by Cathryn Fox
“Noah,” she croaked out. “I can’t. Amy might need me.”
Noah inched back and scrubbed his hand over his chin as he let loose a long, hard breath. He climbed off her and pressed his back to the brick wall. He just sat there for a minute, one leg bent at the knee, his arm resting on it like he was trying to get himself together.
“Okay,” he finally said, and she reached for her purse. She pulled out her phone and sure enough there were at least six frantic texts from Amy.
Where are you?
Are you safe?
Why aren’t you answering me?
Please be okay, Kat.
I’m at Grizzly’s.
Come if you can.
With the mood broken between her and Noah, she texted back.
I’m okay. I’ll be right there.
She looked at Noah. “Amy’s at Grizzly’s. I need to go.”
He climbed to his feet and pulled her up with him. “Come on, I’ll take you.”
Feeling a bit awkward, a little unsure of herself after that fast make out session—Oh God, she still couldn’t believe he put his hand down her pants, or how much she liked it—she zipped up her shorts and re-buttoned her blouse.
A few minutes later, both she and Noah made their way to Grizzly’s. She noticed his bike on the street outside as they entered. Amy came running up to her. “Thank God you’re okay.”
“I’m okay,” she answered, but Amy narrowed her eyes and looked her over.
“Are you sure?”
Striving for casual, she pushed her hair back in an effort to make herself look presentable, like she hadn’t been rolling around with Noah on a dirty ground. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“You look like you could use a drink.”
From behind her, Noah leaned in and put his mouth close to her ear. “I’ll catch up with you later.”
She turned around, but he was already headed out the door.
“Come on,” Amy said, pulling her toward the bar. “Drinks are on me.”
After having some fruity concoction with Amy and convincing her she was okay, they took the shuttle back to the resort. It was nearing her bedtime by the time she finished washing up and crawled into bed.
She pulled her sheets up and listened to Noah moving around inside his room next door. She wondered if he was going to text her to finish what they had started tonight. Her body quivered with the memories, and there was no doubt she wanted to pick up where they had left off.
She glanced at the bags on her dresser, her lingerie specifically. She considered putting something on and calling Noah over, like Amy had suggested. But just then a knock came on her door, and her heart jumped into her throat. She smoothed her damp hair down, and when she opened it to find a very sexy Noah standing there, her knees nearly gave.
“Hey,” he said, those piercing blue eyes of his sucking the oxygen from her lungs.
“Hey,” she responded around a tongue gone thick.
He made a move toward her, his fingers crawling around her waist to drag her close. “So I was thinking—”
Before he could finish her laptop dinged, indicating she had a Skype call coming in. She sucked in a breath, and glanced at her computer, her heart racing a million miles an hour. “That’s my father. I have to take it or he’ll worry.”
Noah went quiet for a moment and then shoved his hands into his pockets. “Looks like technology is not my friend, tonight.” He backed out of her room. “I’ll catch up with you later, Kat.”
Chapter Six
Unfortunately for Noah, and his aching cock, later never came. Here it was Saturday morning, five days since he’d really spent any time with Kat, and he was sporting a bad case of blue balls. The only times he actually got to see her was when she was at her desk. This wedding she was working on was taking up all her free time, and when night rolled around he found himself crashing long before he heard her come in. He was beginning to wonder if she was avoiding him. Not that he could blame her. He’d gone at her like a damn tomcat in the alleyway the other night. But goddamn how he’d been dying to hear his Kat purr.
His Kat?
No, not really. She wasn’t his. In fact, he was only interacting with her because of the stupid fucking bet Luke had backed him into, but he couldn’t deny that he actually found himself looking forward to seeing her, and couldn’t wait to hang out at the Cave tonight when she was finally done with all this damn wedding crap. A grin pulled at his mouth when he thought about how she schooled him with her artwork the other night. He was a math and science guy, so yeah, when it came to art, an M&M really was the only thing he could relate to. Still it was pretty funny.
