1. Noah
1
NOAH
“ A nd what about you? A nice young man like you must have someone special waiting back home,” the nosy wedding guest next to me asked. I’d ended up at the singles table of my best friend James’ wedding. It had been a perfectly nice table until somebody’s grandma had swooped in and started asking us all about our dating lives.
God save me from matchmakers.
“No. Married to my job,” I said, flashing a strained smile.
It was true. I’d just come off of a whirlwind scouting trip. Back-to-back meetings in six states in just five days then directly to the wedding. It was my way of life, but it still got to me now and then.
“You’re what, thirty-five? That’s long past time to settle down, if you ask me,” the Matchmaker said, interrupting my thoughts.
“Forty-three,” I said through gritted teeth. “Why don’t you talk to Joe over there? I heard a rumor he doesn’t believe in marriage. You should go save him from himself.”
I watched with deep satisfaction as the Matchmaker scurried off to Joe.
I fought off a yawn. It wasn’t that I didn’t think about marriage sometimes. But I’d yet to meet the woman who wouldn’t make settling down feel like settling. I liked my life exactly as it was. For example, I liked being able to stand up, exchange a quick nod with the groom, and duck out of the wedding reception. I was happy for James, but he knew that the whole happily-ever-after scene wasn’t my thing. It had happened for him and his beautiful new wife Kaitlyn, sure, but he was the exception.
I hopped in the car I’d hired, and told the driver to take me to the boutique hotel where most of the wedding guests were staying. My assistant, Zoe, had made my reservations and let them know I’d be checking in late. I stretched out in the back seat, fantasizing about taking the hottest shower known to man and then getting some damn sleep. Lord knew I needed it.
Check-in at the hotel was mercifully quick, and I headed to my room. I yawned as the key card light on the door turned green, and I walked in, eyes already half closed. Maybe I’d sleep first, then shower…
I came to an abrupt halt, suddenly wide awake.
There was a half-naked woman in my room.
She was standing with her back to me, unzipping her dress. Or attempting to, since she seemed to be struggling with the zipper, leaving the dress stuck around her waist. I could tell by her exposed back she wasn’t wearing a bra.
I watched for a second longer, mesmerized. The woman was breathtaking. It didn’t matter how tired or grumpy I was, I could still appreciate the fact that there was a half-naked, beautiful woman wiggling around a few feet away.
The part of my brain that was still working noted that this was probably another one of Zoe’s mistakes. On this past trip alone, she’d managed to mix up the Dakotas during the scheduling part of the trip, screw up securing a car for me in Iowa, and swap the names of two of the coaches’ wives on all of the notes she’d prepared for me. But this…this really took the cake.
I cleared my throat to get the woman’s attention.
She didn’t hear me.
I tried again. “Excuse me, miss…”
The shriek that came out of her made me jump back in shock. She grabbed for the bedspread and pulled it up over her chest before whipping around to face me.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” she demanded.
She was absolutely breathtaking—and absolutely pissed off at me.
“Answer me! What are you doing in my room?” she fumbled on the desk behind her, possibly looking for something to threaten me with. “You’re not dressed like hotel staff.”
“That’s because I’m not.”
She grabbed the TV remote and aimed it at me in what she probably hoped was a threatening manner.
I raised my eyebrows. “You going to mute me with that?”
“Get out of my room!”
“Excuse me? This is my room.” I held up my key card. “Clearly, since my key opened the door.”
“Well, if it’s your room then how the hell do you think I got in here?” she asked.
I shrugged, pissed off and exhausted. “Look, I told my assistant to make sure everything was set up for me to have a comfortable night. Apparently, she took that to mean she should send me … company.”
It took her a second to understand the insult.
Then she hurled the remote at me. “I’m not a hooker!”
I ducked. “Okay, that was in bad taste, but you need to get out of my room?—”
“I’m a bridesmaid!” A glittery stiletto shoe sailed past my head, as if to prove her point.
I contemplated diving behind a nearby chair for cover, but her aim was so bad I wasn’t sure it would actually help.
Then the rest of what she’d said caught up with me. I glanced at the at the pale yellow dress hanging at her waist then back up to her pretty, flushed face. “You know Kaitlyn?”
“Of course I know Kaitlyn, she’s one of my best friends.” She pointed at the dress. “ Bridesmaid . How do you know Kaitlyn?”
“She just married my best friend,” I said. “I’m Noah. Noah Parker.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Wait. I know you.” She put her hands on her hips. The bedspread she was using for modesty slipped dangerously low over her breasts. “You’re the asshole who wouldn’t take enough time away from work to be in his best friend’s wedding party.”
“Yep,” I said. “That’s me.”
Then the bedspread lost the fight with gravity and slid to the ground.