by Force, Marie
But that wasn’t going to happen tonight.
He hoped it happened again soon.
* * *
Noah was acting strange, but that was nothing new for him. He was always a little odd, but that made him attractive to Brianna. When she got the big idea to make dinner for him and his huge family, she hadn’t expected to sit at a table with his mother and her boyfriend. Meeting the parents usually signified a significant step forward in a relationship.
That wasn’t what this was. They’d had one fun night that’d led to stranded-in-the-snow sex. That never would’ve happened if they hadn’t gotten stuck at the Pig’s Belly.
Or would it?
No, definitely not. Noah would’ve driven her home after dinner, and that would’ve been that. They would’ve returned to work the next day and probably gone right back to the nonstop bickering that had led Mrs. H to intervene in the first place.
She’d missed him at work today. It’d been weirdly dull without him around to spar with.
Speaking of work… “I, um, I ought to get going home.”
Noah seemed reluctant to let her leave, or was she imagining that?
Quit being a simpering girl, hoping the boy you suddenly have a massive crush on wants you to stay. Haven’t you learned anything about where being silly over a man can lead you? But Noah is different. He’s not like Rem. Look at what he said about being so sorry about last night. Just stop, Brianna. Stop it right now.
“Brianna?”
She realized Noah had been speaking to her while she was off arguing with herself. “I’m sorry. What?”
“My mom was asking if you’d like to come to dinner some night soon,” Noah said.
Brianna wasn’t sure if he’d want her to accept, but she couldn’t be rude. “I’d love to. Thank you, Mrs. Coleman.”
“Call me Hannah. Everyone does.”
“Thank you, Hannah.”
Ally came into the kitchen and stopped short at the sight of her mom and Ray sitting at the table. “I didn’t think you were coming home tonight.”
“Izzy kicked her out,” Noah said.
“That sounds about right,” Ally said, smiling. She got herself a glass of water. “You need anything, Mom?”
“I’m good after this delicious meal that Brianna made for us.” Hannah cleared her plate and Ray’s, rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher, which was almost full for the first time in longer than Noah could remember. “Now, I’m going home to crash until sometime tomorrow.”
“Take some brownies with you.” Brianna jumped up to cut some for them. She wrapped them in paper towels that she handed to Hannah.
“Thank you again for feeding us.”
“My pleasure.”
“See you all tomorrow,” Hannah said, heading for the mudroom with Ray.
“Dinner was great, Brianna,” Ray said. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
While Noah walked them out, Brianna started doing the dishes that hadn’t made it into the dishwasher. She was wiping down the countertop when he came back in, bringing a blast of cold air with him.
He surprised her when he came right over to her, put his hands on her face and tipped it up to receive a kiss that was so fast, it was over before it started. “You’re the best. We all appreciated the meal more than you’ll ever know.”
“I’m glad there was something I could do to help.”
“It was a big help. And there’s enough left over for tomorrow, too.”
“That was the plan.”
“Incredibly thoughtful of you.”
“I wish there was more I could do.”
“I wish we could hang out by ourselves tonight,” he said in a suggestive tone that indicated what hanging out might’ve entailed.
“There’s always tomorrow.”
He smiled, and she melted. That smile was rare but potent, and when he unleashed it on her, she was almost powerless to resist him.
“I should, um, be heading home, I guess.” She gathered up the serving spoons she’d brought in case he didn’t have them. “Are you working tomorrow?”
“I’ll be there in the morning to get the guys started before I head to the hospital. Did everything go okay today?”
“Yes, it was fine.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t even ask before now.”
“You have other things on your mind.”
“I have a lot of things on my mind,” he said, again in that meaningful way that sent shivers down her spine.
He wasn’t even trying to hide that he wanted her and made her forget her worries about getting sucked into another “situation” with a man who had the power to hurt her. Noah made it easy to forget about what’d happened in the past and to be hopeful that not all men were capable of the kind of wreckage Rem had left in her life.
“Are you okay?” Noah asked, his brows furrowed with concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. I’ll see you in the morning?”
“I’ll walk you out.”
“You don’t have to do that. It’s freezing out there.”
“I want to.” He followed her into the mudroom, where they both donned coats and boots before heading into the frigid night.
“I’ve never been colder in my entire life than I am here,” she said as she burrowed deeper into her coat.
“You get used to it after a while.”
“How long of a while? Several months in, and I’m not used to it.”
“Might take a year or two.”
“I’d never make it.”
“If you had someone to keep you warm, you might get used to it quicker.”
“I should look into that.”
He pinched her ass, making her startle and then laugh.
“Oh, were you volunteering for the job?”
“I was, in fact, and you hurt my feelings.”
Brianna laughed at the indignant retort. “My heartfelt apologies.”
“You’re not even kinda sorry.”
