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It was flattering, of course, though she wanted to make clear she understood it wasn’t a promise, either.
She took a breath in preparation for what else must be said. It didn’t have to be this moment—as a matter of fact, this was probably the wrong moment, when his heart was still pounding against hers and their skin was sticking together as if their flesh had made a bond despite all the reasons why they should not—but..
The words stuttered out of her mouth. “Listen, I don’t want you to think…to worry…I don’t expect…”
Opening her eyes, she searched his face, because that was as close as she could come to communicating all her concerns.
“How about if neither of us expects anything?” Noah said. “That way we’ll both be surprised by what happens next.”
Fifteen
All mankind loves a lover.
—RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Juliet slid into the passenger seat of Noah’s truck. She brushed her hand against his arm. “Thank you for driving me to Knitters’ Night. I didn’t expect the dealer would have to keep my car until tomorrow.”
“No problem.” He slanted her a glance. “I hoped to have a hot date, but she made other plans.”
“Cassandra’s counting on me.”
“You know I’m kidding.” He started the car and headed off, then fiddled with the dashboard controls to warm the cab. “Chilly tonight.”
Her hand touched him again, this time alighting on his thigh. “Is everything okay?”
He covered her fingers with his. Since their untamed interlude in her office a few days before, she touched him a lot. Often. God, he loved it like a soldier loves a cold beer at the end of a long day. When he was near, she would bump him with her shoulder, she would make sure their hands brushed when she passed him a cup or a plate, she played with his hair when he pulled her onto his lap.
And all those touches were nothing in comparison to the luxurious way she’d wiggle against him—naked to naked—when they were together in bed. The sex had been explosive each and every time, and when she’d whispered last night that she hated to shower his scent off her skin, he’d gone so hard that her tongue on his stiff flesh had been torture.
Juliet Weston was developing a very talented, very insatiable mouth.
Still, despite how good the physical was between them, uneasiness lingered at the edges of his mind, and it seemed to be creeping closer minute by minute, just like the coastal fog that stole inland every afternoon. He was living out fantasies he’d harbored for longer than he cared to admit, yet there existed alongside them a disquiet he was finding harder to ignore.
He wanted it gone, damn it, so he could enjoy all that boiling-hot sweetness that was sex and Juliet.
“Noah?” The disquiet had emigrated into her voice. “You’re keeping something from me.”
Oh, shit. Was that it? Those secrets he’d buried deep? But he was sure he’d come to terms with them a year ago.
“There is something,” she said. Her doubt gave the still-cold air in the car a sharper edge.
Great. Dumbass. Why wasn’t he counting his blessings instead of telegraphing his vague concerns? Now he’d have to dredge up some explanation… Well, there was something he’d been meaning to come clean about since that day she’d accused him of giving her a pity fuck.
He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a reassuring kiss against her fingers. “I should have told you right away. The other day in your office…that was all Jean Lindstrom’s fault.”
“In my office…” Her voice sounded puzzled. “Wait—we’re blaming the rug burns gracing my backside on someone named Jean Lindstrom?”
Squeezing her fingers, he laughed. “Not that part. The other part, when I suggested you might not want Dean to know…”
“You know I’m not embarrassed about being with you.”
Noah kissed her fingers again. “I get that now. But Jean Lindstrom put a little chip on my shoulder—or more precisely, her father did. He was our high school principal.”
“Uh-oh.” Amusement filled her voice. “Let me guess. Your bad-boy self scared her daddy?”
“Got it in one.” Noah smiled a little, feeling sorry for the street-smart, yet social dunce he’d been—a teenager full of wounded pride and rebellious bluster. “When I showed up at the winter dance with her on my arm, her father refused to let me in the gym.”
“So you took Jean to the movies instead?”
“Ah, but then there’d be no chip on my shoulder, would there? She didn’t protest Daddy’s edict.”
