That was the last thing he could say to her right now. Not only because he was still her professor, but after what Matt did in that corn maze? Gideon couldn’t do the exact same thing to her now. She needed to know that his opinions regarding her talent and worth came without an ulterior motive.
He stood and pulled up the recording app on his phone, then opened to the script. “I’ll press record, and then we can read off of this.” He sat next to her on the couch and showed her his screen. “Is the text too small?”
Megs shook her head. “I can read it.” Her face was clean and she had no makeup on. Not that she wore much anyway, but her eyelashes looked soft without mascara, and in the dim light of the lamp, her skin looked almost dewy.
She pulled her arms from the blanket and wrapped it around her middle. “You’ll read Nathan’s lines?”
Gideon nodded and pressed record, then swiped back to the manuscript. “Ready when you are.”
“This might sound terrible, Gideon.”
“It won’t.”
Megs drew a breath as she read over the first sentence. When she started narrating, it felt like every molecule of matter in the room paused its vibration.
“‘Nathan. after all this time, you just show up out of the blue?’ He looked up, his eyes filled with a mix of guilt and longing.”
She paused for Gideon to take the next line. "Elena, I had to see you. I had to explain."
Megs continued, “She took a deep breath, trying to hold back her tears. ‘Explain? Do you have any idea how much pain you caused? How many nights I cried myself to sleep, wondering what I did wrong?’ Nathan’s voice cracked.”
Her voice sounded heartbreakingly vulnerable, and it took Gideon a moment to remember it was his line. "I never wanted to hurt you, Elena. But I had my reasons for leaving."
“Elena's anger flared. ‘Reasons? What reasons could possibly justify leaving without a word? Leaving me to pick up the pieces of my broken heart?’ Nathan stood up, taking a step toward her.”
Gideon sat up a little straighter. "It wasn't about you, Elena. It was about me. About the demons I was fighting. I thought I was protecting you."
“She threw out her hands in frustration. ‘You left me, Nathan. You left and didn't say a word.’ He dropped his head, his voice filled with regret.”
Megs’ delivered the lines with angst, but not too much that it wasn’t believable.She was obnoxiously good at this."Because there was too much to say. I was scared, Elena. Scared of how much I loved you. Scared of how much I could hurt you." He sucked in a breath, surprising himself with the energy behind those lines.I was scared.Gideon felt Megs’ eyes on him and stared at the lines of text more intently, pretending he didn’t notice.
She continued, “Elena's eyes filled with tears. ‘You should have trusted me, Nathan. Trusted us. We could have faced those demons together.’ Nathan reached out, gently touching her face.”
"I know. And I'll regret that decision for the rest of my life."
Megs took over, her voice sinking into the intimacy of the scene. “Elena tilted her head, and as Nathan's mouth pressed closer, the room seemed to fade away, leaving only the pulsating energy between them. His lips pressed against hers in a searing kiss, obliterating the dam of pent-up desire she’d built brick by brick and sending fire through her veins.
Elena's fingers tangled in Nathan's hair. Their tongues danced with reckless abandon, and she couldn’t pull him close enough. Couldn’t press her body against his hard enough.
‘I’ve waited too long—’ Her breath caught in her throat as Nathan dragged his hands over her and lifted her from the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he buried his mouth against her neck.”
They sat there inspecting the screen of his phone until Gideon remembered to stop the recording. But pressing the red button didn’t kill the charge that had built up between them like static. If anything, it only made it worse.
Gideon shifted a few inches away from Megs on the cushion. “That was perfect.” He saved the file and labeled it, then attached it to an email to Oscar.
“You’re submitting it without editing?” Megs asked.
He paused. “Is that okay?” She hadn’t made any mistakes, and he didn’t relish the idea of listening back to himself. He’d done that plenty on his first audition and still hadn’t recovered from the trauma.
Megs dropped her eyes and tugged the blanket back over her shoulders. “You’re the expert.”
Gideon rested his phone in his lap. “It was good, Megs. The audio quality won’t be perfect, but that’s not really the point.”
She nodded, and he pressed send, then stood from the couch. “Thank you.” Megs looked up through those soft lashes, and Gideon was suddenly a hand warmer exposed to oxygen.
He wanted to tell her he’d wanted that kiss in the classroom. He’d been practically begging for it. He wanted to tell her about his plans for December sixth, how he was already working on an alternate final schedule. He wanted to tell her that she was beautiful and funny, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Instead he turned to the door and mumbled, “See you in class.”
