Dances with Monsters(126)
"Go," she said quietly. "Don't be late."
He smoothed a hand over her head and brought his lips to hers once more before he backed out of the room and left.
Drew sighed and kicked off her shoes and stripped off her jeans. She crawled into the immensely comfortable bed, making sure to set the alarm on her cell phone for a reasonable amount of time. She knew she could easily oversleep without it.
It felt like only a moment later when her alarm went off. She felt around for her phone and silenced it, then groaned, yawning and stretching. She glanced at her phone again and saw she had a message from Heath letting her know he'd gotten in touch with his family and they would be arriving by five. He planned on returning shortly thereafter. It was half past three now, so Drew knew she'd better get a move on.
As she gradually became more aware of her surroundings, she started to hear loud noises from outside. She climbed out of bed and moved to the window, and was shocked to see a throng of people outside. They were being held back by several tall, burly security types and a line of young men, buff and tattooed, dressed in trendy athletic wear, filed into the hotel. She assumed that they were other fighters for the tournament by the way they stopped and signed autographs and took pictures with fans. And not too much further away were several more groups of young, scantily clad women, smiling and calling out to them. Drew tilted her head with interest as she watched the fighters respond. It's going to be loud in here tonight, she thought crossly, noting the way cellphones were pulled out and numbers exchanged.
As she studied the girls, and the attention they were receiving, she wondered what Heath thought of them. He'd often referred to them as "groupies" and today had even told her not to worry about them. But that was because he was a nice guy. Drew knew he cared about her so naturally he wouldn't want her to feel uncomfortable in any way. But he was also still a man, and what man wouldn't respond to tits and ass being shoved in his face every time he turned around?
Her hand dropped away from the curtain as she turned back into the room, deciding it was time for a shower. Her mind turned to the issue of sex between, or rather, the lack thereof. Granted, it wasn't like she was making Heath wait years and years. And he certainly wasn't pressuring her—in fact, based on their last encounter, she felt like she was the one who pressured him. But she wondered how long his patience with her would hold out before he either did try to pressure her, or decided she wasn't worth the wait any more.
She knew she was loosening up substantially regarding the idea of sex—sex with Heath, that is; the thought of sex in general still made her skin crawl a little, but when she pictured it with Heath, she felt warm and her lower stomach and pelvic area would tingle and tighten up. She wasn't really sure when she would just know she was ready to get back in the saddle, so to speak, or if it even worked that way. She just hoped it would be soon before he got fed up with her and left her for someone else, someone more willing.
As she showered she thought of the three girls who had openly laughed at her that morning. They were painted and primped, perfectly put together and looked like models in men's magazines. Drew shook her head, mostly at herself. And she'd thought it was a good idea to go trudging around after someone like Heath in a ripped '80s T-shirt, jeans and Converse sneakers…
Drew made up her mind once she was out of the shower and staring hard at herself in the mirror. She'd have to put all of her unease aside. She was twenty-seven, after all, and it was time to put her big girl panties on and show Heath just what he'd been missing, and why she was the top, the only, candidate. She knew she was rusty when it came to her sex technique, but she figured she'd be fine; she was a dancer, after all—she knew how to move her body in such a way that would please him if not herself.
As she rifled through her suitcase and removed a lacy thong, she decided. Tonight would be the night.
***
After a shower and a change of clothes, Heath felt like a new man after an irritating and exhausting afternoon of dealing with the press, taking photos, and getting briefed on the weekend to come.
He'd received some messages from Drew letting him know his family had arrived and she was keeping them company in the hotel bar. When he'd pulled up to the hotel on his arrival back from the arena, he was completely dismayed to see the fanfare that was posted up outside the hotel—throngs of people were outside and mingling with the fighters who were coming and going. Most of them were utter douche bags who were slicked and gelled, manicured, wearing rhinestone embellished V-neck shirts showing their chest hair. They were eating up the attention from the women, the groupies, and Heath knew if he walked through them it would take him forever to get away from them.