It was incredibly satisfying to see him jump. After being scared by him a number of times, it was nice to be on the other end for once.

Chase shook himself out of it quickly. As soon as he got over the shock of seeing me, he cleared his throat and straightened his spine—looking very much like the man I remember from class.

“I wouldn’t insult your intelligence by telling something you already know.”

“But you were going to tell me, right?”

“Of course.”

“When?”

Chase shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. It was such an odd move to witness coming from him. I narrowed my eyes, more than a little suspicious.

“After I gathered a little more evidence of your interest. I wouldn’t have allowed you to leave without revealing myself, I assure you.”

“Evidence of my...” I trailed off as I tried to wrap my mind around the meaning of his words. “Would you have tried to have sex with me without telling me who you were?”

His eyes went wide behind his mask and relief flooded through me. I felt better knowing that this whole thing was set up as more of a mystery than a manipulation.

“No! I wouldn’t have allowed anything more than a kiss to happen—which is why I ended it when I did.”

Though I was sure his intentions were good, I couldn’t resist the urge to tease him.

I held my hands out to gesture at the room and said, “And yet, you did this.”

“Wishful thinking,” he said with a sigh. “I wanted to be prepared if things went well. If you were interested in me the way I am in you.”

Seeing him look so crestfallen made my heart clench. I walked over to place his cape back where I found it and hesitantly stepped forward to sit on the end of the bed. He watched me with curiosity, giving me all the time I needed to form my next question.

“How long have you been interested in me?”

“Since our first class,” he replied without hesitation. “It started as a physical attraction that motivated me to seek you out. During our private lessons, it grew into something far more potent than simple lust.”

While his blunt way of phrasing it made my head spin, I couldn’t stop myself from focusing on one particular detail.

“So that’s why you chose me. Because you wanted me, not because I—”

“Stop,” he ordered, his stern tone making my mouth snap shut automatically. He came over to crouch down in front of me, staring up into my eyes as he said, “I meant what I said about you being a star pupil. You have what it takes to succeed more so than anyone else I saw in those classes. But... I admit I wouldn’t have made the offer to anyone else even if they impressed me. The reasons for those sessions were entirely selfish. I wanted to get to know you.”

There was so much to take in—a little too much for my brain to process all at once. All I could do was nod and stare down into his eyes as he silently begged me to understand.

The silence stretched on entirely too long, making me feel awkward. After a few failed attempts to think of something profound to say, I blurted, “You’re wearing contacts.”

Chase appeared surprised for a moment before a warm smile appeared.

“I am.”

He stood up and walked to the bathroom, returning a moment later with his eyes back to their standard shade of green.

“I think I would have recognized you without them,” I said as I stared at him again. “Your eyes are distinctive. I still feel stupid for not seeing it, though.”

“Don’t. Disguising myself was the whole point. I’m glad you couldn’t see through it.”

This time, he sat beside me on the bed instead of crouching down in front. The mattress dipped as he turned toward me and I followed suit, trying to calm down my heartbeat as I took in where we were sitting and how easy it would be to move on to other activities.

The temperature in the room seemed to rise ten degrees. Or maybe it was just my face since I was undoubtedly blushing like a schoolgirl.

Chase’s hand came up to tug at the straps of my mask as he quietly said, “I heard through the grapevine that you’re newly single.”

“The grapevine?”

“Facebook.”

“Ah. Yeah, Mike and I broke up a few weeks ago,” I confirmed as I reached up to finish pulling off the mask. “Is that why you threw this party? To bring us back together now that I’m single?”

“Yes. I was hoping you’d come to the office for the job I promised, but you never did.”

“I spent the summer in Arkansas.”

Chase’s hands froze as he was working on removing his own mask. He gave me a questioning look that practically screamed, ‘What the fuck?’

I laughed as I explained, “That’s where Mike’s from.”

Chase grunted. “Understood. Now, how about we make an agreement to not say that name anymore, hmm? He no longer matters.”

“Are you jealous?”

He tossed his mask to the side and turned to me with a bored look as he dryly asked, “Do I look jealous?”

“No, but I know you well enough to know when you’re schooling your expression. You certainly sound jealous.”

Chase snarled and I admit it scared the shit out of me. I didn’t have time to react because he pushed me down on the bed and followed, looming over me with a dark expression.

“Maybe I am.”

Thought fled as he brought his head down and captured my lips in a deep kiss that almost burned with intent.

He really was jealous, though it hurt his pride to admit. Especially since a man like him should have no reason to be jealous of a guy like Mike.

I gripped his shoulders like I had in the music room and kissed him back with the same passion he gave to me, hoping it would be enough assurance that I was happy to be here with him.

After all, how many times during my final semester had I daydreamed about kissing Professor Stone?

More than I wanted to admit.

When I felt an arm slide under my back as he began to roll on top of me, I moaned wantonly against his lips, which curled into a grin even as we continued to kiss. The message that I was into this was obviously received and my pulse raced as I realized this was definitely going to happen.

Then three loud bangs came out of nowhere and the bedroom door flew open.