Free The American Princess - Best Love Story Ever by Jennifer Tate Page B

you
can't live without them, and you're not allowed to kill them."
    Brad and Sandy both laughed.
    "We're leaving, Grasshopper," Greg continued.
"I'll send the limo back for you. Linda, you need to get some
sleep."
    "I need t' get some Gashopper," she replied.
Then, clutching Greg, she wove her way back across the foyer, and
down the stairs.
    "I need t' get some Gashopper," Sandy
mimicked. "I don't swim in her toilet!"
    "Whaaat?"
    "You know the one—'I don't swim in your
toilet, so please don't pee in my pool'. In other words, don't come
onto my date 'cause I'm not moving on yours.... Sometimes I can be
such a bitch."
    She says 'bitch', like that's a bad thing,
Brad thought. Bitches can be fun. "Perhaps, Sandy," he said, "but
cheer up. As Confucius would say, 'Better a diamond with a flaw,
than a pebble without.'"
    Sandy gave him a sultry smile, and a
lingering hug. "You are so sweet, but why do I suspect that you're
humoring me for a reason?"
    He grinned at her. "You may be too tempting
for your own good."
    "Grasshopper, I don't want to give you ideas
that may never have occurred to you, if your mind was left to
wander in the void on its own. But it's been years since Oscar
Wilde said, 'the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to
it.'"
    Brad looked into Sandy's eyes, and then
couldn't stop smiling to himself. I've been handed an engraved
invitation. "Why don't we go upstairs."
    As Brad and Sandy strolled up the broad
circular staircase, his hand again did what seemed to be natural
when Sandy was near—it slid down from her hip, to caress her cheeks
through her dress.
    Since Sandy's allowing me to roam her
derriere without protest, I have to believe that my invitation was
correctly addressed.
    Brad hoped he appeared confident, even
erudite, but he was nervous. He'd had some experience with women,
but the ultimate goal for a rookie still eluded him. And Sandy he
wanted—badly.
    She's hot, she's quick, she's playful, and
apparently she's decided she likes me after all. But there are
still obstacles. I'll bet even Don Juan wasn't perfect on his first
outing.
    The Sheik had told him, "If some frilly's
ignorant enough to give you a tryout, take it slowly and enjoy."
That had sounded like as good a game plan as any.
    Four doors down the north-wing corridor,
there was a guest room. An ornate door opened into a sitting room,
which in turn opened into a grandiose bedroom, that was complete
with Persian rugs, Tiffany lamps, red wallpaper, hunter-green
baseboards and crown moldings. The focal point of the room was a
king-sized bed, with a massive baroque canopy.
    If a guy doesn't feel like loving in this
place, he'll never feel like it. "'Will you walk into my parlor?'"
he said.
    "It may be dangerous in there. Especially if
you get to be the spider."
    "I don't feel like a spider. I feel more like
a trusting blue-tail fly who's being lured into a black widow's
trap."
    She gave him a guileless smile. "It's
probably just my black dress that's giving you feelings of
impending doom. But hopefully you're not the kind of grasshopper
that would allow one sinister dress to stifle his creative impulses
for an entire evening."
    There was a problem with the paucity of locks
on the door, but he solved it by placing the back of a chair under
the door handle. "Good," he said. "Now nobody can get in."
    Sandy moved toward him. "And nobody can get
out."
    "You're planning to take advantage of me?"
Brad asked.
    "You mean of your inexperience." Sandy
paused.
    He felt his face flush. "Hu...how did you
know?"
    "In opening barricaded doors," she
continued.
    "Damn you! You are a bitch!"
    She laughed gleefully, and then gave him a
conciliatory smile. "Poor baby," she said. "You have to understand,
'women are like dreams—they are never the way you would like to
have them.'"
     
     
     
-16-
BRAD RAIDEN & SANDRA MANDERVILLE
Open Sesame?

    Brad was furious with himself for having
admitted to his inexperience. I'm going to have to stay awake.
Maybe