Keeley took a deep breath. She tried to slide the heavy fabric off her shoulders to hand it back to Holland.
Holland moved faster. He raised his hands, his long fingers naturally grasping the lapels of the jacket.
He pulled the fabric together at the center of her chest, completely blocking the cold air from hitting her neck.
As he did this, the rough pads of his thumbs brushed deliberately against the sensitive skin of her neck.
A sharp jolt of electricity shot down Keeley's spine. Her body gave a violent jerk.
The extreme cold air, combined with her highly strung nerves, suddenly sent a sharp tickle up her nasal cavity.
Her eyes widened in horror. She tried to cover her nose and mouth, but it was too late.
"Achoo!"
Keeley let out a loud, uncontrollable sneeze.
Because they were standing so close, she sneezed almost directly onto Holland's expensive custom dress shirt.
The lecture hall plunged into a deathly silence. Even the professors in the front row stopped breathing.
From the corner of her eye, Keeley could see Emilee leaning forward in her seat, a cold, expectant smirk twisting her features as she waited for her junior to be thrown out by the distinguished guest.
Keeley's face burned a furious red. She wanted to dig a hole in the floor and bury herself alive.
She stumbled back a step, stammering out a frantic apology, desperate to use this disaster to draw a line between them.
Holland suddenly looked down and let out a low, magnetic chuckle.
The sound of his genuine amusement shattered the frozen atmosphere. Everyone stared in disbelief.
He calmly pulled a dark gray silk handkerchief from his trousers pocket.
He didn't hand it to Keeley. Instead, he raised his hand and wiped the tip of her nose with an agonizingly intimate gesture.
Keeley jerked her head away as if she had been burned by his touch.
A collective, suppressed gasp echoed through the lecture hall. The silence that followed was so thick it felt suffocating, as hundreds of students stared in sheer disbelief at the shockingly gentle act. Professor Alistair awkwardly cleared his throat, desperately trying to break the bizarre tension. He adjusted his glasses and cautiously asked Holland if he knew the student.
Keeley's heart slammed against her ribs. She was terrified he was going to announce their ugly past to the entire room.
Holland slowly folded the handkerchief and put it away. He turned to face the audience.
He looked at Professor Alistair and gave a very natural, negative answer.
Then, he dropped a bomb. He stated that he had been tracking a genius open-source project on GitHub.
He accurately named the core algorithm module Keeley had just pushed to the repository last night.
Using highly technical industry jargon, Holland praised her coding logic to a level that could change the entire tech ecosystem.
Finally, he looked directly into Keeley's eyes. He leaned into the microphone and declared in a low voice that he was an admirer of her academic work.
The room erupted into whispers. The mocking looks instantly turned into extreme jealousy and awe.
Keeley didn't need to turn around to know that Emilee's smirk had completely frozen. The heavy, rigid silence from the back row was palpable, a stark contrast to her senior's earlier arrogance.
Keeley stared at Holland in disbelief. He was a liar, a monster who was pushing her onto a pedestal just to trap her.
From an angle no one else could see, Holland raised an eyebrow at Keeley. His eyes clearly said: You can't escape.
