Make Me Over_ Getting Real - Leslie Kelly [65]
He just stared, saying nothing. The wind picked up, whistling a little as they sped by. The scrape of the sleigh’s rails cutting through the new snow faded away, drowned out by the sound of Tori’s own heart beating. Her blood pulsing through her veins. That voice in her head telling her she was making a mistake trying to push him away now.
“Tori,” Drew finally said, keeping his voice low and intimate. “I don’t want you to leave.”
Oh, this was so unfair. So wrong. She wanted the moment to be private and special. Intimate. Just for her. Not for the whole cable-TV-watching public. “Don’t,” she said, glancing at the camera.
He shrugged, obviously not caring. “To hell with them. My private life isn’t anybody else’s goddamn business. They can edit this out because this stupid TV show has nothing to do with me. With us.” He glanced down at the camera. “You hear me, Mueller? I agreed to teach here, I didn’t agree to become a monkey in this damned circus.” Then he turned his stare back at her. “Tori, I mean it. I know you care for me. You don’t want to go. That’s just…fear talking.”
She stiffened. “You’re calling me a coward?”
“Will you stay and prove me wrong if I do?” Then he tightened his hold on her hand. “Forget I said that. I know you’re not a coward. But you’re facing a choice here, one you didn’t even know you’d be making when you came here just a couple of weeks ago. It’s not unusual for you to have misgivings.” He leaned closer, so he could brush his lips lightly across her temple. “You just can’t let them drive you away. Not from me. I lo—”
“Look, a deer!” Tori squealed, desperate for a distraction. She could not let Drew say those words. Could not let him whisper he loved her. Not when that camera and the powerful microphone would pick up every word.
God in heaven, he’d just flat out said this TV show had nothing to do with him. The man had no more of a clue today than he did on day one that the show was all about him. And when he found out, he was going to look like a fool. In front of the world. How cruel a trick to play on a man so filled with honor and goodness and dignity.
She was so disgusted with herself she could barely breathe.
“Tori…”
“I swear it was a deer,” she said, pulling away from him to sit at the very edge of the seat. She wouldn’t turn around, wouldn’t look at him. She couldn’t, not without bursting into tears or telling him the truth herself.
Even if she did, it wouldn’t matter at this point. The damage was done. There were tons of footage of him being stalked by every woman in this house—they’d get their show, and he’d still be at the center of it.
She had to convince Drew that he meant more to her than a million dollars. Had to make him truly believe she’d really fallen in love with him, for all the right reasons and not for any financial ones. Maybe, if she could make him believe that, if she could prove it beyond all doubt, he could forgive her for the rest.
And as far as Tori could see, there was only one way to prove it.
Which she intended to do. Tonight.
A S SOON AS THEY GOT BACK to the house, Tori disappeared, still refusing to talk to him. To listen. To look him in the eye, for God’s sake. She’d removed herself mentally from him and nothing he could say or do was going to bring her back. Until she was ready to admit what was wrong, to face her insecurities and decide what the hell she wanted out of her life, he was completely helpless.
He paced a lot that day, and skipped dinner altogether. More than anything, he wanted to march down the hall to her bedroom, bang on the door and drag her out of this house. Maybe away from the cameras, from all the prying eyes, she’d have a chance to get her head together. To figure out she did love