Chapter 16 #2
“See ten years into my own future. If the inevitable heat death of the universe comes between now and then, it would affect my future too. If my normal life in ten years involves carrying a backpack of fresh air because money-hungry politicians sat back and did nothing while corporations destroyed the environment, then I would know the fate of the world and myself.”
“Well thought out,” he chuffs. We refocus on our food again, hints of smiles on our faces.
After finishing salads and the main course, he pushes back from the table and heads back into the kitchen.
What else could there be?
My eyebrows raise when he walks back carrying two beautiful, golden crème br?lées. He winks as he sets mine in front of me.
“I thought we were just friends?” These delicious little pastries are a lot of work.
“We are.” He hands me a spoon. “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have what you like.”
“You made these?”
“No, of course not. I ordered them from The Lush and picked them up earlier. I only toasted the sugar. Baking is a science, and that freaks me out.”
So he’s not a baker. Just thoughtful. Got it.
If his plan was to make me remember our first dinner together when I tasted the best crème br?lée I’d ever had…
it’s working. The look on his face as he lifts the spoon to his mouth tells me this was in fact his plan, and that he isn’t immune either.
In an effort to cut this off and rein in whatever is left of my professionalism, I scarf down the rest of my dessert in record time.
My chair makes an awkward scraping noise as I push back to stand.
“I’ll get the slide deck set up and meet you in the living room.
” I dart out of the dining room without waiting for his response.
I’m literally trying to run away from my feelings.
Yes, I realize how crazy that sounds and I don’t care.
I’m cramming myself between the back of the TV and the wall, trying to blindly shove the HDMI cord in the right spot when a warm hand takes the cord from me and effortlessly connects it.
I duck back out and pull on my professional Audrey persona.
“Please take a seat. We’ll get started.” I pause while he sits, grabs a throw pillow, and puts it in his lap to rest his elbows on.
He’s the picture of comfortable except for his shit-eating grin.
I’m swallowing too much in a poor attempt to keep my nerves under control.
I’ve done the market research, I know the going rates, and I think I know Noah, too.
“Today, I’d like to talk about a few key brands I think would fit well with your image and your social media presence. If we agree on a couple, we can reach out.” I hit the clicker and the slide changes to reveal the kombucha brand.
I jump when Noah snorts. I press on, “You’re an athlete who enjoys yoga.
You have the vibes of someone who takes care of themselves inside and out.
The Bouch will be interested in working with you because right now it’s very much a niche product.
When people see you drinking it, they will consider it as a drink alternative for athletes besides Gatorade or Muscle Milk. ”
“No way.”
“Excuse me? What’s wrong?”
“This is not where I thought this would be going.”
Hands on my hips, I say, “Well, I have two more brands to pitch if I may continue?” Noah slaps his hands on his thighs and rises.
“Actually, no. It’s my turn to talk. I’ve already been in touch with a brand, and they were extremely eager to work with me.”
“And what brand is that? Herbalife?” I laugh at my own joke. Noah is not nearly that desperate.
Noah looks at me seriously, honesty in his green eyes. “Why are you here, Audrey?” I look at him. We stand toe to toe, blinking at one another. I know it’s on me, so I break away first, fiddling with the hem of my shirt. “That’s what I thought.”
He turns and heads up the stairs. I stand there stunned. Am I just supposed to wait here? At his beck and call? He winds me up with that gentleman act over dinner and then just disappears on me right after calling me out? Rude.
I sit primly on the edge of the couch facing the stairs and whip out my phone. I’m not even checking emails. I just need something to do while I wait. Maybe five minutes pass when I see just a peek of feet coming down the stairs.
I see more.
Legs that are toned and tanned. No surprise there. I’ve seen all that before. Wow, it feels like a million years ago that we were at yoga together.
All thoughts are simultaneously wiped from my mind as Noah finishes his descent. My eyes bug out like a cartoon character. I’m pretty sure my jaw falls to the floor and my tongue rolls out of my mouth in shock.
Noah’s wearing nothing but tight black briefs.
They’re not cotton, the fabric is something more athletic.
They cling hella fucken tight to his thick thighs that flex and move as he finishes his stairwell catwalk.
The band around the top has SEDUXION written in white lettering.
My eyes continue their heated stroll up his body.
The V above the waistband of the briefs.
Abs on top of abs on top of abs. How can a human have that many abdominal muscles?
They’re tanned just like the rest of him and—did he oil them down for this?
My eyes finally meet his and I’m stunned into silence.
Very hard for me, by the way. I realize just how long I’ve been staring, and my cheeks ignite.
I can feel the heat touching the tips of my ears, the flush over my cleavage.
No way he didn’t notice me giving him the eye fuck of a lifetime.
Noah doesn’t miss a beat, though. “You like what you see?”
I more than like. I’m tempted to search for the outline of his cock in the blackness of the fabric just to satisfy my curiosity, but I clear my throat instead. “What is this?”
He puts his hands on his hips, obviously proud of himself. “It’s my first brand deal.”
I put my elbows on my knees. “Let me get this straight. You skipped over all the normal athlete brand deals and went right to 1992 Marky-Mark for Calvin Klein?”
He points his index finger at me. “Exactly!”
I drop my head in my hands, shielding my eyes. “We can discuss this after you find some more clothes.” He flexes his biceps at me, teasing. “Put that shit away.” I wave him off. I can’t think with him half naked like that, much less carry on a conversation.
