their words and observations.
Eventually, the critiques move on to someone else, and I am left to the sanctuary of my mind. My
longing for the rooftop. For the late evening hours when I can finally be free.
When class ends, I gather up my portfolio and bag and move towards the door. But Mr. Vaughn
stops me with a single word.
“Chloe.”
I turn and meet his gaze. Those gray eyes so stormy I feel the need to cling to him before we both
get swept out to sea. There is concern in those eyes. For me. And something else. Something I can’t
quite identify. But I wish I could.
“Would you mind staying for a moment?” he asks. “I’d like to speak with you.”
I walk to his desk and try to ignore the somersaulting of my stomach. The flutter of nerves and
butterflies that I feel every time his attention lands on me. Sometimes, I catch him staring at me. But he
never asks me to stay. And I have the most dreadful feeling that he’s going to tell me I’m a fraud. To
get out of his class and never come back.
“Yes?”
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” he tells me. “During the group critique.”
“You didn’t,” I lie.
His brows draw together, and it surprises me a little. But it shouldn’t. He isn’t like the others. Of
course he can see through my lies.
“I meant what I said,” he explains. “I think it would be beneficial for you to expand your horizons.”
Those words, and his voice, trigger a reaction in me. Because Iwantto expand my horizons. More
than he could ever know.
And right now, as I stand before him… his student and his devoted protégé, I can’t stop my eyes
from traveling down the long length of his body. Solid and well defined. And even though he is
thirteen years my senior, my heart beats wildly for him. For this man.
I’ve never even been with a boy. But I never want to. I only want him. In my dreams. In my
fantasies. The muse for all of my creations. The ones that are real and good and that the world will
probably never see.
“How can I help you?” he asks.
My heart is screaming out the answer. Begging for him to set me free from this prison. But my