After a restless night, and being awake for most of it, he finally fell back asleep with the rising sun. It was nearing noon now as he rolled out of his bed and peeled back his curtain. He blinked against the blinding rays and knowing that Kat had been so stressed lately, he was thankful that her day to get out from behind the desk wouldn’t be dampened by the weather. He cringed as he thought about Kat spending her life in an office. The more he got to know her the more he realized just how much she’d hate it. Underneath those business suits she wore, Kat was all spunk and humor, a girl full of talent. Damned if he didn’t like that about her.
Then his thoughts turned to her father, and the way she’d stiffened up when he Skyped the other night. It was obvious he had a lot of control over her, had certain expectations from his daughter. She was clearly living up to those expectations, considering she was a scholarship student taking a business degree instead of following what she truly loved. Yeah, there was no doubt in his mind that Kat was living her father’s dream and not hers. Not that this was any of Noah’s business. It wasn’t. Just like what he did with his life was none of her concern. Which meant he was going to keep his nose out of it. They were just going to have some fun this summer, nothing more.
Noah shut his curtains and powered up his computer. He spent the next few hours scrolling through the search ads looking for bike parts. He found a few things and flagged them to look at later. Right now his stomach was grumbling and he needed to get out from behind these four small walls.
Mid-afternoon was approaching as he made his way to the communal kitchen. He grabbed his cereal box and gave it a shake. Nothing. He opened the fridge, took out his orange juice container and took a huge drink from the spout, then jogged down the three flights of stairs to the bottom level and headed for the buffet. He walked past his garage and considered the bike parts he needed. He could pretty much find everything except the gearbox, but even if he did come across another one, his wallet was too tapped to get it.
He stepped onto one of the paths and walked toward the main resort. A flurry of activity taking place in the gardens behind the lodge caught his attention and he stopped for a minute, searching the crowd for Kathryn, but she was nowhere to be found. He caught a glimpse of Emery rushing around in a waitressing uniform and wondered if she’d taken on a new job. She stopped and spoke to Shannon, who was walking around with a clipboard.
Wondering where Kat was, he headed indoors. He strolled through the main lobby, and stopped to talk to Mike at the front counter to see if Kat was around. Mike had a worried look on his face as he pointed to Shannon’s office.
Deciding to see if everything was okay, he crossed the lobby and stuck his head in, ready to throw on a goofy face to make her smile, but what he saw next had his grin melting, and his pulse leaping.
“Kat what the hell?” he asked as he entered.
She glanced up from her computer, a frantic look on her face. “The labels,” she said, pushing her fingers through her hair. “I forgot to print the labels that go on the individual boxes of fruitcake.” She shook her head. “Shannon is not very happy with me.”
He relaxed a bit. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“Yes it is. I can’t screw up, Noah! I just can’t.”
“Okay, so print them. The wedding hasn’t even started. You still have time.”
“No I don’t. I’m out of time,” she said, hysteria in her voice. “The cake is supposed to be on the tables already. And I can’t print them.” Shaky hands punched at the keyboard. “I can’t even figure out how. Shannon has a new program for making them and I’m not used to working with it.”
“Kat, it’s going to be okay,” he said, putting a little force behind his words in a bid to calm her down. She looked up at him and he noticed how white she was. Something inside him gave. He crooked his fingers and motioned for her to move. “Okay, get up.”
“I can’t get up,” she practically shouted. “I have to figure this out.”
Jesus Christ, is that how he used to look?
He stepped behind her and the wheels on her chair squealed as he pulled her away from the desk, giving her no more say in the matter. “I’ll figure it out.”
“How…you don’t…”
“Just trust me on this, okay?”
She climbed to her feet, and hovered over him as he sat and started searching the programs. Since he knew his way around a computer with his eyes closed, it didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for. “What are these labels supposed to say?” he asked.
