Authors: Elizabeth Reyes
Noah (34 page)
“Thank you. It’s one of my new outfits.”
Her thoughts were back on Noah and the one uncomfortable thing she wanted to ask him. She’d do it once and then never bring it up again. But she needed to know.
Noah took a step forward as usual testing her limits. At this point, she typically would have a hand up between them reminding him of their friendship status and their agreement that any kissing would be only in the form of a friendly and
innocent
goodnight kiss. Tonight however she let him close in on her. Of course, he wasted no time. Within seconds, she was melting in his strong arms as he drove his tongue into her mouth the way only he could do.
After h
is
delectable
greeting that she could very well get used to and would definitely consider working into their agreement, they came up for air. “I missed you tonight,” he whispered against her lips before pecking her again.
“I missed you, too.”
It seemed like it was just the obvious response but she really had.
I
t had been
nice
to spend time with Nellie and the clarity that had come
with
their conversation had been priceless
.
However
she
had to admit the thought that she could be home with Noah instead had ruefully crossed her mind a few time
s
during dinner.
Which brought her to her next thought. Taking Nellie’s advice she wouldn’t put this off any longer. Judging by Noah’s greeting
,
who knew what tonight would end up like and this was something she needed to know before she made any decisions.
She leaned back against the car and Noah pressed up against her. “Can I ask you something? It’s kind of personal.”
He backed up a little his forehead creasing a bit. “Yeah, you can ask me anything.”
“What exactly is your relationship with Rita?”
Even though
Noah
made great effort to appear
indifferent t
o
her question,
it
clearly
hit a nerve. His already hard body tensed up immediately a
t
the very mention of Rita’s name, sending out a very bad vibe that made Veronica almost regret asking.
A test is what this felt like and Noah always
sucked
at tests. She’d let him kiss her and then she dropped this on
h
im
.
H
is mind raced to try and figure
this out
. He searched for the perfect answer but there was no two ways around it. Rita was exactly as Roni had once put it
—
his drive
-
by one
night
stand. But in Rita’s case it’d been far more than one time.
He
stood his ground trying to stay cool
as Roni’s eyes
s
o
ught something in
his. “She’s just someone I hang with—well
hung
with
,
”
h
e
am
e
nde
d quickly. “Not anymore
,
in the past.” He shrugged trying to make
as little
of it as possible. “We were both single and neither of us was looking for anything deep.”
“Why not anymore?”
The fact that she’d even ask that pissed him off a little.
“Because it doesn’t feel right anymore.”
“But it did the day after Thanksgiving?”
God
,
he could kill Hector. “That wasn’t planned, Roni. Actually nothing with her ever
wa
s.
For the last few year
s
me and her—”
“Years?”
Shit!
She nudged away from him but he refused to let her out of
his
hold. “Yeah, but she only comes down a few time
s
a year.”
She lifted her purse over her shoulder
in a
move to
put some distance between them. “So you just sleep with her no strings attached? That’s the extent of your relationship?”
“I
t
used to
be
. Not anymore. And yes that was the extent of it.”
Roni’s eyes bounced around obviously not wanting to make contact with his any longer. She shivered now that his body wasn’t keeping her warm. “But she’s Gio’s cousin
;
you never talk to her or stay in touch when she’s gone?”
“Let’s get you inside, Roni
,” he said reaching for her hand.
“
It’s freezing out here
.”
They started toward the back door of her house. “You know what
,
never mind,” she said as they reached her back door. “It’s none of my business anyway.”
“Yes it is,” Noah said feeling a little panicked about the
sudden shift in
mood.
“No it’s not. What you do in your personal life—”
“You
are
my personal life now
.
”
Noah
stepp
ed
in front of her. “I told you I’m in love with you and
I meant it.
I’ll go along with whatever you say
—
follow your rules. I’ll go as slow as you need me too,
and
if you wanna know about my personal life I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know.” He wanted to make this perfectly clear because he sure as hell wanted to know about hers. He couldn’t demand anything yet but he’d set the example right now. “Rita was convenient okay? That’s all she
’s
ever been.
We never made any plans
.
S
he never even calls to tell me she’s in town. Like the day after Thanksgiving
,
I didn’t know she was going to be there.”
“Why wouldn’t you know? She’s here every holiday right?”
