She could drown in those pools of turquoise.
Travis felt the floor fall out under him the second their eyes clashed. That had never happened to him before, and he wondered if she was bewitching him. He heard her sharp intake of breath that struck him low in gut. With great reluctance he looked away and took a seat near her.
Close, but not too close.
Through the entire class he felt her mystic green eyes peaking at him under thick black lashes. She was killing him. More so than usual. He didn’t know what had changed but there was a brazen challenge in her stare. She’d never been so obvious before. Dare he say that it was turning him on. Like he needed another reason to give into the lust screaming through his body.
Had he not been using all his control on keeping his distance from her? And here she was chipping it all away. It was a constant internal battle.
Little girl was in over her head.
The bell resounded in the class announcing the end of study hall, and the beginning of the plan. Here goes nothing, Emma thought, time for some razzle dazzle. Travis better watch out ‘cuz he doesn’t have a clue what he was in for.
This wasn’t exactly the most of brilliant of plans, but she had to find some way of getting him to talk to her. Moving with the crowd, she paused outside the door, waiting for his tall frame. He was easy to spot, towering over most other boys. As soon as he cleared the doorway, she faked a stumble and fell into his firm and muscular body.
God. The heat alone was swoon worthy.
Sure it was risky. There was always the possibility that he might not catch her and she would fall flat on her face. Wouldn’t that leave an impression worth remembering? She didn’t want to become the class klutz. Regardless, desperate times call for desperate measures.
And she was past desperate.
Swallowing the knot that formed in her throat, she stared hard into his piercing eyes. It was like he could see into her soul. And his body…She was still pressed up against him in places she only dreamed about.
“Sorry,” she said, smiling sweetly into his turquoise eyes. His fingers were warm and tingly on her arms. “I’m such a klutz.” A total lie, she was extremely graceful.
Silence.
Uh-oh. Not good. This wasn’t the outcome she had hoped.
Travis’s mind went blank, he couldn’t think with her smiling at him like that. His gaze caressed those perfectly pink lips, and his mind went into unchartered territory. He couldn’t help himself, inhaling a gulp of her scent. She smelled like daisies and faerie dust.
This couldn’t be real. She shouldn’t have approached him, that was not how this worked. People were afraid to talk to him, they avoid eye contact, and they don’t touch him. Why wasn’t she shrinking away?
He knew the moment the thought popped in his mind, he would have been hurt if she had. She was waiting for him to say something and he just stood there with his tongue hanging out.
Awkward.
He cleared his throat. “Don’t worry about it,” he said when he finally pulled his voice out of his ass. He could not believe what a fumbling idiot he was acting. What happened to all his smooth lady killer charm? Thank God Chase wasn’t around.
The crowd nearby was moving down the hall, and they followed suit walking side-by-side. She couldn’t help but think how easily it would be to get used to having him beside her, breathing each other’s air.
“I’m glad I bumped into you,” she added, occasionally brushing her arm against his. She loved the feeling that spread through her.
“You are?” He grinned, flashing those kissable dimples.
Emma tripped over her own feet, and he only grinned more.
That was more like, Travis thought.
Holy cow Batman. She never knew a smile could be so powerful. “Umm.” She shook her head. “Would you mind walking me to class?”
He couldn’t fathom her wanting to spend time with him. It blew his mind. “Sure, what class do you have next?” he asked, though he already knew. He knew way more about Emma than she would ever know about him.
She scrunched her freckled nose, the curse of being strawberry blonde and fair skinned. “Gym.”
He noticed her cute disdain. “You don’t like gym?”
“Does anyone?”
“But you dance…”
She eyed him curiously with her Irish eyes.
Busted.
He just let on that he knew more about her, not that it was a secret. Everyone knew she loved dance.
“I do, but that’s fun and gym is torture. I swear Ms. Jenssen gets off on seeing us pass out on the track.”
He laughed, and the sound was intoxicating. She couldn’t stop the smile that spread on her lips. “Look,” she said as they were approaching the gym. It was now or never. “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime. Maybe get something to eat?” she asked under tentative lashes shielded partly by those faerie eyes.
Now it was his turn to stumble.