Page 52 of Teacher's Pet

A gentle knock against my door, barely there, but enough to make every muscle in my body tense.

"Don’t make me feel crazy," she murmurs. "I know it was you."

My fingers twitch around the doorknob.

It takes every ounce of restraint not to rip it open-

"Do you care to tell me why the hell Walker is trying to rip my clothes off every five seconds-"

I don’t let her finish.

The door swings open, and her cold, demanding glare morphs into something else entirely.

Surprise.

Her gaze drops, lingering at my exposed skin, tracing over my bare chest before inevitably landing lower.

She stares.

And when the red flush creeps up her neck, coloring her cheeks, I know.

She took her time looking.

When her cat-like eyes finally snap back to mine, I smirk.

She’s fucking stunning.

Standing there, flushed, flustered, caught between her own stubbornness and undeniable attraction, she looks like a temptation no man with a soul could resist.

Lucky for me.

I lost mine a long time ago.

"So you do live here," she murmurs after a few beats of silence.

"Unfortunately," I hiss.

Ana leans in slightly, her nose scrunching as she studies me.

"Guess you’re drunk too," she observes, judgment laced in every syllable.

I scoff, shifting my gaze toward Walker’s door.

"As if that wasn’t your plan," I smirk. "Should I remind you what happened last time you were drunk within my proximity?"

Her lips part, but I don’t give her a chance to cut in.

"No one asked you to come over here, yet here you are." I tilt my head, watching as her arms tighten around her body. "Makes me wonder, Anastasia, do you really despise me as much as you claim?"

Her jaw clenches.

"Shouldn’t your lapdog be with you right now?" I continue, my smirk deepening. "Tearing at that little black dress like some desperate animal?"

The moment the words leave my mouth, the red swarms her cheeks, hot with anger or something dangerously close to it.

"I told them I left something in Elijah’s car," she snaps, voice defensive. "And if we’re being honest here, I was hoping you had some answers as to why Walker is acting like a fucking lunatic."

She steps forward, close enough for me to catch the sharpness of her perfume.

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