Unexpected Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

go."
    "No!"
He stepped back and cleared his throat. "No, I was lying in bed,
reading. Come in." He pulled the door back and she stepped into
the lion's den.

    Chris
had stripped to his boxers when there was a knock on his door. "Uh,
just a second." He tossed his mystery novel aside and pulled on
the shirt from atop the laundry pile in the corner. He assumed it was
Corey.
    He
opened the door with a pleasant smile on his face. Tonya stood there.
With little convincing, she came into his room. He breathed a sigh of
relief. He couldn’t image what Corey would think if he wandered
down and found them talking quietly in the doorway of his room.
    He
studied her face. She was scrubbed clean of all traces of make-up. It
made her look young, innocent. Sweet. He grinned. Okay, the last one
was out. She had recently added some streaks of red to her hair,
which looked cute.
    "Do
you want to sit?" He gestured to the bed. "I'm going to
sit. Have a seat." He wiped his palms on his shirt.
    She
sat on the end, practically squatting on the edge. He stared at her,
his mind blank of conversation starters. He was a guy never at a loss
for words, but he couldn’t think of a single topic to open
with. He squelched his urge to reach for her and talk to her with
actions. Women were complicated; lust and sex were simple.
    "I
talked to Corey tonight. Like you said."
    "Good."
He nodded a few times, searching for words. "Did you decide to
go for something? What did he say?"
    “ He
said that I am not obligated to him. If I don’t want to try
school, he won’t force me. If I want to take a year or two more
to figure out what I’m good at, that’s fine with him. Or
just take some classes to try them out, that’s okay with him.
He's going to kick me out in ten years, so I need to hurry."
    "I
told you. Didn't I?"
    "Yeah,
yeah. Look, being part of a family is new to me, having people to
support me."
    According
to the guys in the dressing room, the family thing was new to Corey
as well. He had some serious wild days. But he had no problem
settling down now. He clearly loved Nicole and all three children,
treating them as if they were his own.
    His
parents, while good people, didn't exactly have a healthy
relationship. His hosts' relationship made settling down seem a
little more palatable. Having kids was a little too freaky. At
twenty-four, Chris had a lot more living and partying to do before
he'd go with that route.
    “ What
did you decide to do?” he asked.
    She
chewed on a fingernail for a moment. “I still don’t know.
Maybe I’ll take a few classes this fall and see if I like the
whole childcare gig. I could do evening classes and I can still work
for the Turner’s. If they still want me. I think Kip is
retiring, so maybe they won’t need me.”
    “ I
bet they keep you around.”
    “ What
about you? Have they told you what’s going on?”
    “ Not
for sure yet, but I have a feeling they’ll keep me around full
time next year.”
    “ A
feeling huh?”
    “ Yep.
Don’t you ever go with your gut?”
    “ Nope.
Got me into trouble too many times.”
    “ What
sort of trouble?”
    “ Smoking.
The wrong guy. Telling the truth, even when I knew no one would
believe my side of the story.”
    "I
assume that somewhere in there lies the reason you think I'm an ass.
We've been alone in my room for ten minutes and I haven't touched
you." He reached over and stroked the back of her hand. "Broke
the record now."
    She
tried to stop herself, but she couldn’t help smiling. "It's
too late now to be friends, you'll be leaving eventually."
    He
brought her hand to his mouth, brushing his lips across her knuckles.
"I'm not talking about being friends. I'm talking about
pleasure. Mutual pleasure. I'm sure a sexy woman like yourself is
familiar with such a term."
    He
glanced up at her and found daggers in her eyes. But when he brushed
his lips against her knuckles she shivered. He dropped her hand and
used his hand to cup her face. He stroked her cheek with