“But she usually leaves right away, so I was caught off guard and what happened that day…” He was saying too much
and
he knew it but her accusatory tone
made him panic. “That’s not why I went to Gio’s if that’s what you’re implying but I will say in all fairness, back then I had no reason to even hope
for any
thing between you and me. You made it seem so impossible. Things are different now. Everything changed after New Year
’
s. Shit, my feelings had changed weeks before that. That’s why I spent the entire holidays with you. But even
the day after
Thanksgiving, Roni. After I saw her there, I wasn’t shooting for anything to happen, I swear. But it just did.”
She shook her head and walked around the kitchen island setting her bag
and keys
down
on the counter
. “Boggles the mind,” she muttered.
“What does?”
h
e asked
,
following her like a puppy dog.
“How something like that
just happens
.
What did she
do
just suddenly
hop on your lap?”
Noah nearly choked at how
closely
her explanation came to the truth. She turned to face him when he didn’t respond then rolled her eyes in disgust. “Ugh
!
”
“The point is, even
she
gets it now. That was the last time for me and her. That’s one of the best things about her. I’ve never had to worry about her being clingy or wanting more.”
There was a sharp change in the way she stared at him and he knew that last statement might cost him. “Is that what you worry about
, Noah
? Clingy girls wanting more?”
“Only the ones I don’t have feelings for.
” He took a step closer to her. “
I’m not looking to hurt anyone. And I didn’t have to worry about that with her. That’s all
I mea
n
t
.”
To his relief her expression softened a bit. “And you only ever got together with her on the holidays?”
A smile nearly escaped but he kept it stifled and
nodd
ed instead
. This was exactly what he wanted. For her to ask questions—set the playing field.
Her expression was now curious and she crossed her arms in front of her. “So you mean to tell me, that in all the
years
you two have been doing this, outside of the times she showed up for your holiday trysts you two never stayed in touch any other way? No phones calls, emailing,
ever
?”
“
Nope
.”
T
he
haughty
tone
was still there especially when
referr
ing
to the holiday trysts but he nodded again
feeling
slightly
better
knowing
this conversation could’ve gone a lot worse.
“None at all.”
Her curious stare was now tinged with suspicion
but the
slight
smugness of her
curve
d
lip
s
gave him hope there would be a lift to the tension that so quickly engulfed the room and had begun to suffocate him
. “Really? So since Thanksgiving
,
aside from the times you saw her at
your work
Christmas dinner
and
Christmas Eve you haven’t heard from her
at all
?”
He wished to hell she hadn’t been watching him so closely because she obviously picked up on the fact that he was suddenly scrambling for the perfect response. The curve o
f
her lips was gone and there was a trace of fear in her eyes for just an instant before she looked away. “Just once and again it wasn’t planned.”
Roni’s face literally jerked back in his direction. Her expression
was
hard now. “
What
wasn’t planned?”
“Seeing her.”
“When?” As strange as it felt to hear Roni’s venomous demand he welcomed it. He wanted her to demand things—know that she had every right to
k
now and leave the door wide open for him to do the same to her.
“New Year
’
s
D
ay.” The second he said it he realized what she was thinking. He’d been so fucking caught up
in
and loving the fact that she was behaving like a jealous girlfriend—something that seemed so farfetched until now he didn’t even think about how bad this sounded but her eyes said it all. She was more than disgusted
;
she was hurt. “Gio’s uncle is her dad,” he said
,
rushing to her but she held her arms out,
visibly
upset now.
“You saw her the day after…”
“She was there at
h
is house the day I went to help Gio out
. I had
no
idea she would be
but nothing happened
, Roni I swear to you
.
” Roni backed away refusing to make eye contact with him, something he
’d
no
ticed
now
she only did
when she wasn’t in complete control of her emotions. “She was in the house the whole time cooking. We all went in and had lunch
after working on the yard for hours
,
then I left.”
She shook her head and Noah wasn’t sure what to make of it
.
W
as she saying she didn’t believe him
?
T
hen she spoke as she began to walk out of the kitchen.
“You don’t owe me any explanations.”
Like hell he didn’t. He rushed to her taking her by the arm and backed her into the counter before she could protest. “Yes I do,” he said cradling her face in his hands as he stared into those solemn eyes of hers. “I do.” He whispered again before kissing her softly. “She was there but nothing happened and that’s the last I’ve seen or heard of her okay? I’ll even tell you the next time I hear or see her again.”
