Page 85 of The Headmaster’s Rule

Shit. We are in big trouble.

CHAPTER 29

Eleanor

For the next three days, I relive Halloween in Theo’s office, wondering if it was some kind of crazy fever dream. It wasn’t our first time together, but it sure felt like it. Like he finally let go, finally let himself take what he needed, when he needed, consequences be damned.

And everything is different.

I can’t keep my eyes off him in faculty meetings, and he keeps finding excuses to visit my classroom. It thrills the kids, especially given how willing he is to read to them, including silly voices and gestures, gaze straying to me over his glasses. It melts my heart every time, but I can’t say I’m not worried that someone will notice.

Still, we can’t help it. We’re drawn to each other like two forces destined for collision.

I only hope we survive the crash.

At least since then we’ve kept our hands to ourselves on school property, but that’s little consolation. He’s had late meetings in the evenings and I’ve been busy finalizing last minute fundraiser donors, so we haven’t had time together outside of school, either. It’s only a matter of time before one of us snaps.

And when we meet later in the week with the extra volunteers for the fundraiser, I’m hanging on by a thread.

Paige, Danny, Juliana, and Rowan gather in the faculty lounge during first period while the rest of the school sits through a morning environmental awareness assembly, but Headmaster Wright is noticeably late. I try to ignore the pang of disappointment, focusing on the chocolate brownies Paige brought to the meeting.

“These look great. Thanks, Paige.” I take one from the Tupperware container, smiling.

“You know we’ll expect these at every meeting now,” Danny quips, and she laughs.

“No problem.”

“It’s a shame the coffee sucks,” Juliana mutters, surveying her cup with distaste.

Rowan nods, setting his battered sketchbook down on the table and pushing up the sleeves of his Henley to reveal the faint lines of a tattoo just beneath. I wonder, not for the first time, how he gets away with that under Headmaster Wright.

“That’s because it’s machine coffee. French press is better.”

“No way,” Danny chimes in. “Who’s got time for that?”

The energy in the room shifts behind me, and I glance around to see Theo enter the faculty kitchen and move to the coffee machine. His brow is furrowed, but when his gaze meets mine, the frown falls away, his face softening. I love that I have that effect on him.

I shift restlessly, needing to be near him. Looking around for an excuse, I spy Paige’s brownies, grabbing the container off the table.

“I’ll just put these on a plate.”

A lame excuse, but no one seems to care. Juliana scrolls on her phone, bored, while Paige, Rowan, and Danny debate the merits of machine versus French press coffee.

I slip away from our group and cross to the kitchen, but being nearer to him doesn’t bring the relief I hope it will. It makes my need for him worse.

“Ready for the meeting, Miss Hart?” he asks, leaning back against the kitchen island as he waits for his coffee to brew.

“Yes, sir.”

His gaze flicks to mine for a fraction of a second, darkening. I’ve noticed he loves when I call him that, and I can’t deny the shiver it gives me, too. A subtle acknowledgment that he’s my boss. That he’s in charge.

That I’d let him do whatever he likes to me, wherever he likes.

I can’t help myself. I walk past him, heading for the plate cupboard, and let my finger drag along his lower abdomen, above his belt. He has his back to the room, so it’s not like anyone could see, but it sends a thrill through me, touching him here, with everyone around.

He sucks in a breath, heat igniting his gaze. His jaw tenses as he gives a tiny shake of his head, noticeable only to me, but I can tell by the way his lips twitch with a dirty, barely restrained smile that he likes it as much as I do.

The machine splutters, finishing his coffee, and he takes it, gaze on me the entire time. It’s like there’s an invisible tether between us, making it impossible to look away.