Charades And Champagne

Chapter 1

Zoe took a sip of her coffee and smiled at the extremely attractive individual sitting directly across her at the table. He didn't disappoint. The answering grin he sent her way was dazzling.

Joshua Winters.

This was a name that never failed to send nervous thrills down her spine whenever she heard it, and now without a hitch, he was finally hers.

Her boyfriend.

Zoe tried not to glance over at the counter, where Tasha, Joshua's ex, was giving her the evil eye while simultaneously working the espresso machine. Zoe had no idea when exactly Tasha had taken up waitressing at a coffeehouse, but right now that seemed like an insignificant detail in the grand scale of things. Tasha wasn't a problem anymore. Especially since Joshua had broken things off with her just last week and hadn't wasted any time in declaring his undying attraction to her, Zoe, either.

This here, was supposed to be their first official date.

Joshua smiled carelessly and leaned forward over the quaint wooden coffee table separating them. To Zoe, the small piece of furniture all but disappeared as her attention instantly shifted to the way he was swiftly covering the distance between them. She reminded herself to breathe. It wasn't like she hadn't fantasized about this moment about a million times before after all. But now that it was actually happening, she couldn't imagine how good it would feel to have his lips on hers. She couldn't wait.

Joshua paused, his mouth inches away from hers.

"Zoe." His voice was a husky whisper; almost trancelike.

"Yeah?" she murmured; her gaze fixated on his lips. There was a hint of a smirk on them that made her heart flutter in a way she doubted was great for her wellbeing, but she relished it all the same.

"Zoe!"

The voice came out of Joshua's mouth, but it suddenly sounded nothing like his – it was sharper, sterner and much more high pitched. Gone was the deep baritone whisper. If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, she would have doubted that it was Joshua who had spoken.

"What can you tell me about homeostasis and its importance to humans?" Joshua demanded in that same disconcerting voice.

"What?" Zoe reeled back in surprise; positive she had somehow misheard him.

"Answer the question young lady!"

"Young lady?"

"ZOE BLAKE!!"

Zoe's eyes snapped open. Slowly, she raised her head from behind the textbook propped open in front of her. Only to be pinned in place by the intensity of Mrs. Mitchell's angry gaze.

Great. She had fallen asleep in Biology. Again.

The whole class was now shooting amused stares at her. Including Joshua. Zoe cringed with embarrassment when she remembered her dream. A result – she knew – of the fantasy she had been daydreaming about repeatedly since he'd shown up at her school three months ago. It was almost habitual for her now. Hence the dream.

No time to think about that right now. Especially not with an annoyed teacher glaring pointedly at her as she tried her best to stifle a yawn.

"Zoe, I'll have you know that sleeping in class is against school rules," Mrs. Mitchell informed her as she shuffled her feet nervously.

Zoe just looked back at her blankly. It was pretty weird to hear her teacher's voice right after it had starred in her dream literally five seconds ago, and this coupled up with the fact that everyone was ogling at her with suppressed smiles left her temporarily speechless in the face of being reminded of the school rules. What was she supposed to do – lie?