Enchanted (The Accidental Billionaires #4)(51)

“It should be done shortly,” he told me as he nuzzled the side of my neck.

I inhaled a sharp gasp, my body responding to his warm breath hitting the sensitive skin.

“Stop that,” I scolded weakly, wishing his entire family wasn’t sitting outside on the patio. “Your family is here.”

However, that wasn’t the real reason he had to stop. My poor body had been in a heightened state of sexual frustration for the last couple weeks. There was only so much I could take.

Noah had done exactly as he promised. He hadn’t thought with his dick once since we’d started to date. We touched a lot. He was affectionate, but he hadn’t tried to get me back into his bed.

He cut things off if they got too heavy.

And it was driving me crazy.

I knew he was taking it slow, trying not to rush me, but I was more than ready to take as many steps as necessary to get him naked again.

I realized I’d be taking one step further into commitment, but I was starting to accept the fact that no matter what happened in the future, Noah and I were going to go through it together. We both cared too damn much to walk away.

Dammit! I was ready to take that leap of faith.

I just wasn’t sure if Noah was, too.

Unfortunately, now wasn’t the time for that. Not with his entire family here.

When he let go of me, he moved off to the side, put his elbows on the counter, and watched me.

It used to make me uncomfortable when he did that, but now I was used to it, and I kind of liked the way he looked at me like I was the most important thing in the room to him. He certainly wasn’t the type of guy who would ever have a wandering eye.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can do?”

“Positive,” I assured him. “Everything is pretty much done. We just need to carry it all outside. I hope your family likes everything.”

Okay, I was just a little bit nervous because we had his family all together at his place. I’d met them all as an adult at one time or the other over the last few weeks, but it was a little intimidating to have them all in one place at one time.

Everyone had been more than welcoming to me, but I wasn’t used to large family gatherings. And I couldn’t help but wonder what they thought of their older brother’s new girlfriend.

I guessed I really wanted them to like me. Family was important to Noah, and the last thing I wanted was disapproval from them.

“Hey,” he said in a soft baritone. “Are you nervous?”

“Yes . . . No . . . I don’t know,” I said in a rush. “What if they don’t think we belong together or something?”

I wanted them to be here, but maybe I was a little bit anxious. Most of them knew my history now. Maybe they didn’t want their brother to be with a woman who might eventually drag him down with her illness.

He put a hand on my wrist to still my slightly frantic motions. I hadn’t even noticed that the avocado pieces were getting pretty small until he stopped my actions. “Andie, my family isn’t like that. All of them are grateful that you’re willing to take me on. Nobody is going to judge you.”

“They are going to want whatever is best for you, Noah,” I told him.

“That would be you,” he said simply. “You make me happy, and they know that. And if a single one of them disagrees, which they won’t, I don’t give a damn. Do you think they don’t know that all of the positive changes I’ve made in my life are because of you?”

“I’m sorry,” I said as I threaded my fingers through his. “I guess I just don’t know how to do this whole ‘meet the family’ thing. It’s all so different for me. I’m used to being alone.”

“And my family is overwhelming,” he added.

“They’re wonderful,” I corrected. “It’s just a little daunting for a woman who really has no family of her own.”

Honestly, I loved watching Noah interact with his family. They joked and teased each other, but the love within the entire Sinclair family was pretty obvious.

“We accept new people without a whole lot of judgment,” he said lightly.

I nodded. “I know. It’s not them. It’s me. I’m excited that they’re here, and I’ll get over the nerves.”

“They won’t let you be a stranger for long,” he said, sounding amused as he fingered my chakra bracelet. “You have a meaning for the other bracelets. Is there a meaning to this one?”

I shrugged as I released his hand and went back to my chopping in a less aggressive manner. I didn’t really want guacamole by the time I was done slicing. “Not really. It’s a chakra bracelet. One of my first trips was to India. I went to an ashram for a while to help me hone my meditation skills. It was good for me. I felt a lot more balanced and hopeful after my visit than I was before I got there.”

He lifted a brow. “What’s an ashram and a chakra?”

I laughed. “An ashram is kind of like a hermitage. A place to go back to the basics and find spiritual guidance.”

“Hindu?”

“The one I visited welcomes people from all walks of life and all philosophies. I guess I just went there to try to find myself again after those tough years of treatment.”

“And did you find yourself?” he asked huskily.