Page 4 of Under Pressure
He couldn’t stop smiling. “Nah, you pinned me fair and square. You’ll have to tell me where you learned that move some time.” The guy on the screen was being guided into a waiting car, catching Sean’s attention once more. The kid’s hands were in fists at his sides, he opened one for a split second, his hand trembling before he clenched it again. He was definitely scared. Sean pointed at the screen. “What’s this about?”
Blue turned, bumping the desk, and sending today’s 64 oz soda to a tilt. She lurched for it, grabbing it before it spilled. Girl loved her soda. She glanced at her monitor as the boy, his mom, and his lawyer ducked into a black sedan with tinted windows. She shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to watch it before you sneaked up on me. I guess he was acquitted of murder or something.”
Sean furrowed his brow. What on earth had that kid been doing caught up in that mess to begin with? “I don’t think he did it.” Murder was a big deal, and that kid didn’t have it in his eyes. Sean had a gut instinct, and Gramps always told him to trust his gut.
Blue furrowed her brow, then quickly gathered her stuff, and shut off her computer. “Your hair’s dry today,” she stated, changing the subject.
“Yeah, I didn’t have time for my morning swim.” He picked up his bag.
Her lips tilted down for just a moment as they made their way over to their spot at the sofas. He loved the way her ponytail swished back and forth, dusting her shoulders.
“But I brought hot chocolate.” He lifted the thermos.
This time, she smiled, and it lit her eyes. “I love that stuff.”
“I know. Maybe not as much as those sodas, though.” He pointed to the cup she held smushed against her chest. “What flavor is it today?”
“Hazelnut Pepsi,” she said. “It was the only flavoring they had for the coffees today.” They took their seats—she set her bag down, and it toppled over letting a few things slide out. “I still want cocoa though.”
He opened his bag looking for the plastic cups he’d brought. He found them smashed at the bottom and lifted them out for her to see.
“I guess we’ll have to share the thermos,” she said nonchalantly as she started pulling papers out of her bag. He opened the thermos and handed it to her. She took a slow sip, her eyes closing, her body practically bent in half in pleasure, even her little toes curled on top of her flip-flops. She pulled the thermos back, showing a line of chocolate over her top lip. Her tongue darted out and swiped it away in one lick, except for at the corner of her mouth.
Sean’s stomach clenched at the thought of putting his mouth where hers had been. Then he thought of kissing her. Of kissing away that little smudge of chocolate at the corner of those full lips of hers. His body burned and he wished he hadn’t skipped his swim. Swimming was a good way to burn off unresolved tension he’d discovered this week.
“I don’t know what I’ll do after today when these hot chocolates stop coming.” She wrapped her delicate fingers around the mug, warming them probably, and gazed up at him through thick dark lashes.
Was this an opening? An invitation to ask her out? He wasn’t sure. All right, he’d drop his own vague opening and see what happened. “You know where to find me for a top-off.”
Red rushed to her cheeks, and her gaze shot to their homework. He loved her blushes.
Without thinking, he leaned closer to her, reached out slowly, and wiped the line of chocolate at the side of her mouth away with his thumb, then brought his thumb to his mouthand sucked it off. The chocolaty taste exploded on his tongue, stronger than if he’d sipped right from the thermos. Blue’s indigo eyes went wide and she inhaled sharply. A heavy silence fell over them, and for a split second, her gaze darted to his lips.
He drew in a breath.
She gasped and turned away, intent on finding something in her backpack; shutting the window on the brief opportunity. He hoped it would come around again.
“We have a lot to go over before our presentation,” she said. “I’m worried about the B2B section.”
Sean breathed out the breath he’d been holding as disappointment and excitement fought for dominance inside him. It was fine. Now wasn’t the time to kiss her anyway. Sean was a slow-burn kind of guy. He liked drawing out the anticipation. It meant when he finally did kiss her, it’d be all the sweeter. He leaned back, resting his arm over the back of the sofa.
“After the hours we spent going over it yesterday?” He clucked his tongue. “Don’t be. The B2B is nailed. You’ll have the best one in the class. I mean, I wish I had a fraction of an idea about what I want to do that you have about what you want to do. I’ve never met anyone your age with so much figured out. It’s impressive.”
“You really think so?” It wasn’t like Blue to seek validation, but she had a vulnerability in her eyes that had him wondering if his words had had an impact on her.
He nodded.
“You don’t want to be a Marine Engineer?”
Sean shrugged. “I don’t know. I love the water aspect of it, but it’s not quite hitting the mark. But that’s not really the point of this assignment—to know for sure what we want to do, but to show that whatever we decide we’ll be able to get it up and going in the right way.” He pointed to all her papers. “But just thinkhow far ahead you’ll be than everyone else who doesn’t know like me. Yeah, you don’t need to worry. You’ve got this. And I’ve got your back.”
She froze again, then quickly faced him, brow furrowed. “Why are you so reliable?” she asked.
He laughed—she kept surprising him. “That’s not a compliment you hear every day.” He liked it. It felt nice to be thought of as reliable by his crush.
“It’s true though. You are.” She pointed at his chest, her eyes dipping to his pecs. Dang if he didn’t want to bust his chops in the gym just to make her look.
“Feeling guilty for making me come here every day before the crack of dawn?” he asked, nudging her with his shoulder.
