Brenda Novak

by Home to Whiskey Creek

  21

  Adelaide wore her flapper costume and left her ghost creation wadded in a ball under her backseat. She wasn’t thrilled with what putting a sheet over her head had done to her hair, but the headband with its big feather helped camouflage that.

  Ted’s house was impressive. Located about five minutes outside town on a fairly large piece of property near the river, it was several levels high and loftlike. He’d apparently renovated an old mill.

  She didn’t see Noah’s truck on her way in, but he was there, dressed as a caveman. He looked over as she entered, his tan perfect for pulling off a costume that required a loincloth, and she immediately regretted that she hadn’t chosen to stake out Stephen’s place instead. She was embarrassed that he’d seen her driving by the store earlier. She didn’t have a good reason for that, except the obvious—her crush was far from over. But the obvious once again contradicted the rest of her behavior, and she could tell he wasn’t happy about the inconsistencies.

  When she glanced away instead of returning his smile, he didn’t get up from his place on the couch, where he was holding a beer. He didn’t say anything to her, either. He just watched as the others greeted her—Ted (a pirate), Kyle (a fireman), Riley (a doctor), Eve (an old-fashioned barmaid), Dylan (a bad-boy biker), Cheyenne (a bad-boy biker’s chick), Brandon (Frankenstein’s monster) and Olivia (a vampire). But a few minutes later, when she caught his eye again, his expression itself was a question: What’s going on with you? Didn’t we have fun together? What’d I do?

  Noah’s anger made it easy to avoid him, because once she’d set the tone he avoided her. Addy tried not to think about him, but she couldn’t deny that regret tore at her restraint. Fortunately, she liked his friends, found them pleasant to talk to. After two glasses of wine, she began to relax and have a good time.

  She didn’t go home after an hour, as she’d initially planned. They played liar’s dice and a couple of card games. They laughed, talked, ate snacks, including meatballs in a bloodred sauce on ceramic skeleton plates, and watched Psycho, in honor of Halloween.

  The movie was over and Noah was in the middle of a game of pool with Dylan when Ted suggested they get into the Jacuzzi.

  Addy knew this was the perfect time to head home. She told them she’d forgotten her swimsuit, even though she hadn’t brought it because she hadn’t planned on attending the party in the first place. But Eve spoke up to say she had an extra one. And Addy felt she couldn’t leave without apologizing to Noah. She kept thinking she’d feel better if she did. Then maybe she could go on her way without the sinking sensation that made it so difficult to leave things as they stood.

  She’d blame her hot and cold reactions on her divorce, she decided. If she admitted she was attracted to him, but claimed she’d been too burned to get involved with anyone else, at least she’d be giving him a reason why she wouldn’t follow up on their night together.

  Now that she was hoping for a chance to talk, she agreed to get in the hot tub. Ted tried to convince Noah to join them, too, but he stayed at the pool table until Cheyenne persuaded her husband to finish the game later. Then Dylan dragged Noah out, but he was the last to join them and—purposely, it seemed—he walked around to the other side of the Jacuzzi to sit as far from her as possible.

  The warm water felt good but Noah’s cold shoulder didn’t. Addy tried making up for her initial unfriendliness by smiling at him a few times. But he ignored her, got out a few minutes later and went to dress.

  Ted, who was sitting next to her, nudged her and lowered his voice. “I’m sorry about Noah. I’ve never seen him like this.”

  “It’s okay.” She could hardly hold Noah’s reaction against him when she was to blame.

  “He’s had a bad week,” Cheyenne concurred.

  Eve swished the steam and bubbles away from her face. “I wish Baxter had come. I know that would’ve made Noah feel better.”

  “It would’ve made us all feel better,” Kyle said.

  Cheyenne motioned for them to be quieter. “Noah will get angry if he thinks we’re talking about him.”

  “Why didn’t Baxter come?” Addy whispered.

