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“I love you.” she replied simply, “I've had enough of Stuart ruining my life. I want to be with you, and I want this to be over.”
Noah walked over to Allee, gently rubbing up and down her arms. “I love you too, and I want to be done with it all so we can move on with our lives. But we can't do that until we've dealt with Stuart. Although I don't particularly like the course that you decided on, I respect you and will do as you ask.”
Allee shook her head, realising that Noah hadn't understood. “No, I don't mean that. I mean that I've changed my mind. I don't want you to stay away. I want you to stay with me.”
A dumbfounded expression crossed Noah’s face, and he blurted out, “But...what about Piddle?”
“Oh, I still want her hidden away somewhere, although I don't know where,” Allee laughed softly. “I want her to be protected, and I know she won't be with me, not while Stuart is still lurking around.”
Noah wrapped his arms around Allee, rubbing his lips over her hair. “So, what are we going to do?”
Allee pulled her head back a little, a wicked grin tugging at the corners of her mouth, her left eyebrow twitching mischievously.
“Hmm, I can think of a couple of things we can do, especially with you being so strong...”
Noah's pupils dilated in desire at Allee's sultry implications.
“Oh yes? And what do you have planned?”
Allee laughed wickedly, pulling out of Noah's arms, his confusion now evident. “Why, we need to go and get me a new couch, coffee table, and television! You are so strong. You can do all the heavy lifting!”
Noah lunged at Allee with a frustrated growl, and Allee laughed and ran upstairs to her bedroom.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A couple of hours later, Mark and Noah had moved Allee's shredded couch into her garage and had unpacked her new one. They had also assembled a new coffee table, and were in the process of installing a brand-new television. By the time Beth and Allee brought steaming mugs of coffee over to her new table, Noah and Mark were done.
“What are the plans for tonight? Noah, are you staying for dinner?”
Noah shook his head.
“I can't stay for dinner, I've got to go up to Canungra, but I'll be back at around ten tonight.”
Mark looked at Noah, “Are you staying here tonight?” he asked.
“If Beth's okay with it, yes, I am,” Noah replied.
Beth squealed with delight. “Oh, I'm so glad you guys have sorted it all out! Did you still want me to stay tonight, or would you prefer to be alone?”
Allee looked at Noah, and he nodded silently in return.
“If you could stay tonight, please, Beth, that would be wonderful,” replied Allee. “We're trying to get things sorted so that we can start to move on with our lives, but Noah isn't able to stay with me all the time just yet.”
“Oh sweetie, that's fine with me,” Beth was so excited she was almost bouncing out of her chair. “Would you mind if Mark and I duck home for a little while? There are a few things I wanted to get done this afternoon, and we've still got a little daylight left for me to do them. We'll pick up dinner on the way back here, say around six?” Beth looked to Noah.
Noah nodded, “So long as I can leave here as close to half six as possible, that's fine. I need to stop back at my place to pick up Piddle before I head up to my folks', and I said I'd be there around seven. I’ll leave her with them over the weekend. They’ll love having her around.”
Satisfied that everything was settled, Beth and Mark headed home, leaving Allee and Noah alone. As soon as he heard them drive off, Noah scooped Allee up into his arms, climbing the stairs up to her room, ignoring her laughs and squeals to put her down. He grinned salaciously at her, and as he reached her bed.
“Okay....” he said and let go.
Allee screamed in mock-horror as she fell onto her bed, bouncing as she landed, and then scrambled off the edge as Noah tumbled down after her. She grinned down at his prone form before bending to kiss his upside-down face. Allee could feel Noah’s arms encircling her, and she was astonished as he twisted, somehow turning them both to lie on her bed, face-to-face. She darted a kiss onto his lips, and as he relaxed, reaching up to her, she straddled Noah’s waist, pinned his arms to her bed, and bent down to pepper kisses all over his face. Noah extracted one hand, gently tracing one finger down Allee's nose, over her lips, and down her chin, gently pinching it between his thumb and forefinger, then drew her down into his embrace.
The following day, Allee woke to find her head resting on Noah's bare chest. He had arrived back at her place just after sunset to find Allee and Beth sitting on the couch watching television. They all went upstairs to bed not long after, although Allee and Noah had not fallen asleep straight away. They had showered together and then lay in bed murmuring, in between kisses and caresses. They had fallen asleep in each other's arms, and during the night, Allee had shifted so that her head was cushioned on Noah's chest. Her sleep had been deep and peaceful, and it had been the most restful that Allee had managed in weeks.
She stretched, her body arching against Noah's, and then moved away, exiting the bed. Noah made a sleepy protest, reaching out for her, but she laughed softly and moved away, too awake to go back to sleep. She made her way into her en suite, stripping off her pyjamas, and then stepped into the shower, washed quickly, before rinsing her body and stepping back out, wrapping a bath-sheet around her body. Garbed only in the towel, she walked back into her bedroom to see Noah sitting up in her bed, sleepily rubbing his hands over his face.
“Good morning handsome, the shower's free if you want to use it. Remember, we're wowing the media today, so I want to get to the office earlier than usual.”