He turns and heads back up the stairs. I mean, I’m only human, so I take a looonnnngggg last look as his tight ass ascends.
I need a second to catch my breath. Get my head on straight.
He set me up.
I’m one hundred percent sure no one else’s Adonis client is privately modeling products for them in their home after a nice dinner.
What is his angle here? Has he decided that since I’m so cut off from an emotional relationship that he may as well try and tempt me physically? Is it an act to try and make me break my business schtick?
Noah comes back down, pulling a white T-shirt over his head. “Okay, boss, let’s discuss.”
“You can do whatever deal you want, but keep in mind that the more family-friendly ones might not be as interested if you start with Seduxion right off the bat.”
“I’m not worried about the family-friendly ones. My choices can reflect that.”
“Whatever you say.” I pause, giving him an out in case this is all a bluff. When he doesn’t admit anything, I say, “We can get the ball rolling.”
“Sounds good, but in the meantime, I think you should come to a preseason game. You’ll have a better understanding of me, my image, and what kind of stuff I should be posting if you came. Maybe meet some of my teammates.”
My smile is soft. Spending more time with Noah is what I want.
As far as he knows, my agreeing to this is just business, so it can’t hurt.
“That would be nice.” I cough quickly. “I mean helpful. That would be helpful. For me. To help you.” I cringe.
I can hear how bad I sound. Noah doesn’t acknowledge my word salad and I’m grateful for it.
“We play the Phoenix Pirates at home this week. I’ll send you the badges you’ll need to get in.
” He guides me toward the front door. I’m ready to leave, but I’m not.
I’m so at ease in Noah’s presence. Like after the stress of everything, I can finally relax.
I have to hold myself up against my clients and my parents and my sister.
But when I’m with him, he’s the one supporting me.
I also feel sped up, like everything between us is going one-hundred miles an hour on the highway and I’m not in control. But the thing is, putting business between us was supposed to help me get control back. I’m not sure that this is the outcome I was hoping for.
I turn around to get one last glance at his pine eyes.
This has been the overarching theme of my life. The loss of control. I’m a mistake, made with no maternal instinct. In order to make up for that, I need to be perfect in every other way. The perfect businesswoman. The perfect daughter. I will never be the perfect wife.
I can feel my mind fighting. The side that knows I’ll never be good enough versus the side that doesn’t care and just wants to take whatever it can have.
This man has the audacity to chuckle at me.
He lifts his hand and touches a piece of my hair that’s come loose from its ponytail.
I look at his handsome face as he tucks it gently behind my ear.
I inhale and it brings his cool, crisp smell to my senses.
My hands itch to run through his hair and pull him to me.
I’ve got to get out of here.
I find my words. “I think that’s my phone. Better grab it.”
Noah cocks his head like a dog hearing a funny noise. “I don’t hear anything.”
“That’s because it’s on vibrate.” I turn to step onto the front stoop.
“Okay, bye!” I careen down the steps leading toward the driveway.
In my haste to get out of there, I totally forgot to show him the other brands I had selected.
I turn to yell over my shoulder. “I’ll email you the rest of the slides so you can review the other brands. ”
Mid-wave he calls back, “No need! I think we found the perfect fit.”
Those boxers fit something perfect, all right. And it wasn't his branding image.
I’m an absolute mess. An hour ago, I’m not saying I ran to my car at Noah’s house, but my stride was distinctly faster than a speed walk.
Now I’m lying on the couch, Dolly on my chest, Reba tucked in to my side, feet thrown over the top part, arm over my face as my other hand holds my phone to my ear.
“I swear, he’s trying to kill me!” I’ve been regaling the whole ordeal from tonight to Nicole for the last half hour.
She knows a watered-down version of what’s really going on, but she asks a lot of questions.
“Oh, he’s trying to do something, all right. Bow chicka wow wow.”
I roll my eyes. “Nicole, don’t be the stereotypical side character in the romance novel whose only input is encouraging the female main character to sleep with the guy.”
“So, Noah is your male main character? Your hero?” This girl is impossible.
“That isn’t what I said.”
“No, but it’s what you’re not saying.”
“That’s enough of that.” I pet Dolly. She squeaks in satisfaction. “But to be honest, right now my entire focus is on not kissing my client when he struts his stuff.” We both burst out laughing.
“At least you’re getting good entertainment out of this, and probably tons of content for the clit closet.”
I’m a grown woman with needs. “Stashing it away for a rainy day. I’ll likely get more when I see him on the field.”
There’s something so funny about two grown women giggling on the phone about masturbating. We have truly fallen far from God.
“All those catechism classes couldn’t save us.” We cackle together at our own jokes until we’re abruptly interrupted.
My phone pings in my hand and I hold it back from my face to check it. “Oh my God!” I gasp.
“What?”
“Noah sent me a pic.” My voice is strangled, the sheer hotness of Noah’s mirror selfie choking me.
He’s in his Seduxion merch, hip leaning against the bathroom counter.
One hand holding the phone, the other behind his head, the bent angle showing off his biceps.
He must have taken this right before he came down.
I read the message aloud for Nicole. “‘Thought you might need a free sample.’”
“He must be psychic and knows we are talking about him!”
“Ask and you shall receive,” I snort.
We continue talking about how her last shift was, and a bunch of other stuff, but I keep sneaking glances at Noah’s picture.
And realize that my clit closet is now overflowing with that one simple picture.