B0161IZ63U (A) Read Free Page B

the sound of the laughter growing with ease.  “I’m not going to saturate you with work, but I won’t coddle you either.  Come to my class prepared, and I promise you’ll be just fine.  Also, if you’re not feeling comfortable with the subject matter of this class, or any of your classes for that matter, if you’re having issues in your life, questions about the work I give you, anything at all, I’m here for you okay?  I really am…  So--”
    Her words were cut short when the door to the classroom opened at the top of the auditorium.
    She motioned to the door.  “I’m so glad someone is showing up late to my classroom because that is the one thing I am definitely not laid back about.  Young man?”  Lila waited until her late student stepped into the classroom and showed his face, her mouth dropping when she came face to face with Jack Almeida for the second time that week.  She recovered quickly, hiding the surprised expression that had flashed across her face, but not quickly enough to stop her students from turning their heads to see who was at the door.
    It had been an entire day since they’d run into each other at the Crimson event. After saying congratulations to Chase, and declining his invite to a celebratory dinner, she’d gotten the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible.  She and Jack hadn’t said much to one another outside of that one polite, casual conversation, a conversation that was constantly laced with something murkier and darker under the surface.
    What she remembered most about Jack was his total inability to speak with anything but biting honesty.  So the elusive mental game he’d been playing with her at the event had left her feeling on edge long after the day had ended.  Looking at him at the top of the auditorium now, she was still on edge.  She was also pretty sure she’d scratched ten nail shaped claw marks into the cheap wood under her desk.
    Without taking her eyes off him, Lila uncrossed her legs and jumped down from the desk.
    “Class will you excuse me?”  She didn’t wait for an answer, eyes still riveted to his as she climbed the steps to the door.
    As she and Jack grew closer, she could faintly hear the knowing mummers and giggles of her students before she pushed him out into the hallway.  The door slammed closed behind her.
    In the hallway, she looked up at him, immediately recognizing the expression on his face.  The old Jack Almeida was finally back, the one he’d done a stand-up job of tucking away the day before, and he was on the verge of saying exactly what was on his mind.
    If Lila knew Jack, she knew it would be something that had the potential to steal her calm and her control.  So she pulled him across the hall, to the door of her small office. The keys in her hand shook as she unlocked the door and pushed it open. She didn’t have much more than a desk, computer and bookshelf.  The walls and carpet were dark crimson, perfectly matching the deep darkness she felt every time she looked at him.
    Jack swept into the office.  He didn’t say a word, but he was speaking to her.  When he turned to her, stormy eyes claiming hers, she could hear him loud and clear.
    She stepped in after him, closing and locking the door behind her.  The moment she locked it, she wondered why.  She turned just as he began making his way toward her, prompting her to move backward in response, and the answer became clear.
    “Jack, what the hell are you doing here?” Lila’s face could only register the shock she felt in her heart as he continued to move in on her slowly. When her back hit the door behind her, it shook her out of her reverie.
    He moved in, so close she could see the jagged shards in his eyes where the brown turned to black. She braced herself for his biting words, his venomous tone, and the anger that had spent an entire year flourishing inside him. His warm breath hit her lips, and hers touched his as well.
    “Jack?”
    Leaning down, he