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with us. ‘But I’m more than capable of standing up for myself, Nicholas,’ I added coolly, secretly rather pleased by the slightly shocked look on his face. I had decided before arriving that I would be ultra-calm and confident and no matter how much he disturbed my equilibrium I was going to stick to it. Or at least try my best to, I amended, as my pulse quickened when my gaze focused on his long legs and firm behind as I followed him up the stairs.
    Nicholas ushered me into a room on the first floor that I could have easily fitted my entire flat into. Glancing around, it was immediately evident that this was his music room: the space was dominated by a large grand piano and stool that sat toward the back of the room next to floor-to-ceiling picture windows. The only other furniture in the room was a soft white armchair, a solid-looking bookcase, and a desk that was covered in sheet music, most of which appeared to be handwritten.
    Annoyingly, even though Nicholas still made me anxious with his height, looks, and penetrating gaze, my traitorous body was also still drawn to him. I had foolishly thought that maybe just the excitement of meeting him backstage at the theatre had caused me to feel that way last time, but once we were seated at the piano, I definitely still felt the same strange tug of attraction.
    Even more distractingly, now I was in Nicholas’ house, sitting at his piano, I found my mind kept wandering back to my fantasy about the rude things he might do to me over it. Puffing out a flustered breath, I felt my skin heat at the images that had taken root in my dreams since meeting him three days ago.
    Maybe lessons with Nicholas weren’t such a good idea after all, I thought, shifting awkwardly in my seat.
    Luckily, I was proved wrong and the lesson went well. Nicholas was brisk with his instructions as I had expected, but clear and precise with his advice and, surprisingly, I could hear the improvement in my playing within the hour. Sitting back, I smiled at my much-improved version of Imagine , but upon seeing his gaze on me, I looked away in embarrassment.
    ‘Don’t drop your eyes,’ he instructed quietly, and for some reason, even though I felt totally mortified by my body’s ridiculous response to him, I found myself looking back. Nicholas’ eyes were bright and burning into me, and I just knew my cheeks were going to flush again. Seconds later, they did; in fact, my face felt like it was on fire and I dropped my gaze again and pushed my hair behind my ear.
    ‘Eyes up,’ he growled softly. ‘I won’t tell you again, Rebecca.’ Wow! I sucked in a quick breath at his tone, which had sounded quite a lot like a threat, but for some reason I just couldn’t defy him. I raised my wide eyes to his once again; my heart feeling like it might explode from my ribcage at any moment.
    ‘That’s better. You have such beautiful eyes,’ he murmured, looking like he wanted to touch me, but refraining.
    I blushed again at his compliment; wondering exactly how red a person could go without their blood vessels actually exploding. He was still staring at me intently and although it seemed crazy, I wondered if it were somehow possible that this godlike creature felt the same attraction I did.
    ‘There’s that tell again, Rebecca: playing with your hair.’ He tutted softly, as his glance flicked to my ear and back again. ‘It looks better down,’ he informed me, somehow managing to un-tuck my hair from behind my ear without actually touching my skin at all. Still, just knowing that his fingers had been in my hair made my scalp tingle, and I had to fight the urge to finger the strands that he had moved.
    My head was spinning. Nicholas’ proximity, smell, and peculiar comments were confusing me – did he like me too? It was possible, I supposed. My friends always told me I was pretty, but I knew I wasn’t in his league. Even if it were the case, why had he gone to such lengths to avoid touching me?