now I have to do everything by the book, which means fully cooperating with you on this assignment. In fact, I’m going to put it into my cell phone right now so that I don’t forget,” she said as she made an exaggerated effort to punch the details into the calendar on her cell phone. “There, it’s all done.”
“Yup, there’s definitely something wrong with you,” Curtis said in a serious voice as he leaned forward, his face taking on the exact same expression that Nurse Reynes used when she did an examination. “I mean, I can see your lips moving but the words aren’t making any sense. Do everything by the book? Full cooperation? Are you sure you haven’t been bodysnatched?”
Emma rolled her eyes while trying not to notice how long his sooty lashes were or how they framed his chocolate eyes so perfectly. Or that he had been concerned enough about her to feel bad about the assignment. “I’m serious. My future’s on the line here. I’m trying to do the right thing.”
“I see, so you’re telling me that if I asked you to do anything, you would say yes?” he asked with interest, and Emma felt a reluctant smile sneak up to her mouth.
“Don’t push your luck,” she retorted as she gave him a light punch in the arm. Something she immediately regretted as it suddenly made her realize how close she was to him. And how hard his arm muscles were.
“Why not?” His voice was low and raspy and sent a delicious shudder racing through her. Emma bit the bottom of her lip as she studied the perfect sweep of his jaw, the way his eyelids were hanging heavy over his eyes. Then he tilted his head slightly and moved even closer to her, and it took all of Emma’s self-control not to gasp.
Was Curtis Green going to kiss her?
The blood started to pound at her temples and her hands felt clammy. He was going to kiss her. And more important, she was going to let him. His face drew closer to hers. They were going to cross the invisible boundary that had been lying between them and—
However, before she knew what was happening, a group of juniors came clamoring down the hallway, and the moment they saw her, they made a banging noise to let her know that her food court explosion hadn’t been forgotten yet. The minute they did so Curtis flinched, and instead of feeling his mouth on hers, she felt him gently lift his hands up to her neck and start to tug at her haphazardly knotted tie. She barely dared to breathe as his deft fingers tweaked it into submission.
“Sorry,” he said in an unsteady voice. “But your tie’s been driving me crazy. I hope you don’t mind?”
“Oh, right. My tie, th-thanks,” she croaked as she bit back her disappointment. How dare those juniors come along and ruin everything. Especially when she had wanted him to kiss her. She had wanted Curtis Green to kiss her. There, she had thought it. She had wanted to kiss her archenemy. Emma blinked at the knowledge, and then, before she could change her mind (or blush), she peered up him. “Y-you know, if you’re not doing anything after dinner, maybe we could go to the practice range. I heard they’ve got some new demons in. We could use the fight training as part of our assignment and then . . . ” She let the rest of the words hang, but instead of agreeing, Curtis took a deep breath and his face suddenly turned into a still mask.
“Actually, you know what?” He gave an awkward cough and studiously peered down at his leg cast. “Tonight isn’t so good for me. I have something going on. And speaking of which, I should probably go, but I will see you tomorrow night at the gate with our pass-outs.”
Then, without another word, he hurried off as fast as his crutches would allow him, and Emma felt a flush of embarrassment wash over her while something deep inside her stomach went plummeting to the ground. He didn’t want to kiss her at all. He really had just wanted to fix her tie. Oh, earth, please swallow her now.
“Oh my gosh.” Loni raced over with an excited expression on her face. “I was peeking around the corner... did he really just go to kiss you? That’s so romantic. If only those stupid juniors hadn’t come along and ruined it. So