Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Stone
N oa saved the day.
I shouldn’t be surprised. The woman has a superpower in bettering a situation simply by being present.
Ma got the Thanksgiving she wanted, and while her condition is no longer a secret, I’m bowled over by the amount of support this close circle of people gives me.
I shouldn’t be surprised at that, either, but big cities have changed me.
I’m suspicious, cautious, and constantly searching for a person’s true motive.
Falcon Haven is as static as a storybook, unchanging and picturesque with its down-home country vibe.
The residents have grown, but the sentiment remains the same: we lift up our own.
The love my mother received tonight was almost too much to witness.
She deserves love like this every day, and she gets it.
But to see it so concentrated in one room, to watch everyone do their damnedest to keep that smile on her face?
I’m about ready to break, and I will never do that alone, never mind in front of a crowd.
I excuse myself while Rome is deep into one of his ranch stories involving a barn owl and his feed supply, exiting with little notice—except for Noa.
She watches me depart, and I don’t feel her eyes leave me until I pass through the doorway.
Her confession to Carly rings in my ears, louder now that the worry over my mother has settled into a low ache.
Before I heard her, I was convinced last night was different.
We didn’t have sex; we made love. I’ve never in my life kept eye contact with a woman well past orgasm.
Noa was so soft and supple, butter in my hands.
Her soft cries echo in my head, sounds of true devotion. Proof that I’m hers.
Fuck. I didn’t read any of it correctly.
I can’t read her anymore, not the way I used to.
That truth rattles inside my chest as I push outside onto the front patio, where my exhales turn into icy clouds. The glow and warmth from inside don’t follow. I’m plunged into midnight blue with white casts of electric light from the outdoor lamps.
In my haste, I’d forgotten a jacket, goose bumps blasting across my skin and my teeth turning cold.
I embrace the numbing freeze, preferable to the heated conflict inside my head. Leaning on the railing, I look up at the moon, full and gray, coated in winter as much as I am.
“Thought I’d find you out here.”
The snick of a lighter follows Aaron’s voice. I half turn to greet him.
“Want one?” he asks as he comes up beside me, holding up a cigarette.
My cloudy exhales coat his offering. “I shouldn’t.”
“For so many reasons,” Aaron agrees. He sticks it into the corner of his mouth, dips his head, and cups the lighter before saying, “But I won’t tell.”
He inhales, puffing out the smoke, then hands it to me.
I take it, closing my eyes as I take a deep inhale, the nicotine doing its work. I take my time blowing out the smoke. “Thank you.”
“Did it help?”
“Not a bit.”
Aaron chuckles. There’s no mirth in it. “I knew it was bad, but I didn’t know how bad. I’m sorry, my friend. Truly.”
I nod, staring out into the road.
“I’ll be honest. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to handle coming back here. With the way your mom is, I was sure you’d act out your anger somehow and do something stupid. No offense.”
“None taken,” I say wryly, yanking the cigarette from him again.
“Your ex, though. Noa. She’s keeping you level. Anyone can see it.”
“What, I can’t do it all by myself? I need some sort of anchoring force to keep me from doing bad things?”
“Yup.”
“Thanks for the support.”
“You understand where I’m coming from, Stone. During the worst times of our lives, we need someone who cares about us to keep us from going under. In my fucked-up way, I’m telling you I’m glad you have that woman. You and I both know without her, I’d be here for different reasons.”
I’m silent for a moment. “I can’t argue with that.”
“Do you regret letting her go?”
I hand the cigarette back. “I’m not in the right mind to get into it.”
Not since Noa explained we were nothing but good sex.
“I think she regrets it,” Aaron continues.
“You wouldn’t if you heard what I did.” I push off the railing. “We should get back.”
But Aaron’s relentless. “But if you saw what I did, you’d believe me. You know what it means when a woman is in a room filled with handsome bachelors and she only pays attention to one?”
I sigh. “Let me guess. It means she’s obsessed with your good looks?”
“Nope.” Aaron flicks the butt over the railing and into the frosted-over grass. “It means you’re her soulmate.”
Everybody stays to help with the cleanup. Ma falls asleep as soon as we leave her bedroom, Noa assisting with that by giving her nightly pain meds.
When the last plate is rinsed and put in the dishwasher, our guests say their goodbyes.
Aaron, unsurprisingly, is the last to leave, taking a bottle of my best whiskey with him to the B&B he’s staying at in town.
“I’ll be here until Sunday evening,” he says as he heads out. “Let’s have a meeting that morning for brunch. We can discuss your next steps.”
It’s unavoidable and a large reason he’s here.
Millspace’s deadline is fast approaching, and I don’t feel any closer to finalizing the deal.
My laptop is growing cobwebs. I’m risking millions by delaying and my reputation is on the line.
Every drop of sweat I’ve put into my career, every sacrifice, every reason to leave Falcon Haven and Noa behind will be for nothing.
That alone should spur me into action, but the next morning, after a night on the pull-out instead of beside Noa, I don’t give a fuck.
It’s no great shock to see Noa fussing around in the kitchen when I wander in, rubbing the top of my head.
“You’re up early,” she observes.
She turns, and I take her in. She’s in running gear, tight leggings, and a form-fitting zip-up. I’d call the color bluish-purple, a spectacular complement to her dark hair and pale complexion.
Her breasts are squished up and held in the exact position they need to be for me to hold them in both palms and lick between the creases.
In fact …
Her gaze lowers to my midsection, where my hard-on is visible through my briefs.
“Stone,” she says, her attention staying on my cock.
I respond by crowding in on her and placing my arms on either side, pressing her back into the fridge.
“Mm. You look so fucking delicious right now.”
A small smile tickles her lips. “I was about to go for a run.”
I lower my head, sucking on the side of her neck. “I can think of a better way to burn calories.”
She moans, her head tilting so my tongue can have better access. “Stone, I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“Isn’t this what you want?” I murmur into her warm skin. “Good sex? That’s what we do, right?”
Her head straightens. “Um. Yes, sure, but?—”
“Then let’s fuck.”
I cup her ass and lift her until her legs wrap around my torso.
She lets me kiss her and mewls softly when I massage her ass cheeks, but she pulls away and wriggles out of my hold. “I can’t. Not right now.”
I release her.
“Use me.” I splay out my hands. “For your pleasure.”
Her expression ripples. “We can’t. I wanted to get a run in before your mom wakes up. I’m sure she will need extra care today after all the activity yesterday. She’ll be up soon, and I have pent-up frustration to release, too. It’s not just you.”
Point made. “You’re right. I’ll watch her. Get a run in.”
“Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.”
She pauses halfway through her turn to the door. “I want to.”
The last thing either of us needs is to complicate our current situation with more feelings.
I wait for the front door to open and close before slamming my palm into the kitchen door, keeping my hand there as I lower my head and rest it on the inside of my arm, my pent-up frustration having nowhere to go.