“’Kay.” A shiver raced through her slender body. “I’ll try.”
“If you scream again, me and my boxers will be waiting.” And many other things I didn’t care to mention.
Laughing, she crawled back under the covers. “Well, if that doesn’t set me at ease, I really don’t know what will.”
“Security system.” I winked and made my way toward the door. “State of the art. The only person getting in your room is me, and that’s only if you scream again…”
“If I scream, you come?”
I fought back a groan of frustration as I gripped the door handle, nearly pulling it free. When I turned, her smile was flirtatious, almost inviting. Damn it. Sinning never looked so good.
“Sure.” I tried to match her smile with one of my own. “Think of your scream as a bell… ring it and I’m here.” Really? That was all I had in response?
“Thanks…” She lay down on the pillow. “…for everything.”
Guilt stabbed me square in the chest as I gave a curt nod and shut the door behind me.
What the hell was I doing?
I had no flipping clue.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“He tried to commit suicide,” Mel said numbly the next day.
I’d just been discharged from the hospital, and she was driving me to my penthouse, the one place I’d let her see that wasn’t owned by good ol’ Dad, though he’d paid up-the-ass for it to keep his dirty little secret happy.
“So?” I shrugged, tossing a pain pill in my mouth. “That’s not the first time it’s happened. Surely won’t be the last. Think of it as us helping groom him for life.”
“Tay!” Mel shook her head. “We can’t — I can’t… I can’t keep doing this. It’s not fun. I mean, can’t we just do normal things like go to the movies?”
“What’s really bothering you?” I asked, finally turning toward her ghostlike face.
She chewed her lower lip and looked down. “I got in.”
“What?”
“I applied to college, Tay. I got in.” —The Journal of Taylor B.
Lisa
I RUBBED MY eyes and gripped my cell phone. Blurry vision and caked-on mascara, not a good combination. Finally, the fuzziness of the screen dissipated, and I was able to see the time.
Six in the morning.
I set the phone back on the stand and groaned. The last thing I wanted to do was get out of the most comfortable bed I’d ever slept in and take the walk of shame down the hall and let my professor — ha! — my sexy professor — drive me to school.
I groaned again.
He’d been right. The morning hadn’t made it better, but I did feel like I had a bit more energy to tackle the day. I sent a quick text to Gabe so he knew I was all right and slowly rose from bed.
Yawning, I padded over to the door and quickly peered into the hall to see if I could hear any movement or indication that Tristan was up.
Nothing.
Just as I was about to go back into the room, I looked down. A pair of jeans, white T-shirt, and TOMS shoes were sitting in a neat pile on the floor; a yellow knit cap topped off the pile with a note attached:
For you.
That was it. Just… For you. Cryptic, even though I knew they couldn’t be from anyone but Tristan. When I went to pick up the pile, I noticed a toothbrush stashed beneath the shirt, along with some toothpaste.
The guy was either used to one-night stands or… yeah that was all I had, used to one-night stands. People didn’t look like Tristan Blake and not have one-night stands. Besides, clearly he was important, had loads of money, and lived in paradise.
I lifted the clothes to my nose to make sure they didn’t smell like some other chick’s perfume, only to get caught by a throat clearing.
“Have I somehow given you the impression that I’d give you someone else’s clothes?”
Slowly I lifted my gaze. Tristan stood in front of me holding a cup of coffee, and wearing nothing but a pair of gray track pants that rode low on his hips. He blew across the cup. My knees again decided it would be a good time to shake a bit as I took in his perfectly sculpted chest and abs.
“Coffee?” He tilted his head and handed me the other mug.
“Yeah.” My voice was hoarse. “Thanks, and sorry. I was just making sure—”
“You were just making sure they weren’t some other girl’s clothes that I’d stashed after a cheap one-night stand and forgotten to return.” His smile was one of amusement not irritation. “Do I really look like that type of guy?”
“Yes.” I gulped. “Sorry, but you kind of do.”
“I guess kissing you didn’t help that particular assumption.” He grinned then stepped toward me until I could feel the heat of his body and almost taste the coffee on his lips. “But I think you’d be surprised to know it’s only two.”
“Two?”
He flashed a grin. “Figure it out.”
With one last teasing wink, he spun on his heel and walked down the hall, calling behind him. “Shower and meet me downstairs for breakfast. Pretty sure you have a class in a few hours, and the last thing you want to do is piss of that prick professor of yours… again.”
Heat invaded my entire face as I leaned against the door frame. Awesome. Good to know I told the actual professor that I thought he was an ass to his face and then kissed him.