“Don’t worry about it. If they make her a serious offer, I’m sure she will talk to you about it before she accepts. Now can we get back to our perfectly imperfect date please?”
“Of course.”
Noah reached his hand across the table and held onto Rose. It felt so surreal to have her there with him. To have Rose willing to date him and to be considering a future together, it was almost too good to be true.
“Excuse me,” a woman’s voice said as she pushed into Noah’s chair and lunged him forward.
His elbow ran into the water cup and knocked it on the table, sending water flowing across the table and right into Rose’s lap. The woman didn’t stop or anything as she pushed past Noah and into the restroom nearby.
“Wow,” Rose laughed as she looked down at the puddle of water on her dress. “It’s a good thing that wasn’t wine.”
“I can’t believe this. I’m so sorry. This has got to be the worst date you have ever had,” Noah mumbled as he grabbed his napkin and reached into Rose’s lap to pat the water off.
“Actually, I’m having a great time.” Rose laughed. “I like seeing you a little out of your element. It’s fun to see everything going wrong and how much you want it to be perfect.”
“It should be perfect.”
“What if the fact that everything going wrong is exactly what we remember? Wouldn’t that be a better story to tell our grandkids someday?”
Grandkids? Noah laughed. It was at that moment that he realized it didn’t matter at all what happened on their date. There was something real between Rose and him, and Noah didn’t have to pretend that everything was perfect. Rose knew him; she knew who he really was, and she wanted him. Perhaps their date wasn’t going to turn out all that bad after all.
He leaned forward and let his lips gently explore hers. Noah could feel her smile through their kiss and the gentle comfort that she passed on to him. Rose seemed more relaxed and happy than he had seen her in months, and he knew he was happier; everything seemed just like it should be.
“Excuse me,” another woman’s voice said.
“I’m in as far as I can go,” Noah responded as he pulled his chair in another inch.
It was going to be one hell of a night if he had to move every time a woman needed to use the restroom.
“What the hell are you two doing,” the voice said. “This is not at all okay with me.”
Noah and Rose both stopped kissing and looked up as they realized the voice was a familiar one to both of them. As they pulled themselves apart, they saw Elaine standing behind Noah.
“Which one of you is going to explain why I just saw the two of you kissing?” Elaine asked.
Rose looked at Noah, and he looked at Elaine; there wasn’t an explanation that Elaine would have liked.
Chapter 36
They should have left the restaurant the second Elaine was spotted across the way, but Rose and Noah were sitting so far in the corner of the room it didn’t dawn on Noah that they would be seen. Surely they could get through dinner without being spotted? It wasn’t like they had a good table or even a table at all. Their spot was more like a makeshift television tray stand without enough room to even put two plates on the table.
After seeing Elaine, Rose had considered the idea that Elaine might see the two of them together and question why they were out, but she was positive they could rationalize it as a business dinner. Except for one thing, Rose hadn’t planned on Noah kissing her. She hadn’t planned on the kiss and certainly hadn’t planned on Elaine walking by at that precise moment.
Everything that was going on between Rose and Noah was new to her. She wasn’t used to having a boyfriend that she went to dinner with, if that was even what Noah was. Rose considered him much more than just a friend with benefits but wasn’t so sure she was ready to call him her boyfriend officially.
“So which one of you would like to try and explain this?” Elaine said as she moved closer to their table.
Both Rose and Noah had to strain their necks to look up at her, and it wasn’t comfortable at all. They felt like teenagers getting caught for sneaking out of school or something. Elaine had always been the mother figure at the law firm, even though she and Noah were partners; Elaine really did call most of the shots. Noah felt like he had only gotten the opportunity to become a partner because Elaine knew she could push him to vote her way in board hearings. And it was true—if Elaine wanted something, Noah didn’t usually go against her.
“We are on a date,” Noah said firmly. “What might you being doing here with the three judges makers?”
Oh, Noah was good. He had simply turned the tables on Elaine. Sure, Rose and Noah were on a date, and they probably shouldn’t have been. Okay, they definitely shouldn’t have been on a date, but Elaine was caught too. She was having a meal with the top three people who made the judges in Washington D.C. It was those two men and one woman that had all the power when it came to who would become the next judge. If they liked you, then you got the position, and they made sure of it. If they didn’t like you, there was no chance of you ever becoming a judge.
Noah’s question caught Elaine off guard. She obviously didn’t know that Noah had seen her before she had seen him. She stumbled on her words for a minute as she tried to find a discreet way of explaining away what she was doing. It was comical to watch a woman who was normally so in control as she tried to explain herself.
“Bernie, Ray, and Olivia are friends of mine. We are just having a meal,” Elaine finally said.
“Don’t bullshit me, Elaine. Are you leaving for a judgeship?”
Elaine looked over at Rose and then back toward the three people at her table. She clearly wasn’t prepared to have a discussion about what was going on just yet, and that meant she was going to have to leave the issue of Noah and Rose dating alone too.
“We can discuss things later, enjoy your meal.”
Without waiting for a response, Elaine turned and returned to her table. What had started as a very abrupt conversation had ended just as quickly. Rose suspected that their dating issues weren't going to go away that easy in the light of day, but for the moment, it was a relief not to have to worry about Elaine making a scene.
