After the Storm (3 page)

Over the next week, every time she turned around she was running into Noah. Sometimes literally. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was doing it on purpose. Besides living next to each other, the town was small. They were bound to see each other.

First, she’d gone into town to do some grocery shopping. She came around the corner of an aisle, when her cart ran into Noah’s. She chuckled and gave him a hard time about not watching where he was going. In reality, she’d been lost, remembering the sight of him playing with Pepper on the beach shirtless. She’d closed her eyes remembering how his muscles moved when he threw the ball or played tug of war with the dog when the crash happened. She blushed ten different shades of red, worried he somehow knew what she’d been thinking.

She should have realized something was up then, but she’d been so flustered she didn’t put two and two together until later. Martha did the shopping. They’d gone up and down the aisles together, putting things they needed in their carts. He made her relax by joking about the different products that were out and making her laugh. He touched her casually every chance he got. He’d distracted her so much that she had ended up not getting everything on her list.

On Wednesday, she’d stopped at the local coffee shop to read the paper before the town council meeting like she did every month. It was best to find out what was going on in person and not rely on someone else’s take of the meeting. She’d just gotten her coffee, sat down and opened the paper when the door opened and Noah strode in. His eyes scanned the room, coming to rest on her. Her heart leapt in her chest watching a smile spread across his face and his dimples flash. Even with his beard coming in thicker and the baseball cap shading his eyes, he was just as hot as when they’d first met. She watched him order his coffee, flirting with the girls behind the counter. Their high-pitched giggles grated on her nerves.

She raised an eyebrow at him when he pulled out the chair next to hers and scooted in close. He just smiled and leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “You have to save me from the giggling twins.”

Trying to keep from shivering at the sexiness of his voice, she whispered in his ear, “Then you shouldn’t flirt so much.” She allowed herself a moment close to him before she pulled away and folded her newspaper. She stood to leave him with the consequences of his actions when he gave her a lost puppy dog look.

She’d ended up staying and he’d gone with her to the meeting. She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was completely transfixed by what happened in a small town and full of questions about the people and the town’s politics. They’d talked and sat on a bench in the town square.

Then they went for ice cream at the same time one night. She gave him a hard time about his choice in flavor and loved it. She hadn’t expected him to be a plain vanilla kind of guy. She also enjoyed teasing him while licking her ice cream cone. Seeing his eyes darken with intensity, she knew she was getting to him. To her it was payback for every little touch and comment he made that made her long for more. After all, he was a master flirter and while she might be rusty, she still knew what she was doing.

Even though they’d spent time together almost every day, he wasn’t pressuring her for anything. He kept things light and flirty. She was pretty sure he had planned every meeting, but it didn’t worry her. She’d sat down with Martha after the grocery trip and had a long talk about Noah. She learned that Martha had been his mom’s best friend and she and Sam were actually Noah’s godparents. She knew the good, the bad and the ugly of him and didn’t hold anything back, filling Lexi in. In the end, Martha told her he was a good man and would never hurt a woman. After living next door and spending a lot of time with Martha, Lexi knew that she could trust what she’d been told.

She watched him stroll up the beach to her porch and sit on the rail next to where her feet were propped up. He just laughed as she raised an eyebrow at him.

“What’s on the agenda today, beautiful lady?” He smiled sweetly.

She shook her head. “What? Going for the direct approach today?”

His eyes grew wide in mock shock. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just thought maybe we could spend some time together. Maybe take a drive somewhere.” He started tracing patterns on her ankle.

She wanted to close her eyes and live in his touch. “Sure you have no idea,” she said sarcastically. “Are you that bored that you have decided to fill your time plotting ways to see me?”

He moved his pattern to the top of her foot, then back down past her ankle and to the back of her calf. She wanted to moan at the sensation. She knew that he was aware of the effect it was having on her so Lexi decided to make him work for it. “I was actually thinking about building a fire pit.”

His fingers stopped moving and she could tell he was trying not to say the first thing that came to his mind by the look on his face. “Yeah, sure, that sounds like fun. Ever built a fire pit before?”

She batted her eyelashes. “Why, darling, that’s what you are for.” Before he could respond, she started laughing. “No, I haven’t. However, they have this wonderful thing called the internet. You can find whatever you need on there. Including plans, how-to videos, and supply lists. It’s really a fascinating place.” Standing up to walk into the house, she could hear him talking under his breath so she turned back to look at him over her shoulder. “What was that?”

He waved her off, “Nothing, nothing. Can’t wait. Let’s go.”

She smiled while she put her shoes on then got her purse and keys. When she walked back out, Noah was in her backyard looking at the house then around to the ocean. She came and stood by him.

“This is the spot. For the fire pit, I mean. What do you think?” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Lexi smiled, this was the spot she’d chosen. She’d done a lot of research and took measurements, as this was something she had wanted to do for a long time, but she wouldn’t tell him that. “Looks great. Ready to go?” She held her keys up and jangled them.

Noah sighed. “I suppose you want to drive.”

Lexi stopped and turned to look at him. “Is there a problem? I’ll have you know I’ve only been in one accident when I was nineteen and it wasn’t even my fault.” She walked to her car.

“I have nothing but the utmost respect for your driving.” At her skeptical look, he shrugged. “It’s just I love to drive and I never have enough chances to do it. Besides, you have a new Dodge Charger with the Hemi package. I haven’t driven one of those yet.” He looked at her with hopeful eyes.

She folded her arms across her chest, contemplating him. “Would you like to drive my car, Noah?”

