I pulled my phone from my pocket, deciding that maybe I’d call before charging inside. I was worked up, oddly excited, and the ‘raging bull’ approach suddenly seemed like the wrong one. I didn’t want to fuck this up any more than I already had.
Dialing The Swing’s main phone line, my cell rang and rang. I could see the front doors from where I stood—people going in and out—and so I figured my phone call was being ignored since they seemed busy. Finally, someone answered. That someone was Georgie. Thank, Christ.
“Thank you for calling The Pres—”
“Georgie,” I said, cutting her off. “It’s Noah.”
“Oh. Hi.” Her voice went soft, barely audible over the child I could hear screaming in the background. “Aren’t you supposed to be here right now?”
“Yes. I’ll be there soon.”
“Did you need to talk to someone else?” she asked. That damn child was still screaming in the background. And hell no I didn’t want to speak to anyone else.
“No. I called because I wanted to speak with you. Only you.”
Then the line went dead.
What? Dammit.
She’d hung up on me. Not that I didn’t deserve it. I took a deep breath, realizing exactly what I needed to do next to make this right, and walked across the parking lot toward the main building. I pushed open the glass doors and entered.
And there she was—behind the counter, the phone still in her hand, helping a customer at the cash register. She had a fraction of a smile on her face, one being directed at the woman she was helping, but it quickly faded as her eyes looked up and found me.
“Georgina,” I said. I didn’t mean for it to, but my voice boomed. “I need to see you in my office. Now.” Without waiting for a response from her or any of the people in the room, I turned and headed for my office. I left the door open behind me as I disappeared inside.
CHAPTER 10
GEORGINA
I wanted to slap my manager, Connie. Noah had called, and he’d called wanting to speak with me. He’d actually sounded kind of sweet on the phone which had been surprising since he never came over last night. All night and all morning I’d been assuming he hadn’t shown because there was another girl, perhaps even a girlfriend since I didn’t know otherwise. Maybe he’d blown me off for her. Or maybe he simply hadn’t wanted to deal with my craziness. I had, after all, randomly cried on some person’s lawn in front of him yesterday.
But then he’d called and restored a fraction of my hope. But my hope was quickly squashed by Connie’s manicured little finger. She’d pressed the button to end my phone call! Without even a warning! While I was still using it!
“We’re too busy for personal phone calls. Save it for later, honey,” she’d said. How had she even known it was personal? Maybe because my cheeks were hotter than the sidewalk in July?
Connie had been fairly nice all morning (nicer than Jill yesterday) and so her behavior had come as a major shock. I guess she was under a lot of stress since there was currently a birthday party of twenty-five girls crammed into the main building, all trying to pick out a different colored ball for miniature golf.
Then Noah walked in—not two minutes after I’d hung up on him. I was still frozen with the phone in my hand. But suddenly he was here and in the same room as me. “Georgina. I need to see you in my office. Now,” he’d announced to the entire room, his voice silencing everyone. He might have sounded vaguely sweet on the phone, but now he only sounded pissed off.
Then he—with his blond hair down, slightly wet as if he’d only just showered, and carrying a motorcycle helmet under one arm—stormed into his office. He left the door open behind him, obviously meaning for me to follow.
Oh. My. Gosh. He was going to fire me. Apparently, Carrie thought so too because she gave me a look that seemed to say, what did you do? And much to my increased horror, Noah happened to look extra gorgeous today—in a ruggedly handsome, bad-boy, rip-your-clothes-off, maybe-he-really-should-join-a-motorcycle-gang sort of way.
What a way to add insult to injury. He hadn’t shown up last night and now he was going to fire me. I left the woman I was helping, because what other choice did I have, and followed in the direction he’d disappeared. I hadn’t seen his office yet, but I guess I was going to see it now.
