Midnight Kiss (Virgin River #12)(74)

The first day of possibility for the New Year was going to lean heavily toward bleary-eyed hangover, and Elise didn’t feel the tiniest bit of regret about that. She planned to do a good job of earning it.

CHAPTER SEVEN

AFTER PACING HIS ROOM for thirty minutes, Noah gave up on his plans for getting a good night’s sleep. Instead, he headed for the tiny hotel gym. He didn’t come across a single soul. Even the registration desk seemed deserted. Maybe the blonde receptionist was in back primping for a New Year’s date. Noah hoped so. Nobody else should have to be stuck in this ghostly building tonight.

He ran on the treadmill for an hour, and every beat of his pounding heart was like a hammer driving Elise’s name deep into his brain.

She’d said it was a mistake. A mistake. Because they worked together. Because he lived in Denver. Because it could only be one night.

Not because she didn’t want him.

Was she lying because she didn’t want to hurt his feelings? Or was she telling the truth about not wanting to hurt her own?

Noah hit the stop button on the treadmill. He slowed to a walk, then laid his arms against the front panel to rest his forehead on his hands. His lungs strained for air. Sweat dripped slowly from his hairline. His heart beat so hard he could feel it shuddering in his chest.

Did she want him or not?

He lived in Denver now. It didn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter.

But rationality had never had anything to do with his feelings for Elise. He’d left his girlfriend on the basis of a brief kiss. He’d been emotionally unavailable to every woman he’d dated afterward. He’d moved halfway across the country to try to leave her behind.

But now he couldn’t get the taste of her out of his mouth. The feel of her hands off his body. He couldn’t shake the impossible pleasure of being deep inside her.

Oh, hell. His heart was already long gone. Noah had nothing to lose at this point. He may as well take a chance.

“GAH!” Elise sat up quickly, alarmed by the loud trilling in her ear. Her head was jerked to a halt with a brutal snap. For a moment, she thought she was under attack. Then she realized that she’d trapped her hair under her own arm. “Good grief,” she groaned, collapsing back to her pillow.

The phone stopped ringing. Elise shifted around until she freed her hair from its trap, then sat up and rubbed her eyes. Had she drunk too much and passed out?

She looked at the clock. It was just after ten-thirty, and the clock sat framed by two unopened beers. The other bottle was open next to it, only a few sips missing.

No, she hadn’t partied too hard and passed out. She’d just fallen asleep at eight o’clock on New Year’s Eve. Well, at least the New Year hadn’t started yet. She was still well within her rights to be pitiful.

Elise pushed her hair out of her face and took a deep breath that was cut off by the renewed ringing of her phone. She fished it out of the pillows and scowled. Noah. What kind of havoc did he want to wreak now?

“Hello?” she asked warily.

“Hi, Elise. Are you busy?”

A glance around showed her open laptop, her abandoned beers and the TV silently playing out fireworks that had exploded behind the Eiffel Tower hours before. “Kind of.”

“Listen. I thought maybe… Would you like to go for a walk?”

“A walk?”

“Yes.”

“What? It’s cold. And dark.” And you’re you.

“I think…” He took a deep breath. “I think maybe we should talk about this, after all. And it’s a beautiful night.”

“It’s cold,” she said again, her pulse tripping with questions.

“Yeah.”

He left it at that. He didn’t say another word. Noah just waited. And Elise waited, too. Waited to be brave enough to say yes. Yes to a walk. Yes to talking. Yes to the question hiding in his voice.

“Yes,” she whispered.

She had the fleeting thought he’d hung up, but he finally answered. “I’ll stop by your room in five minutes.”

The phone clicked dead, and Elise wasted a good thirty seconds just staring at it. A walk. With Noah. In the middle of a dark night. Then she realized what he’d said. Five minutes.

“Oh, crap!” She was half-naked and sleep-squashed. Vaulting out of bed, she raced for the bathroom and found even worse news there. She’d fallen asleep on her hand and left three clear finger imprints in her cheek. “Crap!” she screeched.

It took her a full two minutes to pull back her hair and scrub at her face until the finger marks disappeared. She brushed her teeth. Then she had another minute to tug on her jeans and pull a sweater over the tank top she wore. A touch of make up, a few brushes of her hair—

A knock rang through the room. “Just a second!” Elise tugged on her socks and her boots and lunged for the door.

“Hey,” Noah said as the smell of fresh soap drifted to her nose. The edges of his hair curled damply against his neck. Her mouth watered.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “Your cheeks are really pink.”

She touched her face in embarrassment. “I was rushing. Sorry. Let me just grab my coat.”

As she whirled away, she had the fleeting impression that Noah had been reaching toward her, and her whole body stuttered at the thought. Had he been reaching to touch her cheek? Had he meant to pull her toward him for a kiss? Surely not. No. Elise shoved the thought away.