unable to hide the blush on her cheeks at the mention of his name. The poor girl had it bad and it took all of my effort not to chastise her.
I searched for the white-haired rogue, not seeing him. “Not here apparently.”
“Doctor Thornheart,” Rosenshield interrupted. “Where is your counterpart?”
I turned to my right and met eyes with my interim boss. “I don’t know. I’m not his keeper.”
Rosenshield pursed his lips, reached a hand in his front pocket, and pulled out a pipe.
My word, it does look like a rosebud.
“You are the more responsible one out of the two of you. I expect you to keep him in line.” He packed the pipe with dried leaves before lighting it with a match and taking a puff. “I assume he’s still asleep. Please go wake him.”
I set my cup down and rose from the wooden bench. “Yes, sir.”
I hopped down from the platform and trudged through the dirt, up the small hill that led to our tents, mumbling to myself. Keep him in line? How absurd. He was a grown man. It was not my job to babysit him and ensure he arrived on time to our meals and other events.
I wanted to enjoy my coffee in peace before we got to work and now Liam’s tardiness had interfered with our schedule yet again.
I stopped before his tent and called out, “Doctor Pendragon, the team’s waiting on you.”
Nothing but silence.
I tried again. “Doctor Pendragon?”
Still nothing. Perhaps he wasn’t there? I let out a groan and unzipped his tent, parting the flaps.
“Liam!”
He bolted upright, scrambling for his glasses and putting them on. “What? What’s wrong? What’s going on?”
His hair was a mess, a lock of white falling in front of his green eyes. And he was…unclothed. The corner of his blanket barely covered his lap but the rest of him was on full display. How in the world did a professor look likethat?Lean, but perfectly toned, each muscle was sculpted with precision. His fawn colored skin was soft and smooth, and there was a dusting of freckles atop his shoulders as if he’d worked outside just a bit.
He met my stare. “What are you doing in my tent?”
I cleared my throat, forcing myself to stop looking at his body. “Apparently, I’m your chaperone. Get up. Everyone’s waiting on you.”
“Well, you’d better leave so I can get dressed. If you hadn’t noticed, I sleep naked.”
I pursed my lips as my eyes betrayed me, unable to keep myself from studying his strong shoulders; the way his abdominals flexed as he adjusted the blanket; the trail of dark hair leading from his navel down to his?—
“Eyes up here, sunshine.”
My gaze snapped to his, only to find him smirking. “I wasn’t—that’s not what I—you?—”
He chuckled. “It seems all I have to do to fluster you is remove my clothing. Interesting.”
I let out a frustrated noise and backed out of the tent, almost tripping in my rush to get away.
“Hurry up,” I called as I marched back to the dining table, trying not to imagine what was underneath that blanket.
“Not much farther,”Ivan said from the front of our group, cutting through the brush with his machete.
I stepped gingerly over roots and ducked under branches,my satchel bouncing on my hip with each stride as I followed Emberly. My eyes darted around me, taking in the details of the bark on the trees and the deep green leaves hanging on lush vines, hoping to spot something extraordinary.
