After the Storm (7 page)

Noah stepped out onto his balcony and wondered how Lexi was doing. He noticed her moving through her house, going room to room, closing the drapes of every window on the second floor. He checked his cell phone and saw she hadn’t called. That didn’t surprise him.

She’s too stubborn for her own good.

He was going to have to have a talk with Miss Alexia Hanson. When he had seen her open her bedroom windows around two in the morning, he’d had to stop himself from telling her to keep her damn windows shut, but he thought it might add to her apparent anxiety after what had happened with her car. Then again, maybe that was what she needed to understand how serious this was. He knew that he could have called or texted, but instead he’d decided to see what she would do and he’d stayed awake until the sun rose, falling asleep in a chair, no longer battling his protective urges.

~*~

Lexi was sitting on the couch staring blankly at the fire in the fireplace when Noah walked up to the back door. He stood there and watched her for a few moments, wondering what she was thinking about, before he spoke. “Isn’t it a bit warm for a fire?”

She whipped her head around toward him. “Is this going to become a habit with you? Scaring me? Because I’d like to get a check-up before you give me a heart attack.”

He opened the door and stepped into her living room. “I like keeping you on your toes. It’s only fair, since you keep me on mine. But on the subject of heart attacks—why are you opening your windows in the middle of the night? Or, how about leaving every damn window in the house open all day long?” Noah stalked closer to her. “Do I need to call up a few of my bodyguards to watch over you?”

“I am not going to live my life in fear, Noah, and I can take care of myself. Besides, I went out to where my car broke down yesterday and there were no footprints on the ground where I thought I saw that person. And don’t you dare bring your bodyguards into this.”

Noah closed his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. When he opened them, she took an involuntary step back at the anger she must see burning in them. “What do you mean you went out to where your car broke down? Just how in the hell did you get out there?” He took a step closer to her while she took another step back, her legs coming up against the couch. “Oh, let me guess. You walked out there, by yourself, without telling anyone. Didn’t you?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “Damn, stupid, stubborn woman.” He ran his hands over his unshaven face and then through his hair.

She stood up taller, her eyes burning to match his own. “You just wait a damn minute yourself, mister.” She poked her finger into his chest. “You have no right to just barge into
my house
and yell at me. It’s my life, jerk, so back off. I can take care of myself.” She shoved at his chest.

“Oh, you think you can.” He moved closer, to where their bodies were almost touching. “What if I wanted to kiss you right now, what if I wanted more? What would you do to stop me? Come on Lexi, do it.” She looked up at him with wide eyes. “Stop me.”

~*~

Staring up into his green eyes, glowing with intensity, and his warm body so close to hers, she didn’t know what to do. Part of her wanted to take him down, and the other wanted to kiss him until he begged for mercy. Especially since she’d already had a taste of him.

He leaned down so that his face was right in front of hers. “Come on, babe. Stop me. Stop me from kissing you until the sun comes up three days from now.”

Lexi just stared up at him, feelings jumbled up inside. Her body wanted one thing—oh, Lord, did it want it. It was screaming for her to take him, to let him take her, but her brain knew it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. He’d be leaving her soon and she liked her life the way it was. It would all change if she let him in and then had to watch him walk away.

Narrowing his eyes, he whispered, “I bet you can’t do it. You can’t take me down, babe.”

There was nothing that would get under her skin quicker than telling her she couldn’t do something. With one quick movement she had him off balance and falling onto the couch with her knee at his throat.

“Don’t ever tell me what I can’t do,” she sneered at him.

Noah voice was strained. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Lex.” He tried to clear his throat and held his hands up in surrender. “You can let me up now.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, not sure what he was up to, his reaction not what she’d been expecting. After a little extra pressure on his throat, she turned to walk away from him.

His hands grabbed her from behind and threw her down on the couch, pinning her arms above her head, and wrapping his legs around hers so that they were immobile. “You passed the first test, but failed the second. Never underestimate your opponent, never turn your back on them, and always expect the unexpected. You thought we were done, but we aren’t. Not even close.” His voice lowered, laced with sudden desire.

Lexi had never expected it would be such a turn-on to be unable to move, completely at someone’s mercy. Noah’s mercy. His weight on top of her felt like coming home, and she wanted him, her body clamoring for him. The wetness between her legs was testament to that. She felt him become hard and automatically flexed her pelvis. He leaned down and kissed her, stealing the breath from her.

She was straining to free her hands and legs while whimpering against his mouth, she moaned as he just held tighter as he pressed his pelvis closer to the heat radiating out from her in waves. He slid one of his hands down her arm, just grazing the side of her full breast, letting his thumb graze beside her nipple, almost touching it, and she shivered and arched as she tried to move her breast closer to his hand. His hand continue down and slid it under her body to grab her ass, which filled his hand, and squeezed.

With one swift move Lexi had Noah off of her and dumped onto the ground and she leapt over him and moved to the other side of the room.

“Seems you lost your focus, Noah. You might want to work on that.”

His head dropped back onto the floor with a groan.

