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10
Nova
Someone knocks on my bedroom door.
“Come in,” I say from where I sit at the desk, sketching garbage.
“Can we talk?”
Riley’s voice jolts me to attention. I thought it was Gigi or Inez. Not him.
I turn in my chair and blink wide eyes at the beautiful guy with his disheveled hair standing before me. “How do you know where my room is?” It comes out as an accusation.
He studies my stiff posture and one corner of his mouth hikes with a crooked, too-sexy grin. “Does it scare you that I know?”
“No.” My voice is too high, my response too fast.
He arches a brow.
“Fine.” My shoulders round with a slouch. “I’m not scared. I’m…embarrassed.”
“About what?”
“How I acted last night.”
“It wasn’t a big deal. Please don’t be embarrassed.”
“But it was. You even avoided me this morning, or you tried to by eating your breakfast faster than usual.”
This time he’s the one blinking wide eyes. “Who told you that?”
Not wanting to out Inez, I say, “It was just talk from the staff.”
“News travels fast around here.”
I nod. “Mm-hm.”
“I wasn’t avoiding you.” He walks toward the bench at the end of the bed and gestures to it. “May I?”
He’s asking if he can sit? How gentlemanly. But then, he was raised with all the rules and proper manners that go with being the son of a politician. “Sure.” I swivel my chair all the way around so I’m facing him.
He spreads his knees and rests his elbows on them as he clasps his hands together, looking like a delicious magazine ad for a new sexy cologne. “I was keeping myself to a schedule, and I ran behind.”
“Right.” I don’t buy it.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “It’s true.”
“Okay.” I sit back, feeling less nervous now, and cross one leg over the other, noticing how Riley’s eyes track the movement. “You can tell me the real truth when you’re ready.”
His gaze narrows with amusement.
“Out of curiosity, why do you stick to a strict schedule?”
He shrugs. “It’s comforting.”
“Comforting. Interesting word choice.”
His mouth lifts at the corner with that crooked grin again. “Can I ask you something?”
