He was wearing black running pants, the kind that were tight enough—or his thighs ripped enough—to show the outline of his muscles through the fabric when he moved. Amanda had never spent much time contemplating calf muscles, but they were obviously underrated. They didn’t get the kind of attention that biceps got, or abs. That was clearly going to have to change.
Not that there was anything wrong with his biceps. Or his abs. He had on a sleek black jacket, the kind of fancy performance-wear people wore to show off that they were going to the gym even if they never did. But Amanda knew it wasn’t showing off to Noah. When he unzipped the jacket, she could see the fitted running shirt underneath, the line of his pecs through the fabric, the hint of sweat. He hadn’t shaved that morning, and the scruff left a dark line along his jaw. It made her suddenly starving for nothing that had to do with food.
She couldn’t live like this.
She got up from her desk and headed for the hallway.
She didn’t know what her feet were doing or where they were taking her, only that she had to get away. She couldn’t sit there under Noah’s gaze anymore.
And she definitely couldn’t pretend in front of Luke—in front of everyone—that everything was as totally wonderful and normal and boring as could be.
Chapter Nine
Fucking Tuesdays. That was all Noah could think as he watched Amanda push back from her desk.
Dropping by Luke’s office had never been a big deal before. He had a client who lived near there, so on Tuesdays, he finished their run near Hell’s Kitchen just before five and then came over to say hi. Usually, they’d grab a beer and something to eat. After his busiest day, he was always starving.
But not right now. Right now, his stomach was suddenly full—full of nerves, full of uncertainty, full of indecision. The open office was always buzzing. But he barely heard the hum of activity or saw the groups of people clustered around their desks. All he could see was her.
He was just trying to be normal. Stick to his routine.
But there she was, coming straight toward him. What the hell was she about to do, right in front of Luke?
At the last second, he realized…she wasn’t coming toward him. She was trying to get away. He just happened to be blocking the hallway, the one spot that led away from the desks and toward the closed conference rooms.
“Hey,” he said, figuring he should say something—even as he stepped aside to ensure they didn’t so much as brush a limb in passing.
“Hey,” she muttered back without stopping.
He frowned. What was that supposed to mean? What did they say to each other every other Tuesday he came by? Was he supposed to keep ignoring her? Talk to her more?
What exactly was the protocol here so that it wouldn’t look like he’d accidentally-on-purpose come in the mouth of his brother’s friend—the friend he’d always complained about and said he never liked? The friend who’d always had a crush on Luke and not him. The friend he couldn’t stop thinking about—even though he was supposed to be pretending nothing had happened.
He was usually there to see Luke and then leave. It hit him with a sharp blow to his chest to realize that on past Tuesdays, he hadn’t thought much about her at all.
He opened his mouth, thinking he should say something more. Something to make up for the times he hadn’t said so much as “hi” before.
But she was already past him.
“I just have to send this last email,” Luke said, his eyes on the computer, oblivious to the awkwardness unfolding before him.
“No problem,” Noah said, even though his jaw barely worked. His tongue felt like glue. Everything in him had seized, his eyeballs stuck on the view of Amanda from behind as she disappeared down the hall. She was wearing dark skinny jeans, her black Docs, and some kind of top that managed to be both drapey and clingy at once. It wasn’t like he’d never appreciated that Amanda was cute before. But how had he missed the sway of her hips, the shape of her ass in those jeans?
“We found a glitch,” Luke went on, and Noah jerked his head around.
“Oh,” he said, fumbling for a response that had nothing to do with Amanda and hot and clothes off now, which were the only things pounding through his skull. “That sounds bad.”
Luke laughed, hands flying over the keyboard. “It’s kind of hilarious, actually. Turns out in level four, if you raid a school and eat the little kiddie brains, it gives you major points. But in level five, you have to get the teacher brains first and—”
Noah held up a hand. He didn’t need the details.
“Got it,” he said, reminding himself to just be glad his brother had a job. Luke had played so many video games in high school, he’d been well on his way to becoming a zombie himself. No one would have guessed Luke would be the one moving up in the world while responsible Noah was still scraping by. Somedays, it was downright embarrassing how much their roles had flipped.
L.A., he reminded himself sharply. I have a real job waiting for me in L.A. A good one. The way things are supposed to be.
“How was the slow guy you’re training?” Luke asked as he typed. “Getting any faster?”
Noah knew who Luke was talking about. One of his clients was rehabbing after ACL surgery. He wasn’t slow the way Luke said it, like he sucked or something. He was slow because he was building back his strength.
“He’s good,” Noah said, not wanting to get into it, knowing Luke wouldn’t understand.
L.A., he thought again. Just because there’d be no more one-on-one runs, no more getting to know his clients and their lives, didn’t mean things wouldn’t be better.
Even if right now, it felt like he was going to jump clean out of his skin.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
Luke looked up. “I’ll just be a minute.”
