“Why didn’t Baxter come?” Addy whispered.
Riley shrugged. “He and Noah had some sort of falling out last weekend. Neither of them will talk about it, so we’re not sure what happened. But...Bax is moving now. You’ve probably seen the real estate sign.”
Addy hadn’t noticed. She’d been too consumed by her own problems. But she remembered Noah coming to her door stumbling drunk last weekend. He’d been upset about something but wouldn’t say what.
Had it been an argument with his best friend?
“Does this type of thing happen often?” she asked. It certainly hadn’t when they were in high school. Baxter was always with Noah.
Eve, in an attractive white bikini, sat on the edge of the hot tub to cool off. “Never. That’s why we don’t know what to do. We’re hoping—”
Noah emerged from the house, wearing his caveman costume beneath a jacket, and Eve shut up before he could hear her. “I’m taking off,” he called to Ted. “Thanks for tonight.”
Riley pulled a skeptical face. “Yeah, we can tell you enjoyed it.”
“I did,” he said, but his tone was flat and unconvincing.
Ted started to get out. “You do realize you don’t have a car.”
Noah waved him back. “Stay. I’ll walk.”
“It’s too far,” Eve argued.
“It’s not that far.”
Adelaide got out of the water. “I’m leaving, too. I’ll give you a ride.”
She thought Noah might refuse. She braced herself for the embarrassment of having him do that in front of his friends, but he didn’t.
“Thanks, Addy.” Ted sank back into the hot water, his smile just smug enough to indicate that, with this latest development, he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do when he invited her.
“It’ll take me a second to change,” she told Noah, and toweled off before hurrying inside.
* * *
Noah was silent on the drive home. Addy kept trying to think of a way to start a conversation, but what would’ve been a long walk wasn’t that long a drive. They were at his house before she could decide how to bring up what she wanted to say.
“Thanks for the ride,” he said, and started to get out, but she stopped him.
“Noah.”
He twisted around. “What?”
“I thought maybe we could...talk.”
“Fine,” he snapped. “Talk.”
Her heart sank as she stared at him. She couldn’t win here, no matter how much she wished otherwise. “Never mind,” she said quietly. “I—I’m sorry. I really am.”
Although he stepped out, he turned back. “Damn it, Addy. I want you. I think I’ve made that clear. But I don’t know how to reach you. For whatever reason, you’re determined to...to punish me for high school or something. How many times am I supposed to let you push me away? Will it make any difference if I keep trying?”
She couldn’t believe she was sitting here, facing that question from him. This was the last thing she’d expected when she’d decided to come home. “I’m not punishing you. How you behaved in high school—you were fine. That isn’t the problem.”
“Then what is?”
Her divorce was the answer she’d devised. But she was no longer sure she could sell it. She’d never felt as passionate about Clyde as she should have. She’d just been determined to take the opportunity to start a family, since she doubted she’d ever find another man who’d marry someone with her particular “issues.” It wasn’t until they were actually living together that she knew something crucial was missing. Even then, she wasn’t aware of what that meant until he was out of her life and she was relieved instead of regretful.
Noah propped his hands on his hips. “I’m waiting.”
She made a stab at using the excuse she’d planned. “Divorced people can be...hesitant to get involved a second time.”
“I understand that. But when you talked about your marriage before, it didn’t sound as if your ex was much more than a mistake you quickly fixed. So now you’re saying he scarred you?”
He hadn’t scarred her; Cody had. Clyde had just been incapable of helping her heal, of making her whole. “Like I said at the beginning, I’m not a good candidate for you.”
“Why? That’s what I want to know. Why does your mouth say no but your body say yes? Your eyes strayed to me a million times tonight. It was almost as if there was no one else in the room. And making love to you last Sunday...it was so damn good.”
She couldn’t deny her preoccupation with him. But she did have something to say about last Sunday. “How could it have been that good...for you?” she clarified. “You had to take a lot of time and trouble, and it wasn’t easy to convince me to cooperate. I know you’ve been with other women who are...less complicated.”
“I’m not looking for easy, Addy! Making love is about discovery. I liked discovering you, being with you. Was I the only one who enjoyed that?”
He was being so open and honest that she couldn’t help responding. “I enjoyed it,” she admitted. “If you think I’ve been able to forget what it felt like to have your hands on me, to feel you inside me, you’re crazy.”
Those words had come out in a rush, before she could hold them back long enough to edit them. She knew, even as she heard herself speak, that she was only making matters worse, but she couldn’t seem to stop.
Somewhat mollified, he hooked his fingers above the window of her vehicle and leaned down. “Then why didn’t you call me this week?”
“I don’t...I’m not ready for a relationship, Noah.”
He stared at the ground for a few seconds. He wasn’t as pleased as when she’d admitted how she felt about last Sunday, but his expression remained tentative. “What are you ready for?”
Oh, God. Just looking at him made her want to be with him again. She was succumbing to her desire for him.... “Friends, I guess.”
His big shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Well, that’s progress, I guess. You didn’t even want to be my friend at first.” Chuckling without any enjoyment, he closed her door.
She rolled down the window. “That’s it?” she called after him. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”
“I’m sorry. I was hoping for a little more,” he replied, and went inside.