I wanted the floor to open and swallow me whole.
The auditorium was still chuckling lightly as I stared at the plate in my hands.
Lemon zest.
There was actually lemon zest.
Of course there was.
And of course Nicholas Knight had to be the one to point it out.
I looked at him.
He looked entirely too satisfied with himself.
The worst part?
He wasn't even being mean.
That somehow made it worse.
I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders.
"Right," I said. "I missed the lemon zest."
A few students laughed again.
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
Professor Carson looked amused.
Traitor.
Complete traitor.
I exhaled slowly before forcing a smile.
"My apologies. I should've paid more attention."
Nicholas gave a small nod.
Professional.
Calm.
As if he hadn't just embarrassed me in front of hundreds of students.
"I think you've had a long day, Ms. Blake."
Oh, he knew.
He absolutely knew.
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
His expression remained perfectly innocent.
Liar.