She slid a piece of paper toward him. He read it, and then typed in, Eat, Drink and be Married, Julie and Jack, then added the date.
Feeling at home behind the computer, with that familiar rush he always got when surfing through files and solving problems, it suddenly occurred to him how much he missed this. Exhilarated, his heart raced a bit faster, and his fingers flew across the keyboard with a little more speed. “How many do you need printed?”
“Five hundred.”
“You have the labels?”
She nodded and gestured toward the printer. “Yeah, they’re ready to go.”
Noah hit send, and leaned back in his chair. “There you go. Crisis averted.”
Kat rushed to the printer, and looked like she was about to cry when it started spitting out the labels.
“Noah,” she began, her hands over her face. “Thank you,” she mumbled.
He came up behind her and pulled her back to his chest, everything inside him softening. “Anytime.”
She turned to him, curiosity and relief in her eyes. She looked at the computer, then at him. “How…how did you know what to do?”
He shrugged it off and instead of answering he asked, “Aren’t you in a hurry?”
“Right,” she said and started gathering the labels. “Thanks again, Noah. You saved me.”
At the mention of him saving her, a lump formed in his throat. She must have sensed the shift in him because she cast a glance over his shoulder. “What?” she asked, her eyes narrowed as she accessed his face.
“Nothing. Come on, I’ll help.”
They both gathered up the labels and headed to the main kitchen area, where food was being prepared for the afternoon wedding. As the cooks and pastry chefs milled about, Kat led him to a long, stainless-steel table where little rectangles of cake sat in tiny boxes. When they passed by Tessa, the pastry chef, who was fussing over a three-tier cake, he stuck his finger out, pretending like he was going to taste the icing.
Tessa held a spatula up and waved it at him. “Noah, don’t you dare.”
Noah laughed. “But I’m hungry.”
Tessa pointed to the fruitcake. “Have a piece of fruitcake, there’s extra.”
He tossed a piece into his mouth, and then after Kat showed him how to place the labels just right, he spent the next hour helping her. By the time they had labeled the last box, his stomach was on a full roll grumble, loud enough for everyone in the kitchen to hear it.
Big green eyes stared up at him, and when Kat gave him a genuine smile, one so sweet and grateful, something inside him tightened. “Thanks Noah. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come to my rescue.” She looked back down at all the boxes and started packing them onto trays. “Now all I have to do is deliver these to the tables.”
“Want some help?”
“No, I’ve got it.” She stopped to poke him in the stomach. “And I think you need to go get something to eat.”
“Right,” he said. He dipped his head, and not caring who was watching, stepped into her personal space. “So I’ll see you later, right?”
She nibbled her bottom lip, and her cheeks flushed, because clearly her thoughts were travelling down the same path as his. Tonight they were finally going to finish what they started in the alleyway.
“Yeah,” she murmured, sounding breathless. “I’m just not sure what time I’ll be finished up here.”
“Come find me when you do.”
Noah was about to steal a kiss when someone behind them cleared their throat. Kat went white again, her entire body stiffening.
“Noah,” Shannon said. “Are you supposed to be in here?”
Noah spun around to find Shannon glaring at him. Her glance left his face, zeroed in on Kat, then returned to him.
“No ma’am,” he said, then grabbed another piece of fruitcake and tossed it into his mouth as he pushed past Shannon.
“Kathryn,” she said, and Noah could hear the reproach in the older woman’s tone as he made his way toward the swinging doors. “Those should have been on the tables already.”
Leaving Kat to her work, Noah went and grabbed some grub. Since it was Mario’s day off, he had to settle for a regular slice of pizza instead of two extra-cheesy ones. He scarfed it down and followed it with a soda.
Twenty minutes later, he was riding his bike along the mountains. He wasn’t sure why but his thoughts travelled to his home in Ottawa, and to his mother, his father, and kid sister who all still lived there. As he thought about the life he had run away from after losing Jonny, a happy life he had no right to have, bile pushed into his throat.
