I sure as hell didn’t. I kissed her slowly, taking her mouth, claiming her body as my hands moved all over her. She was real. She was layered. And she was mine. That was true even if she was also ours.
But she deserved better than a kiss in a cold cloakroom. It wasn’t easy, but eventually I broke the kiss, opening my eyes to find hers dazed and blinking, as if waking from a trance. I sure as hell felt like I just had.
Then she smiled, and it damn near made my heart burst.
She wiped her swollen lips with the back of her hand, which was somehow sexy as fuck. When she spoke, her voice was husky. “How do we let them know that we worked it out?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they already know? We should try the door again.”
Zoe looked a little doubtful, but when she turned the knob, sure enough, the heavy door swung inward. She beamed at me. “I guess this means we passed.”
I smiled. “I knew we’d be at the head of the class.”
I followed her out, and this time, I wasn’t watching her shapely ass, or the way her hips swayed in that tight skirt when she walked. This time, I saw all of her.
My smile faded as Kai appeared at the top of thestairs. Zoe made a beeline toward him, and I hastily followed.
“Hey,” said Kai. “Where—” he stopped, when I violently shook my head behind Zoe.
He was even more confused when Zoe smacked him with a tight little fist. “You have to stop doing that.”
Kai rubbed his arm as if she’d hurt it, though I was fairly sure that connecting with his massive bicep had hurt her fist more than the other way around.
“We can work out our differences without you two locking us in together,” Zoe said, shaking her head. “Again.”
Kai’s gaze sharpened, and I wondered if perhaps he could hear the change in her tone. Finally, he cocked his head to the side, looking sternly at her. “If you two have finally quit it with all the arguing, then this’ll be the last time.”
“Good,” Zoe said, no longer sounding mad.
Kai deliberately avoided meeting my eye. “You don’t look too upset,” he observed to Zoe. “Did you two kiss and make up?”
Since that was exactly what we’d done—though not in that order—I grinned.
“We went back to the basics.” Zoe gave me a quick smile before she headed downstairs.
Nonchalantly, I started to follow her, but Kai shot his arm out, blocking my path. I gave him an innocent smile.
“We locked you in again?” Kai asked, arching a brow.
“She thinks you did.”
Kai shook his head, this time in admiration. “Pretty smooth. Did it work?”
“Yeah.” I couldn’t help grinning as I shoved his arm out of the way and followed in the direction Zoe had gone. “I think it did.”
33
ZOE
“You’re a hard woman to find.”
I looked up from the big oak desk, smiling as Landon strode in.
“Did you get a promotion?” he asked.
“It’s Vivian’s office. She’s taking a day off and said I could use it to work on my notes from the internship.”
“It’s a bit bigger than that desk in your room.”
