Page 14 of The House Guest
“Well, yeah.”
“After, you had a midnight snack together per his suggestion, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds like a freaking date to me.”
I hated that she was getting me all riled up about this. The last thing I needed was to buy into some delusion that my secret crush on that man could actually go anywhere. Even if he did like me in that way, I needed to not complicate this living situation so I didn’t end up out on the street.
“Doesn’t mean anything, Janelle. Trust me.”
“I googled him,” she announced.
“Why did you do that?”
“I wanted to see what he looked like. He’s totally gorgeous.”
I felt my face heat, flashes of his fantastic face now all I could see.
“Dark and mysterious,” she continued. “I love his vibe.”
That was exactly how I thought of him. Dorianwasa whole vibe. If there was a word to describe him, though, it would have to bedangerous. Crushing on a man like him would be like playing with fire and setting myself up for disappointment all at once.
“Let’s change the subject,” I insisted.
“Okay, then. How was the naked model you had to sketch?”
“Awful. I got a guy. Thought that was what I wanted, but then I was distracted the entire time, trying to make sure I wasn’t staring at his dick for too long.”
She laughed. “But aren’t you supposed to stare to get the job done?”
“Yes. That’s the problem. It didn’t seem right in this case. So the drawing didn’t come out as well as it could’ve.”
“Will you have any more opportunities to get it right?”
“He’ll be coming back a few more times, much to my chagrin. I’m more comfortable not using models and doing my art from memory.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product.”
“There’s not much to see.” I yawned. “Anyway, I’d better go to sleep. It’s late.”
“Sweet Dorian dreams…” she teased.
Rolling my eyes, I vowed never to talk to her about him again.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, I fell asleep to the sounds of the ocean.
But in the middle of the night, I jumped awake to another sound, this one far from peaceful: the fire alarm. A rush of adrenaline shot through me. This was the first time the alarm had gone off since I’d lived here. Unfortunately, this very scenario was my biggest fear.
As I leaped out of bed and headed out of the room in a panic, I ran smack dab into Dorian’s shirtless body in the middle of the hallway.
“Sorry.” He wrapped his hands around my arms to steady me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here,” I said, grabbing his arm and attempting to get him to move faster.
“I don’t smell smoke,” he said as he followed me. “Probably a false alarm.”
“We can’t risk it,” I told him, my voice shaky from panic.
