Addy sat in her truck, resting her forehead against the steering wheel. Go home. You’ll ruin your life here, she told herself. But the danger didn’t matter. Nothing seemed to matter as much as Noah.
Turning off her 4-Runner, she took a deep breath, slid her keys inside her purse and walked to his door.
She had to remember who she was dealing with. Whatever sprang up between her and Noah wouldn’t last. So why fight the attraction? Either she’d be leaving town, or he would. He went to Europe every spring.
She supposed she could get over him as easily then as she could now.
“Would friends with benefits work?” she asked when he answered her knock.
* * *
Noah was almost afraid to trust Addy’s change of heart. “There are other things I’m not happy with,” he said.
She slanted him a suspicious look. “Like...”
“What happened the night you were kidnapped? Who did that to you? Chief Stacy has that knife of Aaron’s. Yet you say it’s not Aaron.”
“It’s not.”
“Then who was it?”
“Now you’re asking for too much.” She smoothed the fringe on her costume. “Maybe I should’ve been clearer. This is a take-it-or-leave-it offer.”
He tossed his club and the wig he’d been wearing earlier onto the couch, along with his coat. “I wish I had the ability to ‘leave it,’” he said, but he couldn’t. The fact that she’d refused to see him had been driving him crazy all week. He wasn’t going to quibble over stuff that didn’t directly involve him. At least she was here. Maybe she’d open up later.
He pulled her into his arms as he closed the door.
“You’re going to bend my feather,” she teased.
His grin slanted up on one side. “I’m planning to do a lot more than that.”
“And I’ll probably let you, since your costume is so damn appealing.” She’d been admiring it all night—what it did and didn’t expose. “It’s that cheetah print. You were right when you said I couldn’t look anywhere else.”
“All part of my mind-control techniques.”
She watched as he untied his sandals and kicked them to one side. “Will I ever be the same?” She wasn’t really joking, but she was glad he didn’t seem to realize that.
“Not if I can help it,” he told her, and slipped the straps of her dress off her shoulders.
* * *
“I can’t believe you were so mad at me,” she said when they were lying, spent, on his bed.
She could hear the lazy satisfaction in his voice when he answered. “I’m not mad at you anymore.”
“Of course you aren’t. You got exactly what you wanted.”
He rolled over, pinning her beneath him as he nipped at her neck. “Don’t pretend it was just me.”
“I’m blaming that darn costume,” she teased. “It showed way too much of you.”
“I guess I’ll have to wear it every time we make love.”
“No more costumes.” She frowned down at her bare chest. “Your fake whiskers have gotten black paint all over me.”
“We could shower and then get into my hot tub.”
“You have a Jacuzzi, too?”
“It’s a bit old-fashioned—made out of wooden slats because I like the smell of cedar—but it’s every bit as effective as Ted’s fancy plastic one. A good hot tub is actually a requirement in my profession.”
“Where is it?” She hadn’t seen it when she was here before.
He pulled her out of bed. “In back. Come on. Let’s clean up and go out.”
“I don’t have a swimsuit.”
“You won’t need one.”
“What if someone sees us?”
“It’s fenced.” They took a quick shower before he guided her onto a wooden deck. There was so much foliage in his backyard she doubted anyone would be able to peer in at them even in broad daylight and without a fence.
“You have quite a gardener.”
“I do it myself. I like it a little untamed.”
“That suits you.” She glanced at the starry sky. “What time is it?”
“Does it matter?”
“I don’t want to worry Gran.”
“Can’t be past two.”
“That’s late!” she said with a laugh.
“Stay awhile longer.”
She waited until he took off the tub’s cover and tested the water.
“Perfect. Come on.”
The air was chilly and smelled of rain, but the water was so hot she had to climb in slowly. She hadn’t even submerged herself all the way when Noah came up behind her.
One hand cupped her breast and the other moved lower as he brought her against him. “You smell good,” he said, suddenly holding her tighter, more possessively. “You feel good, too.”
Guilt threatened to ruin her enjoyment, but she willed it away. She’d never wanted anyone like she wanted Noah. She wasn’t going to let what had happened in the past take this moment away from her.
Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back on his shoulder as his mouth moved down her neck.
“I was stupid not to notice you in high school,” he said. “I must’ve been blind. But...why’d you have to stay gone so long, pretty Adelaide?”
Addy didn’t want to talk, not about that. Turning, she put her hands on his chest and kissed his mouth, gently encouraging him to stand before she started kissing other things. She circled one of his ni**les with her tongue, then paused to smile up at him. “I’m here now.”
The motor and all the bubbles sounded loud in Addy’s ears as she moved lower, but the noise couldn’t mask Noah’s gasp when she took him in her mouth.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, Noah held Addy on his lap as he played with the silky strands of hair that floated on the water.
“So...when you say you won’t be staying in Whiskey Creek, are you thinking...three months? Six? More?”
He could tell she didn’t like to talk about the future, but he wanted to have some idea of what to expect.
“I’m not sure yet.”
“But even after you leave, you’re only going to Davis. That’s not like saying you’ll be moving across the country.”
She didn’t respond.
“And Milly hasn’t agreed to sell the restaurant. Maybe she won’t.”
“You’ll be leaving in the spring for another racing season.”