~*~

Noah walked back to his house, kicking bits of driftwood and rubbing the back of his head. Just what in the hell was he doing? That woman didn’t listen and loved to argue with him. She blew hot and cold. He was just trying to help her and she threw it back in his face.

Oh, but what a face.

He’d love to get into a game of strip poker with her. Since he could read everything she was thinking, he’d have her naked in no time. Noah couldn’t deny he loved to push her buttons.

He thought he was going to come undone the way she moved and moaned under him. He wanted to spend hours lost in her, not get dumped on the floor with his head aching. Both of them.

Sure, he could fly out tonight and be in L.A. or even New York. Go do something exciting, call any number of women he knew that were in either city and spend all night fucking out the frustration that had been building since meeting his neighbor. Maybe that would get her out of his system.

When he went up to his room and opened the closet with just that plan in mind, he paused with his hand on his duffle.
Could he really leave her?
His heart ached at the thought. He rubbed his hand over his chest. Something strange was going on and if she was too stubborn to ask for help, he’d damn well make sure he was around when she did. She might be more work than he was used to, but she was worth it. Maybe for the next couple of days he would keep a watch on her from a distance.

Lexi spent the third day in a row trying to get ahold of someone in San Diego. Although they said they’d call her back, when it came to dealing with the government she always found it best to keep bugging them for an answer. But there was still no news. Since nothing else strange had happened, and the police had closed the case she tried to live her life without being in constant fear.

She’d spent the mornings practicing the songs she might sing in the talent show while waiting to make her phone calls and had it narrowed down to two songs. Whether she decided on
Landslide
by Fleetwood Mac or
Slow Ride
by Bonnie Raitt, she loved the lyrics and melody of both songs.

By the afternoon she needed her car back so she could do some shopping for groceries and something to wear for the talent show. Rob said she should be able to get it this afternoon so all she needed was a ride to the garage. After the last time she was alone with Noah, she wasn’t sure that he’d want to do her a favor.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the back door. She crossed to the door but didn’t open it when she saw Noah, holding a bunch of gladiolus.. Her stomach clenched at the sight of him. He looked so good standing there in jeans that hung off of his hips and a tight white t-shirt.

“What are these for?” She wasn’t sure how he’d be after she’d dumped him on the ground, but she was happy he was there.

“I brought you some flowers, forgive me?” He glanced at her with a sheepish look.

“Thanks, come in.” She opened the door and stepped to the side for him to enter.

“Did you know gladiolus represent strength of character? I figure since you knocked me on my ass twice, you’ve got it in spades.”

She tried not to smile. “I’m not a push over.”

“I never thought you were, babe. Listen, I thought we could build a fire on the beach and have a picnic. Everything we need is outside.” He gestured over his shoulder.

She raised her eyebrow. “Why?”

He shrugged. “We are supposed to be trying to be friends and friends get to know each other. I like spending time with you. You fascinate me.”

“So, I’m like the latest game or something?” she asked with narrowed eyes.

He shook his head. “Come on, Lexi.” He sighed. “Get down off of your high horse. Forget all the crap that has gone on in the past couple of days and let’s get back to being friends.” He held out his hand to her.

She debated for a moment before finally taking his hand and watched as a huge grin spread across his face, his dimples flashing. “Come on, let’s get started.”

“Wait, I need to go get my car.” Lexi batted her eyelashes at him. “Would you mind taking me to get it before we have our picnic?”

“No problem, as long as you don’t mind riding on the bike again. It’s my only way of getting you to wrap your arms around me.” He grinned.

She rolled her eyes, “Come on, big boy. Let’s get going. I need to stop and get a couple of things while we are in town.”

~*~

Sitting next to him on the sand, she looked up at the sky. “Noah, this was a good idea. The food was wonderful and it’s a beautiful night out.”

“Yes, you are,” he murmured.

She sighed and looked over at him. “Are we back to that?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, all innocence.

“What do you do for fun when you’re on the road? I’m sure it gets boring with all the traveling.” She drew shapes in the sand with her finger.

“I like to read, so that helps to pass the time. Video games, of course. We have some epic battles.”

She rolled her eyes. “Naturally.”

“Hey, we’re guys. It’s a lot easier with technology today when it comes to watching movies. Now we can get whatever we want whenever we want. We write new music, or just try something new with our old stuff. And, I’m always writing. Sometimes I see people and their story comes to me, and I have to write a song about it. I’ve got thousands of songs that will never get recorded.” He poked the fire with a stick.

She tilted her head to the side. “Why do you say that?”

“Well, sometimes it’s just not something that the band would record. Not our style.” He shrugged. “Sometimes, it’s just not good enough. But I still have to get it down.”

“Have you ever thought of writing for another artist?”

“I have but I don’t know if I could give up that level of control. It’s my baby after all.” He winked at her.

“What about when someone covers one of your songs?”

“It’s only happened once. One of the songs off of our first album. It wasn’t a hit so we didn’t think much about letting someone else record it. I should have, since they butchered it, but somehow it still cracked the top one hundred.”

“I’m sure not every artist would be like that.”

“No, you’re right, but I’m not sure I want to take that risk. Have I told you how beautiful you are in the firelight?”

