THE CRITIC (17 page)

That wouldn’t have caused a cataclysmic eruption in the Bible Belt. She wished she knew why being with Jared was so much harder than being with her last two boyfriends.  And she had been with them in the biblical sense.

Toreas stood staring at the door.  She had hit on the problem. Jared wasn’t her boyfriend. But he was the only man who’d come close to making her feel that loving wasn’t a sin.

I’m not just falling in love with Jared,
I love him
, she acknowledged once again. She hugged her arms close to her body, feeling the tremors of excitement course through her.

I can’t believe this. Romance writer falls in love with romance critic. Pure hogwash. That happens only in fiction and badly written fiction at that
, she thought.

Ten minutes later Toreas was still trying her best to talk herself out of what she had known for weeks. She was in love with Jared Stone, and the knowledge both thrilled and terrified her.

What about Jared?  He looked at her with desire but that didn’t mean he had any feelings for her. She’d hate to look like a fool in front of him again.

He would have to be the first one to say that he loved her. She was feeling stubborn.  If Jared wanted to continue eating with her he could ask.  Until he did, she would keep her feelings to herself as she’d always done. Keeping her emotions bottled up tightly was nothing new for her.

Only this time Toreas felt a sense of urgency. She wanted Jared to speak before she became so desperate she had to resort to her toys.

Jared walked away from Toreas’s door angry with her and himself.  Neither of them had the guts to say that things had changed.

Yeah
, he fumed to himself.
All she had to do was tell me she enjoyed my coming over, that she didn’t want it to stop.
  Jared ignored the fact that he could have as easily told her he wanted to continue.

How the heck had things escalated to the point where Toreas was once again saying she didn’t trust him?  His plan was to tell her, but somehow he’d gotten sidetracked.

His male pride had been wounded once again when she questioned his motives and ethics. Never mind that he was lying to her. He wanted Toreas to trust him.

Jared shook his head.
I’m in love with her
, he thought and waited for the urge to flee to overtake him.  It didn’t happen. Sure, he knew what it meant.  He’d known it all along. Love with a woman like Toreas Rose meant two things: commitment and marriage.

Jared grinned. He wanted to be committed to Toreas. He could imagine fighting with her for the rest of his life. In fact, he wanted to marry her.

Maybe as soon as his brain could become adjusted to that bit of information Jared could tell Toreas how much his feelings for her had changed.

Right now, though, she deserved to not know.  If she thought he could kiss her in that manner and have it not mean a thing, she needed more training than he’d originally thought.

Chapter Fourteen

For the next two weeks Jared found himself busy with a  format change at the station.  He called Toreas several times to ask what she was doing for dinner.

Each time she answered that she’d eaten already. He knew she was lying.  After a month of having dinner with her every night the one thing he knew about her was that she was a stickler for routine.  Dinner precisely at six.  He could call at three P.M. and she’d give the same answer.  “I’ve eaten.”

Everything she did was timed.  He was annoyed that she never gave him an opportunity to invite her out, or that she didn’t invite him over.

The most he could do was give her encouragement on her writing.  Regardless of what happened between them, he wanted her to make it as a writer.

Jared had thought of a way to help repair some of the damage he had done earlier to Toreas and to the group, and by doing so he was hoping she would forgive him for lying to her.

With only minor resistance from Derrick, Jared had developed a series of episodes featuring romance writers in a positive light.  He had already taped several shows with members of different chapters and romance writers who didn’t belong to any organization. He was planning on doing the same with his own chapter.

That was still a hard concept.  Jared Stone, a member of American Romance Writers.  He didn’t dare breathe a word to anyone at work.  Derrick would have laughed in his face.

The thought of dropping out of the group was in the back of his mind.  He’d never been serious when he’d challenged the women, telling them he would write a book in three weeks.

Well, they’d had a good laugh on him, but then again he hadn’t really tried.  He’d been too busy writing scenes that would make Toreas blush, hoping the heat from his words would fire her passion for him.

If nothing else, he had a new respect for the writers. Reluctantly at first, he had been forced to admit they worked hard.  He also admitted to himself that they’d had nothing do with Gina’s leaving. And Gina had had nothing to do with his not being able to keep the promise he’d made to his mother. He knew in his heart that his mother would never have wanted him to marry a woman he didn’t truly love in order to keep a promise to her. He smiled, wondering if his mother was watching over him, knowing she would approve of the woman he’d fallen in love with. A grin spread across Jared’s face. He owed Gina big time for leaving him.

If she had never left he would have never come to
Chicago and he would have never met Toreas Rose, or Liz, or Kelle or any of the other women. So Jared was now over being dumped.