Entering the room, I found it was nicer than expected. Small but tidy. But who cared about what the freaking room looked like when Noah was in it! He stood, leaning against the single wooden desk that occupied the space. His arms were crossed tightly over his chest. He had on a white t-shirt, jeans, and a black leather jacket.
Oh good Jesus, the guy shouldn’t be allowed to wear leather. It just wasn’t fair to the rest of the world.
And, of course, now my hands were trembling. I’d never been so nervous in my entire life.
“Close the door,” he said softly.
I closed the door but didn’t dare venture further than a single step into the room. I was finding it very hard to breathe…and to stand. “So, I didn’t mean to hang up on you,” I blurted out. “That was an accident.”
“Good to know,” he said, not moving but staring pretty intensely at me. “How’s your second day going?”
“Fine. I guess.”
“Don’t let Connie stress you out. She gets rattled when it gets busy.”
I nodded. Was this what he called me in here to talk about? At least, I guess, he wasn’t going to fire me.
“About last night—” he started. Oh holy shit, we weren’t just going to talk about work stuff! And out of fear of what might come next, my lungs felt like they’d caught on fire. And my cheeks started suffering from a similar problem. “I wasn’t there.”
I swallowed, hard. “I noticed.”
“And I’m sorry for that.”
He was?
He stood up from where he was leaning against the desk. And, as if he suddenly remembered he was wearing a jacket in the middle of June, he took it off and flopped it down on his desk. Then he took a step in my direction, his gaze flickering down to my lips. Then his eyes returned to mine, staring so fiercely at me that I took a step backward. My ass hit the door behind me.
“I was thinking,” I blurted out, stopping him before he could come any closer. “Um. Maybe we should just be friends. Maybe that would be easier.”
Did I actually want to be ‘just friends?’ Hell to the no! But I had to let him off the hook. I had to give him an out. We’d snuggled in bed now—twice. (Three times if I were to count the first night.) And I wanted a whole hell of a lot more from Noah than that, but he’d been giving off the vibe that he didn’t want the same thing. And if he couldn’t give me what I wanted—everything, I wanted everything—then what was the point of starting something at all? He’d gotten my hopes up yesterday and when he never showed last night, I’d admittedly been a little crushed.
“Friends?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t have any girls that are friends.”
“Ellie’s your friend.”
He took a step closer and then another. “Ellie’s like one of the guys. She doesn’t count.”
“So you don’t want to be my friend then?”
The idea of that hurt like hell.
“No fucking way,” he answered.
At the same moment those horrific words slipped of his mouth, one of his hands touched my stomach. It was a gentle touch but bold and totally unexpected. I looked down, so surprised he had touched me that my eyes needed to see what was happening in order to believe it. I watched as his fingers trailed along the hem of my shirt and then disappeared under the material.
His fingers made contact with my bare skin. And I couldn’t help it when I sucked in a sharp breath because of it. As light as a feather, his touch moved over my navel and across my stomach, shivers shooting up my spin, until his hand reached the small of my waist.
“Look at me, Georgie, please,” he whispered.
I lifted my gaze to meet his. His whiskey-colored eyes were the mo
st beautiful things imaginable. Maybe they reminded me of whiskey, not because of the color, but because of the way they warmed me deep inside.
He rested his other hand on the door beside my head.
“I want to be more than a friend to you,” he murmured. His head dropped to my shoulder and his lips found my neck. “Much more. And that scares the shit out of me. I’m not very good at more. But for you…I think I could be damn good at it. Would it be easier to only be friends? Fuck no. I woke up this morning feeling like shit. And not because I was slightly hung-over, but because you weren’t in bed with me.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
Did that mean I wasn’t just a snuggle-buddy to him?
Answering my unspoken question, he started planting little kisses along my neck where his lips touched. The stubble on his face brushed across my skin. It felt amazing, way too insanely amazing, and I gave in to his touch instantly. I tilted my head to the side to give his lips better access. My body was tingling everywhere. I felt high and giddy and buzzing with life. I could barely believe this was happening. Like it was too good to be true or something. But I didn’t want to overanalyze the moment; I only needed him to kiss me. Now.
