Make Me Over_ Getting Real - Leslie Kelly [49]
Ticks. Fat bloodsuckers. That seemed appropriate.
Bad enough seeing the man-eaters in this house trying to catch Drew alone so they could try their tricks on him. She’d even heard Teresa whispering to Tiffany the other day that she was going to climb from her balcony to Drew’s during the night and sneak in through his open door.
Tori had been tempted not to tell the woman Drew was unlikely to leave his balcony door open in twenty-frickin’-degree weather. But in the end, her better nature won out and she did.
Too bad Teresa hadn’t gone for it anyway. Then maybe, she’d be sick in bed with pneumonia or something so Tori wouldn’t have to watch while the woman flirted with Drew. He’d have to dance with her and Ginny, pay attention to them, and interact with them in a public place.
It’d been bad before he’d become her lover—in every delicious sense of the word. Now, however, she felt damn near territorial about Drew Bennett.
He was hers. Last night had proved it beyond a doubt, at least in her mind. She was crazy about the man, falling head-over-heels in love with him. She’d never have predicted it, but it’d still happened. She’d certainly been more intimate with him than anyone she’d ever known in her entire life.
And she was about to go on a date with him with two other women. Which made her want to scream. This reality show had never made her feel more helpless and frustrated than she did at this very moment.
She’d almost convinced herself to work up another realistic-sounding stomachache, which shouldn’t have been too difficult since she’d felt sick about the dance all morning—when she learned something very surprising.
“We’ve decided to step things up a bit,” Mr. Monahan said to the six remaining women Sunday morning at breakfast. “Dr. Bennett isn’t going to fall in love with anyone if he doesn’t get some alone time with her.” He glanced at Tori. “So tonight will be the first of the individual dates.”
The other women around the table groaned, even as Monahan and Jacey exchanged a long look, which Tori noticed.
A mix of confusing emotions rushed through her. Relief, of course. Excitement. Even a bit of resentment. Because she knew without asking that this change in plan had been Jacey’s idea.
Part of her wanted to be angry that Jacey was so obviously setting Tori and Drew up for some good air-time, which, due to her promise, she’d been unable to take advantage of last night. She’d confirmed as much this morning, whispering to Tori that she’d watched as far as the ballet discussion and had then destroyed the tape.
Tori tried to remember where the oral-sex part of the conversation had taken place but was too embarrassed to ask.
Another part of her, however, was blissfully happy about the chance to get out of here and be alone with Drew for any reason. It’d been hell not greeting him with a sensual kiss this morning, after the amazing night they’d shared.
She still got all shaky when she thought about it. They’d stayed in the greenhouse for a few hours, curled up together on the blanket as they kissed, and whispered, and made slow, languorous love again. Drew had somehow managed to get her to open up and reveal more about herself than she’d ever have imagined.
Like the fact that she really had wanted to come here. That she did want to learn. That she wasn’t sure what her future held or where it would take her.
Voicing the words made them real in her mind, and even after she and Drew had exchanged a soft kiss good-night before slipping back into the library, she’d been mulling them over in her head.
She’d been so excited to finally get Drew to agree she was ready to progress to the more steamy stuff in their relationship, that she hadn’t thought too hard on her own realization. She was changing. And her future did look different now. Different and confusing.
Whether this completely unexpected, passionate affair with Drew lasted beyond next week or not, she had some thinking to do about the direction her life would take from here.
“So you get the hunky professor all to yourself tonight. Guess that’ll be fun,