Suddenly Royal(21)

“Not even close.” I glared around the room. “C’mon, guys. You’re supposed to read the chapter ahead of time.”

Someone in the back raised their hand, but I couldn’t see their face. Reluctantly I pointed that direction.

“Over ten thousand, four hundred.” Alex’s voice easily filled the room and I felt my face flush. My heart sped up and just his voice made me shiver. He was here, watching me? Some of the students turned around to look at him, the sound of his accent drawing their attention. A loud rustle filled the hall as people realized the Prince of Lilaria was among them.

“Correct. I believe the last count was at ten thousand, four hundred and sixty-six.” I wrote the number on the board, plowing forward, trying to calm my nerves. The class settled down and I did my best to keep things on track.

“How many orders of birds are classified by the IOU?” I looked around the room. “Seriously, guys? You’re going to let him come in here and show you up?” Laughter filled the room and I was relieved when Hermione raised her hand and had the correct answer.

By the time class was over I couldn’t have been more ready. I had twenty minutes before the next lecture and I was considering putting a note on the door and hiding. As the students got up and left, a few of them came down to try to ask me questions. I did my best to shoo them away, but a few were much more dedicated to finding an answer. Becca had come to stand just to the side of me, her friendly smile replaced with a glower that made me rethink my original assessment of her personality.

“C’mon, Sam. It’s the school paper. Just an interview. I’ll let you decide which questions you want to answer.” The editor for the student paper was leaning against my desk and I was resolutely trying to ignore him.

“I told you, Toby, I have too much going on right now. I’m sorry.” Truth be told, I would always have too much going on when it came to having time for interviews. Especially with Toby. He was a pervert to the tenth degree. “If you don’t mind, I have to finish grading some papers.”#p#分页标题#e#

“Samantha—”

“This way, sir.” Duvall appeared beside Toby, a friendly hand placed on his shoulder. “Lady Rousseau has asked for some space.”

“But—”

“Another time, maybe.” Duvall maneuvered Toby away from my desk and off the stage, to my relief. Who would have thought I’d be grateful to see Duvall after all?

“You’re an excellent teacher. You handled the class quite well.” Alex’s voice in my ear made me jump, bumping my head into his chin.

“Youch!” I rubbed the top of my head while he looked down at me with amusement. He rubbed his chin but smiled. “Good grief. Don’t sneak up on me. And I would have handled the class much better if you hadn’t shown up.”

“I’d like to think I encouraged them to try a little harder.” His blue eyes sparkled as he looked at me. “And I wanted to make sure they weren’t giving you too hard of a time.”

“Thanks, I think.” I frowned up at him, trying to not get pulled into his eyes. “But I would have managed just fine. You don’t have to take care of me.”

“You’ve been thrown into a new world… I just wanted to help you get your feet.” Instead of being annoyed with my reluctance to accept his help, he seemed entertained. “How many more classes do you have today?”

“Two more.” I rubbed my forehead. “Then I go to the sanctuary.”

“I see. Do you have time for lunch somewhere in there?” He leaned casually against my desk, his perfect rump perched on the edge. I tried to not think about it and just focused on the conversation.

“I usually eat in the office after the last class. Catch up my paperwork before I head over.” I bit my bottom lip, confused by his presence in my class, by his interest in me. His eyes focused on my mouth briefly before moving back to my eyes. Some flashes from the right side of the hall drew my attention and I realized some of the students were using their phones to take pictures of us talking. Becca jumped down from the edge of the stage where she was standing and headed in their direction.

“Would you mind if I join you? Or is that not allowed?” He cocked his head to the side and I found myself studying the way the bright lights of the stage played in his blond hair.

“Um, no, that’s fine.” My eyes traveled over his face, taking in the slight imperfections that only seemed to make him more handsome. “Uh, I usually just grab a sandwich or something. I guess we could order something in, if you’d like.”