22. Encapsulated #3
"Yes. It's dangerous and stupid, but kids are kids.
" Claire took another drink through her straw and checked out the crowd.
Her gaze landed on his face and stopped.
"I never did it. I'd heard too many horror stories from my dad about men getting hurt working in the oilfield. Oh, look, the band's back."
When the music started up again, the local pair said their goodbyes and excused themselves to make the most of their kid-free time. Isla's parting comment was to tell them what a cute couple they were.
Noah's eyes slid over to Claire's, wanting to measure her reaction. Her eyebrows arched, and a smile teased her lips. Once Isla and Graham were out of earshot, they burst into laughter.
"Did you want to dance again?" he asked when their amusement subsided.
She shook her head while sipping her drink. "No, I'm good. Can you believe she said that?"
"Why not? We're both free and single, and we're having a good time."
She giggled.
"Seriously. Our schedules are clear. Let's just be Noah and Claire on an adventure.
We'll have to return to Noah Raines and Claire Broussard soon enough.
I say we enjoy what nature has given us.
" His heart thudded at the idea of spending time with Claire without worrying about work or other outside influences.
She studied him for a long moment before raising her glass. "Cheers to Noah and Claire."
"Cheers!" They clinked their glasses together, and he drained his water. "Now, what do you want to do next?"
Noah rubbed the towel over his head, then applied hair gel. Without it, his hair stood up in all directions. At least with the gel, he could control the chaos.
He wiped the condensation off the bathroom mirror and grinned.
He'd enjoyed himself today. After the pub, they'd walked down to the creek and lazed around on the large rocks situated as perfect sitting spots for observing the waterway's natural inhabitants.
He and Claire had shared more childhood stories.
She'd asked about his woodworking hobby, which he'd felt embarrassed to talk about at first, but had eventually shared a few of his more challenging projects with her.
They'd arrived back at the inn in time to eat a hearty supper.
The electricity was still out, but Archie had run an extension cord from the main telly in the sitting room to the generator, so they could catch the big match tonight.
They'd watched for a while before retiring to their suite to clean up and chill before bedtime.
Watching the game had been fun. He'd quietly suggested Claire refer to the sport as football rather than soccer while visiting the UK, and she'd immediately blushed and agreed.
Those blushes were killer. He felt them down to his toes every time and wanted to crush her to him while kissing her like he did this morning. Was it just this morning? His body stirred at the memory of her softness pressed against him.
He gritted his teeth and hung up the towel.
This was exactly how it had started last time—harmless flirting, a few stolen moments, and then everything unraveling.
The awkward meetings. The whispered gossip.
The way people stopped looking him in the eye.
He shuddered. Not something he ever wanted to experience again.
He exhaled and stepped out of the bathroom.
The subject of his thoughts wasn't in the sitting room. "Claire?" he called.
"In here." Her voice came from her bedroom, and he wandered over to stand in the doorway. "It's still pretty cold in here." She'd crossed her arms for warmth. "I supposed we could drag these mattresses off and move them in front of the fireplace…" She trailed off and looked at him.
"Doubling up worked fine last night. Sharing the bed is much easier than"—he indicated the two beds—"moving all this around.
" He watched the red creep into her cheeks and struggled not to smile.
Despite his words, he wasn't sure what he wanted.
His body was totally on board with sharing the bed again.
Sharing body heat, perhaps more… totally down with that.
But his head kept telling him getting involved would end badly.
Possibly she'd decide for them. He rubbed the palms of his hands on his jeans.
She walked past him to the sitting room, her shoulder grazing his as she passed. "It feels weird to suggest that after we kissed."
With her facing away from him, he couldn't read her expression.
Weird wasn't the word he would use. Exciting.
Perhaps a little dangerous, but definitely not weird.
"We're two grown adults, Claire. We can control ourselves.
And we do need to keep warm." He sat on the settee and pulled her down beside him. She nestled into his warmth and sighed.
"But," he said, pulling a quilt up over them.
"If you're uncomfortable, we can figure something else out.
" Even if he'd rather be snuggling under the covers with her.
He searched his memory for a topic she seemed comfortable talking about and recalled how happy she sounded talking to the other developers.
"Now, tell me about your last job and what you did in California.
Was it similar to the work you're doing at Caprock? "
Claire stared into the fire and considered Noah's question.
The topic was safe enough. He wasn't asking why she left, just what she did.
Man, it felt so nice to relax against him and soak up his warmth.
And after spending the day with him, she felt at ease with his closeness.
She slipped off her shoes and tucked her feet up under her, leaning more into his body.
He lifted his arm and pulled her closer.
"I was in a group of developers. They called it a pod.
We had various assignments, just like the MADS team.
One distinct difference was that no one but our manager was privy to the project overview.
And even then, I think he had limited information.
They only assigned us pieces, and we never got to see the finished product. "
"It sounds like a manufacturing environment," Noah commented.
"Huh. I never thought about it like that, but you're right.
We were like an assembly line. Code this, code that.
But I liked it okay. You were often thrown challenging problems with short deadlines, so you had to get creative.
" She felt a tug on her hair and turned her head.
Noah arranged her mess of curls over his shoulder.
"Sorry, your hair was in my mouth."
"Yeah, that happens. I have a lot of hair."
"It's beautiful, though. Have you always worn it long?" He played with the ends as if reluctant to let go.
"I cut it once. It was much easier to manage, but I looked like a boy and despised it. Now I just keep scrunchies everywhere, so I can tuck it out of the way when I need to." She'd twisted around to watch his face. His gaze met hers and he let her hair go.
He cleared his throat. "You were telling me about your work. Do you like what you're doing at Caprock better?"
"Yeah, I'm beginning to. Things were rough at first, not really knowing what my role was, but I do like how I can see the big picture and how everything's connected.
I never had that at my last job, so I didn't know what I was missing.
I was happy to be a cog in the wheel. But now I know it's so much better to see the whole thing and to know what we're working toward.
And here, I feel like people value my input. Like, they actually listen to me."
"You didn't feel valued at your previous company?" Noah asked, as he tucked the blanket more closely around them.
Claire hesitated. Now they were getting into a tricky area. As much as she'd begun to trust Noah, she still wasn't comfortable sharing her experience. She'd heard too many horror stories about women being dismissed or written off after sharing their stories of harassment or unfair treatment.
"Well…"
A blinding light blazed throughout the room, causing them both to jump. Noah held his hand up to block the brightness and Claire looked around in a daze. The overhead light in the room had come on, as well as the bathroom light.
She turned back to Noah. A frown marred his face, his head tilted. "The electricity is back on," she said.
"Yes. And the furnace just kicked on. Our rooms should be warming up soon." He sighed. "Looks like we don't need to figure out a plan for sleeping tonight."
Claire blew out a breath, and she rubbed her chest. She should be relieved they wouldn't have to share a bed. So why did she feel deflated and let down?
The weight of Noah's stare had her raising her eyes to meet his. That teasing spark was back in them. "Unless you still want to consider sharing a bed, Red? It's our last day here." His volume dropped into a whisper. "No one would know."