Behind Closed Doors by Ashelyn Drake Read Free Book Online Page A

not…now.”
     
    He laughs. “Relax. I didn’t think you’d fallen for me.”
     
    I sigh. “That’s a relief. No offense.”
     
    “None taken. I don’t fall in love easily. Of course, I don’t usually hop into bed with a girl the same night I meet her either.”
     
    Is he saying he thinks he could fall for me? “Me either. This is all pretty new to me, which is why I don’t want to give it up just because you’re a T.A.”
     
    “Not just a T.A. Your T.A. That makes it so much worse. The college severely frowns upon T.As dating students, but when they’re enrolled in our class, it’s strictly forbidden.”
     
    “So we’re back to square one,” I say, fidgeting with my hands in my lap.
     
    “Looks like it.” He reaches for my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. “Did you eat?”
     
    I look up at him, confused by the sudden topic change. “Um, no. I told Noelle and Andy to go to dinner without me.”
    “Want to go somewhere where no one will recognize us?”
     
    I narrow my eyes at him. “What do you have in mind?”
     
    He laughs. “It’s this diner where everyone wears costumes, even the customers. Most of them anyway. You sort of need to see it for yourself.”
     
    “Why do I have a feeling this is going to be really bad?”
     
    He leans forward, his lips brushing against mine and teasing me. “I can’t imagine time with you being bad.”
     
    I grab his face and pull him to me. He doesn’t need much encouragement. He leans me back on the bed, his hands running down my body and then sliding up my dress. Why did I instate the no sex rule? He kisses my neck, my earlobe, and my shoulder, making my body shudder. Everywhere he touches is like fireworks against my skin.
     
    “I take it back,” I say, cupping his head in my hands and forcing him to look at me.
     
    He smiles, as if he knew I was going to say that. I know he’d stop if I asked him, but I’m not going to. Not now. Not ever. Darren McEntire has ruined me for other men.
     
    Even though I’ve given him permission, Darren spends the next half hour focusing solely on me. I’m about to burst out of my own skin when the fire alarm sounds. At first I think it’s in my head, but the terrified look on Darren’s face lets me know it’s real.
     
    “Shit!” Darren scrambles out of the bed and tugs his clothes on.
     
    “Is there a fire?” Besides the one inside me?
     
    He frantically looks around. “I have to get out of here.”
     
    “Hang on. I’m sure we’ll figure this out.”
     
    “How?” He looks pale, like he’s about to be sick. “I shouldn’t have come here.” He stares at me, and I realize I’m still completely naked. He grabs my dress and helps me slip back into it. “I can’t talk to you while you’re like that. I’ll lose it again.”
     
    Lose it? “What do you mean? You make it sound like a bad thing.” This isn’t the first time he’s hinted at what this is between us—the way I make him feel—being a bad thing.
     
    “Never mind. I have to get out of here.”
     
    “Darren.” I grab his arm. “What aren’t you telling me?” I search his eyes, wanting to know what it is that he’s hiding.
     
    “I have to get out of here.”
     
    “If you leave now, everyone will see you.”
     
    “If I stay, I may burn in a fire.”
     
    Oh God, is there really a fire? “I figured it was just a drill.”
     
    “You’re not in high school anymore. The alarm was pulled. It must have been.”
     
    I rush to the window and see the crowd forming downstairs. No one seems to be panicking, but I can hear the fire trucks in the distance. “We have to go.”
     
    Darren looks petrified, frozen in place. “I don’t know how to get out of here unseen.”
     
    “What’s going to happen if someone sees you? Can’t you say you were visiting someone? They don’t need to know the details.”
     
    “Imagine the rumors that will start. I’ll be called into Monahan’s office.”
     
    I reach for