Page 71 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

She lifted a shoulder. “I was going to give them to him, but then he started yelling at you. But now that you two are so chummy, you can hand them over.”

“You think we’re ‘chummy’?”

“Oh, relax. It’s good that he’s on our side now.” She nudged me with her elbow. “Go on. He’s not going to bite you.”

Gem winked before she went back to our nervous students, and I pulled in a deep breath as I flipped through the papers in my hands.

I could do this. I could speak to him without yelling at him or kissing him. We’d done it before; we could do it again.

I stepped outside, feeling a definite bite in the early October air. It was dark in the hallway. If it weren’t for the soft rays of moonlight coming through an open window, I might have walked right past him.

Theo leaned against a wall, his head tipped back toward the ceiling, exposing the curve of his throat. The urge to bite him there, to feel his groan vibrate under my lips, hit me so hard that I had to look away.

Noticing me, he straightened. “Is Kira okay?”

“She’s fine. They haven’t started yet. I just–” I held out the small stack of papers “–had to give you these. Miss Gem needs you to sign them before you do anymore work on the sets.”

His gaze dropped to my hands. “Oh. Right.” He took them from me, folded them, and tucked them into his back pocket. “Mia, tomorrow isn’t a good idea.”

I rubbed my arms against the cold. “You don’t think we can handle being alone for one night?”

“No. I know I can’t handle it.”

His voice was low and rough, and it reminded me of that day in the closet. My pulse thudded low in my stomach.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he started, stepping closer, “I don’t know if I trust myself around you.”

I sucked in a breath as he ran his knuckles along my arm. Heat burst under my skin.

“I still don’t understand how you went from hating me to this.”

“I didn’t hate you. I was worried about my daughter.” His hand slid over my shoulder to the curve of my neck, tilting my chin toward him. “But now, I just can’t stop thinking about you.”

“What do you think about?”

His smile was dangerous. “I think about your mouth. And all the things I want to do to it.”

“That’s…”

He brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, and my knees started to shake. My breath hitched, my blood pounded. I needed him to kiss me.

He drifted closer; his lips brushed mine, his nose grazed mine, and the only thought I had was short, sharp, and simple.

I need more.

But he pulled his hand away and stepped back. I wanted to chase his touch, but the tension in his shoulders held me in place.

“But I have to think of Kira. Being alone with you—it’s not a good idea.”

I swallowed hard and folded my arms against the chill. He was right.

I mean, look at me.

My pulse was erratic, my skin was fevered, and my breathing was harsh. I couldn’t think straight.

It wasn’t just that he couldn’t trust himself not to touch me; I couldn’t trust myself to be around him without wanting it.