26. Noah
Noah
“You didn’t need to do that for me. I know what losing the contract could cost you,” Bailey told me, wringing her hands.
I hadn’t seen her since I stalked out of our meeting earlier, and I had just turned up outside her door. I scoffed, angry that she thought she wasn’t worth standing up for—worth risking it all for.
“Didn’t need to do that?” I asked, incredulous. “Bailey, he spoke down to you. Belittled you. I wasn’t going to sit around and allow that to happen.”
“He all but threatened to ruin your name in this town, which has been around a hell of a lot longer than I have,” she replied. “A town that means everything to you—”
“You mean everything to me,” I exclaimed.
She froze.
I ran my fingers through my hair, desperate for her to start putting herself first for once.
“I could lose it all. Everything. But if I had you?” I shook my head slowly. “If I had you, I’d still have everything.”
Her breath caught.
“Being with you is like coming home, Bailey. Like running inside from a storm and finally getting a chance to breathe. No matter how shitty the day is, or how pissed off someone makes me, getting to come back to you makes everything right.”
She took a small step back like my words had physically hit her.
“You can’t say things like that,” she whispered, shaking her head. “You can’t decide I’m worth burning your whole life down for.”
“I’m not burning anything down,” I said quietly. “I’m choosing what matters.”
“That’s not your choice to make,” she said, voice cracking. “You don’t get to gamble your future because someone hurt my feelings.”
My jaw tightened. “Hurt your feelings?”
“You know what I mean.”
“No, Bailey, I don’t.” I stepped closer. “You’ve spent so much time minimizing what people do to you that you don’t even hear yourself anymore.”
Her eyes watered, and I instantly felt like a dick for making her cry.
“Come here, baby. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry. I just can’t understand why you don’t see what everyone else sees in you.”
I tugged her toward me and tucked her close to my chest, squeezing her tight. She mumbled something into my shirt.
“Say that again,” I murmured, brushing my thumb over her wet cheek.
“I’m afraid if I make one wrong move, step on one rogue landmine, my life will blow up. That I will lose Bexley, the inn…” she trailed off.
Me.
I tightened my hold.
“I can’t go through that. It would ruin me, Noah. It would cut me in a way my parents were never capable of, because once you get a taste of being important to someone, losing them hurts more than never having them at all.”
I stroked her hair and breathed for a moment. I wanted to let her statement simmer so she knew I heard her—that I saw her.
“Sometimes we have to do things even though they scare us,” I said softly. “Because living a life of what-ifs isn’t a life worth living. I want you to mess up with me. Make a mistake, say the wrong thing. I want to show you that how I feel about you isn’t conditional.”
I tilted her chin up so she had to look at me.
“So do it scared, baby,” I said, holding her gaze with every ounce of sincerity I possessed. “You and me? People like us? We’re inevitable. And I’ll spend every damn day proving it.”
She stared at me for a long moment like she was searching for the catch. Her fingers tightened in the fabric of my shirt, and she nuzzled her face deeper into my chest.
“Mhmk,” she mumbled.
“Come again?” I asked.
She looked up at me with that gorgeous, tear-stained face.
“Okay,” she said softly. “I’m not fighting this anymore. Let’s do it scared. I may not trust myself, but I trust you. And I’m tired of letting fear hold me hostage.”
She snaked her arms around my neck and pulled me down for the most tender kiss. A kiss that said I’m pouring my trust into you, and please don’t make me regret it. I kept our foreheads touching even after we pulled apart.
“What now?” she asked.
I rubbed my nose against hers.
“Now we figure it out together.”
She studied my face for a moment, like she was memorizing my expression.
“Like…as your girlfriend or something?” she asked gently.
I grinned.
“Yeah, baby. Like my girlfriend.” I playfully tugged on one of her curls. “I’m all in. I don’t know how to do halfway with you.”
“Any perks come with the title?” she teased.
“Perks,” I repeated, my voice lowering. “Like getting to kiss my girlfriend whenever I want.”
“That does sound like a good perk,” she whispered.
I kissed her slowly, like I had all the time in the world. Like this wasn’t something fragile anymore. We had a weight behind us now that would let us fall as hard as we wanted to for each other.
I picked her up and carried us toward the bed, sitting down with her straddling my lap. I hesitated, searching her face one more time.
She smiled, small and steady.
“Do it scared,” she whispered.
Her response was all it took.
I pressed my lips against hers, eager to taste her. This time felt different. This time, we were allowed to be as hungry as we wanted for each other, because we knew someone would be there on the other side to catch us.
“I can’t go slow. Not this time, baby.” I nipped down her neck.
“Then don’t,” she breathed.
“Need you naked, Bailey. Now.”
She helped me pull her dress off, tossing it into the corner of the room. She was left in the hottest fucking lacy black set ever to grace God’s earth. Her dark nipples showed through the lace bra, and the panties—if you could even call them that—barely contained her ass.
“You had this on all day?” I growled.
She bit her lip and nodded. “I wanted to feel confident for my meeting earlier.”
I groaned. Could she be any more perfect?
“We’re going shopping after this. I need to buy you this in every color of the fucking rainbow.”
I ran my hands down the front of her body, reaching up to thumb her nipples through the lace. She shifted against me, her thighs bracketing mine as she rocked forward. The friction pulled a breathy sound from her throat. I grabbed her hips, helping her rock slowly against my thigh.
“Ride my thigh, baby,” I murmured. “Make a mess on me.”
Her breathing turned heavy as she rolled her hips, her nails digging into my shoulders.
Bailey was the perfect picture of pleasure—head thrown back, spine arched, pushing those gorgeous breasts right into my face.
I could feel the heat of her through the lace and how badly she needed the friction.
I increased the speed of her hips, watching her grind herself against my leg.
“Noah,” she said, breathless. “Don’t stop.”
I slid my thumb between her legs, pressing firmly against her clit and stroking slowly.
“Is that what you needed?” I murmured. “Need me to touch you so you can come?”
“Fuck me,” she breathed.
“Soon, baby. Soon.”
I pinched her clit lightly while tugging her nipple at the same time, pushing her closer to the edge. Her hips jerked, and she grabbed the back of my hair as her orgasm rippled through her body.
That was one.
I wanted to put that look of euphoria on her face every single day for the rest of my life. She caught her breath, her head resting on my shoulder while I stroked her back, murmuring how beautiful she was.
“How are you still clothed?” she asked.
I looked down at the damp spot on my thigh, wearing it like a badge of honor.
“What can I say?” I teased. “I wanted you to mark me.”
I stood, lifting her easily before setting her down in front of the bed. I reached for the hem of my shirt, more than ready to feel her skin against mine, when Bailey reached out and stopped me.
“Actually, let me.”
She tugged my shirt up and helped pull it over my head before slowly dragging her nails back down my chest until she reached the button of my slacks.
She toyed with the button and zipper, inching her hand closer to where I wanted it, but never quite reaching the promised land.
She stood up on her tiptoes, leaning toward my ear, and I bent down so she could reach me.
“I can’t wait to feel you inside of me.”