  Riley shrugged. “He and Noah had some sort of falling out last weekend. Neither of them will talk about it, so we’re not sure what happened. But...Bax is moving now. You’ve probably seen the real estate sign.”

  Addy hadn’t noticed. She’d been too consumed by her own problems. But she remembered Noah coming to her door stumbling drunk last weekend. He’d been upset about something but wouldn’t say what.

  Had it been an argument with his best friend?

  “Does this type of thing happen often?” she asked. It certainly hadn’t when they were in high school. Baxter was always with Noah.

  Eve, in an attractive white bikini, sat on the edge of the hot tub to cool off. “Never. That’s why we don’t know what to do. We’re hoping—”

  Noah emerged from the house, wearing his caveman costume beneath a jacket, and Eve shut up before he could hear her. “I’m taking off,” he called to Ted. “Thanks for tonight.”

  Riley pulled a skeptical face. “Yeah, we can tell you enjoyed it.”

  “I did,” he said, but his tone was flat and unconvincing.

  Ted started to get out. “You do realize you don’t have a car.”

  Noah waved him back. “Stay. I’ll walk.”

  “It’s too far,” Eve argued.

  “It’s not that far.”

  Adelaide got out of the water. “I’m leaving, too. I’ll give you a ride.”

  She thought Noah might refuse. She braced herself for the embarrassment of having him do that in front of his friends, but he didn’t.

  “Thanks, Addy.” Ted sank back into the hot water, his smile just smug enough to indicate that, with this latest development, he’d accomplished what he’d set out to do when he invited her.

  “It’ll take me a second to change,” she told Noah, and toweled off before hurrying inside.

  * * *

  Noah was silent on the drive home. Addy kept trying to think of a way to start a conversation, but what would’ve been a long walk wasn’t that long a drive. They were at his house before she could decide how to bring up what she wanted to say.

  “Thanks for the ride,” he said, and started to get out, but she stopped him.

  “Noah.”

  He twisted around. “What?”

  “I thought maybe we could...talk.”

  “Fine,” he snapped. “Talk.”

  Her heart sank as she stared at him. She couldn’t win here, no matter how much she wished otherwise. “Never mind,” she said quietly. “I—I’m sorry. I really am.”

  Although he stepped out, he turned back. “Damn it, Addy. I want you. I think I’ve made that clear. But I don’t know how to reach you. For whatever reason, you’re determined to...to punish me for high school or something. How many times am I supposed to let you push me away? Will it make any difference if I keep trying?”

  She couldn’t believe she was sitting here, facing that question from him. This was the last thing she’d expected when she’d decided to come home. “I’m not punishing you. How you behaved in high school—you were fine. That isn’t the problem.”

  “Then what is?”

  Her divorce was the answer she’d devised. But she was no longer sure she could sell it. She’d never felt as passionate about Clyde as she should have. She’d just been determined to take the opportunity to start a family, since she doubted she’d ever find another man who’d marry someone with her particular “issues.” It wasn’t until they were actually living together that she knew something crucial was missing. Even then, she wasn’t aware of what that meant until he was out of her life and she was relieved instead of regretful.

  Noah propped his hands on his hips. “I’m waiting.”

  She made a stab at using the excuse she’d planned. “Divorced people can be...hesitant to get involved a second time.”

  “I under
stand that. But when you talked about your marriage before, it didn’t sound as if your ex was much more than a mistake you quickly fixed. So now you’re saying he scarred you?”

  He hadn’t scarred her; Cody had. Clyde had just been incapable of helping her heal, of making her whole. “Like I said at the beginning, I’m not a good candidate for you.”

  “Why? That’s what I want to know. Why does your mouth say no but your body say yes? Your eyes strayed to me a million times tonight. It was almost as if there was no one else in the room. And making love to you last Sunday...it was so damn good.”

  She couldn’t deny her preoccupation with him. But she did have something to say about last Sunday. “How could it have been that good...for you?” she clarified. “You had to take a lot of time and trouble, and it wasn’t easy to convince me to cooperate. I know you’ve been with other women who are...less complicated.”

