THE CRITIC (21 page)

Chapter
Seventeen

Toreas walked away from Jared, forcing herself not to look back at him.  She was grateful to him for rescuing her from John.

One more second of having to endure the smell of garlic and the hair she’d spent an hour hot combing would have curled from the fumes.

Toreas could tell Liz was nearly busting a gut trying not to laugh and Toreas wanted to think of some smart comment to make to wipe the look off her face but could think of none.

“So there’s nothing going on with you and Jared, huh?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“Try telling him that.  He’s just standing there watching you.  Besides, we saw the kiss and we saw what happened with John.”

Toreas decided to just ignore Liz.  Why deny something the women had seen with their own eyes?  “Let’s go upstairs and see who’s here.”

“Aren’t you going to look at him?”

“No. Why?”

She walked up the stairs with her friends, resisting the urge to turn around until she touched the top step.  Toreas turned her head slowly, to see if Jared was still there.

He was and he was looking at her, the look in his eyes smoky with desire.  She gave him a half smile before closing her eyes. If she continued looking at him she would be running down the steps to fling herself in his arms.

She’d made enough of a spectacle of herself for one night.  She knew the story would spread until at least twenty different authors would have it written in their next book. If she was lucky, they would make the woman something other than a romance writer. That would be too hokey. Toreas was glad of one other thing, that this was real life. If she’d ever written that scene she would have been attacked by every romance reader south of the North Pole. They would have derided her, saying her heroine was weak and shouldn’t allow a man to order her around as Jared had just done.

Toreas took another peek in Jared’s direction. Yes, but romance novels were fictional. This was real and it was her life. And she wanted Jared like she’d never wanted anything before. She wanted all the things he’d promised to do to her. And yes, God help her, she loved his caveman routine. The memory of him taking charge like that made her horny. She wanted him and she didn’t care who thought she was being silly or weak. All she knew was that when all was said and done she’d have the satisfaction of having made love to Jared. And the ones who thought she was weak would never know the feelings she was having. She didn’t believe another man could be capable of producing in another woman the exact same feelings which Jared produced in her. If it were possible, then all women would be acting as goofy as she was. Toreas laughed out loud and shook her head. He’d made her float and now he was making her skip.

Her skin was on fire.  She was wishing she had booked a room.  Right now she needed a cold shower. A real cold one.  At least since she didn’t have a room she wouldn’t have to get stuck inviting Jared to her room.

Then it hit her.  In both of their conditions she very much doubted they would wait until the conference was over. Toreas wanted it to be special, not more fodder for her friends to include in their stories. As much as she wanted Jared she wanted her time with him to remain private even more. She didn’t want to be the object of gossip no matter how it was played. No, she’d much rather enjoy Jared without the snickers, real or imagined, that would come from her friends.

She was glad Jared had warned her he had a room. She should have thought of that. And she would have if she’d known before Wednesday that he was coming to the conference. She hadn’t bothered getting a room because she lived five minutes away in Woodridge. Frankly, that knowledge alone had made her not want to splurge on yet another unnecessary expense. It seemed way too decadent.

A shiver of desire claimed her as she thought of the look in Jared’s eyes when he’d offered to take her to his room and make love to her. Naturally Jared had a room.  His finances weren’t as bad as hers.  She shivered again as she thought of him and her and his room, and what they could do there. At the moment she lacked the will power to fight him.  She closed her eyes and ran her tongue across her lips, tasting Jared on them.

“Liz.”  Her voice was hoarse and low.  Liz hadn’t heard her.  “Liz,” she screamed, not realizing she had done so until several women turned to stare at her.

Liz was looking at her as if she thought she had lost her mind and Toreas couldn’t blame her.  They would deal with that later. For now she needed help.

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you screeching at me at the top of your lungs?”

“Jared.”

“Jared.  What about Jared?”

“He’s staying here.  I need your help.”  Toreas was aware she wasn’t making any sense.  “Don’t leave me alone with him.”

“What are you talking about?  Jared’s downstairs.”

“I mean later tonight, and for the rest of the weekend. I can’t be alone with him, especially in his room.”

“Then go home.”

Liz was beginning to annoy her with her practicality.  She sighed loudly, puffing out both cheeks, then expelling the air a number of times before she spoke again.

“I don’t want to go home.”

“You don’t have a room.”

“I know.”  She turned pleading eyes on her friend.  “Let me bunk with you.  I’ll share the cost of the room.”

“Kelle’s sharing my room.”

“I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“What is wrong with you?  You don’t want to be around Jared but you don’t want to leave.”

Toreas could feel the blush coming up her neck and working its way to her face.  “I can’t leave…”  She looked away, then back at Liz.  I don’t want to leave Jared here…without me. Not with…all these women.”  There, she’d said it.

She watched the look of satisfaction slide across her friend’s face.  Liz thought she knew her so well.  Disgust was slowly replacing her blush.  She wished to God she didn’t blush so easily.

“So there is something going on between you and Jared?”

“I think there might be, but right now I’m not sure what.”

“Then why don’t you share the room with him?”

Okay, now she was truly irritated.  Her friend was being thick-headed.  She looked sharply at Liz knowing Liz was going to force her to explain the entire situation to her.

She knew Liz was enjoying this and doing it deliberately, probably because she’d lied to her about being attracted to Jared.

“Liz, I can’t stay in Jared’s room.  Number one, he didn’t ask me.  Number two, it’s too soon.  Besides, Liz, what if he’s pretending?  What if he’s only pursuing me to make a fool out of me, to air the entire thing?”