“Original, Noah. Real original. Okay, let’s change the subject.”

“And smart, too. I find that very attractive in a woman.” He leaned in close to her.

“You find breathing attractive in a woman.”

He chuckled and leaned back. “Well, yes, that does help. Would you like some strawberries and whipped cream?”

“Yes, please.”

“So polite, I find that very sexy in a woman.” He reached over to grab the food from the cooler.

“It’s called manners, Noah.” She tried not to smile. “You should try it some time.”

“Never heard of them. Here, let me put some whipped cream on you.” Their eyes met and he could feel the connection. “I mean the strawberries. Unless you’d like to lick it off of me. I’m game if you are.” He dipped his finger in the whipped cream and tried to put it on her nose.

She lightly slapped him on the arm. “Just give me the strawberries and whipped cream and I’ll do it myself.”

“Oh, Lexi, you’re so kinky.” He inserted his finger into his mouth and closed his eyes as he slowly pulled it out. His tongue flicked the end of his finger.

“Okay, changing subjects, tell me about your family.”

Noah paused for a moment. “It was just my mom and me for as long as I can remember. My dad ran off when I was a couple of years old. My mom’s family didn’t approve of my dad, and he ended up proving them right, but they still disowned her and would have nothing to do with her.” He shrugged. It was just the way he’d grown up and there was nothing he could do about it.

Lexi had a hard time imagining what that would be like. “Oh wow, I take it you’re close with your mom then.”

“Yeah, she was great.” A beautiful smile spread across his face and lit up his eyes. “She really did the best that she could to support me with no one to help her. Sam and Martha tried to help, too, but they didn’t have a lot either. There were times when she was cranky, but she always took the time to listen to me, and I always knew that she loved me. She worked her fingers to the bone to make sure I always had what I needed or wanted. As a kid I never was disappointed at a birthday or Christmas, she always found some way to get me what I wanted. When I got older she always made sure I was able to make music lessons to have a ride to a gig.”

“When did she die?” Lexi moved closer to Noah and rubbed his back.

Noah stared off into the surf. “We didn’t even know she was sick. She just said she was getting old. One day, when I was nineteen, I came home and she was in bed. She’d been coughing a lot and that day she’d started coughing up blood. I remember she tried to smile and say that I should take her to the E.R.” He paused, lost in his grief. He cleared his throat. “She never left. She was dead from lung cancer within the week. The small-cell cancer had spread throughout her body so quickly, and we didn’t know it. She was my biggest supporter, always believed in me, and she never saw my success. Within six months, we’d been discovered and on our way to L.A. to make our first album. A year after, we had a number one album. If only we had known something was wrong sooner, she might still be with us, or at least, I would’ve had more time with her. I could have taken care of her. She did so much for me and I never had a chance to repay her.” His head lowered as he took a deep breath and looked over at Lexi. “I did a lot of things I am not proud of during that time. I used anything and everything to numb the pain. I focused on the music and blocked everything else out.”

Lexi wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so sorry, Noah. There is nothing that I could say, even after all these years, to make it easier.”

He raised his hand and covered hers with it. “It helps having you listen. I don’t talk about her that often. In fact, there are times when I don’t think of her for days, and then something will punch me in the gut and remind me. Even after all of this time.” He let out a sigh and ran his hand through his hair.

Lexi sat there with her arms wrapped around Noah, silently crying. She couldn’t image what he’d gone through. She could only imagine how it would affect her if it had been one of her parents.

He stared into the fire. “I was a little crazy after we made it. I was out all night drinking and partying. I used women and threw them away. One day we were in Chicago for a concert. Of course, everyone who didn’t have the time of day for me in high school was lined up to get free tickets from us. There was this one girl that I’d had a crush on, but in high school I wasn’t one of the cool kids. She constantly put me down in front of her friends. So there she was, flirting and coming on to me, and I was so wasted that all I wanted was a piece of ass and to show her what she had missed all those years ago.” He absently rubbed Lexi’s arm.

“I really don’t remember what happened but the guys filled me in the next morning. There was a party after the concert. Lots of people, drinks, even some drugs. From what they tell me I was acting like a huge deal and wanted everyone to know what she was like in high school. I wasn’t very nice about it. I could almost hear my mom’s voice in my head. ‘
Noah James Matthews you always treat women like a queen, they are the glue that keeps everything together. You make sure they never forget that. Every one of us is special, every one of us loves beyond comprehension, and every one of us would give our lives for those we love. Never forget that, never Noah.
’”

Lexi thought she would have liked this woman and wished she would’ve had a chance to meet her.

“Pretty much took out all of anger at how I was treated in high school and what happened to my mom out on her. That was the last time I was drunk. That was the last time I used a woman. Everything my mom tried to teach me about how to be a man finally came to light when I was twenty-seven playing a huge gig outside of my hometown. I didn’t look back, and I never wanted to be that boy again.”

With her head still on Noah’s shoulder, Lexi continued to rub his back. She could tell that it still hurt him and as she stared into the fire, she felt the wall she had built around her heart slowly start to crumble.