Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Noah
Standing in the Monroe family restroom washing my hands, I look up at my reflection in the mirror and repeat to myself, “Just a few more hours, you got this.”
Turning around, I dry my hands on towels that look way too fancy to ever be touched.
Shaking my head at how some people choose to live, I ready my mind for the night ahead.
Opening the door, I walk back to join the party in the living room, on the very opposite side of this very vast suburban house, and wish for time to move faster.
Not just to bypass this night. But so I can get one day closer to moving back home.
Rex has been trying to get me up to the Monroes’ house for dinner since I first arrived in northern California.
He grew up with the Monroe family, and wanted me to like them as much as he and his parents do.
Every time he asked me to join him for dinner, I politely refused.
Spending time learning how the upper middle class enjoy their liberties is not something I ever desired to partake in.
Normally, upon invitation, I would have refused again.
This time, though, Rex played the mother card against me.
The asshole hadn’t even asked if I’d go, but rather had me answer the door when his parents showed up unexpectedly.
Rex’s mom gave me such a hard time and promised an evening of fun and laughter.
When that didn’t work, she gave me grief by saying how much she wished I would meet their family friends at least one time while I lived in California.
Eventually, I caved. Fifteen minutes later, I found myself in the car driving to the house and the family I had tried to avoid since moving out west.
I had met Michael Monroe a few times before, and knew he and Rex had some sort of bond.
They’ve been friends since they were in elementary school.
I can’t say I mind the guy, but I wouldn’t say he and I are destined to be friends.
Michael has an air about him that alludes to the fact that he thinks he’s better than everyone else.
I make it a point to rarely spend time in people’s company who hold such high opinions of themselves.
Entering the living room, I hear banter and laughter coming from the bar at the back end of the room. I know Michael’s younger sister is supposed to be at dinner, and if she is half as condescending as Michael is, I’ll need something stronger than beer to survive the night.
Michael I can maybe deal with. But throw in fake plastic chicks that flip their hair, and bat their eyelashes at everything and I’d rather pass.
It wouldn’t matter what his sister is like though, because ever since last night, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the girl from the pier. She’ll be the center of every fantasy of mine for a long time. One I’ve indulged in once or twice since she left me last night.
Our connection, our chemistry, the way I felt her body react to mine, is my new favorite drug.
Glancing up, my eyes grow wide as I take in who is sitting at the bar alongside Rex. Eva turns and looks me straight in the eye, then nervously swivels herself back around, giving me a perfect view of how her slender waist gives way to perfect round hips fit snugly in a tight black dress.
She whispers my name, “Noah?”
The way she says it leaves me immediately more aroused in her presence. It repeats in my mind, matching the thundering of my heart, as I imagine her saying it writhing in pleasure underneath me.
“Lucky guess or is there something I should know?” Rex playfully asks, completely oblivious to the truth.
I stare at Eva, not knowing who should speak first. Speechless, stunned, we both find ourselves at a loss for words. Although, this time, I don’t feel like I’m the one that has any explaining to do.
I wink at her when she glances over her shoulder at me. Her face blushes. I wonder how she would look breathless and flushed on top of me, or hell, looking back at me as I take her harshly from behind.
Eventually, Eva turns around and faces me. Time drags on anxiously. Normally, I don’t suffer from anxiety, but right now I feel like the walls are slowly closing in. Suddenly lightheaded, it’s as if everyone else is sucking all the oxygen out of the room.
Last night, after she left, I talked myself into the idea that maybe, given the chance, she’d want to see me again. But does she? Maybe I had misread our chemistry.
“Oh no, we’ve met,” Eva says as a sly smile spreads across her face. “Fancy meeting you here, Noah,” she continues. “You had to be the last person I thought I’d run into tonight.”
“Likewise,” I smile back.
It’s not the greeting that I fantasized about, or the one I played over and over in my mind while lying in bed last night, and this morning, but it isn’t a slap in the face either
Rex looks at the two of us in disbelief. His head turns to Eva first, then to me, then back to Eva. In an extreme state of shock, his mouth falls open as he tries to understand what’s going on.
“Noah, you want another beer?” Michael calls out from behind the bar. I silently thank God for his tiny distraction.
