Chapter 23 #2
“You can get out of here, Caitlin.” Oh, that was Noah’s voice coming from the bear enclosure.
“Everyone’s gone,” he added. “I’ll do the last check.”
“Thanks, Noah,” a disembodied voice said. Gravel crunched underfoot as another volunteer left, and then Noah rounded the corner. They were alone again—really alone. There was a palpable sense of possibility in the air.
“Not much action tonight,” she said. There she went again, filling the silence. “You guys really need to think about the food truck idea. I promise if you do it on a Friday, you’ll drum up all kinds of business from tired parents.”
“Do you ever stop making unsolicited suggestions?” he asked, but this time, it felt like more of a tease than a reprimand.
“I do not,” she confirmed. “It’s just so easy. Fixing all your financial problems before the end of the season is a pretty attainable goal, but someone”—she poked him in the shoulder—“is just too stubborn.”
They walked down the tree-lined path toward the intersection. Was it her imagination, or did he just move a little closer? Her entire body was on high alert.
“Why do you always insist on pointing out my character flaws?” he asked.
“Probably because mine were on full display last night. Makes me feel a little better to bring you down to my level. Care to confess any other flaws? ’Cause this playing field is still lumpy as hell.”
He caught her hand and spun her around, and before she could breathe, he’d pressed her against an enclosure fence. His lips were an inch away, and he looked deeply into her eyes.
Her heart stopped.
They shouldn’t do this. But he was holding her in the sultry June heat, and if she was being honest, she had never wanted anything as badly as him in this moment.
“I do have a confession, actually,” he said softly.
“Oh?” That was all her brain could come up with.
“I got rid of Caitlin on purpose because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about last night,” he said, trailing a hand up her arm.
She had almost forgotten to breathe. “Because I was a drunk mess.”
“No. Because you were so beautiful. Vulnerable,” he said, bringing a hand up to cup her chin. “And it took every ounce of self-control I had not to kiss you. It was…surprising.”
His eyes were the same shade of blue as the shining honeycreeper who had once pooped on her head at the zoo. They burned with intensity.
“Maybe we shouldn’t,” she said.
He glanced down. “Then why is your hand gripping my ass?”
Oh, shit. So it was. She released her grip and brought her hand around to his chest. Touching him was intoxicating. She wanted to trace every tattoo.
“Is this payback for last night?” he asked.
“You’re my landlord. And we’re neighbors. And now I’m involved at the sanctuary. What if things get messy?”
“They won’t,” he said. “We’re both too busy to make messes. It doesn’t have to mean anything, if that’s what’s scaring you. No strings.”
Not the most romantic words. But his biceps were clouding her judgment.
“Noah,” she began.
“I like the sound of my name on your lips.” His thumb brushed her bottom lip, and she almost dissolved.
“If we cross this line, there’s no going back,” she said softly. “One of us is going to get hurt, and historically speaking, it’s probably going to be me.”
He moved closer, until he was just an inch away. “The terms haven’t changed. The choice is yours.”
She froze, her mind moving a thousand miles an hour. She barely knew him. But he cared so much about the animals and his mom. He was a grumpy asshole. But he was so sweet to kids. He was a man of extremes, and that had never spelled safety in the past.
She wanted him so badly, but it was too risky.
He sighed and pulled back, releasing her. Regret filled her immediately.
“I guess I have my answer. I’ll see you around, Doc.”
He started toward the intersection they had never made it to.
The internal war continued. The door was closing.
It didn’t make sense. It was a supremely bad idea. But suddenly, she didn’t care.
“Wait,” she called out.
Before he could turn around, she was sprinting toward him—and away from her better judgment. Logic be damned. She just wanted to be in those capable arms again.
He turned in time to catch her with a smug smile, and they crashed together. Her legs wrapped around his waist, and he hoisted her with one hand on her ass. It was a miracle she didn’t knock out any of his teeth.
He was so big. She was like a paper doll in his arms. His lips were deliciously soft, and the mix of sunscreen and sawdust was a weird kind of aphrodisiac.
She slipped her tongue into his mouth and fisted his T-shirt.
She had only been on one ill-fated date after her divorce, and that good-night kiss had been like making out with a vacuum cleaner.
But Noah was so different. Hard, yet soft. Gentle, but rough. Claiming, but giving.
His hand slid under her shirt to trace her spine, and she shivered at the contact.
She had lost control in the most dramatic way. But there was no turning back. There was only Noah.
“Your ass is vibrating,” he mumbled against her lips.
She pulled her phone out of her pocket and was about to throw it to the ground when she glanced at the caller.
“Oh, shit,” she said.
“Ignore it,” he said, moving his mouth to her neck.
“I can’t. It’s my mom.”
He pulled back. “Kind of a mood killer.”
“My sister might be in labor. Hang on.”