Page 88 of The Headmaster’s Rule

My heart fills my chest at his words. He’s slipped up, calling me Nora, but if the others notice, I don’t care.

I probably should. This group gathered to support me, to help with the fundraiser, but what would they think if they knew what was going on between me and Headmaster Wright? They’d be appalled. I’d become a laughingstock.

Well, apart from Juliana, apparently, but I’m learning she’s a bit of a wild card. Besides, she doesn’t know everything that’s happened between me and her father, and I’m not so sure she’d be on board if she did.

But as Theo gazes at me with such admiration, all of that falls away. None of it compares to the thrill I get from the way his penetrating eyes devour me from across the table. The same eyes that watched me fall apart on his lap, his counter, against the bookshelves in his office. And nothing compares to the way he supports and encourages me. The way he makes me feel like my ideas matter. Like I matter.

I gaze back at him, heart hammering my ribcage. Paige asks Rowan something about creating an art installation for the fundraiser, but my eyes are riveted to Theo. To the proud smile he’s trying to fight, the dynamite in his gaze. God, I need to get him alone. I need my hands on him, his lips on mine. I need him in my arms, my mouth. Inside me.

“Don’t you think, Nora?”

I blink, turning to Danny, who eyes me with curious amusement. My pulse scrambles as I become aware of the flush on my chest, my neck, the unrestrained lust probably written all over my face.

Jesus.

“Sorry,” I squeak, smoothing my hands over my skirt. “What was that?”

He shakes his head, a spark dancing in his eyes. “Never mind. I’ll run it by Theo.”

I shake off the nervous current running through me as the others stand, turning to leave. I want to be alone with Theo, but I’m hyper-aware of Danny’s eyes, so I stand, dragging myself from the room, away from them.

It’s probably for the best, anyway. Five seconds alone with Theo in the empty faculty lounge and I’d climb onto his lap. Besides, I have photocopying to do for my class once the assembly finishes.

Juliana stops me in the hall with a hand on my arm. “Thanks for sticking up for me,” she murmurs.

I smile. “Of course. You’re right, he’s really hard on you, but I’m excited to see what you come up with.”

“Thanks,” she says quietly. “It’s just… hard, you know? I always feel like I’m one mistake away from disappointing him.” She catches herself, quickly recovering with a shrug. “Anyway. I’m excited too.” Her gaze flits past me, then returns, as she speaks quietly. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep doing it. I’ve never seen him like this.”

Heat creeps up my neck. “Like what?”

“The way he looks at you. That smile he’s always fighting. He’s got it bad, Nora.” With a final squeeze of my arm, she turns and heads to her classroom.

I raise a hand to my burning cheek, heart galloping. I should be concerned by her comment, because if she noticed it, it’s possible the others did, too.

But as I head to the copy room, all I can feel is happy.

CHAPTER 30

Theo

Ideliberately wait for Eleanor to leave the faculty lounge before I do. Given half the chance, I’d follow her into her empty classroom and take her on her desk.

Danny lingers behind too, flicking through Eleanor’s notes. I do the same, biding my time, impressed by how thorough they are.

She was amazing in that meeting. Juliana pushed boundaries as usual, but Eleanor kept her in line and kept everyone on track, seamlessly assigning roles and establishing expectations with a kind but firm hand. I’ve never seen her lead like that, not beyond third graders, and pride warms me inside out. That woman is a force to be reckoned with, in her own quietly confident way, and that’s hot as hell.

My feet itch with the urge to find her, to tell her how proud I am—no, to show her—but I shake it off. I’ve been fighting my own battle the past few days after pouncing on her at Halloween. Every vivid detail of that night is etched into my memory; how she let me devour her, claim her, fuck her with a kind of animal hunger I’ve never felt before. Hell, she didn’t just let me, she loved it.

And it’s been a constant struggle not to do it again.

“Are you heading to the assembly?” Danny asks, breaking into my very not-safe-for-work thoughts.

I nod, rising with a resigned sigh. Between meetings and the fundraiser, it’s been days since I’ve had my hands on Eleanor, and my patience is wearing thin. Again.

“She did well in there,” Danny says as we amble into the corridor. “I know you were reluctant when she first pitched Safe Harbor, but you seem to have come around.”

I bite my tongue. If I say anything now, it will be too much, about how she’s so intelligent and funny, how stupid I was to ever doubt her, how I’m feeling things for this woman I’m too scared to name.