“Noah,” I whispered. “Please.”
“Tell me what you want.”
I couldn’t actually ask him to kiss me—not after the way he rejected me yesterday. “More,” I said instead. “I want more too.”
“Good,” he half-growled. And then he lifted me up in his arms. It happened so suddenly that I let out a little whimper. He carried me away from the door and to the desk. Pushing his jacket and laptop to the other side, he set me down. My butt was on the hard wood and my knees pressed into his stomach. He inched my thighs apart and settled between the space he’d created.
My hands came to rest on his biceps. They were strong, hard, and quite intimidating. But that roughness Noah exuded—well, it could turn incredibly gentle at a moment’s notice. Slowly and carefully, he brought his hands up the sides of my neck, digging his fingertips into my hair, ensuring that the only place I could look was right into his eyes.
He lowered his face closer to mine.
Then the door to Noah’s office burst wide open.
I screamed. I literally screamed while Noah groaned.
It was Ellie, and she wasn’t even surprised when she caught us together. “Oh. Hi guys. I brought you lunch.” She set a grocery bag down on the desk beside us. “You know that Connie is out there basically pulling her hair out, right? She’s extra stressed today. Maybe she’s on her period. Want me to cover the front with her for a half-hour while you two eat?”
Noah stepped away from me while I awkwardly slid down from the desk. “That was nice of you to bring us food,” I said, trying to act casual but still in total shock that Ellie didn’t care about me almost kissing her best friend.
Ellie shrugged. “I was bored.”
“She wasn’t bored,” Noah said to both of us and to neither of us. He walked toward the door. “She was being nosy, like usual, and wanted to see for herself what was going on between us.” He sighed, brushing his fingers through his hair. His eyes flickered briefly to mine and then to the door. “I don’t feel like eating. Rain check?”
I nodded, confused. Was he ready to leave me so fast?
“I’ll go out front with Connie for the time being. You guys eat. Do some sister bonding or whatever.”
He was about to walk out the door but abruptly stopped. It was like he suddenly realized that he was being rude—about to leave me high and dry after almost kissing me two seconds ago.
He crossed the room to where I still stood awkward and waiting by his desk. He cupped my face in his hands and swiftly gave me the kiss he hadn’t moments ago. As far as kisses go, it was exceptionally tame. Just a quick press of his warm, soft lips to mine. But it was also sweet as hell, unexpected, and reassuring. It was as if he wanted me to know, in his own particular Noah way, that he hadn’t forgotten about me.
He said nothing more, but I could see the hint of a smile on his lips. Then he left the room.
“Oh. My. Word,” Ellie said as soon as he disappeared. “I’ve never seen Noah like this.”
Stuck in a bit of a ‘Noah daze,’ my mind still attempting to process the last few moments and my heart beating out of control, I peeled my eyes off the door and refocused my attention on Ellie. “What do you mean?”
She shrugged, digging through the random snacks in the grocery bag she’d brought. “Normally he’s the poster boy for cool, calm, and collected. He always has his shit together, even when I don’t, but the last few days he’s been…different. You’ve got him flustered and acting like a total fool. It’s cute.”
He didn’t seem flustered to me. He seemed perfectly in control. “Are you sure?”
“Trust me. He’s in deep, kiddo, and it’s really entertaining for me to watch. I’m going to go buy a camera as soon I leave here. I can’t not document this with at least twenty-four megapixels.”
I laughed and grabbed a Lunchables from Ellie’s bag. “I think you’re imagining things,” I said but secretly hoped she wasn’t. I wanted Noah to be ‘in deep,’ even if the thought was only a fantasy, because the truth was, I was already in pretty damn deep myself.
