The Slipper Read Online Free PDF Page B

quiet about it. No showing off in class. No waving your hand and answering all the questions and intimidating the boys. If you planned to write a sexy novel, you had to have some experience, and Nora was going to get that, too. Who’d believe she had never even been out on a real date? Cousins didn’t count. She was as pure as the driven snow, but not for long, gang, not if she could help it. She’d bet her bottom dollar Gaby Bernais hadn’t been a virgin when she wrote Kisses for Breakfast . Those French girls knew what it was all about, and Nora planned to do her homework as soon as possible.
    A bell tolled somewhere on the campus, probably in the bell tower of the chapel. Four o’clock. Nora supposed she might as well get back to the dormitory. Perhaps her new roommate had arrived by this time. She hadn’t shown up last time Nora checked the room, but she was bound to be here soon. Registration was first thing in the morning. Nora crossed the street and strolled over the grassy lawns toward Thurston Hall, passing the administration building, the library and the auditorium, all so mellow and serene, library windows open, long aisles of books visible. No soot and grime coating these hallowed walls, just pale blue-gray shadows from the trees. After the noise and congestion of the old neighborhood, it was like paradise.
    A boy came jogging toward her in tennis shoes, blue sateen shorts and an old gray sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. His golden-brown hair was worn in a crew cut, of course, and he had a deep tan. Six feet tall, if he was an inch. Muscles rippling. Great legs. She paused to watch him, and he grinned at her, waving as he passed. Big track star, no doubt, clearly used to having girls stare at him. He was absolutely gorgeous, she thought, if you happened to care for virile young Greek gods. Nothing like him in Brooklyn, that’s for sure. Nora passed the boys’ dormitory. A group of them were sitting out on the front steps, husky lads with roguish eyes. Lord, it was like being in a candy store. Research was going to be delightful. One of the boys whistled at her. He actually whistled at her! A first. She felt a wonderful glow as she walked on. Coming to Claymore was the smartest move she’d ever made, and no Sadie to keep tabs.
    Thurston Hall was toward the rear of the campus. You could see the gym and the track and the tennis courts from the back windows. Grecian columns supported the portico in front. Tall, shady elms surrounded the cream stone building. Nora climbed the steps and went inside. Dozens of girls were chattering in the large downstairs lounge off the front hall. The place sounded like an aviary with all those bright, merry voices chirping away. Nora longed to go in and join them, be a part of it, but she was much too shy. Surprise. Who would have guessed it? Beneath that cocky facade she was as shy as a doe, painfully shy, particularly in groups. She’d never had a great many friends. The girls at the fancy private schools she had attended had all been rich and snooty and the girls in Brooklyn thought she was stuck-up because she went to fancy private schools. It was a no-win situation. It was with some trepidation that Nora climbed the steps to the third floor now. What if her new roommate was like the girls at Dalton? What if she resented sharing the room with a Jewish girl? She walked down the hall to the corner room. The door stood open. Someone was moving around inside.
    Nora forced a bright smile onto her lips and walked right in. The girl was taking clothes out of a suitcase. She was tall and slender and had long dark-gold hair the color of wheat and deep, pensive blue eyes. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm with cheekbones you wouldn’t believe. What the hell was she doing in college? With looks like hers she should be modeling in Manhattan. She’d put Suzy Parker out of business in no time flat. Nora felt her heart sink. The smile froze on her lips.