A Night at the Wesley (3 page)

“That’s yours.”Jessica
pulled her back from her thoughts and she quickly picked up her buzzing phone.
Noah’s name flashed on the display.

“Hey.” A broad
uncontrollable smile broke across her face in an instant.

“I just wanted
to make sure that you arrived safely. I saw that the storm was headed your
way.”

“Yeah, I got
here just in time.” She twisted her body out of the chair and moved away from
the inquiring stares of Monique and Jessica.

“Good, I was
worried.”

Damn! Why
did he have to sound so sincere?

“Have you
thought about me visiting? When you get home?”

“Can we talk
about this later?”

“I really want
to see you again.” His voice was serious and the mere thought of his intense
brown-eyed stare sent a pleasant shiver through her.

“Later, okay?
I’m on vacation.” She hated the pleading in her tone. She was accustomed to
making bold decisive statements. In an evening, he’d reduced her to the shyest
member of a small pre-law group.

“Look, I’m
going to book my flight. If you don’t want to see me when I arrive, don’t open
the door.  What say you, counselor?” His playful tone made her laugh and tingle
at the same time.

“Let me think
about it.” It was too soon after her divorce to date and things with Andy were
complicated, so why was she even considering this?

Floating back
to the quizzical stares of her friends, she landed in her seat with a soft plop.
She hadn’t shared last evening’s event with the effervescent Jessica and the
stoic Monique. It had seemed too special for casual conversation.

“Who was
that?” asked Monique raising her eyebrows above her steaming cup of Irish
Coffee.

The heat from
her cheeks warmed her face and she could feel the corners of her mouth lifting
up into a goofy smile. “An old friend.”

~~~~

Getting back
to work was easier than she’d imagined. The mild North Carolina winter had
mollified her first few days back making the tackling of emails and depositions
a breeze. The only stumbling block she’d encountered had been the errant
thoughts of Noah’s arrival.

Over the
course of a week, he’d worn her down. He would be landing soon. While they
talked on the phone or through email, the idea of him spending the weekend with
her always sounded good. He was as easy to talk to as he had been on those long
nights before an exam.

Back then,
she’d told him all her dreams. Except the one where he would fall helplessly in
love with her.

“Ugh!” She
rolled her eyes and hurried into her kitchen. They would only have time for a
quick snack before they were due at dinner. Wrapped up in Noah’s gentle barrage
of pleas, she had forgotten that she was attending a function at a client’s
house. She took out the small fruit and cheese tray and set it on the counter.

Monique and
Jessica would be there, smirking in tandem. They had teased her relentlessly
about not understanding the premise of one-night stand.

Andy would be
there.

During their
many conversations which had lasted into the late hours of the night, she and
Noah had talked about their careers, their divorces and their exes. Yet, she
hadn’t found a way to mention that she and Andy occasionally slept together.
Her stomach flipped.

Groaning loudly,
she fluffed her hair out, took a deep breath and headed to the front door. Maybe
if he’d gotten some color or a haircut, his dark hair wouldn’t have such an
alluring effect falling over his pale chiseled features. And maybe she would be
able to breathe normally under his steady, serious gaze.

 
No such
luck
, she thought as her lips curved up into a smile that hurt her cheeks. She
waved him in without a word.

Dropping his
bags, Noah enveloped her into his arms and kissed her passionately. When he
pulled his head back, his eyes were twinkling and her head was spinning.

“Hello,
sunshine.” He beamed down at her.

“Hi.” The
simple word was all she could utter before pushing up on her tip toes and
kissing him again.

~~~

The gathering
at Claire Ribaud’s was going well. Dinner had been delicious, not as
scrumptious as the man standing next to her with his arm slung low around her
waist, but good none the less. Noah’s hand slid over her hip in a slow circle,
making it hard to concentrate on Jessica’s story about her new puppy.

She tried to
scoot away, but he tugged her closer looking down at her with a slight shake of
his head. “Something wrong?” he teased and patted her behind.

“Nope.” She
smiled up at him, her mind transported back to the quickie that had made them
late for dinner, and relaxed happily in his arms.

Maybe he was
right, they could date. See where things led. She could be open to
possibilities.

