Falling for the Beast (A Modern Fairy Tale Duet 2)

She grinned. “Better mind your manners.”

He put a hand to his chest. “I’ll be on my best behavior. She isn’t going to put us in separate rooms, is she?”

“I doubt it, considering there’s just the one bedroom beside hers. Though I suppose we could always make you sleep on the couch.”

“Can’t blame her. I have the worst intentions where you are concerned.” He grew serious. “It can wait until after the summer semester, right?”

“Yes, of course. The drive is too long to make in a weekend trip anyway. We’ll spend a few days there. Plus, if you don’t mind, we should take your car. I don’t think mine has that many miles left in it.”

“I don’t like you driving that thing.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine.”

He frowned.

She turned away to hide her smile, secretly pleased at his protectiveness. In a minute, he was right behind her, bending her over the barstool.

“Did you just roll your eyes at me, young lady?”

“What are you going to do about it?” she taunted him.

“Something wicked. That’s what you were hoping for, wasn’t it?”

Yes. But she protested feebly, “We just did that.”

He pressed down on the small of her back. His fingers played along the inside of her thighs, roaming higher. “If I’m going to be without you for three weeks, I’ll need something to tide me over. So let’s see. At least once a day, usually. And I won’t see you for…far too many days. Think we can make it all up now?”

She huffed a laugh, but her eyes widened when he didn’t laugh too. He couldn’t be serious.

“I agree,” he said conversationally. “That many times in a single day seems excessive. Five ought to do it.”

Even five times was a lot…she’d get chafed. Wouldn’t she? Unless she was very, very wet. “You wouldn’t really.”

He bent to her ear, whispering, “Watch me.”

Chapter Two

Erin

Two weeks until the end of semester

Tears streamed down Erin’s face by the time Cary Grant kissed Deborah Kerr in monochrome, finally discovering why she hadn’t met him that fateful night at the Empire State Building.

“If anything had to happen to either of us…why did it have to be you?” Cary Grant said in heartbreaking tenor on the television. She watched the emotional exchange in unabashed tears.

Late night TV sans cable didn’t leave many options, but when she’d seen An Affair to Remember in the listings, it had resonated with her. The lovers had been apart for six months, whereas she hadn’t seen Blake in seven days. So, okay, maybe she was being overly dramatic. But even though they’d seen each other on the sly over the semester, she longed for a time when their relationship could be public.

And permanent.

“If you can paint…I can walk. The world can turn upside down…if…”

The music played, and Erin used another tissue to blow her nose. God. What a movie. The world can turn upside down. Yes, she knew something about that. Everyone did, if they’d ever been in love. It turned the world upside down and sideways—and only Blake looked right to her. Only he stood beside her.

She couldn’t continue down this line of thought. It would make her too sad, and she was already weepy from the movie. She surveyed her snack food leftovers with dismay. A big mess. She could clean other people’s houses, no problem, but her tiny apartment always seemed to fill up with junk. With a press of the remote, the TV flicked off, plunging the room into darkness. Problem solved.

Scratching from the door told her someone was here. She’d never given Blake a key, but her heart still fluttered as if it might be him. In the dark, she rolled her eyes at herself. She had it bad for him.

Courtney slipped inside the apartment and locked the door. She had crept halfway to her bedroom when Erin spoke.