“Yeah, it’s fine. I just—” Noah swallowed. “Today was brutal. I need a drink of water.”
Luke may have nodded, but Noah knew his brother like he knew his own reflection. That what’s going on with you look lasted for too long.
But Luke’s eyes went to the screen, and the typing picked up again. And it was true—Noah was thirsty. Although that may have been more because the sight of Amanda in those ass-hugging jeans had left him parched and wanting.
He knew he shouldn’t do it. Amanda had given him the perfect out. All he had to do was stay put and wait for Luke, and then the two of them would head out before she came back. No Amanda, no awkwardness, no problem.
He didn’t need a rebound, and she didn’t need a Luke-substitute. So it would be a bad idea to follow her down the hall. A worse idea to go into the conference room he’d seen her duck into. Closing the door so the two of them were facing each other, alone? Unthinkably bad.
He didn’t know why he did it. To tell her, once again, to stop acting so weird around him and his brother? Look at how well that had gone before.
So maybe he did want to see her.
Maybe it was like Luke had told him all the times he’d gotten busted in school, busted at home, busted with girls. He didn’t know why he did it. He just did.
Even though it was her workplace. Even though Luke was right nearby.
It wasn’t like his brother had a claim on her, but still. It was…uncomfortable. Definitely overstepping. Noah had never been Amanda’s biggest fan. To come out and casually mention that oh yeah, I’m downright pursuing her?
He shook his head. No, that wasn’t ever going to be part of the plan.
But once he started walking down the hall and saw where Amanda had turned, once his hand was on the handle and he was opening it and walking inside and closing the heavy, windowless door behind him—
Well, then.
Once he was already making one mistake…
How could he stop making another?
Chapter Ten
&nbs
p; The door opened behind her, and Amanda whirled around, the surprised gasp dying on her lips when she saw who’d followed her inside.
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said, striding around to the other side of the conference table as though it would help to put a few measly feet between them.
“I know,” he said as the door clicked shut.
“Luke will find us.”
“I know.”
“Someone will walk in.”
“We’re just standing here.”
She folded her arms. Noah was a lot of things, but he wasn’t an idiot. There was no way he believed that was all that was happening.
“You followed me,” she said.
He nodded, but he didn’t say anything.
“Why?”
He still didn’t say anything, and she was about to open her mouth again and tell him all the reasons he needed to leave right now and let everything go back to how it was—how it was supposed to be—when he held up a hand. “I don’t know,” he said, and her mouth shut.
This was Noah she was talking to, not Luke. Noah always had a plan, an opinion, something to say. How could he just…not know?
But it wasn’t like she had any clue what was going on, either. “You should leave,” she tried again. Too bad it was obvious from the tremor in her voice that she didn’t mean it.
She’d tried to stop this from escalating. She’d expected him to take the opening and head out with Luke, and she’d go back to her desk once they were gone.
But here he was breaking all the rules and coming after her. Coming toward her when he should have been backing away.
He took a step closer, around the table. The next thing she knew, there was no escaping his arms around her. His lips brushing close to hers as he whispered, “I don’t know what I’m doing here. But you should kiss me.”
There was no thinking, no worry, no doubt. She raised her lips to his and let herself taste what she was hungry for. All she could think was that no kiss should feel this good. Nothing so simple could be this right.
But even as she gave in to the sensation, some part of her was standing back, tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for it to end. Because that’s what things did, didn’t they? They ended.
No matter how good the kiss was, how much it felt like every cell in her body was falling into place, it was only a matter of time before one of them would pull away. The other one would stammer out something uncomfortable about how they couldn’t pursue this any further, they’d both agree it was for the best to cut their losses already, and he’d go back to the desks. She’d wait five minutes—maybe ten, to be safe. Then she’d walk out to an empty office, pack her things, and move on.
She could see the scene unfolding with logical clarity in her mind, one step and then the next. It wasn’t a bad thing to think this way. It was better to be realistic than hopelessly naive.
So she was ready for it to end. She was preparing herself for the let-down. If she knew it was coming, then it would hurt less when it happened. As least she wouldn’t be surprised.
But there was just one problem.
Neither one of them was stopping.
When Noah finally drew his lips away, her heart was pounding, her breath frantic. Now what was he doing?
She took back everything she’d just thought—there was no way she could shrug and go back to her desk like this now. But Noah kept her hand in his as he flipped the blinds in the room so no one could see in. Oh. Was he serious? Were they really going to keep doing this…here?
She had her answer when he shoved a chair up under the door handle, which didn’t have a lock. Not like it would make a huge difference. But people were going home now. Hopefully, they’d think the darkened room was empty and wouldn’t bother checking in.
It was a ridiculous thought, and she should have known better. But if she was going to listen to that smarter voice in her head, she’d have kicked Noah out as soon as he’d followed her in here. She never would have kissed him the first time, let alone again and again.
She definitely wouldn’t still be kissing him while he unbuttoned her jeans and yanked them over her hips as he pulled her panties down.