Jared thought about Toreas, not realizing until now that his fear of being dumped was why he’d not told her how he felt.  Enough games.  He hadn’t seen her and he wanted to, badly. If Mohammed wouldn’t go to the mountain then the mountain was darn sure going to go to Mohammad. He sighed, wondering if she’d give in this time. He dialed her number and waited.

“Toreas,” he said, when she picked up and didn’t bother to say hello. Of course he knew she knew it was him.  Another thing about her he’d noted was that she always checked the caller ID before picking up the phone. She was beginning to irritate him by her silence.

“Toreas, you know it’s me. Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“You called me,” she answered.

He couldn’t help grinning. Oil and water and damn if he didn’t still want her.

“I want to take you out. Will you go?” Jared asked.

“You mean on a date?”

So this was the way it was going to go. “When a man asks you out, what does he usually mean by it?”

“You’re not just any man, Jared.”

If it had been any other woman he would have taken that as a compliment but not with Toreas Rose. No, with her there was always something hidden underneath. He rose to the challenge. “You’re right, I’m not just any man. I’m a jerk, right?” Jared tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for Toreas to say that wasn’t what she’d meant, or that he wasn’t a jerk.

“When do you want to go out?” Toreas asked at last.

So she was going to leave him hanging on that one. At least she hadn’t flat out refused him.

“How about Sunday morning?”

“Why?”

“There’s something special I want to take you to.”

“No, I didn’t mean that. I meant why do you want to date me?”

“Why do men usually want to date you?”

“To get in my pants, or more accurately, to get me out of my pants. At least that seems to be what you’re after.”

She laughed, the sound of it a husky breeze that touched his soul and gave him an instant erection. Jared clenched his teeth, wanting to throttle her.

“Do you really mean you have no idea why I would want to date you?” Jared asked patiently.

“Nope, none.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t think so.”

“Do you want me to tell you over the phone?”

“I can take it,” Toreas laughed.

“You’re a true contradiction. You know that, don’t you? One moment you’re this naïve, almost virginal mousy writer, and the next you’re this wanton vamp who teases me and leaves me…” he paused, then whispered softly, “breathless.” He heard the catch of her breath on the other end, Toreas hadn’t expected that. “So will you go out with me?” he continued.

“Yes, Jared. Where are we going? You said it was something special?”

“The Parrot Cage on South Shore at the South Shore Cultural  Center.  There’s a launch party there and I thought you might like to go.”

“What kind of launch party?”

Jared found himself squirming. “A romance writer, all right. Don’t you dare laugh,” he warned, knowing that Toreas was going to ignore the warning.

“Who’s the writer, and how on earth did you hear about it?”

“Some woman named Barbara something. I saw her picture. She had on these red, thigh high leather boots.
Hot
, he remembered but didn’t share that information with Toreas. He shook his head to dislodge the image. “She was being carried on a chair by four burly firemen. If nothing else it should give me something to write about.”

“You didn’t say how you found out about it.”

And he wasn’t going to. In actuality Derrick had found the flyer and practically ordered Jared to go and cover the event for the station. As long as she wasn’t someone Toreas knew, he didn’t see the harm. Besides, Jared thought Toreas might like it and the food, he’d been told, was wonderful.

“Jared, I’m waiting. What are you doing, making up an answer?”

“I’m wondering why it should matter. I’ve never been quizzed before when I’ve asked a woman out on a date.”

“But you’ve never asked me, Jared.”

“You’re right. I have a confession. I really enjoy being with you, spending time with you. I want to see if we can enjoy ourselves the same way in public. I’d like to try.”

“So would I,” Toreas admitted before her voice went soft. “Jared, I enjoy spending time with you also.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I think it’ll be fun.” She laughed again, the excitement coming through.

He felt that all the way to his soul. She’d staked him, bagged him and claimed him and now she was determined to make him work for her love. This should be fun; he’d see if she’d crack first. The moment Toreas admitted she cared he’d tell her he was in love with her. Hell, he’d even drop on his knees and make a commitment. But not until she let go of every bit of nonsense that she’d clung to.

Jared wanted the Toreas Rose she was meant to be, not the uptight woman who hid her sexuality away as though it were something to be ashamed of. He was determined that he would taste the forbidden fruit and make her eyes roll back in her head as she’d asked him to do. Hell, by the time he was done with her she might just be the one on her knee proposing to him.

“Is it a date, Toreas?”

“Yes.”

“Was it really that hard?”

“You have no idea.”

Thing was, he did have an idea
. “Okay then, Toreas, I’ll pick you up at nine, and come prepared to eat.” He said a hasty goodbye before she could change her mind.

