Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
VON
Noah is greeted with lots of cheers and hugs and back slapping.
When he embraces Charlotte, I look down into my glass of margarita. Obviously, I had to tell Daisy to invite her to this, but that doesn’t mean I need to see them kissing or anything.
I hope my date tonight with Kent helps kick these stupid flutters for good.
Daisy comes out with a suit for Noah, and he goes to the guesthouse out past the tennis court to change. He returns in only a pair of swimming trunks, his chest bare, his skin dusted bronze in the afternoon sun. I sit in a lounge chair in the shade, a little apart from everyone. Even though this was my plan, I feel out of place. I’m more accustomed to work events. But everyone looks like they’re having like fun.
I can see how being back here is affecting Noah—his eyes are brighter, his smile warmer. I have to keep my sunglasses securely on my face because try as I might, my eyes are drawn to him over and over again, his muscles rippling as he cuts a smooth backstroke through the water.
“Hey,” Finn says, coming to sit next to me and pulling me out of my thoughts. Like me, he’s wearing work clothes. “How’s the case going?”
“No comment,” I reply, my gaze drifting back to the pool as Caden slaps a giant wave in Noah’s direction. Noah laughs and wipes his face, raking his fingers through his beard. He got lots of comments on that. I agree with Daisy—it looks good on him. He’ll need to shave for trial though. Clean shaven men play better for juries. Bearded men look like they have something to hide.
“Von?”
“Sorry?” I say. Finn is looking at me curiously.
“I said that prosecutor has been sending his minions out to talk to everyone in town.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“The family included.” He means Dad.
I raise an eyebrow. “And how did that go over?”
Finn grins, making the dimple in his left cheek pop. “Dad sent him packing. Said he’d sic his lawyers on him if he attempted to talk to us.”
“Hey.” Charlotte plops down on the other side of me, margarita in hand. “Noah says you organized this?”
“Yeah,” I say.
“Nice.” She clinks her glass to mine and takes a long drink. “I can tell he really needed it.”
Of course she can tell. She can probably read all of Noah’s moods. I wonder if she knows about the dent between his eyebrows that comes out when he’s focused, or the smile that can warm you up like the sun.
I glance at Noah, who is happily floating on his back like a starfish. Water glistens over his pecs and stomach. Why must he always be wet when he’s shirtless? My eyes snag on the bulge in his swimsuit before I turn away. I cannot be looking at bulges while sitting next to his girlfriend.
“It was nothing,” I say.
“Joni doesn’t know what to do with herself,” Charlotte says, looking at a petite blonde talking excitedly to Daisy. “Us plebes never get invited to the Everton mansion.”
“Exclusivity is currency,” Finn says, parroting one of Dad’s lines. It sounds so arrogant said out loud in this setting.
Charlotte raises an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“We can’t let just anyone onto the estate,” Finn continues pompously. “It cheapens the Everton name.”
Charlotte’s jaw twitches. “Well, excuse me for existing, Croquem-douche. I’ll try not to let my peasantness rub off on any Ming vases before I leave.”
“What did you just call me?” Finn demands as I accidentally snort my margarita.
Charlotte eyes flash with mischief. “Your royal Doucheness? Herr Douchenstein? The Lord of Douchingham?”
“I don’t have to listen to these juvenile insults,” Finn says, storming off indignantly.
“Sorry,” Charlotte says to me, grimacing. “Sometimes I can’t help myself.”
“No, he deserved that,” I say.
“Your brother has a giant stick up his butt.”
“Agreed.” I take another sip of my drink. Charlotte seems like a lot of fun. I just wish she wasn’t dating Noah. “What’s croquem-douche about?” I ask.
“It’s actually from the night of the Everton anniversary party,” Charlotte says. “They were bringing in the desserts and there was this croquembouche, and of course Isla being all Cuckoo for Coco Puffs about dessert was eyeballing it like it was Caden naked on a stick.”
