by Laura Kaye
She grabbed it and smirked at him. “You just want me to come let you in the eight hundred times you’ll manage to lock yourself out.”
Noah nodded and chuckled. “Pretty much,” he said, going for the next present in the bag.
He pulled a unicycle-riding monkey pizza cutter from the knot of wrapping paper, which tempted another chuckle from him. In fact, the whole bag of gifts had him smiling more than he could last recall doing.
And it just emphasized the point—Kristina got him like no one else did. She knew what he needed and how to make him feel better without pressing him to talk, without worrying over him, without making him feel like he couldn’t take care of himself. And even though that meant she realized that he wasn’t doing that damn great, the way she’d chosen to deal with it meant a lot to him.
This. This was why Noah could never chance harming his relationship with Kristina.
Which meant the damn rules were back in effect. For good.
Chapter Eight
Seven hours later, Kristina and Noah collapsed on his leather couch, shopping bags piled on the coffee table and sitting on the floor in front of them.
“I’m in a shopping coma,” Noah said in a flat voice.
Kristina laughed. It had been a long day, but it had also been nice spending so much time with Noah. They’d laughed, talked, and just been together. Without any weirdness or tension. Just like old times. And after the dream that had woken her and the realizations she’d made about her relationship history, Kristina was really glad for that. “You were a trooper.”
“I was. I deserve a gold star.” He yawned.
“Or a cookie.” Kristina grinned at him.
His eyes lit up. “You bought cookies?”
Laughing, Kristina shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. A metaphorical cookie.”
“Can’t eat no metaphorical cookie,” he groused.
“How can you be hungry?” They’d capped off their shopping trip with a huge dinner at their favorite Mexican restaurant.
“Since when do you have to be hungry to eat a cookie?” His eyebrow arched, and it made her laugh. It was really freaking good to see Noah like this again. Relaxed. Talkative. Playful. Part of her had worried he’d lost this part of himself when he’d lost so much else.
“Well, I suppose that’s true.” Kristina rose from the couch on a chuckle. “Come on. Let’s get to work. Why don’t you start washing your new kitchen stuff and I’ll find your laundry room and wash your new bedding so you can have it for later. Then I can help you dry and figure out where you want things in the kitchen.”
“The sheets are new. Why do they need to be washed?” he asked, standing.
Kristina grimaced. “Because they’ll be all stiff and stuff. Besides, ew.” She found the bags with his new sheets, comforter, and laundry detergent.
“If you say so.” He shrugged.
“I don’t know what you’d do without me,” she said. “Honestly.”
Noah busied himself grabbing a bunch of bags. “Me either,” he murmured.
Something about his tone seemed more serious than she’d expected, and it almost made her reach out to hug him. But, aside from that moment on her couch earlier, Noah had been really hands-off today, and it made her think back to him saying he wouldn’t be able to live without “his old favorite.” Her. So she’d tried really hard all day to respect the physical distance he seemed to be trying to put back between them. Even though it made a part of her ache with want.
But if he couldn’t handle anything more with her, then she couldn’t either. Given how much she already cared for him—anything romantic she might be feeling aside—Noah could probably hurt her in ways none of those other men had even come close to being capable of.
“Laundry’s in the basement?” she asked.
Noah nodded. “There’s a jar of coins on my dresser.”
“Cool beans,” Kristina said, grabbing what she thought she’d need before heading out.
The laundry room was a big bright room with a half dozen washers on one side and the same number of dryers on the other. They’d totally lucked out because only two of the dryers were in use. She dropped the bags to the big table in the middle and removed the wrappers and tags from Noah’s new stuff.
“Hey,” came a deep male voice.
Kristina looked up to see a hot guy stride into the room and head toward the two rumbling dryers. He was tall and lean with wavy light brown hair and tattoos covering a lot of both arms and part of his neck. “Hey,” she said.
He checked the clothing in both dryers and then reset them. Turning, he leaned against one of the machines and pulled his phone from the back pocket of a pair of worn black jeans.
