He shrugged it off, without wiping the smirk off his face.
“I hate you!” I repeated, this time more resolutely.
James grabbed my hips, causing a pleasant quiver in my stomach. His lips quivered against mine then parted when he continued talking seductively.
“Say it again.”
We were close; I’d just have to stick out my tongue to taste him. While he could have kissed me at the drop of a hat, he didn’t. I looked down at his chest, which rhythmically moved against his white shirt.
“Your shirt’s wrinkled.” I said the first thing that came into my head. I saw him glance at my curling iron then turn back to me, this time without taunting me. I didn’t feel like talking about what he’d just seen, and he seemed to understand that.
“My shirt is fine, it’s my tie that—”
James tried to give me a way to get out of the uncomfortable situation, but a hiccup got caught in his throat.
For a moment he stared at my lips, but it seemed that that gesture was the one that annoyed him.
“Shitty tie. I didn’t even want to put it on.” He groaned, fighting with the piece of fabric hanging on his chest.
“I’ll help you.”
We were so close that all I had to do was lift my hands to put them around his neck. In response, James leaned his head back, annoyed by my initiative.
“Can you not—”
“Not?” I pressed, avoiding our eyes from meeting.
I saw him bite his lip and struggle to swallow.
“James.”
“Um?”
Our eyes met at the same instant, exploding in a breathtaking gaze. Pressed against his chest and sucked in by his magnetic eyes, I felt weak, incapable of thinking rationally. But James didn’t waste time. I felt his warm hand grab my hip and turn me around. I stood in front of him with his lingering gaze firmly fixed on the mirror, and exploring my mirror image.
“Not bad for a princess,” he whispered in my ear.
His head fell softly on my shoulder, while his hands softened their grip like they were ready to move over my body from one moment to the next. Every cell in my body became more alive in the exact instant that his eyes sparkled with an undeniable light. And when I saw his reflection, I realized that he wasn’t looking even looking at himself for a moment, but just at me, lingering on the areas he wanted to study the most.
His right hand slowly slid lower and lower down the fabric of my skirt until it found my bare leg.
My eyes were a prisoner of his every move; I followed his measured movements like I was under a spell. James toyed with the edge of my skirt as he absentmindedly stroked my bare thigh with his thumb.
The touch with his cold ring made me shiver, but his touch was so slow and delicate that a pleasant wave of shivers spread throughout my whole body, exciting me.
I plucked up the courage and lifted up my chin to find his face in the mirror, ending up captivated by the sight of his full lips now pressed between the strands of hair covering my neck. I felt his warm breath touch my skin more. The warm sensation radiated down to my center of gravity, and it felt so good that for a moment I didn’t notice how his hand was deliberately trespassing past the edge of my skirt.
Was I letting him do it?
We were still standing, suspended in time that seemed to freeze when knocks on the door made us both jump at the same time.
“June?”
Oh my god, Will’s voice.
“Um.”
“James, are you here?” I heard Will ask from behind the door. His words were enough to make him move away.