“She’s not going to be okay with this, no matter what’s going on over there at that table,” Noah said quietly.
“I know.”
“But, in reality, what can she do? I’m a partner, you’re an adult. It’s not ideal, but there’s nothing all that wrong about it. We have a married couple that works at the firm, and no one thinks twice about them working together.”
“There’s a married couple at the firm?”
“Yeah, Cynthia, and Edward from accounting.”
“Hmm, I definitely didn’t know that. They do a great job of keeping it under wraps.”
“I don’t think they get a chance to spend too much time together. Cynthia is in litigation and constantly at court, and Edward is stuck in his office all day long. But hey, it works, and no one seems to care that they are at the same firm.”
“Yeah,” Rose said enthusiastically.
She dramatically raised her hand like a rebel getting ready to take on the wrongs of the world, and then they both started to laugh. The truth was they were only on their first date, but once the whole office knew they were dating, it was going to be so official that Rose was getting nervous. She had just barely decided the timing was right and wasn’t exactly sure she was ready to be considered Mrs. Noah Conley by everyone in the office. But one thing was for sure, Rose was going to stick it out. She wasn’t going to run away from the situation like she had done in the past. Instead, she was going to see if something real could come out of what she and Noah had together.
“I know. How about we go down the street to the pizza parlor and have a nice slice and a beer?” Noah suggested as he looked back at Elaine.
“Perfect. I didn’t want to eat with these stuffed shirts anyways.” She laughed.
Leaving
the fancy Minton’s restaurant was the best thing that could have happened to their first date. What had started with disaster after disaster finally seemed to be coming together as the two of them sat at the counter and drank their cold beers while eating their large pieces of pizza. This was much more their pace. Rose didn’t need fancy meals to be impressed by Noah. She knew Noah, she knew where his heart was, and no date was going to change that.
Noah’s quest for the perfect date had guided him down a path he wasn’t comfortable on. He was trying to be someone that he wasn’t, and it just didn’t work out well for him. Instead of having the best date ever, he had slowly ruined every chance of having a perfect date with Rose. But as they sat there eating pizza and laughing, it occurred to Noah that he might be pulling off a perfect first date after all. The disaster of the first hour had set Rose up to enjoy the simplicity of the rest of their night. He felt more confident as the evening went on and couldn’t get enough of the smile and laughs that Rose continued to give him.
“Should we have another round?” Noah asked.
“Sure, I can’t wait to get you drunk and take advantage of you,” she said with a giggle.
Rose looked happier than Noah could ever remember her being. She practically glowed as they sat in the small pizza shop. Even when Rose had been with Derek, Noah always noticed an underlying sadness to her mood. But in recent months, that sadness disappeared, and a new, more powerful woman had appeared. Rose was confident and in control of her life. She wasn’t running off after twenty-something-year-old guys who didn’t care about her, and that in itself made Noah happy.
As they drank their beers, Noah let his hand gently touch Rose’s leg. It was a purposeful move so he could feel her skin against his; he half expected that she would force him to remove his hand, but he desperately hoped she would let him keep it there.
Rose was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with; he knew it the moment he saw her and hated that he had let that moment pass him by. Noah didn’t have to wonder who was right for him—he knew who it was. But he didn’t want to scare Rose off. They had come so far; she had come so far, and he couldn’t let her slip through his fingers again. Deep down, he was afraid he was going to say or do something that would make her change her mind.
Or someone else would say or do something that would force Rose to consider ending things. Elaine was a prime suspect for the possibility of trying to sway Rose against being with Noah, and as much as he wanted to believe the three of them could make things work out, he was very skeptical.
“So what’s going on with the Matthew thing?” Rose asked out of the blue.
“Matthew?”
Her question and how casually she had referred to the president had totally caught Noah off guard. Although Matthew Storm had insisted that they not call him ‘the president’, it was still very hard for Noah to use his first name when talking about him.
“Um, yeah. You know, the guy who could have you killed if he wanted. The President of the United States of America. The man who wants you to bribe a judge …”
Noah reached up and put his hand over Rose’s mouth to get her to stop. She was such a troublemaker, and he loved it. Noah really did love how Rose went against the grain in her life. She was a strong woman and didn’t care what others thought of her, but she certainly didn’t need to be yelling about the president in the midst of a Washington D.C. pizza parlor.
“Shhh, you don’t need to tell the world.”
“I just thought referring to him as Matthew would be better, but if you want me to call him the President of the United States of America …” Rose said loudly.
“No. No. Matthew is fine.”
Noah laughed at how relaxed and fun Rose was at that moment. It was nice to see that side of her, and he was going to do his best to see it more and more throughout the upcoming months.
“Ah, okay. So how is that all going?”
“It’s not really going far. I have a contact at the police department that’s trying to get me the information I need. But if he doesn’t find something out by the morning, I think I’m going to have to sit down with Judge Marking.”
“That’s not good, Noah. You don’t want to get messed up in something that’s going to get you disbarred.”
