Only the sound of our hearts accompanied us up to my apartment—or was it only my heart?
When I was pressed to his chest, I didn’t remember hearing his beat accelerating or feeling his skin warming or anything a man who liked a woman should have felt.
Surely, as he let the perfect moment for our first kiss go by, he confirmed he didn’t like me like that.
Didn’t he say I was beautiful,virtually irresistible,and he wanted us to date? Or was it all my imagination? And if he didn’t want to kiss me, why did he insist on taking me up to my apartment?
Perhaps he was asexual or religious. Perhaps he was being a gentleman, and I was just a horny slut.
I unlocked the door and stepped inside, but he wouldn’t. He just stood there, holding my leftover and my bag.
A smile tugged at my lips. “Are you coming?”
He grimaced, his face so pale in the dark. “You need to invite me in.”
“Seriously?” It was impossible not to laugh. “Are you a vampire or something?”
His body stiffened and his grimace hardened.
I grabbed my things from his hand. “That was a joke. You need to lighten up a bit.”
“You still have to say it if you want me to come in.”
“Fine.” I placed the stuff on the console table under the mirror and turned on the lights. “Please, come in, Professor Asher.”
“Thank you.” He carefully set one foot inside, then the next. “Please, call me Joshua.”
“All right, Joshua. Would you like some tea?”
His lips stretched with a smile. “I’d love that.”
I entered the kitchen, his footsteps following me. The place was small enough for me to listen to his breaths as he watched me. It made me nervous and excited at the same time. Biting my lip, I wondered if he was checking me out, how he felt if he was…
Get over yourself, Belle. Charming or not, he’s a creep who has been stalking you all day. Don’t forget that.
A creep you’ve just invited in your place, dummy.
My brain kept screaming at me, yet I was numb to all the danger Joshua entailed. My body welcomed and enjoyed it, already dying for his touch.
Just like with Alec.
Last night at the club was a demonstration and an urge to take the control over my life I’d long lost by doing something extreme. And now, my attraction was also an attempt to take control. To change today’s horrible narrative into something appealing.
The more dangerous the better.
Because even if I got hurt, it would be my doing. I took a chance, and it went south. I wasn’t forced into it. It was all my choice.
“Thank you for what you did at the restaurant,” I said without looking at him.
“It was nothing. Happy to do it every day.”
My hands tightened around the kettle. “Are you going to tell me why you’ve been following me since I left the campus?”
Silence fell too loud on my ears as I felt him close the distance between us. Frozen in place, I waited for whatever he was about to do. Speak, touch me, grab a knife…
But nothing happened.
“Joshua?”
