How to Love Your Neighbour(44)

“Absolutely.”

He said it with so much enthusiasm, she wished she had her mallet. Then he reached out with his index finger and ran it along the bridge of her nose.

“You’re cute when you scrunch your nose up like that.”

Grace swatted his hand away. “I’m not trying to be cute.”

“You don’t have to try. I’ve never met anyone like you, Grace. I’m sorry I keep screwing things up.”

It was her turn to shrug. He wasn’t responsible for her feelings. “Let’s just put it behind us. We need to move forward. I can’t keep getting caught up in fighting with you.”

His body moved closer. “I don’t want to fight.”

She gripped the hem of her shirt in her fists. “We’re like oil and water.”

“Don’t both of those things go in salad dressing?” He cocked his head to the side.

“I have no idea. I know they don’t mix.”

Closer. She refused to back up even though she was inhaling his addictive scent. The one that made her want to bury her face in his neck.

“Then that’s not what we are. We mix. I don’t want to screw this up. I realized, even when I’m fighting with you, other than my brother, you’re my closest friend. You matter to me, Grace.”

She couldn’t help the smirk. “You need to widen your circle.”

“Cute.”

She did her best to hide her smile behind a frown.

Noah dipped his head, obliterating any chill Grace’s pulse was pretending to have.

“Are you still mad at me?”

She nodded. “And myself. I’m sorry I stormed into your house. In front of Josh and your guest.”

“I deserved it.”

“You did. Except for the storming part. That was just rude.”

“Guess you owe me some flowers.”

They were dancing in circles. It was exhilarating and tiring all at once. She didn’t have time or space for this even though pieces of her wanted to reach out and grab it all. Grab him. Kiss him. Could she do casual? A fling? She was almost thirty, looking to settle down. Maybe a fling was exactly what she needed. If she went into it knowing there’d be nothing more, she wouldn’t have her heart broken, because she’d be saving it for someone else.

“What are we doing here, Noah?”

“Not what I want,” he said, his tone low. Husky.

She swallowed. “What?”

“You have the most incredible eyes. The only thing prettier is your mouth. Especially when you smile. When you smile at me, I feel that high I only get when I go for a great run or hit a particularly good wave.”

Okay. Screw forever. She wanted him now. She stepped forward, done with talking, with anger, with the cat-and-mouse games.

“Which is why working with you is going to be so hard. I’ve made some mistakes in my life but I’ve never crossed the line between business and personal. So, you can rest assured, no matter how bad I want you, I won’t mess this up. I’ll stop pushing. Stop flirting. I’ll stop pissing you off. I need you, Grace. I need you on my team. I have a proposition for you. One that could be an incredible opportunity for both of us.”

Only one opportunity was occupying her brain. “What if I don’t want to work with you? What if I want to fall into bed with you, get my fill, and walk away?” With my heart firmly intact.

Noah’s jaw actually dropped. Grace had never uttered those words to any man but it was 1:00 A.M., a magical hour for propositions and deck staining.

Lust and energy surged through Grace’s blood. She stepped into him so their bodies brushed. It was like static electricity. She could almost see the sparks. She could definitely feel them. She knew from the look in his eyes that she wasn’t alone in that.

His breathing was choppy. It cut through the tension between them. “This is either going to be the greatest or the worst decision of my life.”

She could agree with that. She went up on tiptoe, and his hands came to her biceps, gripping her heated skin. Instead of giving in to the kiss they both wanted, he used his hold to move her away from him.

“Grace. We can’t.”





20


Abort. Abort. Curl into ball, roll out of room, pretend this never happened. Since that plan likely wouldn’t work, she went with her backup. Standing by what she said.

Lowering herself from her tiptoes, she stepped back, knowing her face was the color of tomatoes. The only thing that helped was that his expression looked tortured.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to take someone up on anything so badly,” Noah said in a rough voice that vibrated over her skin.

She cleared her throat, held his gaze. “Too late. Offer rescinded and hopefully forgotten.”

“Not a chance,” he said, the heat in his gaze making her too warm.

“This is humiliating,” she muttered. Could she blame the whole 1:00 A.M. thing?

Noah stepped forward, touched a hand to her cheek so gently, there and gone like a whisper. “Don’t. You’re an incredible woman in so many ways. You might be the first woman I’ve properly apologized to, Grace, but not the only one I should have. As much as I’m attracted to you, I actually dig the fact that we could maybe be friends. I don’t want to mess that up. Or any of the other stuff I need to talk to you about.”