She grabbed a big armful and made for one of the washers, stuffing as much in as the machine could handle.
“You new here?” the guy asked. “I saw people moving in this morning.”
“That’s my friend, Noah,” she said with a smile. She grabbed the comforter to put in its own washer. “I’m just helping him get settled in.”
“Must be a good friend to do his laundry on a Saturday night,” the guy said, his smile flirtatious and kinda sexy. Well, this made doing laundry a lot more interesting.
“Since we were kids,” she said. “I’ll make him pay me back somehow.”
“Yeah, I’d say he owes you big.” Something about the shy grin he gave her unleashed a loop of butterflies in her belly.
When she got everything loaded up, she poured in the detergent, inserted the quarters, and started each of the machines.
“So, do you live around here too, then?” he asked.
Kristina brushed all the loose trash into one of the big shopping bags. “My place is over near Shirlington. Not too far.”
He nodded and gave her an appraising look, then he crossed to the table and held out his hand. “My name’s Ethan.”
She shook his hand and tried to restrain her inner squee at the interest this guy was showing. Close on the heels of that excited feeling was another: guilt. What about Noah?
The question almost sucker-punched Kristina in the stomach. Except…what about him should stop her from flirting back with a handsome stranger? It didn’t matter how much Kristina liked Noah when he didn’t like her back—not that way, anyway. “Kristina,” she said with a smile.
He repeated her name like he was trying it out. She wasn’t sure if it was his tattoos, or how the long strands of his hair fell across his eyes, or the way his jeans hung on those lean hips, but Ethan oozed sensuality.
He didn’t stir the crazy arousal that Noah had brought out in her lately, but he was still nice to look at.
Frustrated, Kristina cut off the thought. She and Noah were friends. Just friends. And that’s how he apparently wanted to keep it. They both did. Which meant, hello Ethan. “So we know why I’m doing laundry on a Saturday night, but how do you explain it?”
Ethan chuckled and crossed his arms. “Didn’t get in from the bar until four in the morning, so the day didn’t really start for me until about two this afternoon. And then I realized if I didn’t do a little laundry before I head back out tonight, I’m gonna have nothing to wear to my parents’ anniversary dinner tomorrow night.”
Kristina smiled, enjoying how easy-going Ethan was. “Must’ve been a good night,” she said, flirting back. Just a little.
He flicked his tongue against his bottom lip and grinned. “Not that good.” He winked. “I bartend. Whenever I close it’s that late before I get home.”
“Aw, too bad,” she said, grinning at him.
He chuckled again. “Yeah.”
She threw the trash away and grabbed the bottle of detergent. A part of her was disappointed to have no reason to stay. But at some point, Noah would wonder what was taking her so long.
“Maybe you should let me take you out some time, and we could both have a better night.”
Holy crap! “Better than doing laundry on a Saturday night seems like a pretty low bar,
” she teased.
He gave a sheepish grin and nodded, the expression on his face so cute—sweet, sexy, with just a little vulnerability thrown in for good measure. “Got me there. So…is that a no?”
She bit back a smile because she didn’t think she was imagining the hopefulness on his face. Maybe Ethan was what she needed to get over all the turmoil Noah had set off inside her lately… “It’s a maybe,” she said, heart racing in her chest despite the cool façade she was trying to muster.
His expression brightened. “Yeah? Wanna trade numbers?” Her belly doing a loop-the-loop, they traded phones, and she entered her cell number into his. “How ‘bout next Saturday night?” he said as he gave her back her phone. “I have off. We could do dinner or something. Whatever you like.”
Kristina smiled because, clearly, this was the luckiest laundry room on the face of the planet. She debated for a long moment, and then decided—she had no reason to play it cool. “Okay,” she said. “Text me and we’ll work out the details.”
Ethan grinned. “Better believe it.”
