One Last Time(57)

She takes my hand in hers. “I’m pretty sure he’s already in love with you.”

“It’s too soon.”

“It’s never too soon when it’s right. I know how hard it is to take chances after you’ve been hurt, but take them. If I didn’t have Nicole pushing me toward Eli, I would’ve missed out. Don’t miss out because of fear. If Eli and I had fallen apart, I wouldn’t have regretted one minute I spent with him. And the only thing you’ll regret is not following your heart.”

Heather was strong enough to trust Eli, and that worked out for her. Who knows, maybe Noah is my second chance at happiness.

I pull Heather into a huge hug and pull back without letting go of her shoulders. “I love you so much. You give me hope, and as much as I’d like to tell you all the excuses I could come up with, I’m not sure they matter. I think we both know I’m falling in love with him.”

She touches my cheek and offers a knowing smile. “Yeah, I knew you were screwed.”

I’m counting on that tonight. “He’s really good at doing that, too.”

“Kristin!” She bursts out laughing.

“What?”

Heather’s shock is slightly amusing. I was raised to never talk about what goes on in the bedroom. When all my friends were sharing their extremely intimate details, I would stay silent. One time, I got hammered and they somehow got me to spill all kinds of things, but other than that, I’m tight-lipped. I also never had anything worth sharing when it came to Scott. Our sex was lackluster at best.

Then it became nonexistent.

“I love this new you.”

Truth be told, I do, too.

“You girls done yapping? I’d like to have sex with my wife,” Eli says while tapping his watch.

“Go screw your husband,” I tell her.

We say goodbye again, and I stand, watching as Noah walks toward me with purpose. The closer he gets, the faster my heart races. It’s been hours of being near him, but not close enough. Now, there’s nothing keeping us apart.

When I can’t take it another second, my feet start to move. Knowing how I’m feeling, I don’t want to be away from him.

Each step breaks another link in the invisible chain that was holding me back.

I’m not tethered to my past.

My head and my heart start to yell the same thing.

When we’re just a few feet apart, I move faster, and we collide. He catches me as I leap into his arms. Noah holds me as I clutch his face in my hands, bringing our lips together. In the middle of the parking lot, Noah solidifies himself in to my heart. I kiss him in short bursts as he keeps my feet off the ground.

“I hated this,” I tell him before bringing my lips back to his. “I hated not being near you when you were close.”

He leans down so I can reach him easily, his hands travel up my spine and tangle in my hair. “All I wanted to do was take you in my arms. Kiss you. Rip you out of that man’s hands and claim you as mine in front of everyone,” he says, and then our lips are too busy to talk.

Noah fills my senses. The scruff on his cheek scratches my hands. The salt air mixed with his cologne makes my head dizzy. Each swipe of his tongue fills my mouth with the taste of the beer he was drinking.

Our lips break apart, and Noah’s breathing is somewhat labored. “Your house or mine?”

I rest my hand on his chest, sliding my fingers against the placket of his suit shirt. “Well, we can be at mine in five or yours in twenty. Which do you prefer?”

Noah’s hands move to my ass and he pulls me against his erection. “What do you think?”

“My place it is.”





Chapter Twenty-Four





Kristin





“Stop!” I try to swat him off as his fingers keep finding their way down my pants. I’m trying to make breakfast, but it’s a little hard when he’s made it a new game to see how many times I’ll blush in one morning. “Behave.”

“You didn’t say that last night,” he says gruffly against my ear.

Last night was not about behaving. Hell, we didn’t even make it to the bedroom. We were both out of control with need. We made it to the couch where we passed out with me on top of him for the night.

Which was fine by me.

Now we need sustenance, but it’s hard to think about food with his finger rolling my nipple. My head falls back to his shoulder, and I moan. “If you don’t stop, we’ll never eat,” I warn him, not caring at the moment.

“I’ll eat.”

“Noah!” I move, pushing his hand away. “Now, go sit over there, while I—”

The doorbell rings, followed by a few loud knocks.

“Expecting someone?” he asks.

“No, it’s probably the damn neighbor kids. They don’t understand the whole don’t ring the doorbell before ten thing.” I turn the burner off and head to the living room.

“Kristin!” Scott’s voice echoes as he pounds loudly again.

My heart sputters, and fear almost chokes me. What the hell is he doing here? I look at the clock, and sure enough, it’s way too early. Noah is here. Noah is here, and my ex-husband is banging on the door.

“I need to drop the kids off, Kristin!”