Page 109 of Ace My Heart

He leaned down and pressed his lips to my neck, just at my hairline, behind my ear, even as he pushed one knee between my thighs. Goosebumps erupted all over me and I trembled. I didn’t have the strength to fight him off. I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

My breath was coming in little panting gasps as Joel’s lips lingered on my skin, the warmth of his leg meeting the heat of my pussy through my jeans, creating pressure on the seam of denim that was rubbing right where I needed it most. His breath was warm on the nape of my neck as his lips moved against my skin, up towards my jaw, my earlobe. I longed to rock myself against that strong leg, to turn my head, capture his full bottom lip between my teeth.

But instead, I stood frozen. The wanting feeling was far too big.

After a moment he pulled away, silently offering his arm to me, his lips moist and quirked up into a funny little half-smile. I somewhat shakily linked my arm with his and let him lead me away.

“My sincerest apologies for the brief roguish lapse, Miss Black,” he said. I grinned, relieved that he was joking it away. Relieved that I hadn’t given in like I’d wanted to. Like I still secretly wanted to, somewhere down in the pit of my stomach where there was a seed of disappointment that he had stopped when he did.

Not a good idea to think about that.

The elevator seemed to take forever to get us up to our room. It felt too small, too crowded, though it was only the two of us inside.

Joel unlocked the door and held it open for me. I walked insideand went straight to my bedroom door. When I turned back, expecting him to be across the room at his bedroom door, I was startled to find him right behind me.

“A gentleman always walks a lady to her door,” he explained with a smile.

I opened the door and took a step back. “Thank you, Mr Herbert, for the lovely evening. And I’m willing to forgive the little indiscretion on the journey home. I’ll put it down to the overwhelming excitement of the concert.”

I took another step back, preparing to make my escape, but Joel grabbed my wrist and pulled me close again. He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. It would have been a very polite kiss except he lingered there too long, and his lips parted slightly and moved towards my ear.

“A gentleman always kisses a lady goodnight,” he whispered.

“Well, goodnight, Joel,” I murmured. My voice trembled.

“Goodnight, Mel. Oh, I just thought of another adjective.”

“What?” I whispered.

“Horny,” he replied with a grin, and turned and walked away before I could argue. Not that he wasn’t completely right, damn him.

It wasn’t until much later when I was in bed trying to sleep that I realised that ‘pupil’ wasn’t even an adjective – it was a noun. And Joel couldn’t find one noun to describe what I was to him.

Well, that was depressing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Wimbledon

Ishoved all thought of Joel from my mind as I warmed up for my round two match against Gordana Slavonisovich. I really hoped that today wouldn’t be the day that she would finally beat me. I didn’t think it would. Physically I was in my best shape ever, thanks to Joel and his positive reinforcement and the diet and training schedule he had me on.

Whoops, I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about Joel, was I?

But it was impossible not to – he was alwaysthere. He was playing a very important role in my life. I had to acknowledge that.

He’d been a little weird after the night of the concert – it seemed that every time he knew he got too close to breaking down that final little barrier that I held between us, he backed off. It only confused me more. Was what I felt something real? Was he just playing with me? I didn’t want to find out.

I desperately wanted to find out.

I shook my head to clear the thoughts; they had nothing to do with this game against Gordana. I had to concentrate on my sport.

Joel handed me my racquet as I finished re-lacing one of my shoes. He watched me closely. “Something’s different about you today, Stink. Normally you’re a little agitated just before a game, but today you seem very quiet and focussed. Not that it’s a bad thing, by any means. It’s just interesting.”

I shrugged, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t know, Joel. I guess I’ve just realised that it’s not worth it to worry,” I lied. Joel grinned at me, and I could feel the tension bubbling to the surface at the sight of his smile. I ruthlessly stifled all of those feelings and walked out onto the court – cool, calm and collected.

I won in straight sets: six one, six two. I shook Gordana’s hand and she shook her head. We all have a hoodoo player – a player that we always lose to, no matter what, so I guessed that I might just happen to be Gordana’s.

Now I had another day off before round three. Another day of trying to keep my distance from Joel – a task that was rapidly becoming next to impossible.

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