by Jessie Evans
It was probably sick and definitely twisted, but his cock didn’t care. It was up for the challenge of getting Yasmin knocked up. So up for it that he was forced to have a moment with himself in the shower before he drove down the hill to the BBQ hut. He stroked himself to completion hoping it would help him regain his focus, but when he left the house an hour later, he was as confused—and turned on by the thought of seeing Yasmin—as he’d been all day.
So while he was waiting for his order at the BBQ place, he called his mother, figuring there was no better way to kill a hard-on than a lecture from Paula Riley about the dangers of making impulsive decisions.
His mother answered on the first ring and as usual quickly cut right to the heart of the matter. “So you asked this girl out after knowing her for only a few minutes. She must be a knockout.”
Noah lifted his eyes skyward. “She is, Mom. But that’s not the reason I asked her out. There was just this…connection. At least for me. It was wild; I felt like I had to run after her before she got away. I’ve never felt anything like that before.”
Paula murmured thoughtfully. “Well, you know the story your dad used to tell about how we met. I thought we were friends for years before we decided to date, but he swore he knew the minute he laid eyes on me that I was the girl he was going to marry. He used to say it just hit him. Like a pie to the face.”
“Sweet and messy,” Noah said, finishing the story with a sad smile.
He missed his dad every day, but he hadn’t longed for his father’s advice this much since the days when he was fighting his battle with cancer and wondering how Hank had managed to stay so centered during his own fight. Hank had handled every stage of his illness with strength and grace—even saying goodbye. His father had been a warm, loving, compassionate, love and faith-driven man. He had also been a mathematician who trafficked in logic and formulas.
If he had believed in love at first sight, who was to say it didn’t exist?
No sooner had the thought drifted through his head than his mother brought him back down to earth. “But if he’d told me that the first day of chemistry class junior year I would have thought he was out of his damned mind. No matter what kind of connection you feel with this girl, you need to make your decision from a logical place, not a mystical one.”
“I know,” he said. “I just didn’t think it would be this hard to say no.”
“Hang in there, honey. You’re your father’s son. Strong and stubborn, but one of the kindest people I know. Trust yourself and you’ll find a way to let her down easy.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Noah said, hoping she was right. The last thing he wanted to do was cause Yasmin any more pain. She’d clearly had enough of that in her life already.
Rolling the thought around in his mind, he told his mother goodbye and went to fetch his order from the pick-up window.
There was something there, something that kept his thoughts racing until the moment he stepped out of his borrowed truck to see Yasmin standing in front of the clothing store and his mind went completely blank.
She was wearing a long, slinky green dress, gold bracelets around her upper arm, and feather earrings that fluttered in the evening breeze. The setting sun caught her hair, bringing out highlights he hadn’t noticed before and warming her pale skin. Her makeup accentuated the natural angle of her eyes, making her look vaguely cat-like and sexy as hell. And then her gaze shifted, meeting his across the road, and his breath whooshed from his lungs.
Gone was the anxious woman from this morning. In her place was a vixen who knew exactly what kind of effect she had on a man, this man in particular. She ran a hand through her hair and smiled, the kind of smile that said she was ready for anything and hoping anything would be a little bit naughty.
Noah lifted a hand her way before turning to grab the picnic basket and blanket Mason had loaned him from the bed of the truck, wondering who was the real Yasmin—the scared woman who had locked away her heart or this firecracker waiting for him with a come-and-get-me look in her eyes.
Ready or not, he figured he was about to find out.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Yasmin
Yasmin watched Noah cross the street, and shivered in anticipation.
She’d spent the first few hours after their botched meeting this morning pacing the farmhouse and fretting. But by the time she’d headed back to town to help her mother with the petting zoo, anxiety had turned to frustration with the shitty nature of her luck. As the day wore away, frustration turned to anger, anger to rage, and rage to a burning case of Fuck-it-All-itis.
If her plans were going down in flames, this girl was going to enjoy the ride.
“Hey,” Noah said, eyes narrowing on her face as he stepped onto the curb beside her. “You look amazing.”
“It’s the makeup,” she said, smiling without worrying if it was too flirty or not. “I wasn’t wearing any before.”
God, it felt so good just to be herself. To let go and stop worrying and second guessing her instincts and trying so hard to be something that she wasn’t. At least for the night.
“No, it’s not the makeup.” Noah shook his head. “It’s just…you.” His gaze skimmed up and down her again. “And that dress. I’m not sure I’m worthy to be your date, Miss North. I should have kept my other clothes on.”
“Not at all.” She stepped closer, tilting her head back to hold his gaze. “You should always wear jeans. Always.”
“Oh yeah?” He lifted a brow, his lips curving into a sexy smile. “And why’s that?”
“How’s your ass?” she asked by way of response. “All recovered?”
“All better.” He bit his bottom lip, sending a flash of heat through her as she imagined doing the same. By the time the night was through, she fully intended to know what that full, sexy lip felt like trapped between her teeth. “You ready to get our picnic on?”
“Past ready. I’m starved.”
