“Just tell me what’s on your mind right now,” Crew suggested.
Noah thought about it for a moment. “She fascinates me. I love being with her, and I love how she sparks my imagination and my hormones. She’s got so many dimensions to her I don’t think I’ll ever truly know who she is. And I’m not scared of how I feel. That’s enough right there to scare the hell out of me, but it doesn’t. I’ve just screwed up a lot. I don’t know if I can make it right.”
“I’d say you’re on the right path if you want something and aren’t afraid to accept it. You can either run in life or embrace what’s in front of you,” Crew told him.
“Is this how you talk to your patients?” Noah asked.
Crew gave a rare chuckle. “Some of them, especially the more stubborn ones.”
“Well, don’t use your shrinky magic on me. I’m doing just fine.”
“I have no doubt you are,” Crew said. “The guesthouse is finally fixed, so you can move your stuff out there anytime you want. Stay as long as you need.”
The gesture made Noah smile. “I appreciate it. Until I figure out what I’m doing, I don’t want to rent a place.”
“Well, the guesthouse is much better than a hotel. I can’t believe you’ve stayed there so long.”
“Hey, it’s convenient, and I don’t have to clean up after myself,” Noah said. “But I do miss having a back porch to kick back on.”
“Yeah, I’ve never been a fan of apartments, and a hotel is worse than one of those.”
“It hasn’t been so bad, but I’m over it. I’ll move in tonight.” He was feeling better already. “But for now I’m going to shower. I have a date with Sarah, and I can’t be around her all dusty and stinky.”
He stood up and began heading from the room. He had clothes in Crew’s and Finn’s places. He really was a hobo of sorts.
“Glad you have priorities. At least you clean up for a girl, even if it’s after tracking crap through my entire house.”
“Of course I have priorities. You aren’t nearly as pretty as Sarah,” he said with a chuckle.
“That hurts my feelings,” Crew said.
Noah laughed again as he walked from the room and went down a few more hallways until he got to the guest room with its own bathroom. This house truly was great. Maybe he’d find something like it, or maybe he’d design his own place.
He stripped and jumped in the shower, his thoughts on Sarah the entire time, which made him rush through it. The sooner he was done, the quicker he’d see the girl.
Yeah, he was pretty much a goner when it came to her . . . and he didn’t even care.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Sarah’s nerves were in a jumble as she drove up the long driveway to Noah’s brother’s place. She never should’ve agreed to meet him at the house. It was supposed to be in a public place where she could count on many people around them. She didn’t trust herself to be alone with the guy. It seemed every time they were one on one, they ended up naked. She was trying to tell herself that wasn’t a good thing.
But he’d sounded professional on the phone when he’d called her and asked if she could come to the ranch instead of a restaurant. He said he didn’t want anyone overhearing them as they talked about the project. The more they kept away from the media, the more the place got publicity because it was such a mystery. That was logic she couldn’t argue with.
She’d decided after Noah left her office that all she really needed with this man was closure. She’d been fascinated with him from the moment she’d met him and had stupidly believed that if she slept with him, then she’d get over her infatuation. That had totally backfired. So what she really needed to do was spend more time with him, and then maybe she’d get over her fascination with the man. That was it. She was sure of it. He wasn’t as perfect as he’d seemed in the wee hours of the morning.
She’d spent far too much time thinking of this man. He was smart in how he kept her interested. He knew how her brain worked and knew that if he kept her intrigued about things, he’d have her hook, line, and sinker. It worked well for him but wasn’t so good for her. But she was determined to get over the man. This fascination with one guy was something totally new for her.
As she pulled up to the house, her heart thumped a bit too quickly. She’d been to this property before. A friend who’d moved away many years ago had owned it. She’d had her first kiss on the ranch, come to think of it. That had been a long time before. She smiled at the memory. Neither of them had known what they were doing at the tender age of fifteen, but thankfully kissing had gotten better the older she’d become. Kissing Noah Anderson was extraordinary. He was fantastic no matter what he chose to do.
No. No. No. She wasn’t supposed to have those types of thoughts anymore. If she wanted to get herself under control and finish this damn project, she had to pull it together.
But being at this property was messing with her head. She’d had good memories at this place, and she couldn’t help but think of how many more memories she could make with Noah. She’d always dreamed of making love beneath a star-studded sky, and this was the perfect location for that.
The last summer she’d spent at this ranch, she’d been eighteen and in a crisis of what she’d wanted to do with her life. She’d broken up with her high school boyfriend, and she’d been so lost. If it hadn’t been for Chloe and Brooke, she might’ve spiraled out of control. But they’d pulled her back in, and she’d gone to college, and now she was living the dream. If only she didn’t feel like there was something missing.
But Sarah had grown up a lot since she was a teen. Sometimes that depressed her. She liked to be free and let her hair down. She liked to run on the beach in a bikini with laughter trailing behind her because she was feeling so much joy.
Maybe being a professional was what was making her so damn vulnerable. She needed to loosen up again and take the time to run and laugh at the same time—to be free. The accident had almost taken her life. She couldn’t keep being afraid.
Shaking off those thoughts, she stopped her car and took a deep breath. Then she stepped outside and took in the fresh country air. It was so different out here, not that far from the city. But it was far enough to relax and feel as if you were in another world. She clung to the straps of her computer bag and tried to decide where she was supposed to go.
Noah had told her he was staying in his brother’s guest cottage. But she didn’t know if he’d be up at the house or in the cottage. The house seemed a much safer location for the two of them to meet. She hoped at least his brother was around so they wouldn’t be alone. She wasn’t sure she could control herself if they were.
She heard a noise coming from the direction of the guest cottage, and she let out a sigh. She knew that was where he was. It seemed luck wasn’t her friend on this pleasantly warm evening.
She moved down the path, knowing exactly where she was going. There was a huge yard in front of the cottage that couldn’t be seen from the main house. It was intimate and private and not what she needed right now.
“You’re a little early. I like it.”