Page 24 of Taming Grumpy Dr. Beast

Chapter Seven

Lily

Facetiming with Cecewas a necessity after my encounter with that beast of a man.

Beast. Of course, his last name was Beast.

I’d laugh if I wasn’t still so enraged.

On the screen in front of me, Cece leaned over to tap on her computer’s keyboard. A whistle of appreciation filtered through the speakers. “Damn, girl. He sure is easy on the eyes. Even in his campus photo he looks sexy. I can only imagine how good he must look in person. How did that hottie become a teacher and not a model?”

“His outside has no reflection on his cold, dark inside.” I still hated the way I left in a fit of anger. Twice now I abandoned my usually calm attitude. I always had a tight rein on my emotions.Why did I let him push my buttons like that?“That he’s sort of good-looking is completely negated by his boorish attitude and insensitive nature. He’s a jerk.”

“Do you need glasses? He oozes sexiness.” Cece fanned herself.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I am not.” Her face moved closer to the screen. Her unblinking gaze evaluated me, making me want to squirm. “Unless—”

“Unless what?” I answered defiantly.

My gaze darted everywhere but her face. I was terrible at lying to my friend and there was no way I’d admit that Beast was the most attractive man I’d ever laid eyes on. How with his large body next to mine, I felt dainty. Or how often the completely irrational image of what he looked like naked had crossed my mind in the five hours I’d been here. Far more than it should, was the correct answer.

I blamed it on my senses malfunctioning while I was stuck between the bookcases in the lower level of the library. Not being able to rely on one of my senses clearly heightened the others. Without having my eyesight, or being able to see him in person, my hearing became weirdly attuned to his rough, sexy voice. His scent now permanently imbedded into my olfactory receptors. It made more sense than admitting I was insanely, inexplicably attracted to him.

“You like him.” A stunned silence followed.

I hissed like a cornered cat. “Never.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” Cece grinned. “Next time remind me I need to have popcorn when you call.”

“Why?” What was she getting at?

She giggled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “Because this is getting better than my abuela’s telenovelas.”

“Shut up.”

“Fine, if you don’t want to talk about your hot as sin new boss, then I demand you show me around this room of yours.”