THE CRITIC (22 page)

“What does your girlfriend have to do with us?”  She sat back in her chair to see if the word girlfriend would make him sweat.  It didn’t.

“She’s not my girlfriend.  Not any longer.”

“What happened?”

“She dumped me.”

Toreas was staring at him in disbelief.  What woman in her right mind would let him go?  She had to be a complete moron.  Thank God for morons.

She knew he was waiting for her to ask so she did. “Why did she dump you?” She was watching him closely, wanting to see if the telling was hurting him.

“She came to a conference, one of yours.”  He looked around meaningfully.  “And she met a male cover model and fell in love with him, or in lust, I’m not sure which.”  He attempted to laugh.

“Is that why you began writing derogatory stories and killing us on your television show?”

She noted he did have the grace to appear chagrined before he answered.

“Yes. I was angry.  I blamed romance writers for Gina being a flake.”  He captured her chin in his hand.  “I was going to stop, then you came along and things got out of hand.”

She heard him but what he said meant nothing.  There was something else she was more concerned with.  “Is that the reason you didn’t want me with John?” 
Not again
, she thought and prepared to close her heart against him. 

“Were you wishing you had done that with Gina?  Maybe if you had, you’d still be with her.  There might still be a chance for you with her.  Perhaps you should return to
L.A. and fight for her.”

Toreas pushed her chair away.  She was as big a moron for thinking he wanted her as Gina was for having him and tossing him aside.  Now if she could only keep her hurt locked away inside, she’d be all right.  She picked up her glass and drank until it was empty.

“That’s not why I did it. I knew you weren’t interested in that bozo. As hard as you were trying to hide it from me I saw the moment when all of that pretty brown skin turned a toasty red. You were only doing that to annoy me.  I knew how embarrassed you would be later.”

“So you wanted to save me from embarrassment by creating your own scene.”  She couldn’t believe he had the nerve to smile at her.

“There was another reason.  He was touching you and I didn’t want him to.”

Maybe he thought that was enough.  It wasn’t.  She wanted more.  She wanted to hear him say the words.  “Why didn’t you want him touching me?”

“Hi guys, I thought I’d find you in here.”

It was Liz.  As Toreas looked at her she could tell she was mouthing sorry.  For a moment she wondered what she was sorry for.  Then she remembered.  She’d asked Liz not to leave her alone with Jared.

F
or heaven sakes
, she thought. 
Can’t Liz tell the
difference?
  She wanted to kick her, pull her long hair, anything that would get her to leave.

It was too late.  Nothing she did that moment would have mattered.  Their table for ten was filled and two extra chairs pulled up between her and Jared.

She had to admit that for a group of women renowned for their sense of romance they were all missing the glaring clues.  Didn’t any of them feel the daggers she was hurling at them?  Maybe she should use spears instead.

One by one they all began pulling out their schedules trying to decide what workshop to go to.  She had to admit this conference was a lot more relaxed than most.  There would be no editor appointments, or agents either, for that matter.

Only a handful of the writers were upset over that.  The rest thought they would benefit more from the guest speakers and workshops.

Toreas knew she would.  The last time she’d attended a conference she had been so nervous the entire time that she had forgotten everything she’d wanted to say
during her editor appointment.

Of course that hadn’t mattered.  She’d been told to send her manuscript in, as had the other two hundred writers who attended.  As far as she knew, not one of the hopefuls had actually sold to the editor. All the members had done was wait anxiously wondering if the editors and agents had any idea how the writers stressed over the passing months, wondering is it okay to call and check on the status of the manuscript. The three months that most said on their various websites turned into five, seven, nine, a year.  There were many of her friends who’d sent material out to editors and not heard from them for three years or more.

So this was a lot more fun.  They had big name authors.  She was impressed and couldn’t wait to meet them. Debra Dixon she’d already met.

Now she sat listening to the women pick out their various workshops, her ears tuned to hear which ones Jared would be attending.  She would be sure to take different ones.

That night it was easy to escape Jared.  She had gone home and packed, and stayed in the room with Liz and Kelle. The next morning, however, Toreas had no plans to avoid Jared. Forget that nonsense.  In fact, she showered quickly in order not to disturb Liz or Kelle. She’d forgotten a shower cap in her haste, and rushed from the room without blow drying her hair, knowing by the time it dried it would have reverted into an afro. It didn’t matter. She was hoping to find Jared and finish their conversation.

The dining room was packed not only with writers but hotel guests.  She was looking around the room trying to find a vacant table when she noticed Jared beckoning for her. She rushed toward him, wondering how he’d managed to save her a seat. It was obvious the other women were enthralled with him.  Why wouldn’t they be?  She found herself wanting to tell them to stop drooling, that Jared was the one who’d said they wrote trash.  That he thought they were all stupid.

She watched as he smiled at a woman she didn’t know.  It was obvious from the looks the women were giving him they wouldn’t have believed her.

Toreas wondered at the feelings she was having.  Were they the same feelings that had made Jared pull her from John’s arms?  Maybe later she’d tell him John was gay, just not yet. She liked the idea of him being filled with jealousy just as she was now.

He turned his smile in her direction and she couldn’t help heaving a sigh of relief.

“How much are you paying them?” he asked as he leaned in closer to her.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Liz and the others.  How much are you paying them to keep us apart?”

She picked at the food on her plate with her fork.  “You’re crazy.  I’m not paying anyone to do any such thing.”  She tried to act insulted but it was hard to pull it off when they spotted Liz and Kelle at the same moment, running toward them as though on a mission.

