Page 10 of Avoiding Temptation
Need sits heavy in my stomach. I might be wanting to experience new things, but there’s no way in hell I’m asking him to cure that little issue.
“I want…” I hesitate, and he leans forward as if I’m about to tell him a secret. “To really live. To do all the things I’ve never been able to do.” A rush of adrenaline hits me at admitting that out loud for the first time in my life.
I expect him to laugh, because it’s more than obvious that this guy does exactly what he wants and when he wants, but all he does is rest his arms on the table and ask, “Like what?”
“So many things. I want to wear the clothes I want, I want to dance to the music I want, I want to get drunk and dance all night, get a tattoo, have a one nig—” I stop when his eyes widen in delight. That’s not what this is about.
A man clears his throat behind Joe, and I damn near jump out of the chair thinking that we’ve been caught, but when I look up there’s just a man helping his wife into her coat.
“Why haven’t you done any of this before?” he asks, ignoring my skittishness, sipping on his own coffee and swallowing his reaction to what I almost admitted.
“I lived a somewhat sheltered life.”
“In London?”
I shake my head, already knowing that I’ve revealed too much. “I’ve only just moved here.”
“So I was right earlier about the twinset, then.” His eyes drop to my chest, and I sigh.
“I fucking hate them.”
“Right.” He tips his mug up to finish off what’s left and stands. “Let’s go, then.”
“Where?” I ask, my eyes wide in shock.
“To experience life.”
“Uh…”
“What, you scared?”
“No, I…” His eyebrow lifts in challenge, but there’s no way I’m backing down. “Just need to finish my coffee first.”
“Oh...wild,” he says with a laugh, sitting himself back down.
Chapter Five
Joe waitsaround the corner as I run back into the college and drop my bags off in the staff room. Thankfully, the department is empty, and I don’t run into any colleagues who’ve only just seen me leave.
I don’t allow myself time to think about the reality of what I’ve just agreed to. Instead, I focus on the excitement of what he might be about to show me.
I find him in a hidden doorway on his phone when I get back outside.
“I thought maybe you were going to bail.”
“I don’t back down from a challenge, Mr. Kingsman.”
“Joe, please. I can’t cope with all this surname bollocks.”
“Sure thing. Where first?”
“To get rid of that godawful twinset.”
“Won’t all the shops be shut?”
“You really haven’t been here long, huh?” I shake my head in response and fall into step beside him. “This is London. You can get anything whenever you want it.”
“I don’t have much money,” I admit with a wince.
