Chapter 6

ELROY'S POV

I watched her face when my father said it.

"We have a situation with our daughter Chloe."

She didn't react. Just sat there with the glass of water in both hands, eyes steady. Most people shifted when my father spoke like that. That tone, measured and certain, the tone that meant a decision had already been made.

Evelyn Reed didn't shift, she just looked at him and waited.

My father laid it out. Chloe being in final year. Her grades were not where they needed to be. Three sessions a week at the house and double her current rate.

He finished and the room went awefully quiet. She looked down at the glass for a second then back up.

"When would you need me to start?" she said.

Not yes. Now I'll think about it. She gave a reply that gave room for her to decline if need be.

My father almost smiled "As soon as you're comfortable."

"Monday then."

I looked back down at my book.

Very Interesting.

---

She came on Monday at ten.

I was already downstairs when she arrived. The laptop opened on the kitchen island, I was working. I was there for forty five minutes.

The housekeeper moved toward the door when the bell rang but I was already up. Faster.

I opened it myself just so I could see her.

She stood on the doorstep in an oversized hoodie and dark shorts, hair tied back loosely, leather bag over one shoulder. Nothing like the woman who stood at the front of my classroom with her blazer and sharp heels and that expression she kept ready for anyone who tried her.

She looked softer. Less like a classroom dictator, more like a normal lady in comfy clothes.

"Is Chloe home?" she asked.

I leaned against the doorframe. "She's not back yet. Shopping ran late."

She blinked. "We agreed to have a ten o'clock session."

"I know. Come in, she won't be long." I stepped aside for her to get in.

She looked at me for a second contemplating then she stepped inside.

---

The house was quiet. Staff mostly gone, no meetings, no movement. Just her footsteps as I led her to the sitting room.

She sat on the edge of the sofa, bag in her lap, back straight. Looking around like she was trying not to be impressed but it was hard to not see that awe in her eyes as she took in the surrounding.

I sat across from her.

"You can wait upstairs in the study," I said.

"I'm fine here."

A minute of awkward silence stretched between us.

"How long did she say she'd be?" she asked.

"Twenty minutes maybe."

She nodded and looked toward the window trying to distract her mind, maybe. But all my mind needed was her.

I looked at her.

The morning light hit the side of her face casting a perfect glow. I noticed a small scar just below her left eyebrow. Never saw it from across a classroom.

"You're staring" she said without turning.

"I'm thinking."

"Can you think somewhere else."

"It's my house."

She turned to look at me, weighing whether this was worth her energy or not.

"What are you thinking about?" she finally said.

"You."

The word landed and just sat there.

Something crossed her face. Gone just as fast before I can process it.

"That's inappropriate," she said.

"Depends on what you're doing in my mind"

"I'm your professor."

"You're my sister's tutor," I said. "In my house, on a Monday morning."

"That doesn't change anything."

"Doesn't it?"

She stood up. "I'll wait in the study."

She moved past me and I stood without planning to and we were both in the same small space between the sofa and the coffee table and she stopped because there was nowhere to go without stepping into me.

She looked up.

I was closer than I should have been. We both knew it.

"Move," she said quietly.

"In a second."

"Elroy."

I reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. My fingers brushed her neck and her breath caught.

She didn't move.

"You're always so ready to fight," I said. "Even when there's nothing to fight."

"I'm not fighting."

"You're not running either."

Her jaw tightened. "Don't."

"Don't what."

She didn't answer.

I leaned in slowly. Giving her every second to stop it.

She didn't stop.

My mouth touched hers. Soft. Just enough.

Then her fingers curled into my shirt and I kissed her properly.

She kissed me back hard.

Her lips parted and I slid my hand to her jaw and tilted her head back and she grabbed my shirt with both hands. I walked her back until her knees hit the sofa and she sat down and I leaned over her.

Her hoodie slipped off one shoulder.

I kissed her neck and she gasped. Her nails grazed my scalp and I pressed closer and she arched into me.

I kissed her jaw. Her neck. The curve of her shoulder.

Her head fell back.

"Elroy—" she breathed.

I came back to her mouth and kissed her deep and slow and she stopped fighting it.

Her lips were warm. She tasted sweet. I pulled back and came back for more and she let me every time.

"We shouldn't—" she started against my lips.

I kissed her again and she stopped talking.

"ELROY I'M HOME."

Chloe's voice hit the front door like a grenade.

We broke apart fast.

Evelyn was on her feet before I had fully straightened, smoothing her hoodie back up her shoulder, one hand flying to her hair, her lips, checking herself fast.

She grabbed her bag off the floor. Cleared her throat. Looked anywhere but at me.

I stood up slowly. Completely unbothered.

"Not a word" she said under her breath.

"I didn't say anything."

"Don't."

I kept my voice low. "Next time Chloe goes shopping—" I let it sit just long enough, "—maybe we schedule a longer session."