The Beauty Queen's Makeover. Teresa Southwick
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doors opened on her floor, she looked up. “Thanks, Nate. You don’t have to walk me all the way. Goodbye.”
“My grandmother taught me always to see a lady to her door.”
“It’s really not necessary.”
He thought he’d gotten her past nerves, but obviously he’d been wrong. “Please, Katie—let me see you safely to your room. And I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Okay.” She walked quickly down the hall and stopped in front of Room 327. After sliding her key card into the slot, she waited for the blinking green light, then depressed the handle to open the door a crack. “Well, goodbye, Nate. It was good to see you again.”
Nervously, she stepped inside and started to close the door. He put his palm up to keep her from shutting it and a flicker of something that looked like fear flashed through her eyes. He dropped his hand. “Wait, Katie. There’s something I wanted to ask—”
“Yes?” She met his gaze and the pulse in her throat fluttered wildly. Was she uneasy around him? What had he done to make her so edgy?
“I’m alone.”
She looked up and down the hall. “Yeah. I sort of figured that out.”
“And you’re alone.”
“And you know this—how?”
“You told me so earlier—when we were sitting on the bench.”
“Right. I forgot,” she mumbled. “Do you remember everything?”
When it was as important as her marital status, he did. “I try.”
“So, what’s your point? I’m sure you have one.”
“I do.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “The thing is, I hate to eat alone.”
“Oh.”
She said it as if she hadn’t considered the possibility he would ask her to dinner. Definitely not a flirt. With his geek days behind him, aggressive women had been something he’d learned to deal with. He was out of practice with the reluctant kind.
“Would you have dinner with me?”
“I’m pretty tired,” she said. Funny, she didn’t even pretend to think about it.
“We could order room service. Your room or mine,” he suggested.
Instantly she tensed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
He’d thought it an excellent idea. But the expression on her face backed up her statement. He remembered her looking like that the night she’d broken up with Ted Hawkins. Pale and shaken and afraid.
“Okay,” he said, unwilling to push. “We can talk tomorrow.”
“Maybe,” she said vaguely. “Goodbye, Nate.”
He frowned at the closed door. There was something very wrong with her and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Katie Price had scars on her soul even more harmful than the ones on her face. Which was why he was determined not to let her push him away.
He wouldn’t give up on her.
Chapter Three
Kathryn sat in one of the two chairs at the small circular table in front of her window and sipped her morning coffee. Her room had a view of the clock tower at Saunders University. The spire pushing through the thicket of trees was like a sentinel. Or a lone survivor. Like her.
She loved mornings and had felt that way even after the accident, when her life was nothing but a series of question marks. Would she survive? Would she walk again? Without a limp? Would she be scarred forever? Now she knew the answers: yes, yes, almost, and yes.
The miracle workers at the rehabilitation hospital had done their best to get her back on her feet and as close to her pre-accident appearance as possible. It had been months before she’d been pushed out of the rehab nest with a hearty “fly, be free.” And now her life was only a single question mark, but it was a doozy. Now what?
The summons from Professor Harrison had enabled her to put the answer aside. And she was relieved, which probably made her a coward. And she hated that she was. She hated being weak. But she was trying to face facts. And the fact was, she was glad to put off a decision about her future. Besides, she genuinely wanted to do what she could for the professor. She could manage to stay at the hotel for a few days and hope to meet with the board of directors to give her testimonial. Then, because her modeling career had come to a screeching halt, she had to figure out what she was going to be when she grew up.
For the moment, she was stuck in her room with no place to go, even if she wanted to. Which she didn’t. After yesterday, she had to conclude that she was very bad at slipping in and out of places unseen. Although the silver lining had been running into Nate. Just thinking his name turned the silver lining into a warm glow centered deep in her midsection.
For all the good it did her.
Yesterday she’d shut the poor man down faster than an airport on high alert. That was something the accident hadn’t changed. Once a social geek, always a social geek. What had happened in college just intensified the condition. Her agent had given her the lecture about career success depending on being seen and photographed with the right people if she wanted to make it to the top. That had been just before she’d hit life’s rock bottom. Her agent hadn’t dumped her, but then he didn’t have to. No one was calling with work for a face that looked like hers. She’d only had one offer and she’d turned it down.
So she’d never flexed her social muscles and on some level that had been a relief. But poor Nate. He’d been on the receiving end of her nerdiness and was probably out counting his lucky stars while doing the dance of joy that she’d saved him from himself.
A knock on her door startled her. She wasn’t expecting anyone.
She stood and walked over to look through the peephole. Surprise mixed with pleasure when she recognized Nate. She waited for uneasiness, and was a little amazed when it never came. Instead, she was grateful that he hadn’t washed his hands of her.
She removed the chain lock and opened the door. “Hello.”
“Good morning.” He studied her. “You look well rested.”
She winced inwardly even though his tone was nothing but friendly. But she knew he was needling her about the transparent way she’d turned down his invitation. And she deserved the teasing. The irony was that she liked him. Way to make him like her back, she thought. But she’d learned the hard way that familiarity breeds contempt. And it worked both ways. The more he learned about her, the more likely he’d be to leave her in the dust.
“I’m fine,” she said. “How are you?”
“Never better.” He grinned as he leaned a broad shoulder against the door frame and folded his arms across his chest.
Today he was casually dressed in jeans and a sport shirt with a very expensive logo on the front. He’d been pretty devastating in his suit and tie, but this look made her weak in the knees. And that was only one of the reasons she refused to invite him into her room.
“I don’t mean to sound blunt—”
“But?” he said. “And before you ask, no one starts out like that unless there’s a but coming.”
“But,” she said, struggling not to smile. “What are you doing here?”
“I believe we said we’d talk today.”
“Yes. But I thought you were just being nice.” With no intention of following through.
“So you think I’m that superficial?”
“I hardly know you well enough to judge. I’m just being realistic.”
“Realistic about