I crossed over to fill the new tea kettle with water. After I set it on the stove and turned on the burner, I leaned my hips against the counter and curled my hands over the edge. I needed the cold surface of the counter to anchor me. Lifting my head, I stared out through the windows. The snow-covered lawn glittered under the late afternoon sun, and I wondered just how ridiculous Noah thought I was.
But then, I recalled the feel of his lips on mine and the heat of his arousal. His body told me the truth no matter how many doubts crowded my thoughts. Maybe, just maybe, I should take this accidental week with him and have a fling. I trusted Noah, and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I was far too sensible to let my heart get involved. Maybe, just maybe, this was perfect.
Chapter Six
NOAH
“Got it,” I said into the phone. “I’ll take care of it when I’m back in the office next week.”
“You’re not gonna cave and come back early?” my older brother, Dallas, teased.
“No,” I said, fighting not to sigh.
“Good,” Dallas replied firmly. “You need a break. I only called because you asked me to.”
“I did. And thanks to you, I think I might actually be able to take this break.”
Dallas chuckled. “Sounds like a plan. Now, I’m not calling you again. I’ll see you at Christmas.”
The line went dead in my ear, and I lowered my phone, sliding it back into my pocket. I’d followed my older brother into the FBI. Last year, we started working together on a case. I loved working with Dallas because I trusted him implicitly. He’d called to let me know they’d finally made an arrest on a complicated financial fraud case. That was my expertise, which was kind of weird because my father was in jail for pulling off a massive fraud. Well, only temporarily pulling it off.
With a mental shake, I crossed the living room to look out the windows. The evergreen trees flanking the backyard were dusted with snow. Whitecaps ruffled the surface of the ocean in the distance. A gust of wind blew a little swirl of snow off a tree, and the feathers of a blue jay were bright as the bird flew past the windows.
I thought about Sasha and that crazy-hot kiss. Fuck me. I knew it wasn’t smart to desire her. It definitely wasn’t wise to kiss her. Kissing her only made me want her even more. She kissed with abandon, and she felt so perfect—soft and warm with her curves pressing against me.
I decided, for the moment, to just see what happened. Maybe it was insane, but I wasn’t so sure I could keep my hands off delectable Sasha for a full week.
“You’re going where?” I asked, glancing up from where I was sitting on the couch in the living room. Although I’d managed to avoid further phone calls from work, I’d been unable to resist pulling out my laptop and checking my email.
“Out to dinner,” Sasha replied.
When my eyes met hers, my body instantly tightened. She was wearing a fitted pair of jeans with leather boots that hugged her calves. She wore a silky plum-colored blouse over a camisole, and my eyes landed on the stretch of cotton across her breasts. She had lip gloss on, and I wanted to throw my laptop on the floor, stand, cross to her, and kiss it all off. I swallowed.
“I’ll come with you.”
Sasha’s eyes narrowed, her gaze considering as she looked at me from across the room. I felt as if I were being measured and sized up in her mind. “You’ve been avoiding me for the past twenty-four hours. Maybe we should stick with that. Apparently, kissing me totally freaked you out.”
I closed my laptop and set it on the coffee table before standing. “Kissing you did not freak me out,” I said flatly. The rapid thud of my heartbeat in my chest echoed with each word. “I’d like to go to dinner with you.” I crossed the room, stopping where she stood in the archway that led into the hallway.
“I wasn’t aware I invited you to go with me.” Her tone was sharp, but there was a rasp to it, and I didn’t miss the way her cheeks pinkened.
“Fine, let me correct that. Would you mind if I went to dinner with you?” I tried to keep my tone crisp, but it came out slightly rough, like the serrated edge of my desire.
Sasha lifted her shoulder in a slight shrug with a saucy lift of her chin. “Fine. I hadn’t decided where to go yet. Do you have a preference?”
“How about Emile’s? We haven’t been there yet.”
“Fine. We’ve only been here so long.”
“I wasn’t saying that as a complaint,” I returned. “Just that I haven’t been there in years, and since you haven’t been to Haven’s Bay in a while, I figured you hadn’t either.”
“I haven’t. Shall we go then?”
“Sure. Let me just grab my jacket.”
The heels of Sasha’s boots echoed briskly on the floor ahead of me. My eyes tracked the swing of her hips. I’d been lying when I told her kissing her hadn’t freaked me out. It had most definitely unsettled me. Just not the way she thought.
Sasha snagged her fluffy down jacket hanging on the coat rack in the corner of the foyer. My jacket was hanging on the end of the banister, and I grabbed it.
“Oh wait, I need to let Matilda out before we go,” she said as soon as Matilda came trotting down the stairs. She’d taken to napping upstairs in the sunshine that came through the window and landed on a circular rug at the end of the hall.
It was early evening, and the sun was setting, but it was still probably warm in that spot.
“I’ll start my car while you take her out.”
Sasha nodded, following me with Matilda right behind us. My car was warm a few minutes later, and Sasha was quiet as I drove into Haven’s Bay. The holiday lights glittered under the evening twilight, casting the small downtown area in a charming twinkling glow.
“Wow,” Sasha said in a low voice. “I forgot how beautiful the town is over the holidays.”
I glanced sideways when I came to a stop at the stoplight. She was looking out the window, and I wanted to reach over and turn her chin toward mine for a kiss. But she was still annoyed with me, so now wasn’t the moment for that.
I turned onto Main Street, passing by Haven’s Bay Grocery. Holiday lights were strung on the rooftops of the stores and homes in downtown proper. The decorative lampposts had wreaths mounted on them, lining the street with holiday cheer. Another moment later, the sign for Emile’s came into view. I slowed and turned into the parking lot, not surprised to see it filled with cars.
As we walked across the parking lot with the sound of our footsteps crunching on the gravel, I commented, “We might have to wait at the bar for a table.”
Sasha’s eyes slid sideways, her lips kicking up at one corner. Lust bolted through me. “I’ve never even gotten to sit at the bar here. That’s big stuff.”
Her reply caught me off guard, and I barked out a laugh as I held the door open for her. “I guess not, seeing as you moved away from town when you were sixteen.”
I turned out to be correct. When we stepped inside, every table was full. Even the bar was full, although I spied one barstool and quickly guided Sasha to it. Without thinking, I rested my hand on her lower back, coaxing her forward as we threaded our way through the tables.