Jared said good morning to Liz and Kelle, then returned his attention to Toreas.  “When this conference is over, we will be alone. We’re going to stop playing around and make love.”  He ran the pad of his left index finger down the side of her cheek. He smiled at her wet hair in approval, surprised that she’d gone to all the trouble to hot comb it and had apparently showered without a cap knowing when her hair dried  she would be sporting an afro. He smiled again, pleased by that fact. “By the way, I like your curly afro.”

As if nothing had happened, as if her body were not on fire and her heart racing, he resumed talking to the other women at the table.

And she was supposed to eat as though nothing had happened?  Did Jared really think he could touch her with such gentleness that it lit fires in her she’d never known she had and expect her to continue eating as though nothing had happened?  She could just imagine the food lodging in her windpipe while Jared dominated the attention of the women at the table. Wouldn’t that make a great headline?  Writer chokes to death in a room filled with hundreds. The best she could manage was to drink her juice before rising to leave.  When she did, Jared stood also.

“Remember, tomorrow when this is over, the games stop.” He brushed her lips with his own. A light feathery kiss that spelt ownership.

He’d staked his claim and she liked it.  Right now she’d probably like it if he lifted a hundred pound club, hit her over the head and dragged her back to his cave.  So she was archaic.  It was what she liked, and she couldn’t have wiped the grin from her face if she had tried. She touched her fingers to her wet hair, glad to know Jared loved her afro.

“You know, you’re right in wanting to be watched.  You’re about ready to spontaneously combust right here, right now.  Calm down before you scare him off.”

Toreas smiled at Liz.  That was sound advice.  The same thing she’d say to any of her friends in the same situations, but she wasn’t them.  She’d never in her entire life felt this lightness, this giddy feeling. She was determined to enjoy it.

She was surprised her internal critics were so silent.  But it didn’t matter.  Not even they could stop the feeling of joy forcing her to smile.

For the rest of the day she saw Jared only in the company of others.  The only time she sat next to him was during meals.

Liz should have been praised for the job she was doing in keeping them apart but Toreas found herself wanting to fill her backside full of buckshot.

That night a private party for two in Jared’s room turned into a party for twenty, courtesy of Liz.  She even persuaded a couple of the women to call and invite their husbands to come.  By one A.M. Toreas was really tired and more than ready to leave for the room when Liz and Kelle both took her arms and told her it was time to leave.

She smiled weakly in Jared’s direction.  She was glad she couldn’t read minds because he had to be thinking the whole darn chapter was nuts.

Sunday morning Toreas was nervous.  With only a couple of hours left before the end of the conference it was all she could do to remain in her seat.  Soon she would be with Jared.  With any luck at all she would have that elusive something she craved. The thought of Jared declaring his love for her sent pinpricks of excitement skittering down her spine.

For the first time during the conference they sat together to listen to their closing speaker, Patricia Potter.  Toreas barely heard what she was saying, she was so aware of Jared’s nearness.

When Toreas managed to pull her attention away from Jared and focus on the speaker, she caught her in the middle of saying something about point of view.

“Listen,” Jared whispered in her ear. 

She was embarrassed that he knew her attention was not on the speaker. She made a concentrated effort to focus and heard Mrs. Potter saying something about a comment Nora Roberts once made about not knowing anything about point of view when she first got started. She hadn’t allowed it to restrict her and it hadn’t handicapped her in the least.

Toreas felt Jared smile and turned toward him.  He was gloating.  For some strange reason he’d chosen that particular part of writing to rebel against.

He was a regular one man crusade, not accepting their reasons for the importance of clear points of view and having them not change in the middle of a scene.

Now here was a respected and best selling author telling him and them that not only did she agree with him, but so did Nora Roberts. 

He turned his smile directly on her then and her heart melted.  To heck if he was right.  She didn’t care if he continued badgering her about loosening up on the point of view.  She only wanted him to continue smiling at her, as if the two of them had a special secret.

The rest of what Mrs. Potter said was lost on her.  Jared was playing with her fingers, caressing them, tickling her palm, making suggestive drawings.

Toreas wondered how she’d manage to get through the good-byes with the writers she’d met from other chapters. She made her way to the dais, following Jared, to say good-bye to Mrs. Potter.  Her mind was more on the firmness of Jared’s behind than on what she wanted to say.

She couldn’t believe it.  Now he was drawing her attention from one of the writers she most admired. 
He’d better be worth
it
, she thought wickedly and coughed as she felt her cheeks getting warm.

When it was her turn to say goodbye to the legendary writer she could only say, “Nice to meet you.”

Jared had captured the woman’s attention, thanking her for giving the women the freedom they’d taken from themselves to write a good and compelling story.  He left Toreas with little to say.

As she turned to say goodbye to several more people, Jared’s hand on her arm stopped her.

“I’ll meet you at your apartment in an hour.”

“I may not be home by then. I’m going to the book room.”

“One hour.”  He smiled at her, then walked away.

She attempted to glare at him, but failed miserably. 
Who does he think he is
?  Toreas was doing her best to get angry at him for assuming she would rush home to meet him, but was finding it difficult.

Her entire body was tingling. Conference always stirred up her juices but this was different.  Conference had never set her Southern regions on fire.

She searched for Kelle or Liz.  She needed one of them to let her in their room to get her bag.  She had to get home.  She glanced down at her watch. She had wasted ten minutes.  She only had fifty more left.

Neither Liz nor Kelle was anxious to leave the last minute farewells and they were annoyed that she was bothering them.  When she refused to relent, Liz finally shoved her key in her face and told her to go to the room herself.