“I’d love another beer,” I reply, smiling at Eva, and pushing between her and Rex to take a seat at the bar beside her.
“This is that friend of mine that moved out with me after college,” Rex says, perplexed. Shaking his head, he continues, “How have you two met before? I’ve been trying to get him over here for months now, but he always refuses.”
Eva eyes me curiously. My gaze drifts from her breathtaking eyes to her mouth. I lick my lips, remembering her taste.
“So, you think you’re too good for us huh?” she asks, teasing me.
God, what I wouldn’t give for the opportunity to tease her back, and watch her body rise into a frenzied need.
My gaze lifts back to hers. “Well, if I would have known you’d be here, I definitely would have come a lot sooner.” I wink at her, then take a sip of my beer, and never break eye contact. I make it a long sip, hopeful it calms the nerves rising inside my gut.
She leans forward on the bar, and I unintentionally glance down at her delectable cleavage. Glancing back up, she provocatively replies, “But then that wouldn’t have given us that wild and crazy night in the bar now would it?”
Licking her lips, I suddenly catch my breath. Damn, I’d love to give her wild and crazy, slow and sweet, or any way she likes it, just so long as I’m the one giving it to her.
“Whoa … whoa … whoa,” Rex shouts. “What the hell did I miss?”
Eva throws her head back, and laughs at his comment, making me notice once again the unintentional way she captivates everyone’s attention in the room.
Every ounce of this woman is alluring. Rex’s brother, Trevor has made his way over to the group during our conversation and takes the empty seat on the other side of Eva.
I watch as Trevor seems to respond the same way I do to her charm.
I can’t deny the jealous tug that immediately starts to build in my veins.
If I would have known this little brat was all over trying to get a piece of her too, I would have never declined a dinner invitation, and would’ve made sure to have staked my claim a long time ago.
“Don’t get too excited,” she giggles. “Nothing like what you would consider wild and crazy, Rex. He saved me from, shall we say, your typical bar rat?” She looks at me for confirmation, to which I nod, and then watch as Trevor scoots his chair a little bit too close to her for my liking.
“You know,” she continues, “the type that can’t keep their hands off, thinks no means yes, and convinces themselves that every girl is asking for it.”
“Want me to make you another one, sis?” Eva’s brother asks.
She nods, and finishes her drink. She leans across the bar, pulls a cherry out from a dish, and plops it in her mouth. As her mouth closes around the stem, I fight the urge to push her back against the bar and taste the cherry flavor on her tongue.
“I would have saved you,” Trevor mumbles under his breath. She smiles at him and Trevor longingly smiles back.
Yup, it’s confirmed. This guy thinks he can just roll up and stake claim to what I intend to make mine. Game on. Sorry, Trev. But I intend to make sure you don’t have a fucking chance.
“So, how’s business?” Eva asks Rex and Michael.
Her brother and Rex opened a nightclub in Auburn about a year ago when Rex and I returned home from school.
The two of them had always talked about going into business together, and now that they both have degrees, and money isn’t an issue due to their well-off family names, they pursued their childhood dream and recently opened up one of the biggest watering holes this side of the Mississippi.
Gatsby’s sits on top of a large hill in Old Town Auburn.
It’s an upscale lounge made to look vintage with an art deco edge.
The town of Auburn always needed a place like Gatsby’s, and the club’s popularity came quickly.
Anybody who wants to be seen and known about town flocks to Gatsby’s on a regular if not almost nightly basis.
They drink and schmooze their nights away in a way that would make Gatsby proud.
I made it a point not to frequent there often. I’d heard enough stories from Rex to know that it isn’t a place I want to be.
“I still love that you took the name I suggested,” Eva says. “It’s masculine with just enough of a lustful edge.”
“Anything to make the ladies lustful,” Rex jokes. “There was this one that came in the other night with the biggest ass and perfect fucking tits that…”
“On another note,” Eva loudly interrupts, making Rex laugh.
“Business is great as always,” Michael says. “We’re about to have our first holiday season. We’ve planned a lot of special events. It should be impressive. Maybe you should write about it. Put it in the paper and help your brother out!”
