Page 38 of If I Stopped Haunting You

“You can’t be serious,” Neil whispered.

Laszlo clapped him on the shoulder as he stood and stretched, walking away to join Daniela at the counter.

And again, only Neil and Skinner remained seated. He didn’t want to meet her eyes, for her to know he’d failed so miserably,but he couldn’t help the magnetic pull. His attention was locked on her.

“How’d you fare?” he asked, grimacing.

She scratched her scalp with both hands, mussing her hair. “Terrible, it was terrible.” She narrowed her eyes, angling her chair toward him. “And you? How did the great, magnificent Neil Storm fare?”

He winced in turn. He did not deserve the title of “magnificent.” He probably never did. It was likely the self-pity, the doubt, but there was nothing magnificent about him in the least, especially not now.

“I’ve been better.”

She made a soft sound, her eyes not quite meeting his.

Neil thought back to his words in the ruins. What had he told her? He’d said something along the lines of “every writer struggles,” insinuating thathewas struggling. And to make it worse, last night he’d laid it all out for her, been the most open he’d ever been with… anyone. And what had she done? She’d turned him away. Grinding his teeth, Neil leaned forward conspiratorially.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked, voice low.

Skinner narrowed her eyes but inched closer. She was so close, in fact, that he could smell her, that fresh, sweet scent of her shampoo lingering in the space between them. Neil couldn’t help but remember how she’d felt, how she had moved under him,againsthim as he’d bent toward her and cupped her face at the ruins. His hand gripped the edge of the table tightly as he fought the urge to touch her.

“What?” she asked.

She pulled out a nondescript tube of lip balm and rolled it over her lips, puckering them as she pocketed it.

He blinked, his thoughts trailing off as he stared across the table at her. “What?” he repeated numbly.

Skinner laughed weakly. “Um, you said you were going to ask me something?”

Neil frowned. He had said that, hadn’t he? Whatever it was, it must not have been too important, because he suddenly found himself captivated by her lips. And her hair. And her eyes, which glared across the table at him as he floundered.

“Are we done?” she asked, standing and closing her laptop.

“Yeah,” Daniela said, stretching. “I could do with a break.”

“Be back here in an hour for the next exercise!” Everyone stopped and turned to Laszlo. “Fine,” he relented. “Three hours!” he called as Skinner fled and Daniela sauntered off.

Neil didn’t leave, his nails tapping against the table as he stared across at the empty chair where she’d been sitting. His emotions swirled, dipping and tumbling. Emotions were annoying. This whole thing was so goddamn annoying.

Laszlo touched his shoulder gently, making him jump. His tall friend pulled back and smiled down at Neil. “Are you okay, Neil?”

He shivered and closed his laptop. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Probably just need to walk around a bit.” He smiled up at him as he pushed back his chair to stand, but it rocked backward, sending him sprawling across the floor.

Neil struggled to sit up, shoving aside the chair with a string of obscenities. Laughing, Laszlo held out a hand for him, and he took it, cheeks flaming. Neil glared up at Laszlo, at the phone in his friend’s hand.

“Did you take a picture?” he asked, suspicious. “Did you just take a picture of me?”

Laszlo shrugged, pocketing his phone. “Maybe I took a video. Who knows.”

“Youknow, Laszlo. Please delete it.”

“I don’t have a clue what you’re referring to.”

“Not a word to anyone,” Neil said, moving past Laszlo. “I better not see that picture… or video circulating anywhere.”

“I make no promises, Neil Storm! We all need a bit of good blackmail from time to time.”

Neil grumbled to himself as he turned down the hall and strode away. Fuck, he felt so lost. Maybe he just needed some time to himself. Yeah, that ought to do the trick. He needed to get his emotions under control and stop thinking about Penelope Skinner.