* * *
Lunch with Ellie was nice. Casual. Easy. She told me all about her softball team. Yep, my lesbian sister was on a recreational softball team. Cliché but true. Apparently Noah and Rhett—who I learned was their third roommate—were on the team, too. And she wanted me to join, but I felt hesitant. Whatever I had with Noah was too new, likely only going to be temporary, and I didn’t want to take over his life any more than I already had. So I declined Ellie’s offer. It was a thoughtful offer though, and I promised to go to some of her games this summer.
A quick half hour later, we finished eating lunch. Ellie gave me a hug goodbye and set off to buy a camera, while I rejoined Connie and Noah. I was nervous as holy hell, still caught up in my tame-but-wonderful-still-can’t-believe-it-actually-happened kiss with Noah.
“You should go on your lunch break now,” Noah said to Connie the very moment I left his office. “Take an hour if you’d like. I know it’s been a weird morning, but I’d really like you to start your time now since I’m already behind on everything I need to do.”
“Alright,” Connie responded. She shot me a look from behind the cash register. I wondered if she thought I was getting special treatment by getting to take my impromptu break before her. Whatever. I was still kind of annoyed with her for cutting off my phone call earlier, so I didn’t care if I’d received special treatment or not.
Ellie told me yesterday that typically only two (and on occasion three) people worked the front counter at a time. Actually, one person could probably manage the work alone—there wasn’t much to do other than ring customers up at the register, answer the phone, and from time to time help little kids pick out a putter—but she said she preferred two people to always be working. I guess Noah couldn’t leave me alone until Connie returned. That meant I had one solid hour of semi-alone time with Noah.
Lord have mercy on my pounding heart!
Connie left, walking off toward the break room, and I replaced her spot—as calmly as possible—behind the cash register. The only other people in the room were a teenage couple, probably not much younger than me, picking out balls for the course. They decided on pink and blue and then disappeared out the door.
“I’m assuming Ellie or Jill already showed you how to do everything yesterday,” Noah said, leaning against the opposite end of the counter. Only three feet separated us.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“And you’re probably already a pro at it so I’ll just stay over here and enjoy my view.”
And he wasn’t even kidding. He stayed in the same spot, with his arms crossed, and made a big show out of diligently watching me work. He didn’t help me once during our time together, the bastard. Except wh
en the phone rang, and he dove for it saying, “Better let me. You might hang up on whoever’s calling.”
I wanted to smack him over the back of his handsome head—but changed my mind because that was when I realized that Noah was flirting with me. I’d never thought of him as anything but the embodiment of the strong, silent type. So, seeing this other side of him came as a bit of shock and right now he was being downright playful.
“We close at eleven tonight,” he told the person on the phone, while his eyes continued to stare at me, a small cocky smile working its way over his lips. “Okay. Thanks. Bye.” He hung up the phone and returned to his arms-crossed-face-stern-watch-me-like-a-hawk-because-this-is-how-I-flirt routine. I liked it. He was acting panty-dropping cute, and it made me desperately want to find out what playful Noah was like in bed—with zero inhibitions holding him back.
Way too soon, disappointingly enough, Connie reemerged from the break room. Had an hour passed so fast? Bummer. “I’m finished,” she told him. “I hope you don’t mind, but I only felt like taking a half-hour break.”
That bitch.
“No problem.” Noah glanced down at his watch and then at me. “What time do you get off? Two, right?”
“Yes.”
He nodded, leaving the spot he’d been glued to for the last half hour. “Okay good. Don’t leave without finding me first,” he muttered as he passed me.
That meant I was left alone with Connie all over again. Big dramatic eye roll.
“What did you do to piss Noah off?” she asked after he’d disappeared. I swear to the man upstairs, prior to her break she’d had on a normal amount of makeup, but now she had on twice as much. I sure hoped that wasn’t for my benefit because the only thing on my mind right now was an image of Noah Clark and the way he looked in his leather jacket. It was a very good image, too, and I had a feeling I was going to need to focus on that image in order to survive the next two hours alone with Connie.
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