Back upstairs, Kristina took a moment to do a little personal flail before she returned to Noah’s apartment. Then, on a deep breath, she pushed through his door. “I’m back,” she said.
Noah cussed up a storm and stripped his shirt over his head.
“And you’re getting naked in the kitchen,” she said, freezing just inside the doorway.
Scowling, he turned and wiped water off his neck and chest. “The damn sprayer has a leak and just squirted all out the side.”
“Oops.” Chuckling, Kristina dropped the laundry supplies on the breakfast bar and picked up a hand towel.
Noah chucked the shirt to the counter, and Kristina tried really hard not to ogle the movement of his muscles. His arms, his abs, his back. He was so fit it was almost mesmerizing.
“Be right back,” he said, striding out of the room. A few minutes later, he returned wearing a white T-shirt.
“What’s up with you?” he asked, eyes narrowing on her.
Shit, she’d been thinking about her conversation with Ethan again. Schooling her expression, she picked up a superhero to dry. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit,” he said, coming around to the sink again. He turned on the water and squirted soap into the running stream.
Stomach fluttering, she rolled her eyes. “I’m just standing here drying Captain America. What makes you think there’s something going on?”
Noah braced his hands on the edge of the sink, making his shoulder muscles bunch in a rather delicious way. “For one, you’re avoiding my question. For two, you look like you did that time you found out that Josh made out with Melanie Hart in the locker room.”
Kristina rolled her eyes. “That was really good gossip.”
“Uh huh, which is why I know you’re sitting on something right now.”
Crap. He wasn’t going to let this drop, was he? Well, fine. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t find out at some point, right? And it wasn’t like he’d care either. Because, just friends. Except, then why did her belly feel like she was riding a roller coaster?
“I have a date.” She picked up the Hulk. Wipe, wipe, wipe.
“A date,” he said. She nodded but kept her eyes on her task. “With who?”
“One of your neighbors.” Next, she worked through the stack of new ceramic dishes he’d bought. Wipe, wipe, wipe. His gaze felt like the mid-day sun shining on her face.
“Since when?”
“About ten minutes ago?” She chanced a glance at Noah. Eyes narrowed. Jaw tight. Knuckles white where they gripped the sink.
He smacked his hand against the faucet lever, shutting off the water. “So, let me get this straight. You just agreed to go out on a date with a total stranger you met in my laundry room?”
Kristina sat aside the dry dish. “Yep.”
“What the fuck are you thinking?”
She dropped all pretense of drying the dishes and tossed the towel onto the counter. “Uh, I’m thinking that a hot guy asked me out and that was nice and it seemed like it could be fun. Why is that a problem?”
Kristina did not love the ribbon of guilt curling into her belly. It wasn’t like she’d done anything wrong. She was young and single and it was just a dinner date, for God’s sake. Not to mention that Noah had made his position clear. They both had. On multiple occasions.
“You know nothing about this guy,” he said, turning toward her and bracing his hands on his hips.
She rolled her eyes. “His name is Ethan and he’s a bartender. Besides, that’s kinda the point of a date. You know, you talk and get to know a person better.”
Noah stalked closer, then closer still, anger and heat rolling off of him. His dark eyes blazed down at her. “I…why…why are you doing this?”
Kristina shook her head, absolutely bewildered. “Why does anyone go on a date?” She pushed off the counter and came right up in front of him. “The real question is, why are you flipping out about it?”
His jaw ticked and a war of emotions played out across his annoyingly handsome face.
“Huh?” She poked her finger into the hardness of his chest. “Why do you care if I go on a date?” It wasn’t like they hadn’t been totally open with one another about dating before. Because they always had, going way back.
Noah shook his head, his chest heaving, his nostrils flaring. His lips parted, and she hung on the edge of a precipice as she waited for him to answer. To say it was because he didn’t want her to go out with someone else, to say it was because he wanted her for himself. Instead, he said nothing.