  “I’m not looking for easy, Addy! Making love is about discovery. I liked discovering you, being with you. Was I the only one who enjoyed that?”

  He was being so open and honest that she couldn’t help responding. “I enjoyed it,” she admitted. “If you think I’ve been able to forget what it felt like to have your hands on me, to feel you inside me, you’re crazy.”

  Those words had come out in a rush, before she could hold them back long enough to edit them. She knew, even as she heard herself speak, that she was only making matters worse, but she couldn’t seem to stop.

  Somewhat mollified, he hooked his fingers above the window of her vehicle and leaned down. “Then why didn’t you call me this week?”

  “I don’t...I’m not ready for a relationship, Noah.”

  He stared at the ground for a few seconds. He wasn’t as pleased as when she’d admitted how she felt about last Sunday, but his expression remained tentative. “What are you ready for?”

  Oh, God. Just looking at him made her want to be with him again. She was succumbing to her desire for him.... “Friends, I guess.”

  His big shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Well, that’s progress, I guess. You didn’t even want to be my friend at first.” Chuckling without any enjoyment, he closed her door.

  She rolled down the window. “That’s it?” she called after him. “That’s all you’ve got to say?”

  “I’m sorry. I was hoping for a little more,” he replied, and went inside.

  Addy sat in her truck, resting her forehead against the steering wheel. Go home. You’ll ruin your life here, she told herself. But the danger didn’t matter. Nothing seemed to matter as much as Noah.

  Turning off her 4-Runner, she took a deep breath, slid her keys inside her purse and walked to his door.

  She had to remember who she was dealing with. Whatever sprang up between her and Noah wouldn’t last. So why fight the attraction? Either she’d be leaving town, or he would. He went to Europe every spring.

  She supposed she could get over him as easily then as she could now.

  “Would friends with benefits work?” she asked when he answered her knock.

  * * *

  Noah was almost afraid to trust Addy’s change of heart. “There are other things I’m not happy with,” he said.

  She slanted him a suspicious look. “Like...”

  “What happened the night you were kidnapped? Who did that to you? Chief Stacy has that knife of Aaron’s. Yet you say it’s not Aaron.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Then who was it?”

  “Now you’re asking for too much.” She smoothed the fringe on her costume. “Maybe I should’ve been clearer. This is a take-it-or-leave-it offer.”

  He tossed his club and the wig he’d been wearing earlier onto the couch, along with his coat. “I wish I had the ability to ‘leave it,’” he said, but he couldn’t. The fact that she’d refused to see him had been driving him crazy all week. He wasn’t going to quibble over stuff that didn’t directly involve him. At least she was here. Maybe she’d open up later.

  He pulled her into his arms as he closed the door.

  “You’re going to bend my feather,” she teased.

  His grin slanted up on one side. “I’m planning to do a lot more than that.”

  “And I’ll probably let you, since your costume is so damn appealing.” She’d been admiring it all night—what it did and didn’t expose. “It’s that cheetah print. You were right when you said I couldn’t look anywhere else.”

  “All part of my mind-control techniques.”

  She watched as he untied his sandals and kicked them to one side. “Will I ever be the same?” She wasn’t really joking, but she was glad he didn’t seem to realize that.

  “Not if I can help it,” he told her, and slipped the straps of her dress off her shoulders.

  * * *

  “I can’t believe you were so mad at me,” she said when they were lying, spent, on his bed.

  She could hear the lazy satisfaction in his voice when he answered. “I’m not mad at you anymore.”

  “Of course you aren’t. You got exactly what you wanted.”

  He rolled over, pinning her beneath him as he nipped at her neck. “Don’t pretend it was just me.”

  “I’m blaming that darn costume,” she teased. “It showed way too much of you.”

  “I guess I’ll have to wear it every time we make love.”

  “No more costumes.” She frowned down at her bare chest. “Your fake whiskers have gotten black paint all over me.”