She couldn’t stop laughing until he angled her, pressing her against the car so he could kiss her far more intently than he had inside. Her bag dropped to the ground with a clatter, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, opening her mouth to his tongue. She wondered if they were visible from inside the house until his hands landed on her ass, drawing her in tight against his erection. At that point, she couldn’t bring herself to care if his siblings were watching them.
“Wanted to do that for two hours,” he whispered against her lips before going back for more.
It couldn’t be more than ten degrees, but every part of her was on fire for him.
“Wish we could pick up where we left off the other day.”
“Your sisters are probably watching us.”
He glanced toward the house. “I don’t think so. The blinds are closed.”
“I should go before we freeze to death.”
“I’m not even slightly cold.”
Her laughter formed a cloud of breath that disappeared in the icy cold. “I’d invite you to my place, but I have a feeling you’d take some heat from your houseguests if you left.”
“You’d be correct about that, and normally, I wouldn’t care, but I don’t need them all up in my grill about you.”
“They’ll probably be on you, anyway, wanting to know who this woman is who brought you dinner.”
“She’s a friend. A very good friend.” He pushed his erection against her belly, and even with multiple layers of clothing between them, the shocking burst of desire took her breath away. “With benefits they don’t need to know about.”
Brianna realized she had his coat fisted in both hands. She released him slowly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You want me to bring you coffee and breakfast from the diner?”
“Sure, that sounds good.”
“Least I can do after you cooked for my entire family.”
“Hope you can get some sleep.”
He held t
he door and waited for her to get settled before leaning in for one more kiss. Then he pulled away but stared at her for a long moment, making her wonder what he was thinking. “Drive carefully and watch out for moose in the road.”
She swallowed hard at the thought of crashing into a moose. “I will.”
Noah stood upright and closed the car door. He waved as she drove off.
Brianna drove slowly through town, watching for moose as she went, nervous about the icy roads as much as the possibility of crashing into a massive animal. If she lived here forever, she’d probably never get used to the bone-deep cold, the moose or the other hazards of mountain life.
But she sure as hell could get used to being kissed by Noah Coleman.
Chapter Twelve
“You can victimize yourself by
wallowing around in your own past."
—Wayne Dyer
Noah hung his coat in the mudroom and sat on the bench to untie his boots. He wanted to follow Brianna home and spend the night with her, but she was right that his family would be all over him if he did that. The Colemans were awfully good at minding each other’s business, especially when they were sleeping under the same roof.
He went into the kitchen, where Nessa was pouring herself a glass of wine.
“She seems nice,” Nessa said.
“Who?” He knew who she meant but wasn’t going to make it easy for his sister to pry into his business.
“You know who. Don’t be obtuse, Noah. Brianna seems very nice.”
“She is.”
“Didn’t I hear somewhere that you don’t get along with her?”
“We’ve had our challenges at work, but it’s no big deal.”
“Hmmm.”
“What do you want to say, Nessa?”
“Just that I’m glad to see you smiling again, brother. It’s been too long. If your architect friend is making you smile, then I like her.”
Sarah came shuffling into the kitchen, sliding over the floor in her socks and coming to a stop right next to him. “Did you get the scoop on lasagna lady?” she asked Nessa.
“There’s no scoop to get,” Noah told his youngest sister. “We’re friends, and that’s it.”
“Really?” Sarah asked. “Because I picked up on a vibe.”
“What vibe?”
“The I-want-to-rip-your-clothes-off kind of vibe.”
Noah rolled his eyes, unnerved by his sister’s insight. “You picked that up while we were eating lasagna with her?”
“Yep.”
“I sorta picked up the same thing,” Nessa said. “There were all these veiled looks and yearning.”
“Yes!” Sarah said. “Exactly.”
“You people are insane. I’m going to bed. Help yourself to whatever you need.”
Sarah grabbed his arm. “Noah, wait. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to run you out. I just wanted to say that it’s nice to see you having fun again. We’ve all been worried about you.”
“What she said.” Nessa used her thumb to point to Sarah. “We don’t know what happened a few years ago, and we don’t need to know. We’re just thankful to see you coming back to life.”
Moved by their sweetness, he kissed them both on the forehead and left them to ponder the status of his private life without him there to hear it. He said good night to Ally and Henry in the living room and went upstairs to shower. One of his siblings had built up the fire in the woodstove, so he didn’t have to worry about that for once.
Standing under the hot water, he thought about kissing Brianna in the cold and how much he wished she could’ve stayed with him tonight.
After how crazy she’d made him at work for months, it was amazing how one wild night had changed everything between them. Now all he could think about was how long he had to wait to be alone with her again.
After his shower, he got dressed in a long-sleeved thermal T-shirt and flannel pajama pants. He got in bed and reached for the bedside phone to call the number she’d given him earlier.
“Didn’t I just leave you?” she asked, sounding as if she’d run for the phone.
“Just making sure you didn’t encounter Fred the moose on the way home.”
“No moose sightings, and no near misses on icy roads either.”