“Um, ew,” I say.
She laughs. “Anyway, being a dessert novice at the time, I asked what it was but before she could tell me, Wonder Boy over there interjected that it was a croquembouche but he said it in the most condescending way possible. So I called him a croquem-douche.”
It’s my turn to laugh. “That was some quick thinking.”
Charlotte flips her hair. “Why thank you. Didn’t know you handed out compliments to the little people.”
“Only when the insult is truly unmatched will I descend from my throne and make an exception,” I say. Charlotte grins and we clink our glasses together. “Finn is a good guy, though, deep down. Our father’s parenting style has left scars on us all. Look at Caden. Literally fled the country to get away from Dad.”
Charlotte purses her lips, her eyes drifting to Finn, his arms folded across his chest, frowning at the horseplay in the pool like it’s personally offending him.
“Fair point,” she says.
Isla comes over with Jake.
“Hi Von,” she says. “This is Jake Stein. Noah says you can help with that jerk who’s suing him?”
“Jake,” I say, standing and offering my hand. “I’ve been meaning to speak with you.”
Jake is a good-looking guy with glasses and thick dark hair. He shakes my hand apprehensively, almost like he’s afraid of me. I guess I’ve never thought much about how the people in this town see us—I stopped spending time here after Mom died. I don’t want to come across like Finn, though.
“It’s totally fine if you can’t,” he says. “I know you’re busy.”
“Here’s my contact info,” I say, airdropping it into his phone. “Let’s set up a time this week to talk. In the meantime, if you could email me the suit and tell me as much information about what happened as possible, I can get the ball rolling.”
I look over at the pool where Noah is smiling at me and giving me the thumbs up. Then Alistair cannonballs right next to him, dousing him beneath an enormous wave .
“Wow,” Jake says. “Wow, that…thank you. I mean, seriously, thanks.”
He gives me a little bow.
“Oh my god, Jake, she’s not the queen of England,” Charlotte teases.
Jake flushes.
I get some quick background on the incident, who this customer was and the details of the accident. It seems like a pretty straightforward case of a pompous jerk used to throwing his weight around and getting his way, with no actual legs to stand on. And with only Noah’s case on my desk, I’ve got the time to look into it. I bet I could scare this asshole into dropping the suit with one phone call.
“Char, come in!” Noah calls from the pool.
“With you animals? Not a chance,” she calls back.
“We’ll be good, we promise,” Noah says batting his eyelashes. Charlotte cackles and I feel something slippery flip in my stomach.
“So,” I say, as Isla and Jake wander off. It’s time to bite the bullet. “How long have you and Noah been together?”
Charlotte spits out her drink, spraying margarita all over the lounge chair. “Oh my god,” she chokes. “Noah and I aren’t together. Ew! I mean, he’s nice, he’s handsome, blah blah blah, but…ew!” she says again, shuddering this time. “He’s like my brother.”
Several things happen inside me all at once. A disorienting wave of dizziness is met with a rush of heat swirling through the trunk of my body. My toes go cold while my chest buzzes.
“Oh,” I say.
I hope I sound normal and not like my brain is struggling to comprehend this new, vital piece of information. I don’t think I realized how steadfastly I had clung to the idea of Noah and Charlotte being together .
Charlotte’s still chuckling. “Noah hasn’t had a girlfriend in years. He’s always at work. Serving and protecting and all that.”
“Right,” I say, my voice too breathy. I glance down at my watch and remember my date with Kent. I’ve only got a couple hours to get back to the city and get ready.
“Noah,” I call. “Time to go.”
Noah pulls himself out of the pool, his muscled forearms flexing, water pebbling over his stomach. Tension curls its way around my throat, my thighs gripping together.
He grabs a towel and comes to sit beside me, running it through his hair. I have a panicked moment of fear that Charlotte is going to tell him I thought they were together, but she gets up and heads over to join Isla and Jake. Noah shifts beside me, his bare skin altogether too close. He smells like chlorine and sunshine. He towels off his chest and I don’t know where to look, so I gulp down the rest of my drink.
