Enchanted (The Accidental Billionaires #4)(53)

“I’m ready for those tacos.” Riley sat up as she spoke and smiled at me.

I grinned back at her. If she was that enthusiastic about food, we were going to be friends.





CHAPTER 21

ANDIE



“Where in the world are we going?” I asked Noah curiously as I rode beside him in his SUV.

It had been a few weeks since we’d hosted the barbecue at Noah’s, and I was no longer nervous about his family.

I saw all of them often, and I was always greeted like family. Riley, Jade, and Skye had become my friends, and we got together as often as possible to shop, eat, or just hang out and talk.

The days had flown by, and it was a beautiful spring day in Southern California. Noah had been driving for a while, and I knew we were somewhere near San Diego, but other than that, I had no idea where he was taking me.

He’d been closemouthed about our destination. All he’d requested was for me to dress casually.

I’d donned some jeans and a short-sleeved, multicolored spring top. At his insistence, I’d put on a sturdy pair of shoes.

“We’re almost there. Don’t be so impatient,” he teased.

Jokingly, I let out a huff and relaxed back against the leather passenger seat.

Noah and I had gotten into a routine.

We worked in the morning and generally met up in the early afternoon. Our days usually ended with both of us being sexually frustrated when we parted in the evening, but other than that, I couldn’t complain about a single moment I spent with him.

I was pretty sure we both wanted to take our relationship further, but Noah hadn’t budged an inch off his original promise.

Dammit!

Why isn’t he making a move?

The intense chemistry we had was always there, always present, but he still hadn’t gone beyond tender kisses and affectionate gestures.

I was almost out of patience.

I wanted to be with Noah so badly that every moment I spent with him was starting to become torturous.

Not that I wasn’t willing to endure a little torment just to be with him, but it was starting to get ridiculous.

My body was clamoring for his, and I needed him. Desperately. I wanted to crawl inside Noah and never leave.

He’s holding back for me.

I knew it.

I sensed it.

I just wasn’t sure how else to prove to him that I wasn’t going to shy away from the intimacy.

There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that I wanted to be with him for every tomorrow that I had.

I fingered the five bracelets on my wrist absently.

It has been over five years.

Slowly, I was getting over my fear and starting to live in reality.

How could I not? Noah Sinclair was a pretty amazing, real-world existence to spend my time in.

I felt alive, animated, and eager to see what each new day was going to bring our way.

I was in love with him in a way I’d never experienced.

Soul deep.

All-consuming.

Heart, soul, body, and mind.

That love was starting to eclipse most of the fears that I’d had in the beginning. Maybe we didn’t talk about it, but I was getting to the point that I couldn’t see any kind of future . . . without him.

He was changing, too.

The man had become very comfortable in his own skin now. He knew when to stop working, and he didn’t seem to be having any difficulty putting his computer aside after he’d worked hard all morning.

He spent more time with his family, acting like a big brother instead of a father. I could tell that he’d stopped putting any kind of distance between his family and himself.

Eli had been helping Noah, showing him how to handle his fortune, and Noah, brilliant man that he was, was becoming a very savvy investor with guidance from Eli Stone and his half brother, Evan.

There was very little hesitance in Noah anymore.

He knew what he wanted.

Luckily, the thing he seemed to want the most was . . . me.

I just wished he’d get to the point where he had to have carnal knowledge of me, too.

The more confident he’d become, the bossier he seemed to be. But I could handle that a whole lot better than I could deal with the lost look he’d had when he’d first been jolted into the real world.

He and Owen talked a lot, maybe because they could relate to each other about catching up with the rest of the world.

My wayward thoughts jumped back into the moment when Noah turned into what appeared to be some kind of ranch or farm.

“Okay, you’re killing me here,” I whined. “What are we doing?”

There had never been this much mystery about how we were going to spend our afternoon.

Usually we picked a simple event where we could just spend time together, or we ate somewhere that I could incorporate into my blog.

He parked his vehicle at the end of the driveway in what looked like a makeshift dirt parking lot.

Noah turned to look at me once he’d shut the engine off. “You’ll see. It wouldn’t be a surprise if I tell you everything.”

I snorted. “But you’re going to eventually tell me, right?”

He didn’t answer as he got out of the SUV and jogged around to open the passenger door. “Get out,” he instructed, taking the sting out of the command as he reached for my hand.

Once we’d walked past a big barn, I could see the . . .