“That’s good news.”
“It’s nice of you to check on me.”
“You can’t be too careful driving in the mountains, especially in the winter.”
“It’s kind of scary to know someone like your sister, who grew up here, can end up off the road.”
“She probably hit ice. That’s the one thing you can’t learn how to control, no matter how many winters you spend in Vermont.”
“That’s terrifying.”
“Thankfully, it doesn’t happen all that often.” He didn’t think she needed to know how many times his firefighter-paramedic cousins rescued people in similar crashes each year. “You just have to be careful and take it slow.”
“I can do that. I enjoyed meeting your family.”
“That’s not even all of them. You haven’t met Gray, Izzy or Jackson, or Gray’s fiancée, Emma, and her daughter, Simone.”
“That’s a lot of siblings. Your brother is getting a ready-made family when he gets married, huh?”
“Yeah, but he’s crazy about Simone. Her father has never been in her life, so they’re both enjoying having the other one around. They’re very cute together. In fact, she’s the one who suggested he ask out her mother.”
“That’s adorable! How old is she?”
“Ten or eleven. I forget, and she’s very cute. They met at my cousin Hunter’s wedding, and from what Gray told me, Simone gave him a push in her mother’s direction, not that he needed much of a push. He was already intrigued by her. Emma’s sister, Lucy, is married to my cousin Colton. And Ray is Emma and Lucy’s dad.”
“I’m going to need a chart that shows how everyone is related.”
“I can do that for you.” He tugged the quilt up. “I wish you hadn’t left.”
“It’s probably for the best. We don’t want things to get…”
“What?”
“Complicated. While we’re working together.”
“Complicated happened a couple of nights ago.”
“That was a fun night, and I’m glad it happened, but I just… I don’t know, Noah. I’m still such a mess over everything with my ex. I don’t trust myself or my judgment.”
“You can’t let him do that to you. There’s nothing wrong with your judgment. He was the problem. You know that.”
“I do, but I ignored some things that I now see should’ve been red flags. I was so in love with being in love that I let it make me stupid.”
“You’re wiser now. You’d never make those mistakes again, and besides, I’m kind of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get sort of guy. I’m not big on games or drama or nonsense.”
“Are you trying to talk me into something more than a one-night stand?”
“Maybe.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Maybe.”
“Noah!” she said, laughing. “Quit with the one-word answers.”
“Sorry.” He chuckled at her outrage. “I’m not sure what I want. I just know I had more fun with you the other night than I’ve had with anyone in years, and I didn’t want you to leave earlier. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
“I had fun, too,” she said softly. “You made me feel good about myself, which is a pretty big deal after feeling like shit for a year.”
“You shouldn’t let anyone make you feel like shit, Bri. You’re a smart, beautiful, accomplished woman who doesn’t have to take any crap from anyone.”
“Even you?”
He could hear the smile in her voice. “Especially me. But not from anyone, least of all a man who didn’t deserve you.”
“He didn’t. I loved him so much. So, so much. And the whole thing was just a big game to him. He never loved me at all, because the only one he’s capabl
e of loving is himself.”
“Can you see how there’s nothing you could’ve done to change the outcome with him?”
“Yeah, I can with hindsight, but I still feel like a fool for being so easily taken for a ride.”
“Does that mean you’re never again going to take a chance with someone else?”
“No, it doesn’t mean that. It just means I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.”
“Fair enough.” For someone who’d made it his mission to remain uninvolved with other people, Noah was far more disappointed than he ought to have been. “Believe it or not, I get it.”
“I’m sorry, Noah.”
“Don’t be. Nothing says we can’t be friends as well as colleagues.”
“I’d like very much to be your friend.”
“Consider it done. Get some sleep.”
“You, too.”
“I’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you then.”
Noah pressed the button to end the call and put the phone back on the bedside charger. He shut off the light and settled into bed. He stared up at the ceiling for a long time, processing their conversation and the overwhelming disappointment. She didn’t want anything more than a friendship and working relationship with him, which was a huge bummer.
She’d ignited something in him that he’d assumed died forever when his marriage ended, and he’d liked it.
However, she wasn’t ready for anything more than friendship, and he had to respect her wishes.
Even if it totally sucked.
* * *
Pain was Izzy’s constant companion. They’d given her a morphine pump that she could use whenever it got bad, but she could only have so much. The medicine dulled the pain but didn’t eradicate it, which made it hard to sleep. She’d sent her mother home to rest, but now that she was facing a sleepless, painful night, she wished she hadn’t done that.
She also wished the room had a TV or something she could do to while away the time until morning, but the ICU room had nothing but a bed, chair and tons of beeping equipment that could drive a sane person crazy.
How in the heck had she ended up in the ICU in the first place? One minute, she was driving home from St. Johnsbury, and the next, she was in an ambulance, or that’s how it had seemed to her. She had no memory of the accident itself, which was a blessing.
