“There’s always next time,” he said.
I stood by the stairs, swaying on my feet as he pulled away. Serenity was right. His words and those lips—oh, those lips—were dangerous. Too bad it was already too late for me.
Chapter 8
I pushed through the double doors of the lecture hall and bounced down the steps. Bright overhead lights focused on the podium in the center of the room, leaving the red chairs that lined the circular room in tiered rows in a shadow. Serenity was slouched in one the forth row with her feet propped on the back of another and a tablet braced on her knees. I plopped beside her and rested my head on her shoulder.
“Marshall is the worst,” I said. “I have a paper due on Monday and a test.”
“Mmm.” She brushed her finger across her screen and flipped to the next page.
“How long is this retrospective thing going to be?” I asked.
She shrugged, not looking up. “Depends on what they want to talk about.”
“So I haven’t seen much of you this week. What have you been up to?”
“Writing everyone else’s code. Then having the whole thing screwed up by James when he decides to rewrite it again.”
“Wait, does that mean you’re behind?” I asked.
“Pretty much.” She closed her eyes and rubbed her eyelids with a deep sigh.
“I thought you might be avoiding me after my date with Mercer last week,” I said.
“So, it’s a date now?”
Damn, that was a Freudian slip if I ever had one. “Interview.”
Two rows in front of us, three of Serenity’s teammates burst into laughter. One of them glanced at us then turned back to his friends. The doors banged open, and James tromped down the stairs with his hands full of folders. He gave us a quick glare as he passed and continued to the front row.
“You’d think he’d have a laptop or at least a tablet,” I said.
Serenity rolled her eyes. “That’s too much like right.”
Sheridan and Mercer entered through the door near the lecturer’s podium. She was smiling up at him with her lips parted in laughter at something he’d said. I sat up straight as my tiredness evaporated.
Mercer looked crisp in his freshly pressed shirt and slacks. A small lock of hair had strayed from the rest and curled at his temple, pointed toward his eye. I shuddered, remembering the spicy scent of cardamom, patchouli, and cocoa that permeated from him.
Serenity stiffened beside me and tapped her fingers against her tablet. Sheridan wheeled a white erase board from the back of the room to the podium. She stood next to it, marker in hand, as Mercer stepped up to the podium. I pulled out my recorder and turned it on.
“Afternoon, sensibility team.” His smile passed over the six of us in the seats. “Good to see everyone could make it.”
My stomach fluttered as his gaze lingered on me.
“So, I had a meeting with the design team,” he continued. “I’m proud to say we have approved a final design for the prototype. We’re about ready to send it to Panamec Global, but we need your team to work with them on a few of the details. How are things coming with integrating the senses?”
James cleared his throat. “We just finished up on visual programming.”
Mercer gave a soft whistle. “A little behind. I expected this team to be capable of more. At least to have sound complete.”
“We would be father along if more people pulled their weight.” Serenity’s voice traveled through the room, though she didn’t look up from her tablet.
A thick silence filled the room. James shoulders stiffened, and he remained still. His back was turned, but I could imagine the frozen look of panic and anger he always got when he was put on the spot. The three on the second row cast hooded glares in our direction. Mercer raised an eye brow as her gaze traveled from James to Serenity.
“Someone’s not doing their job?” Mercer asked.
Serenity shrugged. “A lot of time has been spent having to rewrite what was supposed already be done because it was sloppy.”
“I assure you,” James said, “we’re all working as a team to complete this.”
“Some more than others,” Serenity said.
James shot her a dirty look. “Some people should stop trying to be stars.”
“Because you only think there’s enough room on this team for one star?” Serenity crossed her arms. “Is that why you rewrote everything I had on sound? That’s why we’re behind, isn’t it?”