Page 49 of Sweet Violence
And I was letting him.For now.
A hand dragged through his hair before reaching for the article again, the pages catching slightly under his fingernails. Beneath the desk, his knee started to bounce, and his mouth curved into a faint frown.
“Something wrong, Rabbit?”
“It’s a little…” He cleared his throat. “It comes off kind of smug.”
“Smug?”
He peeked at me through crooked frames. “Respectfully.”
My lips twitched.
“It reads like you’re trying to prove something. Like you already know you’re right and you want them to know it too.”
The pen tapped once against the margin.
“You are,” he added. “Smarter, I mean. That part’s obvious. It just… doesn’t feel like the point.”
“You’re not worried about offending me?”
“You already hired me.” He shrugged. “Feels worse to lie now.”
I bit back a laugh.
There it was.
That quick, instinctive push—honest, a little sharp, and gone the second it landed. Just enough edge to show teeth before he decided whether it was safe to keep them bared.
My little rabbit.
His gaze drifted back to the paper, teeth catching lightly at his lower lip. The soft pull dragged my attention straight to his mouth—full, damp, and already flushed from the pressure.
Fuck.
I’d told him I wouldn’t kiss him but that sure as shit didn’t make the thought go away.
A quiet huff slipped out of him. “Are you going to do any work or are you just going to sit there and stare at me?”
“I’d much rather stare at you.”
Color climbed his cheeks.
“Besides, I’m tenured.”
He bit down on his lower lip again, trying—and failing—not to laugh.
Deft fingers found the edge of his water bottle, thumb catching on the corner of a peeling sticker. He dragged at it slowly while his gaze snapped back to the article in front of him.
It was fucking cute the way his attention kept slipping sideways.
And even cuter that he thought he was inconspicuous.
“Drink,” I said.
His nose scrunched. “What?”
“Your water.”