He nodded quickly, grabbed the keys out of her hand, and opened her door. As she walked by him to get in, she tapped him on the chest and said, “Don’t make me regret this. This could be a one-way trip for you.” She sat down in the car and looked straight ahead.

His eyes narrowed as he bent down and waited for her to look at him, faces inches apart. “Why, babe, you wouldn’t leave me in town with no way to get back home would you? Besides, I haven’t had a ticket or an accident in years.”

“And just how many did you have, years ago?” She tilted her head to one side.

“Just a few,” he smiled. “But that was a long time ago. I am older and wiser now.” He tapped his finger to the tip of her nose and stood up. He was whistling as he walked around the car and got in. When the engine roared to life he let out an excited laugh. “This is going to be so fun.” He grinned at her.

She shook her head. “Just drive, and get us there in one piece, please.”

~*~

When they got back, Lexi went into the house to change and grab the plans while Noah went home to get into some old clothes. She smiled at how he was like a kid in the candy store behind the wheel of her car. He was a very competent driver and as the miles went by she relaxed more. He did push it, but never too much. He held it just in check.

She watched Noah go to the trunk of her car and start moving the blocks around the house to the backyard. Since she didn’t want anything large or elaborate, her trunk was big enough to hold all the building materials. She knew how heavy they were and it was impressive watching him carry them. She was tempted to stay there and watch him unload it all but that wasn’t fair.

Grabbing a couple of waters and putting them on the back porch, she went around to the shed and grabbed her wheelbarrow to start loading. Noah came around the side of the house and his smile twisted into a scowl.

“Would’ve been nice to know you had that earlier.”

“Now you know. Let’s get a move on before it gets too hot.” She turned to get another brick out of the trunk. She paused when Noah came up beside her and put his hand on her arm.

“Why don’t you start organizing everything and going over the plans? I’ve got this.” He gently squeezed her arm.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You don’t think I’m strong enough to do this?”

“I didn’t say that. Somehow, I think you’d do it all on your own if you wanted to. What I’m saying is that to be more efficient, one of us should do the manual labor and the other should figure out what to do.”

He was standing so close. She could feel his heat radiating toward her. She watched a bead of sweat slowly rolled down the side of his face and dropped onto his chest where it soaked into his shirt. She blinked a couple of times and tried to focus on what she’d wanted to say to him. In the end, she nodded and walked away.

He made quick work of unloading everything and bringing it around back. Lexi had already mapped out where everything was going to go and had the tools they would need laid out neatly.

After going over the plan, Noah peeled off his shirt and started to dig where Lexi had indicated. Since there wasn’t anything for her to do right now, she sat down and enjoyed the show. With her sunhat and sunglasses hiding her eyes, she watched him without his knowing. She watched his muscles ripple under his tattooed skin as he pierced the ground with the shovel then lifted and tossed the dirt to the side, over and over again. She was fascinated by the shadows on his skin created by the movement.

She dreamed of running her finger over every contour of his shoulders and chest, wondered what it would be like to be held in those arms. How his muscles would feel under her hands as he lifted her, her body pressed against his. Their lips close, hovering just before connecting in a battle of dominance, her fingers digging into his shoulders as she tried to get closer. Her legs wrapped around his waist, how would it feel to have him slide into her?

Lexi was jolted out of her daydream by the phone inside ringing. She jumped up on shaky legs and jogged in to answer.

“Do I need to ask what has you so breathless?” teased the female voice on the other end.

“Evie! How are you? What are you doing? When are you going to come see me? We have so much to catch up on. It seems like ages since I last saw you.” Lexi jumped up and sat on the kitchen counter and took her hat and sunglasses off.

Evie laughed, “One question at a time, then it’s all about you. I’m doing great. I’m just taking a break and decided I wanted to celebrate by talking to my best friend.”

“What are you celebrating? Tell me, tell me.” Lexi wiggled in excitement.

“I’ve just hired a general manager. That means no more ninety-hour weeks for me. After he’s trained, of course. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I see a girls’ weekend in our very near future.” Her excitement and pride came through the line.

Evie Taylor, granddaughter of Evelyne, had opened a bookstore and café in Boston a couple of years ago. From the start, the business had done well but Evie had been unable to relinquish control. She wanted to make sure everything was in place and running smoothly before bringing anyone else in to help.

Their summers together had always been fun. Evie was always coming up with some kind of plan and Lexi was happy to follow her. Whenever they got into trouble, Evie was able to talk their way out of it and she was also the first one to fly into the middle of things, defending what she thought was right. They were opposites in personalities but it worked.

“Hot damn,” Lexi exclaimed. “Tell me everything. I need to know. Now.”

“His name is Jesse Fields, he’s about our age, and loves to read. He’s worked retail and restaurants since he was a teenager. He went to college for business management and has a great head on his shoulders, really smart and really quick. He’s been here for a couple of weeks and I think I can start cutting back on my hours. You’ll love him. You should come down and see me.”

Lexi started to fiddle with the pen and paper she kept by the phone. “So this Jesse. Is he hot?” She knew how to get to Evie.

Evie started laughing hard. “Not my type. Actually I’m not
his
type. I think my brother Jack is more his style. You should’ve seen it. Jack came in the other day and Jesse just about tripped over himself to help him. Jack was so funny, trying to be nice and not fully realizing the guy was flirting with him. He was so confused. I let him sweat it out for a bit before I helped him out. So come see me. I have more time to play now.”

Lexi was drawing hearts on the paper and thinking about Noah. Maybe it would be a good thing to get away. But he was only going to be there for a few months. Then he would be gone, most likely forever. She wanted to spend time with him while she could.