Monique
cleared her throat, twice. Happiness rolled around her stomach along with everything
else. Andy was striding toward their group. A dark gray suit fitted perfectly
over his frame, complementing his tawny brown skin. His eyes were narrowed into
a stony stare.

“Jessica.
Monique.” Andy kissed each of her friends in turn and then his eyes locked on
hers. “And Connie with a plus one.”

“Andy, this is
Noah. You met him when I was in college.” Her voice was pitching higher than
normal and she fought the urge to look up at Noah as his arm tightened around
her waist. If she knew him better, she would have been able to judge his mood.

She knew Andy,
though. Glaring at him, she willed him not to mess this up for her.

“Sorry, I
don’t remember.” Andy glanced quickly up at Noah and then turned his attention back
to her. “I missed having our…er…lunch last week.” If Andy’s lascivious gaze
didn’t betray his meaning then Jessica’s mouth dropping open surely did.

“Then I’m the
one who should apologize,” Noah countered. “She and I were otherwise engaged.
She’ll miss the next one, too.”

Andy remained
nonplussed. “I don’t know about that. She likes our lunches.”

Oh, shit!
If she could melt into the floor she would. Her face burned with embarrassment
and she couldn’t think of a way to stop this uncomfortable conversation.

Fortunately, Monique
was Monique. “Why don’t you hold your pissing match in the corner? It’s really
impolite to have your dicks out at a nice party like this.”

She laughed
nervously, feeling Noah’s body relax a little as he chuckled.

Crisis
averted, hopefully.

~~~

Connie slammed
the front door and Noah followed her down a short hallway to her bedroom. It
was apparent that they would be continuing the disagreement that had sprung up
on the way back to her place.  He had apologized repeatedly for questioning her
about her relationship with Andy. Once he had seen how shy and embarrassed she became,
he had immediately let the subject drop.

Then she’d
come back like this - her voice steady and confident and sexy. She slammed the
door to her bathroom, still yelling. He calmly removed his jacket and slipped
it onto a nearby chair. She was right. They didn’t know each other well. So she
had no idea how stubborn he could be when it came to something he wanted. And
he wanted her.

Connie stormed
past him with her hair up in a ponytail and the leggings she worn under the clingy
sweater dress balled into her fist. “I never should have agreed to this!”

She turned to
glare at him as he followed her across the room. “You’re looking at me like I’m
that nineteen year old and I’m not. Stop, walking.” She hurled the leggings at
him. “I’ve got crap, Noah!”

He didn’t slow
his gait, closing the distance between them quickly. She backed up against the
light blue wall, still arguing her case though with less conviction than
before. “I have a mortgage, and a shopping addiction to shoes and purses and big
time commitment issues.”

“Are you
done?” He squared his body against hers and kissed her, pulling her leg up to
his hip and pressing his erection against her pelvis. Her hands traveled slowly
up his arms to rest on his shoulders and she rotated her hips, meeting him
thrust for thrust. He pulled his head slightly back. “How’s this for having
crap? I pay exorbitantly high prices for my one bedroom apartment in
Georgetown, I rotate 12 suits on a monthly basis and I want you so much it
hurts.”

“That’s good.”
She leaned up to kiss him again.

He stepped
back, grabbing her hand to take her to bed. He wasn’t going to be able to stand
much longer. She resisted.

“Noah? Don’t
you want to try it?” She tapped the wall and looked intently at him, the greens
of her irises shining brightly.

“Naughty,
girl.” He smiled and pushed her up against the wall.

~~~

Much later,
curled together in bed, they listened to the gentle scrape of a tree against the
window. She looked up into those soft brown eyes that had melted the heart of a
girl and now warmed the heart of a woman with a sigh of resignation. 
Oh my
goodness, one night at the Wesley and I’m actually going to start dating again.

“You know, that
wasn’t that comfortable.”

He chuckled,
the sound reverberating through his chest.  “I don’t think the name was meant
to be taken literally, counselor.”

“Then you
should warn a girl.”

“I will next
time.”

“Next time?”

“Oh, there’ll
be a next time.” He patted her behind, pulling her in closer to the curve of
his body. “I’ve waited too long for there not to be.” His pursuing kiss was
soft and sweet.

There would
definitely be a next time.