She gestured between them and Alexander stopped in his tracks. A smirk pulled at the corner of his lips.
“End what, exactly?”
“Whatever is happening between us,” she said, forcing the words out. “It needs to stop.”
His eyes narrowed at her. “Why?”
“Because,” she said, lifting her chin, “I have completed my experiment. I have proven my point. And I no longer require your assistance.”
He stared at her for a long moment with an unreadable expression.
Then he let out a bark of laughter. “You are a coward!”
Theodora’s fists clenched at her sides. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he said as he walked around his desk and sat down. “You are always running away from the things you want to run toward.”
“I do not want you,” she snapped. “I am ending something that should never have begun in the first place.”
He scoffed. “You kissed me…may times. You seem to enjoy the pleasure I have given you. Or have you forgotten that?”
“You offered to help with my experiment!”
“And you accepted my offer. Quite happily, I may add.” She wanted to wipe his smirk off his face.
Her cheeks burned. “That was a mistake, and I realize that now.”
“No,” he said confidently. “It was not a mistake.”
She glared at him. “You are ridiculous. You cannot tell me what happened between us was not a mistake when I feel that it is.”
“Perhaps you are concerned that if this continues it will prove your experiment wrong.”
This time Theodora laughed. “Are you implying thatIhave fallen in love withyou?”
Alexander shrugged and said nothing more. She could not believe his arrogance. She shook her head and laughed humorlessly.
“I would rather die a spinster than fall in love with a man like you.”
“When you say it so passionately like that, it is hard to believe you.” He grinned and leaned back into his chair.
Theodora ignored him and continued, “I am an intellect and have no time for a silly pursuit such as love.”
“You are an intellect,” he said simply. “And I respect that. But you need to realize that perhaps you are feeling?—”
“I feel nothing!” She clenched her fists tighter.
He raised a brow. “Nothing at all?”
“You are not the type of man I can feel anything for,” she said coldly but her voice wavered.
Alexander got up suddenly and stalked towards her. He stopped close enough that she could feel the heat of his body.
“If you feel nothing,” he said softly, “then why do you tremble whenever I am near?”
She took a step back. “Do not come near me.”
Alexander did not listen; he walked in her direction. “I thought you did not want to see me again.”