“Good, because I brought half a pig and a quart of every side on the menu.” He held up the picnic basket and nodded toward Klein hill. “Let’s head this way. Mason let me in on his favorite picnic spot. It sounds pretty sweet. As long as you don’t mind a little walk.”
“I love a walk. Especially this time of day.” Yasmin fell in beside him, lifting the long hem of her dress as they crossed the street and started through the freshly mown grass on the other side. “Sunset is the best.”
“It is,” he agreed. “It’s a forgiving time of day. Every pretty thing is just a little prettier at sunset.”
She smiled, pleasantly surprised. “It is. Are you a poet as well as a computer programmer and social worker, Mr. Riley?”
He chuckled. “No, I just love this town. This part of the country. Guess it brings out my cheesy side.”
“I like cheesy,” she said, reaching out to take the quilt tucked under his right arm. “Here, let me carry something. I like to be useful.”
“What else do you like?” he asked, sidling closer. “I know we’re supposed to be talking about heavy things, but maybe we can pretend we’re just on a date for a little while?” He smiled down at her, squinting against the sun, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I’d like to know more about you.”
“I’d like to know more about you, too,” she said, laughing beneath her breath. “But I guess I should go first. Since I’ve read an entire folder on you and your genetic history and your abnormally swift swimmers.”
“True.” He inclined his head. “So tell me about Yasmin North.”
She took a deep breath and let it out in a breezy sigh. “Well, I was born in Sapphire Falls, but left to find myself when I was in my late teens. Or at least, that’s what I told my parents. In all truth, I was more interested in finding a good time. I spent most of my early twenties traveling the world, working odd jobs, and going to too many rock concerts.”
He scoffed. “Is there such a thing?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, nodding her approval. “So I we
nt to a healthy and reasonable number of rock concerts and finally settled down a few years ago. I thought I was going to end up being a Texan. There was a little town not far from Big Bend where I made a lot of good friends and had a sweet job working at a historic hotel…but life had other plans.”
She forced a smile, refusing to think of Clint or the Lonesome Point friends she missed or anything else that would bring the fear that had haunted her for the past few months creeping back to the surface. “So now I’m back home, living on my parents’ property in their old farmhouse, working as a social media consultant, and getting ready for the next big adventure.”
Noah ran a hand through his thick hair. “A baby.”
“A baby,” she confirmed in a soft voice. “Kind of the biggest adventure of all, I guess. Bringing a life into the world and hoping you won’t screw it up. I guess I shouldn’t admit that I’m a little afraid of doing the parent thing all wrong, but tonight feels like a night for honesty so...”
“I appreciate it. And I think it’s healthy to worry a little about screwing up.” He smiled. “Since we’re back to the heavy things I guess I might as well ask. Why now? Why have you decided this is the time to start a family? All by yourself?”
“Well, I’m thirty-four, so I don’t have a lot of time to waste,” she said, laughing when Noah’s features twitched with surprise. “I don’t look it, right?”
“You look like you’re twenty-four,” he said. “Tops.”
Yasmin preened. “Thank you. For someone who’s done more than her fair share of shooting whiskey and rocking out to the break of dawn, I will admit that I’m remarkably well preserved.”
He laughed. “I agree. I’m a tequila man, myself.”
She scrunched up her face, sticking out her tongue. “Oh God, I can’t do tequila. I go from zero to silly drunk and feverish in two point five shots.”
“I would like to see you silly drunk, but I only brought beer tonight.”
“Then you should be safe,” she said, hugging the quilt to her chest as she added with a smile. “So yeah, I’m getting toward the end of my fertility, I’ve gotten all my wanderlust out of my system, and I’m ready to love someone forever.” She lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “I haven’t had the best luck in romantic relationships, but in this day and age, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a family, a child, someone I can give my heart to and know nothing is going to come between us.”
“That’s a beautiful way to look at it,” he said softly, the smile slipping away from his face. “But why does having a child mean the romantic part of your life is over? Wouldn’t you like to have a partner in this adventure at one point or another? Maybe during the terrible twos?”
“I’m more worried about the teenage years,” she said. “But I was a handful when I was a teen, so I figure anything my kid dishes out is just karma coming back to give me a well-deserved kick in the ass.”
“Or a peck in the ass. Those can be pretty nasty, I hear.”
“You would know.” She giggled, enjoying this walk even more than she’d expected, despite the heavy turn the conversation had taken.
“But seriously,” he said, nudging her arm with his. “Having a child on your own doesn’t mean you have to stay a single mother.”
She arched a brow. “I don’t think men exactly line up to date women raising an infant on their own, Noah.”
“I would,” he said seriously. “If the woman were you.”
She cleared her throat and gazed down at her feet, concentrating on kicking the grass flat in front of her as they crossed over the first ridge in the hill and started down the shadowed hollow on the other side.
“But I am a genius,” Noah continued, saving her from being forced to form a reply. “Maybe the rest of the men out there aren’t smart enough to realize a quality dating option when they see one.”
She tilted her head, gazing up at him out of the corner of her eyes. “Quality dating option, huh? And you can tell that after only meeting me twice?”
