One Last Time(74)

I love Noah. I love him for more than just today. I’ll love him tomorrow and the next day. That’s why neither of us feels the need to push things quicker than they’re going.

“Besides, I heard them yelling because Dad said he wants to wait,” Finn snickers.

I’m not above a little gossip. “Wait?”

“Yup,” Finn responds while watching his phone. “He doesn’t want to marry her. I heard them fighting. Something about me and being okay with it.”

That’s interesting. Scott has been trying with Finn since their fight. They’ve been talking more often, which makes me happy. That’s his son, and I want them to all get along. I don’t have to love him, but I want my kids to think he’s the best man there is. Every child needs the love of their parents.

“Are you happy about that?” I ask.

Finn shrugs, giving me his typical ten-year-old response. Heaven forbid I interrupt his video of a grown man yelling at his computer.

The doorbell rings, stopping our conversation, which was apparently over anyway. Aubrey runs to the door, and I’m right behind her.

“Noah!” she screams and throws her arms around him.

“Hey, cutie!”

Noah hoists Aubrey into his arms, and my heart races at the sight. It’s been seven days since I’ve breathed the same air as him. Seven days of longing to touch him, and he’s standing in my doorway. However, we have an audience, so as much as I’d like to kiss him breathless and possibly naked, I can’t.

“Hi.” I smile and lean my head on the edge of the door.

“Noah! Guess what?” Finn comes barreling toward him. “Harry Potter is on all day!”

“No way!” Noah grins. “Can I watch it with you?”

“Duh! That’s why I’m telling you,” Finn says as if Noah’s missing the point.

I guess my boyfriend got taken away from me—by my kids. Aubrey takes Noah’s cheeks and forces him to look at her.

Her eyes go big, and she squishes his face. “You have work to do, Mister.”

I giggle, and Noah tries to talk with her still pushing his cheeks. “I do?”

“Yup! The animals are hungry.”

“Aubrey, they’re stuffed animals! They’re not real!” Finn grumbles.

“Okay, guys.” I put a stop to the fight that is about to begin. “Let’s let Noah in the front door.”

He puts Aubrey down, and she props her hands on her hips, staring up at him. “I’ll go get them ready for their feeding.”

Noah squats, taps her nose, and smiles. “Sounds like a plan. I wouldn’t want them to be hungry.”

I roll my eyes as she sways her hips. Such a flirt even at six. After she runs off, he moves closer to me, looking even better than I remember. His hair is shorter, but his beard is much thicker, and I like it. Noah shifts his weight at the same time I do. My pulse is racing, making it so I have to grip the door in order to stop myself from attacking him. “Hi.” I breathe the word.

“You said that already, Mom,” Finn says from behind me.

Damn it. I forgot he was here.

The corners of Noah’s mouth lift. “She did,” he agrees. “Maybe her memory is slipping in her old age, huh, Finn?”

“Probably!” Finn laughs. “The other day, she couldn’t find her keys for an hour. They were in the fridge.”

“Traitor.”

Noah laughs and brushes his fingers against mine. “We’ll say hi again later.”

Oh, he’s damn right we will.

He’s the gift you’ve prayed would be sitting under the tree on Christmas morning. He’s what I want to unwrap and play with, but I have to wait.





Chapter Thirty





Noah





“What the hell could you possibly want?” I say as I answer the phone at five in the morning.

“We have problems.” My publicist clears his throat.

Tristan is about to have problems for calling me this early. I get that he’s nocturnal, but I happen to like my sleep.

Kristin shifts, pulling the covers over her head as I climb out of bed. The last week I’ve either snuck over to her place or met her when Scott had the kids for dinner. Since it’s his weekend, she finally slept at my place, and we christened the fuck out of my condo. I don’t think there’s a surface in here I didn’t lay her on. It was a damn good night.

One that I need way more than a few hours of sleep to recover from.

“What could be the problem?” I rub my eyes as I stumble toward the kitchen.

Coffee is required. I press the button on my Keurig and watch the much-needed caffeine percolate.

“You know that feature I told you not to do?” he asks smugly.

“The one my girlfriend wrote?” I clarify. Not that I’ve done any other features.

He lets out a half laugh. “Noah, you need to read it. I’m already fielding tons of inquiries, and I’m doing my best, but we need to put out a statement.”

Sometimes Tristan is ridiculous. I get that it’s his job to protect my image, but not everything is cynical.

“I’m sure it’s not bad.”

“I’m sending you the link,” he says.