She had known that would elicit sympathy, but it annoyed her just how fast it did, as if Liz was already thinking that Jared must be crazy to want her.

“Okay, you can stay if it’s all right with Kelle. And you don’t have to sleep on the floor. You can bunk on the couch.”

Then Liz frowned at her, scrutinizing her clothes.  “What are you going to do for clothes?  You didn’t bring anything.”

“I’ll go home and pack a few things.”

“You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“I won’t have to. I wasn’t the only one standing in the lobby when he kissed you. There must have been thirty people walking around.

“Then when he took you out of John’s arms everyone stopped.  The security guards were on their way over there.  We all thought Jared was going to deck him.”

“Are you serious?”

“Didn’t you see his face?”

Toreas smiled at Liz.  Her body was tingling and she felt warm.  “I was afraid to look.  Nothing like this has ever happened to me before.”

“I’ll tell you my opinion.  From what happened, I don’t think he’s after a story.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t want to be a one night stand for him either.”

“That’s what you wanted a few months ago, remember?”

It’s just like Liz to bring that up,
Toreas thought testily. Well, she was now her host, so she’d keep her mouth shut. At least she’d do her best not to blow up.

“It’s not what I want now.”  She hugged Liz, stopping her friend’s comeback.  She didn’t need Liz to remind her of her brash plan.  She was only happy that Liz didn’t know she’d attempted to put that plan into action and had been turned down.

As they hugged, Toreas couldn’t help worrying if Jared was wooing her as some form of payback. He had been angry and insulted that she’d asked him to sleep with her. She had to be careful.

“Thanks, Liz. Just remember, no matter what, don’t let me be alone with Jared. He’s beginning to wear me down,” she admitted. “And here in this hotel, I don’t know if I can resist him on my own.”

Toreas went with Liz in search of other members of their chapter.  She tried to pretend that her mind wasn’t on Jared as she smiled and talked to the other women.  Even when they walked into the buffet for dinner she was still pretending Jared wasn’t on her mind.

“To..re..as.”

Toreas turned toward Jared.
There he goes caressing my name.
  He hadn’t done that in weeks. 
Okay calm down
, she scolded herself.
You’ve got an entire weekend.  Pace your lust.
  Just when she’d convinced her legs to move, Jared came alongside her, taking her plate from her hand.

She followed him before he could call her again.  There was just so much a proper Baptist girl could take before she voluntarily turned into a pagan.  He’d only brushed the back of her hand, but her entire body was on fire.  She scanned the room quickly, looking for Liz.

They sat alone at a table meant for ten.  She was getting nervous.  Her eyes were drawn to his lips.  She wanted to plant one on him.  So far he’d been the aggressor. Now she wanted to shock those cute tight jeans off his cute tight butt.

“Are you listening to me?”

Toreas shook her head.  “I’m sorry, I was thinking about something.”

“What?”

“I was wondering what’s happening with us.  Tell me the truth now, Jared.  If you’re doing this for a joke I won’t get angry with you, promise.”

She felt his hand touch her cheek and she moved toward him.  But he didn’t kiss her.  He was talking again and though she watched his lips move she couldn’t hear his words.  She was too busy thinking of kissing him, of touching him, him touching her. This was the second time he’d played the part of knight for her. Well, the first time she still wasn’t so sure about.  She had no proof that he’d actually quit his job. She wanted to believe him. For the sake of her heart she needed to believe him. She couldn’t take much more disappointment where Jared was concerned.

“I need you to listen to me.”

He was talking to her, his brown eyes boring into hers and honestly she was doing her best to listen.  There was just this feeling she couldn’t shake.  It was overcoming all other emotions and it was lust.

She wanted every darn thing she’d ever read about and she wanted them now. Darn what she’d told Liz. She waited for the choir to begin chortling but heard nothing.

“Toreas, I’m serious.”

Okay, be careful
, she warned her body. 
He’s getting ready to tell you he doesn’t want you
.  She thought that would put the incredible lust at bay.  It didn’t, not one iota.  She still wanted him regardless of his intentions.

He was eyeing her strangely.  She blinked when her eyes opened fully. The same lust she was feeling was reflected in his eyes.  He wasn’t going to say he didn’t want her.  She could listen.

“What were you going to say, Jared?”

She laughed at him.  He was having the same problem she’d had only a moment ago. He was speechless. Until he pulled away from her.

Toreas watched him as he took a sip of water, then another longer one. God, he was beautiful. She no longer cared who was writing the scenes. As long as they gave her a chance to at least sample Jared, she’d be fine with that.

She smiled.  “Jared.”

“I’m sorry.  You’ve got to stop looking at me like that or I’m not going to be able to talk or to stand. And there will be no way in hell I won’t drag you to my room. Tell me you’ve changed your mind about that and we can go up now.”  He gave his words a moment to sink in.

“Jared.”

“Yeah, I know you want the privacy,” he grinned. “Maybe it’s better anyway. There is something I want to say to you. I want to clear up something with you and start out fresh.  You asked me before why I started attacking romance writers and now I want to tell you.”

She was trying her best to listen to him.  She was curious about the reason for his attacks, but even more curious about the dark hairs she saw peeping from under the collar of his shirt.  She wondered if his chest hairs were soft.

“Yes, Jared, tell me.”  She had to at least pretend to be interested, didn’t she?

“Before I moved here from L. A.  there was this woman I was pretty serious about, Gina.”

Okay, now you’ve got my attention, buster
.  She looked at him to see if she’d said it out loud, but since he was still talking it was safe to assume she’d only thought it.