Page 43

“But you think I deliberately disagree with you?”

“Sometimes,” Ava said carefully.

There was an awkward silence that lasted a second too long and then there was a bang and sudden darkness as the cupboard door was slammed shut.

“What the hell…?”

Footsteps hurried away and there was another bang as the classroom door banged shut.

Ava turned from the shelf just as Hope did and suddenly they were standing face to face in the darkness, close enough that their bodies were touching, close enough that Ava could feel Hope taking a breath.

“What?” she asked, voice huskier than she’d intended.

“Nothing,” said Hope.

“No, go ahead,” Ava said, striving for politeness and achieving coldness instead, though the last thing she felt with Hope’s breasts pressed against her chest was cold.

“Well, I don’t want to disagree with you,” said Hope.

“But…”

“But, well, perhaps you should have been clearer when you told the children to close the classroom doors.”

“Ah.” It was getting hard to find words. Maybe there wasn’t enough oxygen in here. Ava’s heart rate started to climb. Definitely there wasn’t enough oxygen in here.

“Just a thought,” Hope said, her voice was getting deeper. She moved, her hand coming up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear and her elbow brushing against Ava, forcing Ava to close her eyes at the contact.

“A thought,” she echoed, her own voice getting deeper. “You seem to have a lot of those.”

“Like you don’t.”

There was a vent at the top of the far wall and light was coming through from the corridor, just enough that Ava could see Hope tilting her head, enough that she could see the curve of Hope’s lips. An air vent. So there was enough oxygen. Huh. And yet her heart was still tripping in her chest.

“I have ideas,” Ava drawled, the words coming out sexier than she’d intended.

“Do you?” asked Hope, moving a tad closer, just close enough that the light caught on those lips again.

Ava could feel her own breath catching in her throat, could hear her brain yelling at her to stop, could hear other parts of her anatomy urging her on, pushing her forward. “Well, we are stuck in a cupboard until recess is over,” she breathed.

“And whose fault is that?”

Ava let out a breath. “See? See what I mean about disagreeing? Every time I do something, say something, you have to go in the opposite direction. You have to blame me or argue with me. Do you know how absolutely infuriating that is?”

Hope snorted. “Like you’re the only one. Every time I finally start to think that you might actually be a decent person, you ruin everything by opening your mouth.”

“By opening my mouth?”

“You heard me,” Hope said, pressing herself against the shelves. “And now we’re stuck in here because you can’t give children simple instructions.”

“Oh, not for long,” said Ava. “Don’t think that I want to be in here with you.” She raised her voice. “Help!”

“Help,” Hope shouted, a little louder as though this was a competition.

“Help!”

There was a rustling outside of the door, then the handle clicked open and Amy Littleton was standing there looking somewhat surprised.

“Nathan Jackson locked us in,” Ava said by way of explanation.