Chapter 3
Noelle
“Sorry for snapping the rubber gloves on back in the car,” I said as I unlocked the door. “Dad instilled the fear of God in me at a young age when it came to stranger danger.”
Which made it all the more absurd that I thought I could pull off a one-night stand.
“I think it’s great,” Leif said.
Despite the fact that I was a grown woman, Dad really would flip his lid when he woke up. But he cared about public safety, too, I reasoned. He wouldn’t want a young man to freeze to death.
Watching Leif hang up his coat and neatly tuck his boots underneath made me unreasonably happy, since Patrick had some kind of aversion to hanging up his clothes.
“Sorry we don’t have a guest room,” I said in a whisper when he padded back to the living room in his socks. “My dad turned my brother’s room into a ridiculous man cave. What is it with dads when they reach a certain age?”
Something passed over Leif’s face. Maybe he didn’t have a dad. But it was gone as quickly as it came. “I’m just grateful you’re putting me up.”
“Well, you called an ambulance for me, so I guess we’re even.”
“Sorry again about that.”
Leif’s smile was kind of lopsided; higher on one side than the other. I decided in that moment that smiles like Leif’s were much better than symmetrical ones.
“Don’t be sorry. You did the right thing.”
He met my eyes. “I don’t always do the right thing.”
I’m sure his words were innocent. Self-deprecating. But they still send a sudden spasm of heat through me. Or maybe that was because I was standing so close to him.
God, if Patrick could see me now.
I smiled to myself, feeling quite pleased. This was better than a one-night stand. All the ego boosting of having a handsome man over, none of the regrets.
Leif returned my smile with that crooked smile of his, making my insides heat up even more.
I chewed on my lip, debating with myself before blurting, “Did you want to hang out a minute? We could go to my room.”
Leif’s eyebrows went up.
“To get Floof settled, I mean,” I said quickly. My awkwardness was laughable given my intentions earlier in the night. Still, I found myself making excuses. “She should probably stay in there with me in case my parents come out.”
“Oh. God, yeah. You sure they won’t mind us being here?”
“No problem at all. My mom will probably offer to make you pancakes. Although my dad will probably give you a full-on interrogation, so you’re welcome to sneak out early, too.”
I helped Leif set up a bed for Floof under the desk with a pillow and a few towels. “You’re spoiling her,” he said, laughing.
“She seems like a bit of a princess.”
“She is,” he admitted. He stroked her head.
He smelled nice. Like soap and the snow outside.
And I was way too close to him. I got up and sat down on the bed.
Leif waited a moment, poised like a runner with his fingers braced on the ground next to him.
His sweater stretched taut over his back, accentuating the muscles in his shoulders.
I was right about the broad shoulders. He’d pulled his sleeves up, too; his forearms were long and muscular.
I wondered if he was a runner. Or a swimmer.
“Lie down for me,” he said soothingly. His voice was low, sending a strange feeling through me.
Floof rolled over for him, obviously as charmed as I was.
He rubbed her belly with his long, tapered fingers. “Good girl.”
I swallowed. I had to remind myself he was talking to the dog.
I thought about Patrick, who sniffed if a dog came too close to him on the street. But thinking about Patrick made me think about what I’d been planning on doing tonight.
Leif looked over at me, his smile making something melt inside of me. “You okay?”
“Yes,” I said. Just thinking you would have been the perfect one night stand.
I licked my lips. Shit. I must look insane.
But Leif’s eyes dropped to my mouth.
He stared just a moment too long at my mouth. “Noelle, I—” He ran a hand over the back of his neck.
“Do you want to sit down?” I blurted.
“Okay,” he said, his voice tight. Could he feel the tension that had picked up between us?
The bed sank down under his weight.
My heart thudded in my chest. I felt like I was at a pivotal decision point. Did I clear my throat and make some small talk? Ask him how long he was in town for? Or did I do something else?
I looked up at Leif. He was so close. I inhaled his clean scent. “I didn’t tell you why I was downtown,” I blurted out.
He met my eyes. “You don’t need to, if you don’t want.” He knew something was up with me.
I darted my glance sideways, nerves threatening to clam me up. But then I thought about all the lessons I’d learned about dealing with nerves. Stage fright. Jitters. I pictured the calm, safe place in my mind I went to when I needed to remember lines that were evading me.
“I broke up with my boyfriend this morning. I found him in a delicate position.”
Leif frowned.
“I found him in a delicate situation with my boss, actually. My mentor.”
Leif’s eyes went wide. “Asshole.”
