You have got to be kidding me.
She whirled around, hurrying away from the window as fast and as quietly as she could.
“It’s one of my students,” she hissed at Rhys. “Hainsley. Who, by the way, is failing because he’s a cheater, and—”
“Maybe fill me in on the specifics later?” Rhys whispered back. He nodded at the front door. “That’s the only way out. How do you want to play this?”
“Play this?” Vivi repeated. She could hear Hainsley and the girl he was with getting closer now, the girl laughing, Hainsley’s voice a low murmur in response.
“Look, the clean floor makes sense now,” Rhys said, his voice barely audible. “This is obviously a hookup spot, so do you want to pretend that’s why we’re here, just brazen it out?”
Vivi blinked at him even as she heard the front gate creak open. “The idea of my students thinking of me as a sexual being is worse than them finding out I’m a witch.”
Rhys gave a firm nod. “Fine. Then we hide.”
With that, he grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the little closet off the front room, closing the door behind them just as they heard footsteps on the front steps.
Vivi’s heart was pounding hard, her hands shaking, and for a second, she was so busy focusing on the fact that they’d almost gotten caught skulking around a haunted cabin by Hainsley Barnes of all people that she didn’t realize just how tiny the closet was.
And how close Rhys was to her.
There was hardly room for the two of them, Vivi’s back against the wall, Rhys so close he’d had no choice but to put his hands on the wall behind her. It was either that or put them on her, and her own hands were pressed tight against her sides because she’d nearly grabbed his waist as the door closed behind him.
Rhys seemed to realize it at the same time. She could feel him suck in a breath, his body neatly pressed against hers, her breasts against his chest, their hips aligned, even their knees touching.
And his mouth . . .
Rhys turned his head, so close to her that Vivi’s lips nearly brushed his cheek, and then she could feel his lips, there, near her temple.
“Sorry,” he barely breathed, and she shook her head.
“It’s fine.” The words were little more than her mouth moving, but he seemed to get the message and relaxed a little, which somehow brought him even closer.
Even though Vivi couldn’t see anything inside the closet, she shut her eyes.
Okay. Okay, she could do this. Maybe they wouldn’t stay long. Maybe she wouldn’t be put through the living hell of hearing Hainsley Barnes have sex with someone.
The front door opened with a groan, and Vivi heard both Hainsley and the girl laugh, then shush one another, their feet loud on the hardwood floor.
“This place is certifiably gross,” the girl said.
So every sound from outside the closet was crystal clear.
Maybe the curse did work out here.
“If you think I’m getting naked in here, you’re insane,” the girl continued, and Vivi felt Rhys’s lips quirk against her temple.
Yes, Vivi thought. It’s so gross. Don’t get naked in here, please please please.
But then Hainsley said, “You don’t think it’s a little hot? Doing it in a haunted house?”
Rhys dropped his forehead to the wall behind Vivi with what she was pretty sure was a silent groan.
“No,” the girl said, but she was giggling again, and the silence that followed was thick.
When Hainsley spoke again, his voice was lower. “Come on, Sara. It’ll be a good time, promise.”