Page 71 of The Chase

“Breathe,” he orders.

I stop and do what he says. The oxygen clears my brain a little.

“You’re letting yourself get carried away again. You need to go one step at a time.”

“I’m trying. That’s the point of the stupid sticky notes, to break it all down.”

“How about talking it out? Does that ever help?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah. Usually I’ll dictate the points and ideas and transcribe them afterward, but I’m not at that stage yet. I was trying to get the basic premise down when the panic struck.”

“Okay.” He stretches out his long legs in front of us. “Then let’s talk about the basic premise.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m sure you have better things to do with your time. Like draw. Or work on your video game.” I shrug weakly. “You don’t have to help me with my essay.”

“I wouldn’t be doing it for free.”

I narrow my eyes. “You want me to pay you?”

His eyebrows shoot up. “What? No. Of course not. I just meant…” He takes a quick breath, avoiding my gaze. “I need your help with something too.”

“You do?”

He glances over again, oddly sheepish. “How about an exchange? I’ll help you with this midterm—the outline, the thesis. And, as you write it, I can proofread and help you organize ideas. And you help me out by…” He mumbles the rest—“Letting me draw you.”

This time it’s my eyebrows taking flight. “You want to draw me?”

His head jerks in a nod.

“Like one of your French girls?” Heat scorches my cheeks. Is he saying he wants to draw me naked?

Oh my God.

Why does the idea kind of turn me on?

“What French girls?” he asks, confused.

“Are you sure you weren’t secretly watchingTitanicwith me and Hollis the other night?”

He snorts. “Ah, the naked portrait. Forgot about that scene. And no, you wouldn’t be naked.” His voice thickens at that, and I wonder if he’s imagining the same thing I am.

Me. Lying naked in front of him. My body on full display.

My breath quickens as the vision takes a dirty turn. Suddenly Fitz is naked too. Naked and hard. His tattooed biceps flexing as he lowers his long, muscular body on top of me and—

He coughs, and I don’t miss the flash of heat in his eyes. “You’d be fully clothed,” he says. “I’d be basing a character in my game on you. Well, on your appearance. I’ve had a tough time figuring out what this woman looks like, and…” He shrugs awkwardly, and it’s insanely adorable. “I think she might look like you.”

My jaw falls open. “You want to base a video game character on me? That’s so cool. What’s her name?”

“Anya.”

“Oooh, I like that. It’s very elfin princess.”

“She’s actually a human.”

I grin. “You should reconsider. That’s totally an elf name.”

He grins back, then gestures to the mess on the floor. “Do we have a deal? I help you out, you let me sketch you?”

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