still
smarting over his comments and I intended to let him know.
He
leaned against the door and it clicked shut as he crossed his arms across his
chest and grinned smugly at me. Crap. Alone in a room with Luke Astor. Bad
things tend to happen. “I love you,” he said suddenly. I snapped my head in
his direction, staring at him wildly. Did he just-? “Will you marry me?”
Somebody
pinch me. My
mouth hung open as I stared at his cute, deadly serious face.
“Wh-
what?” I managed to whisper, my voice sounding like it was coming from far
away.
“Ha!
See? That worked! You’re still here! So,” he said, grinning cheerfully at me,
his hands stuffed into the pocket of his jeans, “am I good or what?”
Belatedly,
I realized that Luke Astor didn’t really want to marry me, and that was just a
tactic to show- what, exactly? What was he trying to prove? That I did want to
hear what he had to say? Or was it just a callous way to toy with me? I decided
on the former.
Shaking
my head, I looked up into his self-satisfied face. Did I really almost say
yes to his fake proposal? I must be light headed with hunger .
“I
gotta go to lunch, so if you’ll excuse me-,” I said, trying to push past him
whilst trying to ignore the heat rising from his body (damn hormones). It
didn’t work and I couldn’t ignore it. Dammit.
The
hairs on my arms stood to attention as he grasped my upper arm to stop me and
turned me towards him. I swallowed, trying to look as though I was disgusted
with him touching me, when in reality the feel of his warm hand on my bare arm
felt rather nice, actually.
“Five
minutes of your time,” he said softly in his husky voice. “That’s all I need.”
He
didn’t let go of my arm and I felt nervous about just yanking it away. I took a
deep breath. “Look, Luke-,” I started wearily, trying to sound rational while
lying that if I didn’t have my lunch, I was going to collapse with hunger so I
needed him to move and let me get out of this room.
He
grinned wider and I groaned silently. A dimple? He has a dimple? That’s not
fair! How the hell am I supposed to concentrate knowing that he has a dimple?
“Yeah,
CiCi?”
“I-
CiCi?” I leaned back, giving him a mystified look. “Why are you calling me
CiCi?”
He
ran his free hand through his hair, shrugging. “You started it! You said ‘Luke,
Luke’, so I thought it was only fair that I should think up a pet name for you
too. CiCi.”
I
wrinkled my brow in thought, then closed my eyes and shook my head as
understanding dawned. Looking back up at him I told him “I didn’t say ‘Luke,
Luke’. I said look , Luke. L-o-o-k. As in, look over there, it’s-.”
Luke
chuckled. “Okay, I get it. Anyway. I just wanted to say sorry for yesterday.
I’ve been looking for you around the whole school. I didn’t even have any
lunch,” he said. Oh, right, blame that on me.
“Then
by all means, go and eat. I, on the other hand, must go.”
Once
again I tried to circumvent him and get to the door; once again he stopped me,
this time with a hand on my shoulder.
Looking
down at his hand I said, “Can you stop touching me, please,” as coolly as I
could.
He
flushed, immediately removing his hands and putting them behind his back.
“Sorry. But-don’t you want to hear me out?”
Remember
what Shazia said became my mantra. I wanted to hear him out and accept his apology, but then
Shazia would be furious and say I should have made him work for it. Well, I
didn’t want to be evil, but I knew I should make him work for it. I wasn’t
weak. I didn’t deserve all the crap I got.
“Not
in particular,” I said breezily. “Now, come on. Move. Step aside. I want to get
out of here.”
He
stared at me in perplexed amusement. “I’m trying to apologize here, though,” he
said, starting to sound slightly petulant. I could picture him stamping his
foot and pouting. How adorable.
“Save
it for someone who cares,” I said
smarting over his comments and I intended to let him know.
He
leaned against the door and it clicked shut as he crossed his arms across his
chest and grinned smugly at me. Crap. Alone in a room with Luke Astor. Bad
things tend to happen. “I love you,” he said suddenly. I snapped my head in
his direction, staring at him wildly. Did he just-? “Will you marry me?”
Somebody
pinch me. My
mouth hung open as I stared at his cute, deadly serious face.
“Wh-
what?” I managed to whisper, my voice sounding like it was coming from far
away.
“Ha!
See? That worked! You’re still here! So,” he said, grinning cheerfully at me,
his hands stuffed into the pocket of his jeans, “am I good or what?”
Belatedly,
I realized that Luke Astor didn’t really want to marry me, and that was just a
tactic to show- what, exactly? What was he trying to prove? That I did want to
hear what he had to say? Or was it just a callous way to toy with me? I decided
on the former.
Shaking
my head, I looked up into his self-satisfied face. Did I really almost say
yes to his fake proposal? I must be light headed with hunger .
“I
gotta go to lunch, so if you’ll excuse me-,” I said, trying to push past him
whilst trying to ignore the heat rising from his body (damn hormones). It
didn’t work and I couldn’t ignore it. Dammit.
The
hairs on my arms stood to attention as he grasped my upper arm to stop me and
turned me towards him. I swallowed, trying to look as though I was disgusted
with him touching me, when in reality the feel of his warm hand on my bare arm
felt rather nice, actually.
“Five
minutes of your time,” he said softly in his husky voice. “That’s all I need.”
He
didn’t let go of my arm and I felt nervous about just yanking it away. I took a
deep breath. “Look, Luke-,” I started wearily, trying to sound rational while
lying that if I didn’t have my lunch, I was going to collapse with hunger so I
needed him to move and let me get out of this room.
He
grinned wider and I groaned silently. A dimple? He has a dimple? That’s not
fair! How the hell am I supposed to concentrate knowing that he has a dimple?
“Yeah,
CiCi?”
“I-
CiCi?” I leaned back, giving him a mystified look. “Why are you calling me
CiCi?”
He
ran his free hand through his hair, shrugging. “You started it! You said ‘Luke,
Luke’, so I thought it was only fair that I should think up a pet name for you
too. CiCi.”
I
wrinkled my brow in thought, then closed my eyes and shook my head as
understanding dawned. Looking back up at him I told him “I didn’t say ‘Luke,
Luke’. I said look , Luke. L-o-o-k. As in, look over there, it’s-.”
Luke
chuckled. “Okay, I get it. Anyway. I just wanted to say sorry for yesterday.
I’ve been looking for you around the whole school. I didn’t even have any
lunch,” he said. Oh, right, blame that on me.
“Then
by all means, go and eat. I, on the other hand, must go.”
Once
again I tried to circumvent him and get to the door; once again he stopped me,
this time with a hand on my shoulder.
Looking
down at his hand I said, “Can you stop touching me, please,” as coolly as I
could.
He
flushed, immediately removing his hands and putting them behind his back.
“Sorry. But-don’t you want to hear me out?”
Remember
what Shazia said became my mantra. I wanted to hear him out and accept his apology, but then
Shazia would be furious and say I should have made him work for it. Well, I
didn’t want to be evil, but I knew I should make him work for it. I wasn’t
weak. I didn’t deserve all the crap I got.
“Not
in particular,” I said breezily. “Now, come on. Move. Step aside. I want to get
out of here.”
He
stared at me in perplexed amusement. “I’m trying to apologize here, though,” he
said, starting to sound slightly petulant. I could picture him stamping his
foot and pouting. How adorable.
“Save
it for someone who cares,” I said
Similar Books
