Chapter 16
“What the fuck?!”
I don’t know if it’s the words that startle me or if it’s the violent shaking of my body. But when I wake up, Lily is hovering over me, both hands on my shoulders.
The person next to me bolts up too, repeating the same words Lily was saying. “What the fuck?”
“God, you scared me to death,” Lily says falling back onto her ass, her breathing labored. “What in the hell are you two doing? I thought you were dead lying in the corner like this.”
I blink a few times. My head is still fuzzy and heavy. I take in my surroundings, and then I take in the man next to me who is scrubbing his hands over his face.
We’re still in the romance section, on the floor.
It all comes back to me like a memory I’m watching of someone else.
We kissed. Then my whole body spun until I slid to the floor, and he came with me.
Then we kissed some more, and more. If I remember correctly, we had a whole make-out session as if we were a couple of teenagers.
It was the most glorious thing to happen to me—ever.
And then we both passed out, right there in the romance section.
“We fell asleep,” I say, thinking that it makes perfect sense, but I suppose it doesn’t at all.
“You fell asleep, on the floor of the store, in the romance section?” Lily’s voice is rising. “What in the actual fuck, Emma?”
“Okay,” I start to rise to my knees and then to my feet by pulling myself up using the shelf. “I think I’ve heard that word enough times for today. What time is it?”
“It’s nine-fucking-o’clock,” she adds it in there for good measure. “The door was locked. The lights were half on. And I find you both in this pile on the floor. God, I almost had a heart attack.”
“We ate the brownie,” I said, as if that was going to make it all better.
“You ate the brownie? What brownie?”
“Mrs. Packer sent over a brownie, and we ate it.”
Lily draws in a breath and lets her shoulders drop, then she turns her attention to Noah. “They’re good, right?”
He blinks a few times and then nods. “Sure.”
“But they fuck you up.”
Now he laughs. “Hence the reason you found us on the floor like that, I guess.”
Noah looks up at me and there are many looks that settle on his face. There’s a secret we’re sharing—those kisses. There’s some horror that maybe we crossed a line, or maybe it’s regret for getting high in the first place. But what I notice most, the black circles are gone under his eyes.
I hold out a hand to Lily and help her off the ground, and Noah pushes himself to his feet.
“I suppose I should go home and get a shower,” I say.
“I’ll head to the hotel and do the same,” Noah says. “I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Hopefully the brownie gives you great inspiration,” Lily says, with a mix of humor and annoyance in her voice.
“I think I’m inspired,” he says, his eyes leveling on mine. “Can I bring some breakfast back? I’ll order something from the hotel.”
Lily shakes her head. “By the time you get back, it’ll be lunch time.”
“I’ll take an omelet,” I chime in. I need food, and if I let Lily keep talking, I’ll end up with a soggy salad again.
Noah nods and starts for the office to collect his things, and only a moment later, he’s gone.
That’s when Lily turns on me. “What in the?—”
I hold up my hand. “We’ve used the F-word enough for today,” I say.
“I’m not sure we have.” She leans in. “Did you guys …”
“No,” I say cutting her off. “But we kissed.”
“You kissed.”
“That’s what I said.”
I find that her grin confuses me more than it should.
“And you got high?” she says, that grin turning into an enormous smile.
“You get high all the time. Why are you busting my chops about this?”
“Because you don’t get high all the time. Who are you and what did you do with my best friend?”
“Shut up,” I say, moving past her and toward the front of the store.
“I’m not going to. You’re going to have sex with a stranger, and I want to know all about it.”
“I’m not having sex with him, and I’m not telling you anything.”
“Oh, yes you are,” she says as she follows me. “You’re entitled to this, Em. You need it.”
“It was a nice night,” I say, gathering my bag from under the counter. “It was fun.”
“Of course it was. He’s no slouch in the looks department, and he must not be quite as grumpy as he comes across.”
Turning to her, I ease against the counter. “I’m in uncharted territory. You’re right, he’s a stranger. A stranger from New York. He’s going to go back to New York.”
“I’m so jealous of you right now.”
I snort out a laugh. “Why?”
“Because this is what it’s all about, right? I mean we’re in our fifties. We should be able to have all the sex with strangers we want.”
Lifting my brows, I bore a look into her. “We? You’re happily married.”
“I am. And I’m having lots of great sex,” she does a little dance. “But you deserve to have lots of sex with strangers, and you don’t.”
“It’s not my style. It never has been.”
“Then make it your style. Make him your style. He’s hot, Em.”
I feel that flush coming over me again. Yes, he’s hot. And from what I can remember of the kisses before we both passed out, his kisses are hot too.
The door opens and two ladies walk into the store. We greet them and they begin to browse.
“I’ll be back shortly,” I say, hiking my bag up on my shoulder.
“Em, seriously, I know you don’t want to get hurt again.
But let go a little. That was a long time ago, and some guy is into you.
And, yeah, he’s going to leave, but have fun for the moment.
Maybe it’ll lead to something else with someone else.
But, don’t die on the hill Sean left you on.
You’re a successful woman who deserves something more than a heavily annotated book in your nightstand. ”
That has me shaking my head as I walk to the front door. “Oh,” I turn back to Lily. “Check out the newest Jennifer Zeppelin book.”
“Steamy?”
“O! M! G!” I say much too loudly before I leave the store.
I walk around the back of the store to my car, and I’m more than a little surprised to find Noah leaned up against it.
“I thought you were going to the hotel,” I say.
“I wanted a few more minutes.”
“For what?”
He stands and walks toward me, lifting his hands to cup my face. “To kiss you some more.”
That spinning sensation is back, and I wonder if that’s just what he does to me, or if I’m still high.
“Can I kiss you, Emma?” he asks when his lips hover over mine.
“Yes,” I sigh out the word before my eyes close and let Noah Carter take me under with a sobering kiss.
It’s not a quick kiss and when his mouth opens, and his tongue sweeps against mine, I moan and ease into him.
I want this.
I do need this.
I want him.
I need him.
Noah eases back, his hands still on my face. “I had a great time last night.”
Swallowing hard, I study him as he studies me. “I don’t usually get high like that.”
“I know.”
“I don’t just make out with strangers either.”
“I’m no stranger. I’ve known you for years,” he says, his lips curling up into a smile.
“You’re right. You have.” If that makes me more comfortable, then I’ll accept it, even if I were just a name on an email over a decade ago.
“Let me become less of a stranger in the next three weeks. I’d like to keep doing this,” he says as he eases in and kisses me again.
I’m going to fall into this feet first. I’m going to feel things for this man that I know can’t be reciprocated, because in the end, he will go home.
It’s okay to let go a little , I say to myself as his lips work against mine and my body goes pliant against his. It’s okay.