So…what? He didn’t want her, but he didn’t want anyone else to have her either? Screw that. “Right,” she managed. “That’s what I thought.” A stinging sensation sprang up behind her eyes, and Kristina was suddenly sure she was going to cry. Stupid. So stupid. She hadn’t accepted the date with Ethan to elicit a reaction from Noah, so she wasn’t sure why the exchange with him was squeezing her chest so damn hard now.
She pushed by him, bee lining for her purse. She had to get out of here. Before one of them said or did something they’d regret.
“Where are you going?” Noah asked from behind her, the anger gone from his voice.
“Home. I’m tired,” she said. As she picked up her purse, she saw the stapled flyer she’d grabbed for Noah at the Art Factory. She pulled it out, turned, and crossed the room to him. “I picked this up for you. Thought there might be something helpful, and maybe even fun.” She shrugged. “I know it’s probably not your thing, but…”
He took the papers without looking at them. “Kristina—”
“I gotta go.” She turned for the door.
“Your car’s not here.”
She came to a stop and nearly groaned out loud. “I’ll…uh, get an Uber.”
“Fuck that. If you want to go home, I’m taking you.” He came up behind her and settled his hand against her lower back.
The contact made her want to turn into him, wrap herself around him, and push him for more. For everything. Instead, she pulled away. “Okay,” she whispered.
It was the longest car ride of her life. Quiet. Tense. Realllly awkward.
Kristina hated it.
And it made her realize that Noah had been right.
Their flirtation this week was dangerous. If it could lead to a moment like this, when they’d rarely shared a truly angry word in almost twenty years of friendship? Yeah, that was a problem.
Which meant Kristina had to lay her more-than-best-friend feelings for Noah Cortez aside once and for all.
Chapter Nine
Sitting at a table in the hip bistro the next night, Kristina was so glad she’d organized some girl time. She hadn’t realized how much weirder things were gonna get with Noah, and therefore how much she’d need it.
“Here’s to girls’ night out,” Kate said, lifting her Mojito glass. Kate had short brown hair, huge blue eyes, and warm olive skin, and had been one of Kristina’s closest
friends since they’d been freshman roommates in college.
“I’ll drink to that,” Kristina said, lifting her Mojito. She had a weakness for the strawberry-and-mint combination, and for the rock candy lollipop in the glass. They clinked drinks. For a few minutes, they engaged in high-level negotiations over appetizers and shared entrees, and then ordered.
“So, I have news,” Kate said, waggling her eyebrows.
“Which is?” Kristina asked, chuckling at how Kate always made a show of her gossip.
Kate raised her glass, and her expression went solemn, serious. “I. Got me. Some big, fat D.”
“Oh, my God,” Kristina said with a laugh. She held up her hand for a high-five. “I suppose congrats are in order? But also, spill!”
“You better believe it,” Kate said. “Mama had three big ohs, too.”
Kristina couldn’t stop giggling as she held up her glass for another toast. “I’ll definitely congratulate you on that.” As horny as she’d been lately, she not only felt happy for her friend, but extremely envious. “So, who was this orgasm-giving god?”
“Oops,” Kate said, grinning at the male waiter who of course chose that exact moment to arrive with their appetizers. The look on his face said he’d overheard their conversation.
Chuckling, Kate waited for the guy to leave and, as they devoured a plate of nachos, launched into a long and colorful story about a guy she’d met at the gym. Kristina was nearly crying as Kate recounted that she could tell he was hung because he regularly ran on the treadmill but didn’t wear compression shorts. And things moved. A lot, apparently. So she’d introduced herself, they’d gone to lunch, and quickly thereafter ended up in bed.
“If I thought he was impressive when he was soft, it was nothing compared to when he was hard. I’m not even kidding,” she said.
Annnd of course the waiter chose that moment to deliver their food—an artisan pizza and an entrée salad they were sharing.
“So what about you?” Kate asked around a bite of pizza. “Any exciting news?”
Kristina smiled, because she actually had news. For once. “Well. I have a date next weekend.”
