Falling for Mr. Wrong(11)

Which led her to the second problem: it was a big, fat, hairy mistake that could have quite negative consequences. She’d had unprotected sex with this guy. Granted the two of them had progressed past condoms long ago, but that was then, this was now. Lord knew where he’d had that thing since. Thank goodness she’d at least had the birth control component of things under control—she’d been on the pill for other reasons all along. But damn, when she thought earlier in the night about exchanging bodily fluids, she surely hadn’t thought it was going to be hers and Noah’s.

She hated the idea of having to have sex with Noah with a condom, though. Once you’d had skin on skin, it was no fun to deal with those unwanted barriers. And lordy, was it ever amazing. Talk about a long time coming. Literally.

Yet there were other flaws in her decision-making… For instance, the man lived here now. And she was likely going to run into him here and there, and now he would be that guy she had the one-nighter with, if you could call it that. More like impulse-control sex. And it was a hell of an impulse she couldn’t control, dammit. She’d always been susceptible to Noah’s charms, or pheromones or whatever it was that made her panties wet the minute she entered his sphere. But now she had to figure out how to get this man out of her home, her sanctuary, a place she didn’t want tainted by memories of what could have been with Noah Gunderson.

“Sweetie, let’s take this to the bedroom. My legs are about to give way,” Noah said as he buried his nose in her hair.

Sweetie? Was he serious?

Harper quickly lowered her feet to the floor, the very tiled floor of her foyer that she apparently was incapable of getting past before having impulsive wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am sex with her ex. What the hell had she been thinking?

Of course. She hadn’t been thinking. She’d been feeling. And that’s what happened when you felt—you did stupid things like sex with Noah, and even though it felt a-maz-ing, it was so not ever going to happen again. That man would never pass the threshold of her home if she had a say in it. She quickly tugged down her dress as she fumbled for her panties, which she found hooked on the doorknob. The doorknob. Oy.

“I’m sorry, but you need to leave.” She couldn’t even look him in the eyes.

He cocked his head and gave her a quizzical look.

“Leave? But—”

“But nothing, Noah. This was a huge mistake. I was gullible. It’s been a long time since I did that. I only did it to relieve pressure. Sometimes a girl needs to have a good orgasm. I was simply using you to end my dry spell. The garden needed watering since it was awfully parched. It has nothing to do with me wanting you. Just so you know.”

Noah nodded. “Ah. I see. So you didn’t sleep with that loser you were with tonight? That’s good to know.”

Harper’s eyes grew wide. “Loser? Loser? I’m sorry, you want to discuss losers? How about instead we can talk about Danny, who’s a good guy and sweet and thoughtful and has an awesome sense of humor and he shows up for dates and he’s respectful and I’m sure he’d never walk away from someone without even a word. Trust me, next time I am indeed going to sleep with Danny Greevy, not that it’s any of your business. But if you do anything to get in the way of my having the most amazing sex on the planet with him, well, well, well, you’ll have me to answer to.”

Noah pulled up his pants, placed his hands on either side of Harper’s face, then settled his lips over hers in a soft, gentle kiss that she had no choice but to go along with despite herself.

“Keep telling yourself that, Harper.” With that, he turned and opened the door, stepping into the cold rain. Only this time, he did turn around and looked right into her eyes as he walked backward to his car. “Keep telling yourself that.”





Chapter Nine


Noah sat in his car in front of Harper’s place for a good long while. Resting his forehead on the top rim of the steering wheel, he wrapped his arms around either side of it, lost in contemplation. He couldn’t believe what had actually happened. Never in a million years would he have expected to run into Harper, let alone have sex with her. But damn, thank goodness for tender mercies.

Sure, after the fact, Harper had demonstrated some buyer’s remorse. But that was to be expected, regardless of when and if they had ended up sleeping together. Inevitably she was going to have to reconcile with a lot of things concerning Noah’s actions if there was any chance of somehow getting back together. He understood that. But what he hadn’t expected was how powerful this experience would be. At that moment when he was deep inside her and they both came, it was downright spiritual. He wasn’t going to admit it to a soul, but a tear even trickled from the corner of his eye. And he couldn’t admit that he wasn’t as freaked out as he should have been when he failed to think of using a condom.

Part of the intense feelings came from realizing how loaded it all was for the both of them emotionally. He couldn’t blame her one bit for hating him. He knew he’d been a coward to up and leave as he did. Being young and scared wasn’t an excuse, and he needed to own it.

But when he’d found out his brother Matthew got a girl pregnant, it had spooked the hell out of him. Sure, he and Harper had talked about a future together back then, but it was off in the distance still, and it was almost like make-believe, not real. Shit got totally real the minute Matthew had to face the reality of being a father at the age of twenty. He hadn’t even finished college yet, and suddenly he was forced to make lifelong plans when he didn’t even know what his plans would be in a year. This with a young woman he’d only been dating casually.