“The thing is, I was unhappy with Patrick for a long time. He was a shit boyfriend, but he wanted to be the only actor in our relationship. He liked it better when I worked offstage, in the wings. I did like working backstage, but he made me feel like it was a step down.”
“Colossal asshole,” Leif said.
Was it just me or had I inched closer to him?
“I was upset. So… I went to the bar to see if I could find someone to bring home with me.”
Leif’s pupils dilated. “Oh.” His voice was hoarse.
That tension grew thicker, snapping like live wire. Or maybe that was my nerves, fizzing with my boldness.
“I was upset,” I continued. “So I went looking for a distraction. Once I got there, the idea lost its appeal. Only now…” I met his eyes. “Now I think I changed my mind.”
I could see the pulse at Leif’s throat. “Noelle,” he said, his voice as rough as sandpaper. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to…be with you. I just…” He looked like he was struggling with himself. “I don’t think you should do something you’re going to regret.”
I angled myself toward him. “What if I don’t regret it? What if it’s exactly what I need right now?”
I could see him fighting. “Noelle—”
“You’re a good guy, Leif. But that’s not what I need tonight.”
I got on my knees and pulled my sweater off in one quick move, before I could talk myself out of it.
“Jesus,” Leif said. His eyes dropped to my lacy black bra. I knew what the bra did to my breasts. It’s why I’d worn it.
“Will you help me see this plan through?”
Leif closed his eyes for a moment. But when he opened them again, there was a fire in them. A need. His hands slid to either side of my face. “I’m flying home tomorrow. My whole life is school.”
“So no need for next morning awkwardness.”
He leaned closer. “I guess not.” He hesitated. “Noelle, are you sure—”
“Kiss me, Leif.”
At the touch of his lips on mine, my body exploded with a potent combination of adrenaline, hormones, and pure need. His tongue danced across my lips, and when they parted, a low rumble emanated from his chest.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he breathed against my neck, kissing a hot trail down my throat. He tipped me gently back onto the bed and continued his path down over the lacy cups of my bra, his breath hot, his touch instantly constricting my nipples through the thin fabric.
He cupped both breasts, letting out a low growl as I arched my back, tipping my breasts toward his mouth.
“More,” I whispered.
Leif slipped his fingers under the straps of my bra, sliding them down my shoulders and flipping the bra inside out, revealing my aching breasts.
“So perfect,” he repeated, before greedily pulling a nipple into his mouth. I moaned, conscious of needing to be quiet, even though my room was at the far end of the house from my parents’ bedroom.
My pussy throbbed in my jeans, and I wrapped a leg around Leif’s thigh as he teased one breast, then another. I needed us to be wearing far less clothes.
As if he heard my thoughts, he stood up then, pulling his sweater and t-shirt off with one quick movement.
I was wrong. Leif wasn’t slim. He was lithe, his body muscular and long. His body looked like it was made for pure efficiency; there was nothing superfluous, nothing wasted.
Desire rippled through his features as he stared down at me unbuttoning my jeans.
“God, Noelle,” he breathed as I shimmied out of them. No sense in taking it slow. That’s not what tonight was for.
There was a bulge behind his zipper that made liquid heat curl in my abdomen. I got up on my knees in my underwear, undoing the buckle of his pants. I undid the button, then the zipper, and a moment later, I freed him.
He was the perfect size. Bigger than Patrick, I thought smugly. Hot and hard as steel in my hand.
He groaned as I stroked him.
“Christ,” he said. “You feel—your hands.”
Leif looked at me with this kind of unbridled amazement, like he couldn’t quite believe where we were.
I couldn’t ever remember my ex looking at me like I was a treasure.
Leif brushed the hair back from my face as I stroked his length with my hands.
“Like this?” I asked, running my thumb over his tip.
He groaned. Glossy liquid made my palms slip as I slid my whole hand over the end of his cock.
“No,” he said.
I paused. “Not like this?”
He laughed, wrapping his hand around mine to stop me. “No, I mean you need to stop, or I won’t last.”
Heat surged between my legs.
His eyes stayed on mine as he knelt on the bed between my legs. Oh Jesus. Was he going to—
Leif bent down and kissed me right above the waistline of my underwear.
All thoughts flew straight out of my brain.
His kisses—they were like the touches of something magical.
Heat and sparking energy flittered through me at each one he pressed down across my stomach, hips, and a moment later, between my legs.
I fully expected him to come back up, but to my surprise, he said, “I need to taste you now, Noelle.”