For the next two days Jared kept waiting for a call. He didn’t call Toreas because he didn’t want to make it easy for her to tell him something had come up. Another thing he’d uncovered: She was more than a bit of a loner, preferring to stay home rather than venture out.

That was more than likely part of the reason some man hadn’t found her and discovered just how truly glorious she really was. “Thank God,” he muttered again. She was all his.

***

Jared knocked on Toreas’s door, wondering now that the weather had finally turned chilly what she would have on. She’d worn bulky sweaters the entire summer. Now that it was almost the end of September he couldn’t begin to imagine her look. He did know she wouldn’t do anything special to make herself look more appealing to him.

When the door opened, Jared’s mouth opened wide in shock and he blinked, then laughed. “Wow,” he exclaimed. “You clean up nicely.” He took her hand and turned her around for a better view of the body fitting dark green sweater and olive pants. He took a step back. Lipstick. He couldn’t believe she had on lipstick. He laughed. “Toreas, I do believe you’re trying to make an impression on me.”

“Think again, Jared,” Toreas denied. “I just thought this would be nice to wear today.”

“You know you might get cool. What are you going to do?” He smiled and tilted his head, hoping she’d say he could keep her warm. Ha, no such luck.  He should have known.

Toreas immediately went to the closet, grabbed a huge sweater and threw it to Jared. He caught it and brought it to his nose and sniffed. Soap. He shook his head slightly, knowing he’d been searching for the scent of fresh strawberries. Now he knew, only her hair and her skin smelled of the fruit. He caught her gaze and held it, glad that her skin was not only scented, but tasted like strawberries. At least as much of her skin as he’d gotten a chance to taste.

“Are you smelling my sweater?”

“Yes,” Jared admitted. “Do you mind?”

“Knock yourself out. I think you have some strange habits. I worry about you, Jared. Maybe you should go back to the television show. Your trying to write romance is bringing out some kooky things.”

Jared cringed inwardly. This would be a good time to come clean, but of course he wouldn’t, not yet. Toreas wouldn’t go out with him if he did. He struck a pose, imitating the way she’d stood when she’d given him that karate punch. “Are you questioning my manhood, Ms. Rose?” She laughed. They were back on safe ground.
I’ll tell her soon
, he thought,
just give us a chance to have one date
.

Driving down
Lake Shore Drive, Toreas joked with him easily, touching him, occasionally laughing when he’d glance in her direction. He wished he’d thought to do this sooner. When he pulled into the red brick entrance of the South Shore Cultural Center, Jared heard Toreas’s sharp intake of breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“You’ve never been here before?” Jared asked in amazement.

“Yes, I’ve been. It’s just been a long time and I’m always amazed how beautiful it is.” She smiled. “This was a good idea.”

Jared felt as though he’d won a prize. He could feel his chest expanding with pride. She was smiling, she was happy, and it was because of him.

“Will we have time to look around?” Toreas asked as Jared parked. She glanced up at him, looked away, then back. The look he was giving her was so filled with lust that she was embarrassed and happy at the same time.

“Stop that,” she said softly. “If Michael or Billy ever caught you looking at me like that, they’d beat the crap out of you.”

“Who are Michael and Billy?”

“My brothers.”

“Do you really want me to stop looking at you the way that I am and to stop thinking the things that I’m thinking?”

Toreas tilted her head back and stared at Jared.

“Not really, but maybe tone it down a notch in public.”

Jared couldn’t believe her, she really was something. He took her hand and, laughing, walked with her to the entrance. “What kind of look did I have, Toreas?”

“One that was melting the skin off my bones.”

“Did it do anything to melt your resolve?”

“More than you know.” She gave his fingers a squeeze. “This is a first date, Jared, try remembering that.”

“Then you see a second and a third…and a…”

Jared’s arms went around Toreas’s waist and he pulled her close. He couldn’t help feeling protective toward her, she was so damn tiny. But of course if he told her that, she’d probably want to stop snuggling next to him and give him a karate chop or some such nonsense. He heard her sigh of pleasure and laughed softly. They were a couple whether either of them admitted it or not.

Two hours later, after a lavish buffet of grits, fried potatoes with onions, chicken, mac and cheese and the world’s most delicious bread pudding, they were stuffed. They’d both met and talked with Barbara Keaton and Jared had bought them each a copy of her book,
Blaze
. Now he understood the red boots and the firemen.
What a terrific marketing strategy,
he thought. He’d have to share that with the other writers. Ideas were coming fast and furiously as he gazed down on Toreas. Now he’d have to think of other things for them to do.