Chapter Twenty-Six
Noah
Bree’s scream woke Noah in the middle of the night. She’d been having nightmares since the break-in, and while they’d been less frequent, they were no less frightening. Noah jumped out of bed, bleary-eyed, and walked to her room, knocking softly before opening the door all the way. Bree let out a heart-wrenching scream again, twisting around in her sheets, her body thrashing wildly. He walked over and sat on the side of the bed, careful to avoid her flailing limbs as much as possible. This one was bad.
“Bree,” He said quietly, gently shaking her shoulder. “Bree!” He said again, a little more loudly this time. Her eyes flew open, and her terror-filled gaze met his. Her breaths came out in ragged gasps, and tears streamed down her face.
“Noah?” She croaked through the tears.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“I’m so sorry I keep waking you up. I have these dreams where he takes me away from you, and I never find you again and…and…” choked sobs shook her body. His heart broke at her distress.
“It’s okay, Bree. I’ll wake up with you a thousand times if that’s what it takes for you to feel safe again.” Noah pulled her into his arms and held her there until her breathing started to steady.
“Goodnight, Bree.” He said softly.
“Noah?” She said sleepily. “Will you stay with me?”
“Bree, I shouldn’t—”
“Please, Noah? Please.” Her voice broke on the last word.
“Okay, scoot over.” He said, slipping in next to her. Noah lifted his arm, and she snuggled up against him, her head on his chest. He moved some of her hair away from his face so he wouldn’t suffocate and then stroked her hair. His poor babe. She fell asleep quickly, and he soon found his eyes were also heavy despite the tingling sensation in his arm from keeping his hand in that position. Noah closed his eyes just for a moment, enjoying the feeling of having Aubrey close to him.
He woke up in the morning unsure why it felt as though he had a dead limb. He looked down, enjoying the feel of Aubrey pressed against him, her head and left hand still on his chest. A mental image of a ring sitting on her bare fourth finger flashed through his mind and did strange things to his stomach. He needed to get up.
Noah tried not to disturb her, but the arm she was lying on was no longer taking commands from his central nervous system. Apparently, sleeping like that worked better in fantasy than in real life. Those romance movies should have to pay restitution to all the men who had to chop off dead limbs after having someone lay on it for eight hours. The things they’d do for love.
Noah used his good arm to pull his other one out, shaking it slightly once it was free to try and get some feeling back. Bree’s eyes found his, and she blinked awake slowly.
“Good morning, Bree,” Noah said, his voice still a little deeper than usual from sleep.
“Good morning.” A bright blush spread across her cheeks, and Noah smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss.
“Don’t go down the rabbit hole, Bree. I don’t mind that you asked me to stay. I enjoyed it.”
She nodded warily like she didn’t believe him, and he tilted her chin up and gave her another light kiss. She was so beautiful. She climbed out of bed and made it as she did every morning. Noah reached over and pulled her back into him.
She squealed, and Noah smiled, wrapping her tightly in his arms. “Are you feeling okay this morning? You’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” He teased.
“I’ll revive you. I’ve seen a TikTok or two on how to do CPR. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” She said, trying and failing to keep a straight face.
“I have full faith in you.”
“What time is it?”
“A little after ten.”
“Noah! I have to get ready.”
“The gala isn’t until this evening, Bree.”
“It takes time to get beautiful.”
“You’re always beautiful.” He said, pulling her close and nuzzling into her neck.
She grinned and snuggled further into his arms under the cozy blankets. “Okay…ten minutes, and then you need to go entertain yourself while I get ready.”
“Deal.” He said, kissing the top of her head softly.
He could get used to holding her like this.
***
Noah walked toward Bree’s room, eager to see how she was since nerves seemed to overtake her earlier. Not that he could blame her. Public speaking was not his idea of a good time. Just as he approached the door, his phone rang, and he swiped up to answer quickly. “Hey, Theo.”
“Hey man, we finished going over the venue and checking it over. It is good to go for tonight. It looks like the blueprints are still accurate, and all exits listed are still in working order.”
“And the staff?”
“There are a significant number of VIP guests attending, so anyone working the event has been thoroughly background checked. Everyone inside the building has been vetted by two different companies.”
“Perfect. We’ll meet you guys there around 7:30.”
“We’ll be here by 6:30 to make sure we’ve gone over the space again and are ready for when Bree arrives,” Theo said.
Noah felt the knot in his gut loosen a little but still had the nagging feeling he was missing something that had the potential to cost him the best thing in his life—Aubrey. He should be concerned about how strong his feelings for her were, but instead he embraced them. She was it for him. He could feel it.
