He was gorgeous. That was enough reason for me to be staring at him, even if my eyes were getting a little too wide and I hadn’t blinked in too long to be socially acceptable. But the way his soft, unusually silver hair flopped over his forehead, just tickling his electric green eyes, made it impossible to look away. It was like looking at the sun, though; not only because he seemed to glow slightly, but because it was painful to look at him. Yes, he really was that stunning – his chin was propped up on his arms. They looked slight, but his shirt was rolled up and the muscles were showing beautifully. He looked much older than my seventeen years, but he was in my year at college, so there couldn’t be much of a difference. He must have known I was looking at him, because a perfectly lazy grin spread over his face.
He was the most beautiful person I had ever met.
Unfortunately, he was also the biggest jerk I knew.
And those two facts were what made it so irritating that my Chemistry teacher had paired us up for the next three weeks. We were expected to co-operate well to devise and carry out a practical investigating the effects of burning fossil fuels on the environment, and the effectiveness of alternative energy sources. I already had a million and one ideas and was spending most of my concentration on developing them – but it seemed as though my partner’s attention was more firmly fixed on checking out my chest.
‘I’m Charlotte,’ I said assertively, suppressing the urge to fold my arms over my torso – or hide behind my long curtain of dark hair.
My partner’s smile stretched a few extra inches. ‘Pretty name,’ he murmured in a low, rough voice that sent goosebumps skittering over my arms. I looked at him expectantly, feeling my eyebrows rise when it became obvious he wasn’t going to give his name in reciprocation.
I let out a deep breath I hadn’t realised I was holding and tried to turn conversation to our work. ‘So, have you had any ideas?’ I asked, making an effort to sound friendly. It wasn’t that I hated the guy personally – this was the first time we’d so much as spoken – but he had a bad reputation for having a big ego and very few social skills, and you know how teenagers are about reputations.
‘Just one,’ he answered, ‘there’s a great little bar in town.’ I turned to look at him properly, swivelling in my seat, and frowned. ‘My idea was that you and I could go there together one night,’ he explained.
My lips parted in shock and I affected a look of disgust. I searched desperately for some kind of scathing response, but nothing came to mind. Instead I settled for muttering, ‘Try not to let your ego get in the way of our classwork. I need an A in this lesson.’
He leaned in too close for my liking. I found my eyes itching to close, but I was determined not to let the desire win out. ‘Only if you can try not to let my good looks get in the way.’ Only very strong self-control prevented me from swearing loudly.
