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“So, where do you want to be tutored?” the blond demanded, crossing her arms over the front of a sleek, designer sweater. She looked as bitchy and perfect as always—minus the large, square bandage stuck to the left side of her cheek.
How did she explain that to her minions? Loren wondered.Plastic surgery?
“I don’t need a tutor,” was all she could think to say.
Naomi shrugged. “Tough shit. It comes with the territory. They want to make sure that you‘understand the material’before attempting it on your own.” She even utilized air quotes.
Loren bit her lip against a groan. First, she woke up naked in a stranger’s bed to learn her father was dead. Now the girl she’d attacked was here to teach her calculus?
What next?
“I guess this will do,” Naomi sighed, traipsing into the living room uninvited.
To Loren’s immense shock, she took a seat on the couch and proceeded to open a workbook.
No threats. No veiled efforts to insinuate that she might press charges. No references to the scratches hidden by that bandage. It was as if she truly didn’t care about the incident at all.
Or,that inner voice whispered.Someone made her forget.
“Time’s ticking,” she snapped when Loren didn’t move. “I have a hair appointment in an hour.”
“Why are you here?”
From what little Loren knew of the homeschooling system at New Walsh Academy, studentsvolunteeredto deliver the work. Call it skepticism, but she doubted that Naomi would do so out of the goodness of her heart.
“You’re in advanced courses,” the girl said as if it were obvious. “Surprise, surprise,I’mthe only one qualified to tutor you—”
Loren raised an eyebrow. She vaguely remembered something about Naomi taking AP courses, but she had always just assumed that the blond had bought her way in or something.
“There are other students,” she countered.
“I’m the only one with acar,” Naomi added, flashing a cocky smile. “Now, can we get this over with?”
Loren claimed an armchair, unsure of what to expect. Submitting to this “tutoring,” seemed more like a convict being tortured slowly before execution.
But, to her immense surprise, being tutored by Naomi Tanner wasn’tallbad.
The girl was rude, snippy, and impatient, but she managed to make the math make sense at least, describing the complicated equations in a way that even the teacher, Mr. Hollings, couldn’t.
But she wasn’t nice about it.
Within an hour, they finished the last assignment. Not a second later, Naomi gathered up the work, plus what Loren had already done beforehand.
“Same time tomorrow,” she said with a heavy sigh as if their session had been the most excruciating way to pass the time possible.
“Okay.”
Loren watched her head for the door without so much as a parting jibe at her expense. Before she could open it, someone else did. A dark figure appeared in the doorway, draped in shadow.
He’s here, a part of Loren murmured excitedly. Those silver eyes sought her out as she lurched to her feet, and her heart swelled.Yes,that inner voice murmured happily.Ours.
Abruptly, he turned to Naomi. “Ms. Tanner. This is a surprise.”
“H-Hey, Officer McGoven,” the blond stammered, swaying slightly on her feet as if his presence had shifted the universe. “I was just leaving.”
Officer McGoven nodded, easing aside so that she could stumble past. “Tell your father hello for me.” He was polite—at least until the door shut behind her.
When he turned to Loren, his gaze was questioning. “Why was Naomi Tanner in my house?”