The next thing she knew, her bare ass was pressed against the edge of the conference table—the very table where she sat for meetings and phone calls and collaborations when she and her teammates needed a place to talk without disturbing everyone.
In the vacation house, they hadn’t even known who they’d been kissing. At the barn, all their clothes had stayed on. Then, she’d felt frantic, rushed, a need that had consumed her and then burned out as quickly as it had flared. They still had to be careful in here—and fast. But something about the way he pressed her back and lay her on the table told her things were different this time.
Like he’d been thinking about it. Like he wanted it as much as she did.
Her legs dangled over the edge of the table, his body firm and hard on top of hers. Not even all the way naked, but that didn’t make her feel any less vulnerable. It should have been too much. She couldn’t do this here or with him.
But as soon as she felt his hard-on notch between her thighs, every objection vanished. She must have let out a whimper, because his hand went to her mouth and he whispered, “Quiet,” with a quick glance at the closed door.
Her breath caught, waiting for something to happen. Something bad, something embarrassing, something she’d regret for the rest of her life.
But there was nothing, and the reminder of how risky this was made her want more. She bit back her whimpers as he kissed his way down her body, pulling her pants down lower as he went.
He kneeled on the ground, on the office floor right where Luke had been standing in a meeting that very day. And then she had to clasp her own hand to her mouth to keep in her cries as he began to lick her, and all thoughts of Luke and work and anything outside this moment vanished completely from her mind.
He licked her softly at first—but nothing Noah did was halfway, and that was sure as hell true for going down on her, too. He spread her thighs and brought his tongue to every part of her, using the same steady circles his fingers had already discovered worked wonders on her.
Her orgasm happened almost by surprise, as though she hadn’t really expected it to find her. It had been that way behind the barn, too—how fast the build-up, how strong the final explosion. She’d always felt like her body was some kind of maze, difficult and confusing and most of the time easier to leave alone. Everyone knew it was hard to make women come. It was practically scientific knowledge. How many guys had given up with a half-hearted shrug and some comment about how she was “tricky?”
Except Noah hadn’t gotten that memo. “Shh,” he whispered, bringing a hand to graze her lips. He looked up from between her thighs. “The whole hall is going to hear you.”
She let her head fall back, still panting. “Sorry,” she said with a wince of embarrassment for how far she’d let herself go.
But Noah gave a sly, one-dimpled grin as he stood. He brought his body over hers, bracing himself against the table. He looked down at her squarely, his eyes heavy-lidded and full. “I didn’t mean that was a bad thing.”
Her breath caught, this time from more than just the orgasm. When she reached for his fly to stroke his cock through his pants, he groaned as soon as she touched him. His eyes closed; his breath deepened. “I have to be inside you,” he whispered.
Immediately, his eyes flew open, like he might not have realized he’d said that out loud. But now she knew what he meant about not apologizing. There was no way she wanted him to say he was sorry for feeling so good or to start holding back now.
“In the bathroom,” she said, thinking fast. “There are condoms. Wait!” she gasped before he bolted out of there. “Be careful,” she hissed. All they needed was to get caught literally with their pants down�
�by Luke or by anyone else.
Was this even legal? Could she be fired? Shit, now she was starting to worry. But Noah shot her a look that was plainly insulted, like she actually thought he was going to start beating a drum and announcing it to the office. She should have known he’d be as quiet as a cat, slinking away and coming back again before the sweat had time to cool on her skin.
She’d never had use for the condoms that the company kept in bowls in the bathrooms, along with tampons and travel-size toiletries. It wasn’t like she and Luke ever needed one on any of the late nights they were the only two left in the office and all she’d wanted was to jump his bones.
But she said a silent prayer to the bosses for unknowingly saving her ass…even if this probably wasn’t what the company had in mind.
“Are they still out there?” she whispered nervously. Meaning people from work, obviously. But also meaning one person in particular.
Noah shook his head. “I didn’t check. Just—we’ll be quiet.”
She nodded. She could be quiet.
Or she’d try, because as soon as he lay her down on the table again, she immediately began to whimper. It was the feel of his lips on her skin, the trace of his fingers over the lines of her body. He yanked her pants and underwear all the way down and tossed them to the floor. She couldn’t believe she was lying half-naked on the conference table. And that Noah of all people was pulling down his running pants to put the condom on.
They didn’t dare undress the rest of the way. But somehow, rather than feeling covered up and protected with her shirt and bra still on, it only made her feel more naked. There was no hiding the way they needed each other, too desperate to wait for a safer time, a better place. Too obvious in her desire to waste time following the rules.
She’d promised herself that she’d never throw herself into another physical relationship with someone who was only going to discard her—not after Gregg had brushed her off like it was nothing. Not when it was so easy for online guys to drift into and then right back out of her life.
Wrong Bed, Right Brother (Accidental Love) Page 6
