Page 12 of King of Temptation

I shake my head. If he’s looking for a vacation hook up, he can forget it. “Have fun.”

“You on vacation too?”

I try not to sigh. “No. I go to school there.”

He’s blond and tan with decent muscles. I’m sure some girl would love his attention. “Oh, cool. That must be great. I go to Harvard, which is super intense. I sometimes wish I’d gone somewhere less serious.”

Did he just insult me while agreeing with me? “Yeah. Sure,” I’m already done talking to him, so I start searching for a plug for my charger. I need to finish reading that email. Maybe Stilton threw me some Hail Mary and there is something I can do to pass her class.

“You…” He gives me a wavering smile like he’s working up the confidence to ask. Such a turn off. “You wouldn’t be free tomorrow night, would you?”

I stop searching, my brain going to back to Leo’s proposition. The one where he promised me an orgasm via his tongue in five minutes or less. That was the offer of a king. This one… “Sorry. No.”

His smile falls. “Sure. I understand.”

Mentally, I wonder what he understands. I didn’t offer an explanation, but I go back to searching for a plug. I’m not trying to hurt this guy’s feelings, I just have actual problems I’m trying to solve.

Finally, I find one and plug in my phone cord, waiting with bated breath. But nothing happens. The phone doesn’t charge.

“Crap,” I mutter under my breath as I let out a long sigh.

“Phone issues?” he asks.

Is he still here? “Just a dead battery.”

He sets down his bag and starts rifling through, pulling out some slick black thing or other. “Portable charger.” And then he hands it to me.

Finally, something is going right. “Thank you,” I gush on a breath of air. “I’m about to miss a final and I was reading the email from my professor when my phone died.” I plug in the battery and the phone instantly comes to life.

“Hot mess?” he asks, and my chin snaps up. Did he really just ask me that? But I don’t answer as my email pops back up on the screen.

I’d had this one class to take during the summer semester and then I would be done. Technically, I already walked for graduation, but I don’t have my degree yet.

Stilton’s email comes up and I wilt again. Either I show up for the final or I fail. I should have known.

I knew I was cutting it close but…

I can feel tears welling in my eyes as my elbow drops to my knee and my head falls onto my hand.

This is bad. Really bad.

I know the course will cost a minimum of five thousand to retake and its money I don’t have.

“So…what about that date?”

“What?” I lift my head back up as I look at the guy next to me.

“Tomorrow?” his gaze slides down me. “I’ve kind of got a thing for hot messes.”

My mouth opens and then closes a moment before I unplug his charger and hand it back to him. “Have fun in Vegas.”

It takes another hour before we finally taxi out to the runway and take off. On the bright side, I’ve got plenty of time to figure out how I’m going to retake that class. I finally get my charger to work.

But as my phone recharges, another email comes up, this one from the Ballet Company.

They want to thank me for auditioning, but they don’t currently have a spot for me. They’ll let me know if anything changes.

I don’t cry. The Harvard dick is sitting in the same row as me and I won’t give him the satisfaction of confirming that I am a hot mess.

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