Falcon stops next to Lake and giving me a bored look, arrogance coats his words when he says, “You’re welcome by the way.”
Normally, I can’t read people’s faces to save my life. But Falcon’s eyes… they’re alert, intelligent, and so damn alive.
Feigning indifference, I roll my eyes. The last thing I need right now is for Falcon to know how unsettled I feel by him. “I never asked for your help in the first place.” Not wanting to come across as being rude, I reluctantly add, “But… thank you.”
The corner of his mouth twitches slightly before his features return to their unyielding state. “You start as my assistant tomorrow. Don’t disappoint me.”
Feeling frustrated and irritable, a wave of heat creeps up my neck and face. “Oh no, hold on! I never agreed to be your assistant.” Needing to make it clear to him that I have zero interest in the position, I continue, “I don’t want to be your assistant. Get one of the other students. I’m pretty sure there’s a long line of applicants who would love the honor.” When he just smirks at me, I add, “I’m just here to study. Pick someone else.”
To my dismay, the smirk around his full lips only keeps growing. “You don’t get a choice in the matter. You start tomorrow morning at eight. Don’t be late.” He starts to turn away, then stops and glancing at me one last time, he adds, “Coffee. Two sugars. Cream.”
My mind races for the perfect come back, but before I can form the words, Falcon walks away, leaving me staring at the back of his broad shoulders.
“What the hell just happened?” I whisper, shaking my head to rid myself of the confusion. Tearing my eyes away from Falcon, I look to Kingsley. “It feels like I stepped into the twilight zone.”
Kingsley shrugs. “We survived.” She lets out a nervous burst of laughter. “That’s all I care about.” Letting out a deep breath, she repeats, “We survived.” A smile forms on her face, and her eyes begin to sparkle. “But you have to admit, that was exciting.”
Immediately I begin to shake my head. “Girl, no. There was nothing exciting about that.”The nerve of that idiot telling me to be his assistant. Just watch me. I’m going to do my best to be epically bad at this assistant thing.
I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one is watching before I reach for the salt. With a rebellious grin all over my face, I stir the salt into the coffee, then try to school my face into a careless look. Picking up the cup, I struggle not to laugh as I walk over to where Falcon is sitting with his friends.
Mason notices me first and says something which makes Falcon glance in my direction. For a split-second, I feel nervous, and I’m just about to hesitate when an arrogant grin tugs at the left corner of Falcon’s mouth.
Nope, I’m doing this. I’m going to show him I won’t be messed with.
Placing the cup in front of Falcon, I smile as sweetly as I can manage. “Your coffee, Sir.”
Feeling Falcon’s eyes on me, I take a deep breath before I meet them. Again, I feel the punch to my gut from making eye contact with him.
Scared he’ll see right through my act I turn away from the table. “Enjoy.”
It takes a lot of effort to not run from the restaurant, and even more to not peek over my shoulder to see his reaction once he tastes the coffee.
Darting out the door, I turn left and rush to where I can hide behind the wall so I can peek through the windows. Slowly, I inch forward until I have a view of Falcon, and a wide smile splits over my face as I watch him pick up the cup. When he takes a sip, an anxious squeak rushes up my throat.
A frown begins to form on my forehead when a smile forms on Falcon’s face as he looks down at the cup. Shaking his head slightly, he sets it back down on the table.
“That’s it? All the trouble and he just smiles?” Letting out a disappointed sigh, I inch back behind the wall.
“Why are you standing here?”
Kingsley’s voice has me jumping with fright. Swinging around, I slap a hand over my chest. “You’ll give me a damn heart attack, woman.”
Kingsley leans to the side and glancing into the restaurant she tries to see what I was looking at.
“What were you looking at?”
“Nothing.” The word bursts from me, and I quickly grab her hand to pull her away. Walking toward the office, I change the subject. “Let’s go get our class schedules.”
We’re making our way back toward the dorms, aka palaces fit for royalty, when we cross paths with Grayson and Serena.