Read Fall For You [The Jane Austen Academy Series #1] for Free Online

incredibly hot guy who could be a model, hotter even than Josh, if Lizzie was going to be honest. His shoulder knocked into Josh as she brushed by him.
    Anne’s pen flew out of her hand.
    Lizzie ducked, barely avoiding a smack in the cheek.
    “Sorry,” Anne mumbled.
    Lizzie glanced down at the profiles from the manila envelope. “You are…?”
    “Rick,” Anne said in a strangled voice.
    “Rick,” Lizzie echoed. “Rick Wright. You’re all here for the features interviews.”
    “If that’s what you want to do with us,” Josh said with a quirk of his lips.
    Lizzie ignored him.
    Dante only nodded. Of course he couldn’t dignify her with an actual response. Instead, he pushed forward the girl with the same ice-blue eyes as his own.
    Lizzie had almost forgotten about her. She’d have to make an effort to focus on these girls. They were who mattered, after all.
    “Hello,” the girl stuttered.
    “Can I help you?” Lizzie asked with a touch of sympathy. She remembered her first day at the Academy and this girl looked just as overwhelmed.
    “I was hoping…I hadn’t requested this elective, but I was hoping you would let me in?”
    “Name?” Lizzie asked.
    “I’m Dante’s sister,” she said.
    “I hope that’s not on your school ID,” Lizzie said, hoping some gentle teasing would lighten her nerves.
    The girl blushed. “No—it’s Georgiana.”
    “Great to meet you, Georgiana. I’m Lizzie. Welcome to Jasta.”
    “Jasta?”
    “The Jane Austen Academy—that’s we call it on the inside.” Lizzie gave her a wink. “So, why do you want to be a journalist?”
    Dante cleared his throat. “Isn’t this an open elective?”
    Lizzie reared back like she’d been slapped. “Well, yeah.”
    “Then she doesn’t really need your approval to join, does she?”
    Lizzie bristled, rising in her seat. If she’d had even a shred of hope that she had misjudged Dante earlier, it had now left the building. She ignored him and looked straight into Georgiana’s eyes. “I’m short one reporter on the new-student features. I don’t want you to interview your brother—journalistic integrity, you understand—so why don’t you take Josh? Once I see your writing, we’ll decide what to do with you.”
    Georgiana blushed even more and stammered, “All right.”
    Lizzie didn’t miss the disappointed grumbling from some of the staff, as if they could have also landed a Wickham interview by waltzing in late.
    “In the back, there,” Lizzie pointed, directing Josh and Georgiana to the other end of the room.
    “Let’s see,” Lizzie said, “that leaves—”
    “I’ll take Dante,” Anne said quickly.
    “Yes, please,” Dante and Rick echoed.
    Lizzie looked disbelievingly among the lot of them. The class was split between watching Josh make his way to the back of the room and watching her authority being usurped. “I make the assignment decisions around here. Anne—you take Rick into the other corner.”
    As Anne got up, Lizzie patted her stool. “Dante, you’re with me.”
     
    * * *
     
    Dante walked up to the stool, but instead of sitting, he used his foot to push it backward and out of the way. He then leaned against the desk on his left hip, coolly crossed his arms, and stared at her.
    Lizzie swallowed. He was closer to her this way than if he’d been sitting. Taller, too. Looming over her, even. As though he were the one in charge—which he wasn’t. She looked up into his eyes, noting a darker rim of blue outlining the lighter irises, and swallowed again as a chill breezed down her spine.
    It would look silly if she stood up so he wouldn’t feel so tall, and besides, she would have to stand on the stool to be taller than he was, anyway. It seemed he had gained the upper hand—for now.
    Lizzie used her finger to inch his bio closer and fished a recorder from her pocket. She set it on the counter and pressed Record.
    Dante’s eyes shifted to the small, palm-shaped device, and Lizzie saw something