Page 62 of Pink Ink

He falters, taken aback. “Careful, Miss Sinaga. You’re stepping into dangerous territory asking those types of questions.”

“I have a habit of doing that.”

His nostrils flare. “I’m well aware of your nighttime rendezvous.”

Okay, backtrack. Maybe this has nothing to do with my grades and everything to do with rehashing a conversation we’ve had ad nauseam.

If I recall correctly,I’mmad athim.

“Did you invite me to your office to discuss what I do in my spare time, Mr. Shaw? If my exercise of free will is the whole reason behind this meeting, then I want you to know that I hear you and I understand your concerns.”

I refuse to repeat our prior conversation. It’s easier to steer us toward the topic of his brother.

Clasping his hands together, he strolls to his computer chair and sits down. He crosses his leg at his knees, leans his elbows on the armrest, and eyes me, wearing his aggravating mask of indifference. Imposing on my personal space from the other side of the room.

I feel naked standing here, put on display for his viewing. But I don’t move. I let him drag his eyes over me again—I relish in it.

“Do you now?” Green eyes dart to the couch beside him. A silent order for me to sit.

I blow out a breath, hesitating before following suit. Lowering onto the leather sofa, I leave my satchel and camera bag on the floor, place the cushion on my lap, and squeeze my legs together.

This is where my dirty dream played out.

His eyes drop down to my thighs like he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

My throat bobs, and I scramble to string together a sentence that will stop me from picturing how his abs contracted when he thrusted inside me.

I wet my lips and say, “It wouldn’t be right for your brother to see one of your students because it would put you in a compromising position. It would be disrespectful on both our parts if your brother and I explored any kind of relationship, and I have no intention of making your life more difficult on that front.”

He frowns and says nothing for four seconds. I know because I count them. “Right. Thank you.”

Because I’m an absolute idiot who can never leave things be, and I want to see whether he was indeed jealous, I keep going. “Until the end of the semester, at least.”

My chest constricts when his eyes swirl with a hint of the beast he hides beneath his immaculate veneer.

“You’ve mistaken me. Consider my concernpermanent. You’re everywhere I look, and the only thing I ever see. Any more of you, and I will go completely mad. So,no, Miss Sinaga, I am not okay, and I’m afraid I will never be until I can purge you out of my system.”

What?

The air shifts. It grows pointed teeth and barbed wire that wraps around my lungs. Maddox leans forward in his chair until he’s resting his weight on his knees. Towering over me without standing. With how close he is, there’s barely enough room for me to make a run for it. He acts like he despises me one minute, then looks at me like he’s a man possessed the next.

“Let me make this abundantly clear to you, love: I don’t wish to hurt my brother, so don’t make me.”

Love.

He… Hewasjealous.

What is happening?

The cogs in my head race a hundred miles per minute as I white-knuckle the cushion. Then they stop turning. His gaze falls to my lips for the briefest moment. Time suspends. Awareness prickles over my body.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.” My words are barely above a whisper.

“If you want someone with better words, find a poet.” He opens the notebook on his desk and rips out one of the pages before writing on it. Pushing the paper toward me, he gives me a pointed look that borders on complete rage. “While we’re on the topic of myconcerns,” he says through gritted teeth. “If you so much asthinkabout visiting another crime scene, you. Call. Me.”

Seriously, this again? Why won’t he give it a rest already?

“I don’t think so.”