Page 83 of Scheme
Fuck.
“Margot,” Kit prompted after my silence extended into awkward territory.
I blew out a long breath, setting my coffee down and resting one hand on top of the other on the table in front of me, pinning Kit with my most professional expression.
“I know we’re not together,” I began. Kit raised an eyebrow, pushing his glasses up his nose. “But I’m breaking up with you. I’ve fulfilled my end of our arrangement, and as we’ve already established, my slick scent is clearly messing with your head. I’ll figure out something else for Asher—”
“That coffee must be getting really cold by now.” Kit’s tone was mild, that infuriating eyebrow still raised.
“I— what?” I took a sip of my coffee like I was testing it, for reasons that I couldn’t fathom even in my own head. Hadn’t I been mid-breakup speech?
Kit nodded in satisfaction, watching me. “Do you like me, Margot?”
“I’m trying to break up with you!”
“Yes, I’m getting that impression,” he replied wryly. “But do youlikeme? I won’t be angry if you don’t. I’ll drive you home and we’ll never talk about it again.”
I stared at Kit across the table, looking like a fucking sun-drenchedangel, the full force of his potent attention trained on me.
Lie,I instructed myself firmly.For both of our sakes, you have to lie.
My scent was messing with him, and it wasn’t fair to Kit to let this go on any longer.
“All I ask is that you tell me the truth,” Kit added serenely, his knowing gaze unwavering.
“Damn it, Kit.”
“Want me to go first?”
I sighed before gulping down most of my coffee in one go. Maybe caffeine would help me get through this. “No. You’re just going to tell me what you already told me on the beach in Brighton, and I’m just going to repeat whatIsaid that day.”
Kit gave me a long look before pulling his phone out of his pocket, tapping on the screen for a few moments in silence before sliding the device across the table toward me.
“What is this?” I asked, glancing down at what appeared to be an email, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.
Application Received.
“A job application. Please note the location and the submission date.”
I scrolled down, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. It was an application for a fixed-term position at a New York design school.
“You applied for a job at three in the morning?” I asked.
“Which morning?” Kit pressed, sitting back in his chair and observing me.
“The morning… after we had kebabs. After we went out with your friends.”
“Former friends,” Kit corrected. “And more specifically, the morning after you talked about how you’d always wanted to live in New York.Longbefore I scented your slick, Margot mine. I’ve wanted to do something different for the longest time, but I didn’t know what. I didn’t have any sense of direction. Until you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?” Kit smiled softly, melting the ice I was attempting to encase my heart in. “I love you, Margot.
For a moment, it felt as though the world stopped turning. I wanted what he was saying to be trueso much, but how could I trust that it was real? Even if it was, what happened next?
“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it,” I breathed, interlinking my fingers to stop my hands shaking.
“I never would. It’s taken me an embarrassingly long time to even understand what these feelings I’ve been experiencingwere. I’ve loved you since you stood in your kitchen with your hands on your hips and thoroughly put me in my place.”