“Sounds good. I’ll text you when we leave Bree’s with our ETA and route.”
After a couple more minutes of working out logistics, he hung up the phone and poked his head in to check on Bree who was restlessly pacing along her bedroom. “What’s up, Bree?” He asked, walking over to her and wrapping his arms tightly around her from behind. Bree leaned into him and gave him all of her weight, resting against him. Her body pressed against his caused a heat to shoot through him, and he took a deep breath and tried to think of other things to distract him from the beautiful woman in his arms.
“I don’t know what to wear.” She sighed. “I can’t get away with my usual sweater and jeans at this thing.”
“Why not?”
“Noah!” She said, slapping him lightly on the arm.
“What?”
“It’s black tie. And I’m the keynote speaker.” She said.
“True, but I don’t care what you wear. Let them talk. You’ll look beautiful no matter what you wear.”
“You’re such a sweet talker.” She complained lightly. ”I had a dress picked out, but I didn”t like it when I put it on.” She grumbled.
Noah smiled at Bree before leaning down and giving her a gentle kiss. “I am one hundred percent honest. Whatever outfit you decide on will look perfect.”
“That’s super sweet and you’re not being helpful right now.” Bree laughed, ushering him out of the room. “I’ll figure it out.”
Noah hugged her tightly to him. “I can pick a dress if you want me to. I just don’t know that I’m the most qualified…”
“I’ll call Steph. I was going to from the beginning. I just wanted to see you sweat first.” Bree teased cheekily.
“Well, you succeeded.” Noah chuckled. “Do you want to go over your speech one more time before you get dressed?”
Bree looked at him contemplatively. “I don’t think so. At this point, I’ve either got it, and it will go great, or I don’t, and I’ll cause the whole event to crash and burn.”
“You’ve got this, Bree. You’re going to kill it.”
She nodded distractedly and leaned up for a kiss, resting her forehead against his for a moment before stepping back.
“Alright, Mr. Hawthorne. Beauty takes time. Get on out of here.”
Noah held up his hands in acquiescence, giving her a smoldering smile before he left her to get ready and headed to his own bedroom to shower and trim up his hair. His tuxedo was hanging in the closet, ready to go.
***
Two and a half hours later, Noah paced in the living room, his eye alternating between the clock and his watch. He pulled a little at the bow tie around his neck, the suffocating feeling always on the edges of his mind. This was why he didn’t require ties in the workplace. Bodyguards would not be useful if their own ties strangled them. A light clacking sound came from the hallway. He turned to look at Bree, and nearly fell to his knees.
Her hair was curled and up in some sort of complicated, but beautiful, updo that left a sprinkle of curls down to frame her cheeks. Her makeup was mostly natural, but a little heavier than normal, which drew attention to her stunning eyes before dragging the attention down to her lips, which looked perfect for kissing.
She chose the deep green gown that hugged her figure and brought out the color of her eyes. Bree smiled shyly at his reaction and spun in a circle and his eyes caught on the back of the gown which dipped a little lower in the back leaving lots open to the imagination. She looked delectable.
“You’re stunning.” He breathed as she stopped her twirl.
“The dress is gorgeous. Steph was super excited about this one. And…it has pockets!” She said excitedly, showing him the pockets.
Noah shook his head. “It’s not the dress—though the dress is nice. It’s you, Bree. You are kind, and warm, and thoughtful, and the goodness shines through you brighter than any star in the night sky. The dress merely accessorizes the inescapable internal beauty of the woman wearing it. You’re perfect.”
He walked over to her and pulled her to him tightly, leaning down and planting his lips over hers. She smiled, and he licked along the seam of her lips, seeking entrance. She opened for him with a sigh as she relaxed in his arms, and he kissed her long and deeply. Her vanilla scent surrounded him, and he was seriously considering keeping her home all to himself. After kissing her for a few minutes, he pulled away, both of them panting. Bree’s eyes flared with desire, and he was sure his did as well.
Noah cleared his throat. “We need to head to the gala before we end up missing it.”
Bree blushed and nodded. “Let me grab my clutch and shawl, and we can go.”
A few minutes later, Noah walked Bree out to the car, helping her in before heading to his side. He took a deep breath, trying to shake off the gnawing feeling in his gut. They’d gone over the blueprints multiple times and had a plan for just about any scenario imaginable. Likely unnecessarily, but better to be prepared for everything rather than be prepared for nothing. Tonight was a secure event and there would be multiple pairs of eyes on Bree. Everything was going to be fine.