Chapter 16
Beth regretted her actions just as soon as her lips touched Noah’s mouth.
What was she thinking? She had nothing to prove to Jeremy. He was the lowest of the low. A cheater. The worst.
As for Noah, what on earth would he think of her? Just going up and kissing him like that? He must think she was totally crazy, as well as being extremely offensive.
When the idea to tell Jeremy that she was already dating somebody else had appeared in her brain, she hadn’t thought it through. But with Jeremy pushing her over and over, she had felt near to breaking point, unable to get rid of him.
And then handsome Noah had appeared at the door and she had hit upon what she had thought was a brilliant idea.
Now she just had to brace herself for him to back away and ask her what on earth she was thinking of by kissing him, as any normal, sane person would do.
And yet, as she began to pull back, she realised that his hands were now on her hips and he was drawing her closer.
Much closer. The kiss deepened and all of her objections and racing thoughts melted away.
It was an incredible kiss. She wasn’t even sure she’d ever been kissed like that before with such intensity.
Finally Noah drew back his lips from hers, his dark eyes smiling down. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes unreadable. Then she saw a twinkle in them as he drew his arms around her and leant his head down to hers again.
The second kiss was even more unexpected. Soft. Persistent. Incredible.
Finally, he drew back slightly from her face.
‘You were warned that I had a bad reputation,’ he murmured against her lips, the words soft enough that only she could hear them. ‘Reformed, obviously.’
‘Obviously,’ she murmured, somewhat dazed and breathless.
She tried to think of something else to say as he looked down at her.
But not a single thought came into her usually chatty brain.
The kiss had been wonderful, amazing. She was completely and utterly stunned and was somewhat grateful that Noah was still holding onto her as she was certain that otherwise she would have just sunk onto the floor.
She looked over his shoulder at her friends and the Jackson family who were equally shocked into silence as they stared at them from the doorway.
Somebody who wasn’t speechless was Jeremy, however.
‘W-w-what?’ she heard him splutter. ‘What is this?’
‘Isn’t it obvious?’ asked Noah. But he was still looking down at Beth and she back up at him.
‘We’re dating,’ she said, finally getting her mouth to work. ‘It was an instant attraction kind of thing.’
Noah’s eyes were dark as they twinkled down at her in humour.
Jeremy cleared his throat. ‘Well, you certainly moved on fast.’
Finally, Beth broke the look with Noah and turned around to stare at her ex-boyfriend. ‘Not as fast as you,’ she told him. ‘At least our relationship was finished before I started another one.’
‘I’ve told you before…’ began Jeremy.
But he wasn’t given a chance to finish whatever excuse he had been planning to come out with. Beth decided to take control once and for all and took Noah’s hand to lead him away.
‘I’ll catch up with you later,’ she called back to Jeremy. ‘Or not. It depends how busy I am.’
She managed to leave the room with her head held high, clinging desperately onto Noah’s hand until they were safely inside the Snug and she could close the door behind them.
Finally out of view of Jeremy, she abruptly dropped his hand and spun around to face Noah.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she immediately said, keeping her voice low. ‘I suppose you’re wondering what this is all about.’
‘You mean your plan to enrage your ex-boyfriend by pretending that we’re together?’ he said, leaning against the snooker table with a smile playing on his lips.
‘Oh, well, yeah, you’ve pretty much guessed it correctly,’ she replied, giving him a sheepish look.
‘Wasn’t that hard to figure out, to be honest,’ he told her. ‘And I’m happy to help.’
‘You are?’ She looked at him. ‘So you’re a good guy wrapped in a bad boy coating.’
He laughed, his face even more handsome when it was relaxed and smiling.
‘So what happens now?’ he asked.
She gave a start. ‘Now? Well, he leaves and that’s the end of that.’
‘But from what I understand, he can’t leave tonight. All the roads are blocked.’
Beth was aghast, as she realised her fundamental error with her impetuousness. ‘No!’ she spluttered. ‘I completely forgot!’
Noah nodded. ‘It’s going to be at least morning before the roads are cleared,’ he carried on.
‘So Jeremy’s stuck here all night?’ Beth’s mind was racing. ‘But that would mean…’ Her voice trailed off as she stared at Noah.
He raised his eyebrows at her in question although she could tell from his expression that he pretty much knew what she was implying in any case.
‘I hadn’t thought this through,’ she said, dragging a hand through her hair. ‘I just went with my gut instinct. I just wanted to show him that I’m a catch. That he shouldn’t expect me just to pick up the pieces and rush back into his arms.’
‘I agree with you on that point,’ he told her.
‘You do?’ she asked, surprised.
‘So I guess we’d better keep up the ruse for a while longer, hadn’t we?’ Noah straightened up and uncrossed his arms.
‘Okay,’ she nodded, still in somewhat of a daze. ‘I suppose so.’
As he walked past her, Noah stopped, a smile playing on his lips that he brought ever so close to hers once more. ‘At least you know the sofa in my room is comfortable,’ he whispered, before giving her a wink.
Beth waited until he had left the room before she slowly sagged into a nearby leather armchair and let out a long breath. At least it was only for one night, she thought. But what on earth had she just started?