Page 18 of SKIN

So we’re playing games, huh?

My lips curled into a grin. “You can run but you can’t hide, pet.”

I watched her from three rows down. The cap of her pen clasped between her teeth. Her hair pulled back in a high knot and that blue-and-white sundress hidden beneath a white sweater, sheer enough that I (and everyone else) could see through to her bra straps.

My girl was being bratty. Intentionally trying to get under my skin with that subtle hint of noncompliance. She knew what I wanted, what my instructions were, and yet I had no doubt she would play dumb.Attempt to make a case for herself. Of course it wouldn’t work, which was probably what she really hoped for.

Emily liked being punished. Craved it without even realizing that was what she wanted.

I shouldn’t give it to her. The best way to knock down her defenses was to completely ignore her little outburst. Make her thirst for the attention until she was on her knees begging me to look at her.

Problem was, I couldn’t not look at her. If it were that easy, I wouldn’t have bothered to spare her a glance from the get-go.

I waited until the lecture was over to push up from my seat and follow her out the door. If Emily knew I was behind her, she made no move to acknowledge me. Her hair brushing the back of her neck with the natural sway of her hips and her ass cheeks hugged by the fabric of her dress each time she pushed off her heel to propel herself forward.

Then she turned the corner, pivoting on her department store off-white sneakers and pinning me with a glare. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

I shoved my hands into my pockets with a slight shrug of my shoulders. “Nope.”

“What about class, Cohen? You don’t even go here anymore.”

“Why would I go to class? What could they possibly teach me that I don’t already know?”

“Maybe something about personal space…” she muttered under her breath, gasping when I grabbed her wrist. Yanked her forward and pressed her against the wall.

“It doesn’t get more personal than this, babe,” I whispered against the shell of her ear, smirking when my words had the desired effect.Emily clenched her thighs together, squeezing her eyes shut like she could somehow will me out of existence. So I tipped her chin up with my free hand. “It’s okay to admit you want me, ya know.”

“What I want… is to get as far away from you as humanly possible,” she hissed.

“The only thing worse than lying to me is lying to yourself.” I lifted a single eyebrow in challenge before dropping my grip on her wrist and stepping aside. “Nice dress, by the way…”

26

EMILY

Cherry cola, red licorice, and Cohen Michaels. My three vices. None of them good for me. But all of them made my mouth water.

I knew what he was doing. I’d turned him down that first night. Bruised his frail ego and now he needed me to beg for it. To chase him and make him feel wanted again, so he could return the favor and throw me out on my rear.

He was a grown-ass man throwing a toddler-sized tantrum. And I shouldn’t feed into it. After all, what kind of lesson would that be?

At the same time, resisting him didn’t seem to be an option either. Not when my body was so ready and willing. There was no hiding my attraction. No tamping it down or denying it either. Which left me between a rock and a literal hard place.

That place being the hefty bulge that hung between his legs.

Maybe it was better to just fuck him and get it over with. Enjoy myself for as long as it lasted. Then watch him get bored and move on. Because that was what guys like Cohen Michaels did. They got in your pants and then got out of there. There were no flowers, no calls the next day. Hell, if they ran into you out in the wild, they didn’t even remember your name.

And if they didn’t remember your name, they sure as shit would forget your class schedule.

So, as I watched him walk away for the third time in as many days, I decided I would do my sanity a service and fuck Cohen Michaels out of both our systems. Prove to myself that I wasn’t special and neither was he.

Fifteen minutes into my Fundamentals of International Business lecture, and I felt… nothing. No rise of the hair on the back of my neck. No prickling sensation when I could feel a pair of eyes searing their way into my skin. No sixth sense that told me someone was watching me.

Nothing. But a chill that traveled up my spine at the realization that I was alone. Completely alone in a room full of people.

I should have been used to it; instead, I was becoming used to him. In only a handful of days.

My eyes flicked around the lecture hall, seeking him out without even realizing I was doing it. Until my phone buzzed and vibrated across my desk tray. I glanced down at the screen and the words unknown number.

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