Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(70)

At least this time he hadn’t broken up with his girlfriend for her.

He breathed. In. And out.

This time, the outcome was bad, but less complicated. They’d had a one-night stand. People did that all the time. He should be happy. It had been mind-blowing. Enough said.

Except there were all those unsaid things, wrapping strings around him, pulling so tight they cut. The sweetness of her skin. The heat of her mouth. The way she’d curled into him in the night, a tiny sigh drifting past her lips when he’d stroked her back. There was the sound of his name in her breathless voice, and the strangled scream of her cl**ax. And there was the fact that he’d fallen hard for her a long time ago, long before she’d kissed him in that crappy little bar.

He’d thought Denver would be far enough to free him, finally. He’d been wrong.

“Damn it,” he said softly.

She’d said it was a mistake. Again.

Noah should’ve known better.

Her voice drifted down the hall, and he held tight to his anger so as not to expose any other emotions.

“Flight attendants,” he cursed, hitting the computer mouse too hard. Now he had to put up with the winks and nudges of half the team, as if he were a member of a fraternity instead of an important financial institution.

At least the job was almost over. As soon as he discovered the source of the discrepancies, they could turn the bank over to its new buyer and be on their way. Two days, tops, and he’d be free of Elise Watson. Again.

CHAPTER FIVE

TWO DAYS LATER, ELISE still blushed every time she came face-to-face with Noah. But she’d made progress. This morning, she’d finally stopped burning in imaginary flames each time his name was mentioned. She’d expected someone to figure out the lie just based on the signals her face was sending, but the flight-attendant story proved too delicious. People were too busy grinning at each other to notice that their team leader was flustered and nervous for no reason at all.

But she had to stop reacting to him. Noah’s attitude toward her hadn’t changed at all, and she’d do well to take that to heart. They’d slept together. No big deal. They were both adults. They were away from friends and family and staying in a deserted hotel. These things happened.

He wasn’t the least bit fazed by it, and she wouldn’t be either.

Despite her internal monologue, her heart wasn’t interested in staying calm. When she stepped through the door of his office, her pulse careened into a jagged, frantic pace.

Noah’s eyes flickered up, then just as quickly returned to his computer. “Yeah?”

“We can’t drag this out forever.”

His jaw jumped and his gaze slowly rose to hers.

“It’s New Year’s Eve. Everything is in order. The new bank takes control on Monday. They don’t care about the discrepancy.”

His mouth flattened in frustration. “Of course they don’t. You know as well as I do that the discrepancy will be our liability, not theirs.”

“Half the team has gone home and almost everyone else is leaving this afternoon. How long are we going to stay here just so you can solve a riddle?”

He put his hands carefully on the desk. “Are you ordering me to drop it?”

Christ, he had problems with authority. “No, I’m not ordering you to drop it.”

“Good. Because I don’t like to make mistakes, Elise.”

She swallowed hard, and assured herself that hadn’t been a swipe at her. “The acquisition team arrives on Monday, along with the people from Simpson Finance. You have until then. If you can’t figure it out by Monday, you’ll have to take the mystery home with you.”

“Who do I get to keep?” he asked.

“You can have three people. Who do you want?”

He named Tex, a forensics accountant, and an asset specialist.

“They’re not going to be happy about spending New Year’s Eve in Omaha.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled either,” he snapped.

Elise left, tight with anger. Nobody seemed concerned about her New Year’s plans. The fact that she didn’t have any only made her more irritated. Yes, New Year’s in Omaha would be the same as New Year’s in D.C. for her. Take-out dinner. Ball drop on television. In bed by 12:02. And in the morning, she’d wake up too early and sit in her bed reading case files.

But the fact that Noah would be only a few doors away made it all more pitiful and lonely.

As much as she’d resisted postsex cuddling with Noah, it had been…beautiful. Sweet and so meaningful. Because it had been Noah, whom she’d had a crush on from the moment they’d met. Noah, who was serious and strong, whose occasional grins made her heart hurt. Noah, who seemed so far beyond her reach that she could still barely believe she’d slept with him.

Noah, the man who was even more distant than he had been before they’d had sex.

Elise swallowed her hurt like a dose of medicine. She’d slept with him. That was all. He lived in Denver. He’d never be her boyfriend. “Get over it,” she whispered.

Before she could descend into crippling sorrow, Elise picked up the phone and called the head members of the two satellite teams to clear them for the return home.

Then she called in each member of her crew and gave them the good news. Lastly, she called in the three employees Noah had asked to keep on, and gave them the bad news. Not only would they not make it home tonight, but since New Year’s Day was a Friday, they’d have to stay the whole weekend.