“Trust me, I know. But what would you have me do? Refuse the president …”
Rose dramatically reached up and put her hands over Noah’s mouth like he had done to her only a moment before.
“Shhh, you mean Matthew,” she smiled.
“Yes. Do you want me to just tell Matthew no and hope that he doesn’t come after me?”
“Maybe what they say about him is exaggerated. He might be a really nice guy and would totally understand if you told him you couldn’t help him,” Rose said, but she wasn’t able to keep a straight face.
Neither Rose nor Noah thought the stories about Matthew Storm were exaggerated. Sure, they hoped the stories were. They had to hope that the president was really an above board guy who only wanted what was truthful and best for everyone, but that would be a lie. The President of the United States was manipulative, decisive, and scary as hell.
They both started to laugh. Noah and Rose knew that Matthew Storm wasn’t the kind of man you refused to help. The trick was going to be figuring out how to help him without getting themselves into trouble. Noah wasn’t going to do anything illegal, he knew it in his mind and heart; he would just refuse because no matter how hard it was, Noah couldn’t break the law.
“Let’s change the subject. How about we talk about how fantastic you look in that damn dress?”
Noah reached his hand for Rose’s thigh and let his fingers slowly move up to the hem of the dress. He expected Rose to stop him, but instead, she slightly opened her legs and licked her lips as she looked up into Noah’s eyes. Rose wanted him, he saw it in every fiber of her body, and he felt a tiny sense of relief. Because he wanted her too.
“Check please,” Noah said as he hollered over to their waitress.
“I’m eating my pizza,” Rose teased as she seductively put a slice into her mouth and took a bite. “We can’t go yet.”
“I’ll feed it to you naked in bed.”
“Mmmm, Mister Conley are you trying to seduce me?” she teased.
“Yes, yes I am.”
Noah felt his body throbbing with exhilaration, and the waitress couldn’t get there fast enough for him. Thoughts of Rose naked on her bed rushed through his memory, and he felt his body temperature go up. He chugged the last bit of his beer and threw some money down on their table as he grabbed Rose by the hand and pulled her after him.
“But my pizza,” she teased as she took one last bite.
“I can’t wait,” Noah groaned. “I need you now.”
They were only a few feet down the sidewalk when Rose pulled on Noah’s hand. She looked down the small alley that was behind the pizza place and gave Noah a grin that he couldn’t have expected. Not in any of his fantasies had he ever imagined having Rose in a public place like that.
“Now?” she asked.
“Really? Like right now? I don’t know,” Noah hesitated.
Noah couldn’t stop smiling as he looked around to see if anyone else was around. He hadn’t done something like that ever before. His sexual life had been perfectly fine, even romantic at times, but always in a building and usually in a bed. Exhibitionism just wasn’t his thing, and he wasn’t really sure he could get into it. Noah was terrified of getting caught by someone and getting arrested. Jail was not a friendly place for lawyers to be on the other side of the bars.
“I think we should,” Rose said as she pulled Noah with her down the alley.
Rose had spent months trying to regain control over her sexuality, but one thing she learned was that she still liked being wild. She couldn’t help it. Rose loved the danger of having sex outside. She longed for the endorphins that would rush through her body as she and Noah made love and hoped no one would catch them. She hones
tly hadn’t expected Noah to agree, and the fact that he was willing to have fun outside only made him sexier to her.
“If I get arrested …” Noah started to say.
He wasn’t ready. Nothing about the moment seemed right, and as Noah followed Rose, he was almost certain that he would end up arrested by the end of the night. But despite his fears, Noah kept following Rose, and his body kept pounding with excitement.
“You’ll have a great story to tell the guys in jail,” Rose replied as she pulled Noah into a small doorway that was hidden from the view of the street.
Chapter 37
His hands moved up her thighs and pressed her dress out of the way. Noah positioned himself so he could see down the alleyway if he moved his head slightly out of the doorway. It was exciting. Everything about being there with Rose made his body ache with adrenaline.
For years, he had imagined what it would be like to have her in his arms. Noah had played it safe, he had let his best friend have the girl so many years before. He had let things move slowly and taken a back seat to what Rose wanted. But finally, everything was coming together, and it was more explosive than Noah could have ever imagined. But he still wasn’t so sure that having sex in an alley was really something he wanted to do. He would only go through with it if it were something that Rose wanted.
“Are you sure?” he questioned again before sliding her black thong panties down to the ground.
“Fuck me, Noah. I’m sure.”
Her words echoed in his ears, and his primal urges took over from there. He couldn’t wait to feel his body thrusting into hers. Noah slipped the top of her dress down and let his hands cup her breasts as his lips kissed the back of Rose’s neck. The sweet taste of her body and touch of her nipples were like a drug to Noah, and he couldn’t get enough. He genuinely couldn’t get enough of Rose and didn’t think he ever would be able to.
His friends had wondered why Noah was so fixated on Rose, and it had always been difficult to explain to them. The best Noah could say was that he felt like they weren’t meant to be together. He had been too young to understand that feeling when he let his friend Derek move in on Rose. But Noah was older and wiser, and he certainly knew that Rose was the one for him.
Mine to Protect Page 65