“We’ll talk this week, and I’ll get the details. We have the next edition of the magazine coming up, and I know Rob has been wanting to create more articles to bring in younger readers. I’m sure he would be all over it,” Eva suggests.
“Wait, you’re a writer?” I ask, intrigued and slightly turned on. A writer’s sexy. I can imagine her in glasses, clicking away on her keyboard, deep in thought late at night, writing about things I know nothing about. I’ll gladly give her inspiration though, if she’d let me.
“I am. Majored in journalism. What’s your superpower?” she jokes.
“I work best with my hands,” I tease. Her cheeks turn the loveliest shade of pink. She glances at my hands and licks her lips.
“Construction, mostly,” I laugh. She wiggles nervously in her seat, trying to regain her train of thought. “Mostly odd jobs to keep me and my hands busy,” I joke. “Although back home I worked at the local fire station.”
Leaning in, she whispers, “Maybe one day you can show me just how skilled your hands are.”
Fuck, she has no idea. I’m seconds away from saying screw it, damn all the people in the room, I’ll show her just how these hands want to control that sinful body of hers, but Rex cuts off my train of thought as he comes around the bar, pops open yet another beer, and then does the same for Trevor who is currently staring me down. If looks could kill, I’d be a dead man.
Man up, Trev. I don’t know your history here, but there is no way I am going to let you be her future.
“Noah here is still finishing up his degree online back at U of M,” Rex fills Eva in. “We’re trying to get him to help with an addition at the club. He’s majoring in business, and wants to open his own construction company, but we can’t talk him into sticking …”
“Hey, Michael,” I exclaim loudly. “Didn’t you say Amber’s parents might be needing to hire someone for an addition on their outdoor deck?”
Sure Rex was about to mention me moving home, I suddenly felt the need to cut him off. It’s not like I’ve changed my mind. No doubt about it, I’m moving back to Kentucky as soon as I can arrange for it. But for some reason, I don’t want Eva knowing just yet.
Michael is about to respond when David, Eva’s father, returns to the bar and huddles around the back of Eva and Rex. Poking his head in the middle of our group’s endless chitchat, he looks at us with a wide lazy grin.
“Time to come and get it, kids. Don’t make that wife of mine angry. I’m not running interference for you this time,” he says.
I watch as all the “kids” in question quickly finish their drinks and stand, obviously ready to please, especially if it means avoiding the wrath of Mrs. Cynthia Monroe. Even though this is my first time meeting the lady, she undoubtedly makes me nervous enough to never want to step out of line.
Rex and Trevor head off first. Trevor looks back with slight jealousy as Eva stands up and walks alongside me.
The air between us becomes electric. We fall into a comfortable silence.
Every few steps, she glances my way, but I haven’t taken my eyes off her once.
She smiles at me every time our eyes meet.
When she does, it adds another layer to the endless sexual tension that’s been building between the two of us since yesterday.
Michael and Amber trail behind last. When we reach the doorway to the dining room, I pause and wait for Eva to pass through first. Half of the reason is my mamma raised me to have good manners. The other is, I’d be lying if it wasn’t also wanting to admire that beautiful body of hers as she passes.
“Ladies first,” I say, confidently placing my hand on the small of her back.
I let my hand slip a little too far south and watch as she looks back at me defiantly, daring me to take it further.
Her teasing disobedience is almost my undoing, and I can hardly contain the urge to grab her and push her and that tiny excuse for a skirt up so I can fuck her against the door frame.
Whoever invented ladies first was definitely an ass man. My compliments to him as I watch the amazing view in front of me.
She has no clue just how badly I want her. The thought scares me because I promised myself I’d never allow myself to feel like this again.
“Chivalry. I like it,” she says, leaning back into my touch.
“I don’t get it,” Amber says behind us, bringing my attention back from venturing further into dangerous thoughts. “I thought your name was Noah? Who’s chivalry?”
Eva and I try to hide our laughs as best we can, but they bubble over as we find our seats at the table.
Michael looks embarrassed, and quickly ushers his date away to find their seats as well.
I settle in across the table from Eva and can’t tear my eyes away from hers long enough to even notice the people setting platters of food on the table.
Oh, I’m hungry alright, but the only thing that can satisfy me, is her.