Page 29 of The Billionaire's Secret Kiss

Saying those words was a head-first dive off the side of a skyscraper, desperately hoping Noah would swoop through the air and save me before the concrete below smashed me to bits.

The last time we'd been here, he'd said all the right words, just like he was now. Then he'd gotten on a plane and gradually forgotten about me.

I wanted to believe that wouldn't happen this time.

I wanted to believe things would be different.

My heart trusted Noah, but my head was already having second thoughts.

I shoved those second thoughts aside for the rest of the night. Only time would tell, and doubting Noah now wasn't going to help.

He fed me half of the chocolate cake that was my favorite dessert before leading me to bed where he finally unhooked the bustier, stripped off the satin thong, and made love to me, thoroughly, twice. Like I had the night before, I fell asleep in his arms, lulled by the familiar comfort of his heartbeat.

And exactly like the morning before, the ring of his phone interrupted just as we were getting to the good stuff.

I had his cock in my hand, his fingers between my legs, and his mouth on my breast when his phone went crazy. Beeping, then ringing, then beeping again. He ignored it until the room phone joined in. Rolling away, growling "Fuck," under his breath, Noah snagged the phone off the bedside table and said, "What?"

Whatever he heard on the other end must have been bad, because his face drained of color and he sat up in a rush of movement that yanked the sheets from my body and sent his pillows flying to the floor. His spine was as stiff as his voice as he said, "Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Yeah, okay. Do what you can to contain the situation. I'll call you back later."

"Noah, what's going on? Is everything okay?" I asked stupidly since it was clear something was very much not okay.

Noah stood, not meeting my eyes, and strode for the bathroom. "I'm good. I need to take a shower. Everything's fine, but I'm going to have to get to work."

I pulled the sheet back to cover me. “What happened? Who was that?”

Noah stopped outside the bathroom door, his face blank, eyes shuttered. “It was Dave, the lead on the drone project.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Ella. Just a bug in the software.” He drummed his fingers against the door frame, impatient to get moving.

“He wouldn't have called that many times over a bug. Why are you lying to me?”

Noah flinched, fear flashing from his eyes before he got himself under control and said, “I’m not lying, Ella. Everything's fine. I just need to get to work, okay?”

I watched him disappear into the bathroom with narrowed eyes. Hewaslying. He knew it, and I knew it.

Noah had always been a shitty liar, not that he’d made a habit of being dishonest. He was one of the most moral men I knew, which was probably why he was so bad at hiding the truth.

Sitting in the middle of the big bed, holding the sheet to my chest, I felt dismissed. Unnecessary. In the way.

Whatever was wrong, it was obvious that Noah didn't want to talk about it. I didn't expect him to tell me everything. He had a right to keep things to himself. I knew that. That didn't help the sense that things were sliding out of my control once again.

This was how it had started before. Everything was good, and then Noah was too busy for me. Too busy to talk. Too busy to let me in.

Slowly, I got out of the bed and started pulling on my clothes. I had to have a little faith in him. I couldn't doubt him every time things didn't go perfectly or we wouldn't make it a month.

By the time he got out of the shower, I was dressed, my purse in hand, ready to go.

Noah barely looked at me. "Sorry about this,” he said in a rush. “I'll run you home."

"I can get an Uber," I offered, hoping he didn't take me up on it. It wouldn't take him long to drive me home, and calling for an Uber in last night's cocktail dress felt too much like the walk of shame.

I was already feeling pushed aside. I wasn't up tothat.

"No, I've got you," Noah said.

He drove a little too fast on the way back to Vance's loft, clearly eager to drop me off and start dealing with whatever crisis had popped up, a crisis he was determined not to share.