“What’s the rush?” he asks. “Got a hot date?”
“Yes,” I say, the truth tumbling out.
He blinks and his face goes blank. “Seriously?”
“You guys heading back to the city?” Caden asks, coming over.
“Yeah,” I say, standing up.
“Don’t go yet,” Caden says. “We were about to have some food.”
“We’ll be back soon,” I promise. “The pretrial hearing is in two weeks.”
“Sebastian may be here for a visit then,” Caden says. “His visa probably won’t get sorted out until after the holidays but we want to get him acquainted with the property. You’ll really like him—I think Dad is more impressed than he’s letting on. They’ve been talking on the phone quite a bit.”
“That’s great,” I say, giving him a mock punch on the arm. “Proud of you, big bro.”
Caden grins. Noah seems a little off. He keeps glancing at me. He’s probably sad to leave Magnolia Bay. I can’t believe he’s not with Charlotte. I can’t believe I spent a month thinking he had a girlfriend. But I also don’t know what to do with this information. It doesn’t mean anything, except Noah is single when I thought he was partnered.
And yet, somehow, that feels like everything.
“I’ll get changed,” Noah says, grabbing his clothes.
“I’ll get my stuff,” I say. We head up the wide stone steps, through the French doors, into the kitchen. The quiet that descends on us is startling. The cool dim interior contrasts sharply with the raucous laughter out at the pool. Noah’s sunshine-chlorine scent surrounds me.
“Thanks for today,” he says softly, placing his clothes on one of the stools by the island near my briefcase.
“It was nothing,” I insist.
“It wasn’t nothing,” he says. He takes a step closer to me and I swear my blood halts in my veins. “I got to see my friends again. It was incredibly thoughtful.”
“You know me,” I say with a poor attempt at sarcasm. “Ms. Thoughtful.”
“You’re going to help Jake,” Noah says. I nod. “Stan made a good point. A lot of people could benefit from your skills. You’re a really good lawyer, Von.”
“I know,” I say, and he chuckles.
“Grayson was right.”
“About what?”
“I’m lucky to have you on my side.”
I swallow hard. His gaze burns into mine, the flecks of gold in his brown eyes shimmering like sunlight on water. “I don’t know how else I would have been able to brave this nightmare. I know I’m disrupting your life, invading your space?—”
“Hey,” I say, cutting him off. “Stop.” I put a hand on his shoulder, his skin cool and damp. “You’re not…I don’t mind you invading my space. And I want to help. I wouldn’t want anyone else taking this case. You know I’m not one for sitting on the sidelines.”
Noah shoots me a crooked smile. “That’s an understatement.”
The space between us is charged with tension, thick and sizzling. I am deeply aware of the way his chest moves with each breath, of the hard curve of his muscle beneath my palm, of how his gaze seems to melt away my defenses.
The dent between his brows softens. The way he’s looking at me right now, I don’t feel like his lawyer. I don’t feel like his best friend’s sister. As Noah’s warm brown eyes dip to my mouth, the tension coiling inside me tightens. There’s a faint throb between my legs. I should pull my hand away. I should stop touching him.
“Von,” he says softly, and his voice whispers over my skin. My heart is too loud in my ears. My brain is all mixed up. He’s my client. He’s Caden’s best friend. He is off limits.
Noah leans closer to me, a movement so small it’s almost imperceptible.
A flicker of desire crackles up my spine. My lips part.
Suddenly, there’s a huge splash and shrieks of laugher from outside break us apart. Alistair has pulled Finn into the pool, clothes and all, laughing hysterically as Finn chases him through the water in his waterlogged suit.
I turn around in time to see Noah fleeing the kitchen with his clothes in hand.
I slump against the island, my pulse pounding in my throat.