  “We could shower and then get into my hot tub.”

  “You have a Jacuzzi, too?”

  “It’s a bit old-fashioned—made out of wooden slats because I like the smell of cedar—but it’s every bit as effective as Ted’s fancy plastic one. A good hot tub is actually a requirement in my profession.”

  “Where is it?” She hadn’t seen it when she was here before.

  He pulled her out of bed. “In back. Come on. Let’s clean up and go out.”

  “I don’t have a swimsuit.”

  “You won’t need one.”

  “What if someone sees us?”

  “It’s fenced.” They took a quick shower before he guided her onto a wooden deck. There was so much foliage in his backyard she doubted anyone would be able to peer in at them even in broad daylight and without a fence.

  “You have quite a gardener.”

  “I do it myself. I like it a little untamed.”

  “That suits you.” She glanced at the starry sky. “What time is it?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “I don’t want to worry Gran.”

  “Can’t be past two.”

  “That’s late!” she said with a laugh.

  “Stay awhile longer.”

  She waited until he took off the tub’s cover and tested the water.

  “Perfect. Come on.”

  The air was chilly and smelled of rain, but the water was so hot she had to climb in slowly. She hadn’t even submerged herself all the way when Noah came up behind her.

  One hand cupped her breast and the other moved lower as he brought her against him. “You smell good,” he said, suddenly holding her tighter, more possessively. “You feel good, too.”

  Guilt threatened to ruin her enjoyment, but she willed it away. She’d never wanted anyone like she wanted Noah. She wasn’t going to let what had happened in the past take this moment away from her.

  Closing her eyes, she let her head fall back on his shoulder as his mouth moved down her neck.

  “I was stupid not to notice you in high school,” he said. “I must’ve been blind. But...why’d you have to stay gone so long, pretty Adelaide?”

  Addy didn’t want to talk, not about that. Turning, she put her hands on his chest and kissed his mouth, gently encouraging him to stand before she started kissing other things. She circled one of his nipples with her tongue, then paused to smile up at him. “I’m here now.”

  The motor and all the bubbles sounded loud in Addy’s ears as she moved lower, but th
e noise couldn’t mask Noah’s gasp when she took him in her mouth.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Noah held Addy on his lap as he played with the silky strands of hair that floated on the water.

  “So...when you say you won’t be staying in Whiskey Creek, are you thinking...three months? Six? More?”

  He could tell she didn’t like to talk about the future, but he wanted to have some idea of what to expect.

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “But even after you leave, you’re only going to Davis. That’s not like saying you’ll be moving across the country.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “And Milly hasn’t agreed to sell the restaurant. Maybe she won’t.”

  “You’ll be leaving in the spring for another racing season.”

  She said that as if it would be the end—if the end didn’t happen sooner. But tonight had been so incredibly fulfilling he didn’t want to call her on the finality in her voice. Maybe she had problems with trust from her divorce, like she’d indicated. Or maybe something else had occurred when she was abducted, something she didn’t want to admit. There was no need to push, no need to spook her. Noah believed in letting things develop naturally. They were seeing each other; for the moment, that was enough.

  “What happened between you and Baxter North?” she asked.

  He cupped her breast and lowered his head to kiss it. “He’s moving.”

  “That makes you mad at him?”

  “No. He’s got the right to do whatever he wants.”

  “So why are all your friends worried about him?”

  “He’s going through some...personal issues.”

  “That’s polite talk for ‘I’m not going to tell you,’” she said with a laugh.

  He nuzzled her neck. “Sorry.”

  “Will you be sad to see him go?”

  “Absolutely.” But Noah felt it might be more complicated if he stayed. He changed his mind on that day by day, almost minute by minute.

  Once they’d both established what they wanted out of life, he hoped they could be friends again. “We’re at a crossroads.”

  “What does that mean for him?”

  “A future in San Francisco, where he works.”

  “And for you?”