“Three times,” he said. “We’re already well into our third meeting, and this one is the most interesting yet. So answer the question, North. We geniuses are pretty good at knowing when we’re being given the runaround. Why no men?”
Yasmin pursed her lips. “I just want to focus on the baby. On being the best mom I can be. Is that so wrong?”
“No, it’s not wrong.” He nodded for a moment. “But it’s bullshit.”
She glanced sharply over, surprised—and a little turned on. She did love a man who wasn’t afraid to call her on her bullshit. “And why do you say that, Mr. Riley?”
“You weren’t kidding yesterday when you said that you weren’t going to seriously date anyone ever again.” He stopped near a gathering of short trees, turning to face her in the golden light. “Why is that? What, or who, made you decide it was time to close your heart for business, Miss North?”
The sun wouldn’t set for another two and a half hours, but it had already taken on that magical, end of day quality. Noah Riley looked even more handsome now than he had a few minutes before. Handsome and kind and clever and probably a few other wonderful things she’d dreamed of finding in a man, but this wasn’t a dream come true or even real life. This was one night with a man who was going to tell her “thanks, but no thanks” on his way out of town.
There was no reason to let down her guard, none at all, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. The truth slipped out before she could stop it.
“My last relationship was with a serial killer.” She whispered the words, but sadly some things are as terrifying in a whisper as they are a scream. “I had no idea until the day he was killed trying to murder one of my friends.”
“Jesus,” Noah said, his features softening. “You’re not kidding.”
She shook her head. “Nah. I don’t kid about serial killers. At least not anymore.”
“Damn, Yasmin.” Noah shook his head, clearly at a loss. “I’m so sorry. I obviously don’t know all the specifics, but you know what they say about people like that. They’re masters at hiding what they really are. They’re monsters, and no normal person can be expected to understand the way they think.”
She glanced down at the grass, hugging the quilt tighter. “But I was close to him, Noah. He was my lover, my friend. He made me laugh. I laughed with a man like that and I just…”
She swallowed, fighting past the tightness in her throat. “I don’t know how to come back from it. And I don’t want to. I just want peace and quiet and a chance to love someone whose deepest, darkest secret is that they wet their diaper or spit up their pureed carrots.”
His warm, strong—but gentle, so gentle, if only all the hands in the world were hands like these—palm cupped her face. Clint’s hands had been gentle at times, too. But they had never made her feel this safe.
Safe like her tree house when she was in elementary school, her private hideaway from all the hard things, her place above and separate from the world where she could dream all of her most secret, special dreams.
She and Clint had talked about dreams. About how much Yasmin wanted a family and children. Clint had worried about their age difference—he was in his mid-forties, over a decade older—and whether or not he could support a family on a bartender’s salary. He’d never mentioned anything about fitting murdering innocent women into his fathering or work schedules.
Surely Noah had secrets, too. Things that weren’t on his sperm donor résumé or reflected in those beautiful brown eyes.
She looked up, meeting his gaze as she dared to ask a question she doubted he would answer. “What are your dark secrets? What would you try to keep me from learning if we were ever anything more than friends?”
His tongue swept out to dampen his lips, but it was a nervous gesture not a sexual one, and when he spoke again, his voice shook a little. “I have a few. And I’ll tell you all about them, even though a part of me is screaming that it’s a dumb call to take my skeletons out of the cl
oset in front of a woman I’d love to stick around for a while. But I need to tell you something else first.”
“Okay.” She leaned into his hand, a little afraid of how good it felt to be touched by this man. “Shoot.”
“I’m so glad you’re okay.” The intensity in his voice made her shiver despite the sun warming her skin. “I’ve been standing here imagining a world where that son of a bitch added you to his list of victims and…” His breath rushed out. “I’m just glad you’re here, safe in Sapphire Falls, trying to convince me to let you pay two thousand dollars for a sperm sample.”
“Well, not anymore,” she said, forcing levity into her voice. “Now, I’m expecting the friend discount. You’re not getting more than a grand out of me now, Riley.”
He smiled, and his thumb brushed gently across her bottom lip, making her entire body feel like it was catching fire. “I think we should leave those kinds of negotiations until later in the night. I told you I was easy, but I’m even easier after a few beers.”
“Is that right?” She arched a brow, refusing to speak the words on the tip of her tongue.
She wasn’t even going to joke about getting his sperm for free. That was dangerous ground, especially now that it seemed like he might actually be considering her request. She’d anticipated a firm no, but it looked like Noah was weakening.
Maybe it was her sad story or the friendship growing between them. Or maybe when he looked into her eyes he felt the same thing she did when she looked in his. Maybe he could see that she was safe. Good. Someone who could be trusted to make a home filled with compassion, where a little boy or girl with his big hands and her smile could grow up loved and understood and free to work at the messy business of growing up with a mom who would do everything she could to ease their way.
Her lips curved even as her throat went tight again. She could almost see that little one, that sweet baby made from a little piece of Noah and a little piece of her, and she wanted to meet him or her more than ever.