Christ, he knew he never should have taken Luke’s bet. Spending time with Kat, helping her on the computer, and seeing so much of himself in her had old memories clawing to the surface…had him feeling again.
Like her, he’d once been so driven, so focused, so determined to please everyone, to do everything to perfection, that he’d forgotten about what was important. He’d promised Jonny he’d pick him up from the party that night three years ago. But when his cell beeped, he’d ignored it, too lost in his computer coding assignment to pay any attention. Stone cold drunk, Jonny had left the party and walked home, although he never did make it. Just outside the apartment they shared, he stumbled into oncoming traffic. The car didn’t kill him instantly though.
The crunching of metal followed by the ambulance pulled Noah out of his computer coding hypnosis—as Jonny used to call it—and he knew in an instant that something had happened to his closest friend. He ran outside and found Jonny pinned under a car. Jonny grabbed his arm and held it like it was a lifeline, like now that Noah was there everything would be okay. Except nothing was ever okay again and when Jonny died that night, Noah died right along with him.
A half-cry, half-groan crawled out of Noah’s throat and he squeezed the throttle, picking up speed as he raced through the winding mountain roads. Up ahead he came upon a car on a sharp corner. He passed the vehicle, despite not being able to see around the bend.
Jesus, why did he get to live and not Jonny? Survivor’s guilt they called it. What-the-fuck-ever! It didn’t change the fact that he should have pulled his sorry ass away from his assignment and picked up his best friend like he’d promised. He squeezed the grips harder, so hard his knuckles turned white and looked like they were going to punch through his skin. Fuck, if only he could go back in time and change things.
Thoughts of Jonny filled his mind, and he began weaving in and out of traffic like he was some goddamn suicidal maniac. A middle-aged douche in a minivan honked at him, but he ignored it, travelling at breakneck speed in an effort to outrun the demons. He drove long and hard, until his hands hurt from squeezing the handlebars so tightly.
Noah had no idea how long he spent ridin
g the hills, but soon day bled into night and his insides were a total fucking mess by the time he returned to the resort. He sucked back a couple beers at the bar and gestured for another. He ignored the new bartender Alyssa when she shot him a concerned look. He held his hand up like he wasn’t interested in conversation so she simply slid a third bottle across the bar top. He finished it off and, with the start of a good buzz going, he walked to his room, peeled off his damp clothes, and hopped into the shower. He grabbed a pair of boxers from his dresser, pulled them on and threw himself down on his bed. With his heart still racing from those blood-drenched memories, he draped his arm over his eyes and soon enough exhaustion, combined with three fast beers, pulled him under.
He tossed restlessly, kicking at the blankets, his body burning up like he’d been gripped by new deadly strain of the swine flu. He moaned, and flipped, the squeaking of his mattress briefly rousing him, until the demons pulled him back under again.
Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered knocking. The knock came again, louder this time, burrowing itself into his brain until he had no choice but to open his lids. What the fuck? He stared at his ceiling, willing the noise to go away, but whoever was out there refused to cut him some slack.
“Hang on,” he grumbled.
He shook the buzz from his brain, threw his legs over the mattress and slicked his damp hair from his forehead. Dressed only in his boxers he shuffled across his floor, about to tell who ever it was to go the fuck away, but when he spotted Kat standing there, looking so pretty, and smelling so good, need tore through his gut like a runaway freight train.
“Kat,” he said, pulling her to him.
The second her warm body pressed against his, he let loose a low growl. He roughly dragged his hands through her hair, tugging on it slightly to tilt her head back and open her mouth. God, that mouth. How he needed…
She was speaking, saying something to him but he couldn’t comprehend, not when all he could think about was fucking her, losing himself in her, slaying the demons that continued to chase him. Swallowing her words, his mouth crashed down on hers, and he pushed his tongue inside. His brain swirled, raced, spinning the demons to the outer edges as sexual heat flooded him.
