Hush - Fighting Fate #2 (33 page)

When he pulled into the driveway, I had to forcibly stop myself from gripping the seat. I was that terrified. “Can I just stay in the car?” I asked, panic more than evident in my voice.

Noah cut the engine and turned to look at me. After a few long moments, he simply opened the door, walked around to my side, and opened my door. But instead of yanking me out like I thought he might, he just crouched down beside me and took my hand.

Turning in the seat, I slipped my legs between his, placing my feet on the ground.

“What’
s got you so worried?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know. I just don’t want them to resent me for crashing their party.”

He gave me an easy smile. It was soft and reassuring. Everything I needed. “Kaeli, I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I didn’t think they’d be okay with it.”

“Really? You’re sure they won’t be annoyed?”

He squeezed my hand. “I promise.”

I bit my lip. “Okay.”

Letting him pull me from the car, I sighed when he wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

“There’s still so much we don’t know about each other,” I said into his chest.

“We’ve got plenty of time to get to know each other, baby. Stop worrying. It’s all good.” Pulling back, he placed a finger under my chin and tilted my head back so he could see me properly. “Okay?” he asked, his gaze intent.

I nodded, my eyes wandering to his lips without my consent. I watched them curve up a little before he leaned forward and pressed them to mine. I melted. God, I loved his lips. They were so soft, so warm, so mind altering.

He pulled away and I sighed. Taking my hand, he softly ran his thumb over the back of it before steering me towards the house.

Steeling myself for hopefully every possible scenario, I
followed him through the door.

The first thing I noted was the homely feel. I certainly never had that living with Ken. Everything in our house had been sterile and cold. Obviously Mom was trying to rectify that, but she still had a while to go to get it to this level of warmth. It instantly soothed me.

I tried searching the walls of pictures as we went, trying to find the ones of Noah. It was a lot harder than I thought.

Voices floated out ahead of us, making me draw in a steadying breath
. Noah’s hand tightened around mine.

It started as soon as we stepped into the room.

“It’s about freaking time, Romeo,” a smooth voice said from the sofa.

Noah just shrugged, grinning
as he pulled me forward. “I had important things to see to.”

I looked around the room, only now remembering he had four brothers. I sucked in a breath at how startling similar they all looked.  Crap.

Noah looked down at me. “What was that?”

Shit. Did I say that out loud? “I forgot you had four brothers,” I said quietly. “You all look so similar.”

“I’m the hottest though, right?”

“In your dreams little brother.”

I looked up at the sound of that smooth voice again, meeting shining, hazel eyes. He kind of looked like an older version of Noah, but without the tattoos. He was good looking. I couldn’t deny that, but I was attracted to Noah on a level that went beyond his looks. But yeah, the tattoos were hot.

I bit my lip, feeling my cheeks warm a little. “Mmm hmm…” I tried to keep my agreeance quiet so only Noah would hear, but it seemed he didn’t understand that.

“AH-HA!” he said loudly, almost making me jump. “In your face. She likes me better.”

I laughed at his retaliation.
I knew he was only joking, but I was still waiting for him to poke his tongue out too.

Pulling me closer, he kissed my temple. “Kaeli, that moron is Isaac. He’s
thinks because he’s a firefighter, he’s god’s gift to all women.”

I raised my eyebrow at this little bit of information, but I smiled. How could I not?
They were funny.

Standing up,
Isaac walked over to us and surprised me by scooping me into a huge hug. “Hey, Thumbelina.”

I squealed at the unexpected
move, making Noah growl and shove him away. “Get away from her, you dick.”

The rest of them
laughed, climbing to their feet to come greet us too. Shit. I automatically inched closer to Noah. Looking up at the four brothers, I suddenly understood the Thumbelina reference. They were all like freaking giants.

One of the older looking ones stepped forward, his eyes kind and reassuring. They reminded me a lot of Noah’s. I
immediately liked him.

“Hi,” he said, holding out his hand. “I’m Adam. The oldest. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I cringed. I had no idea what Noah might’ve said to him. Taking his hand, I tried to smile. “Hi.”

“And this is Micah,” Noah continued, gesturing to one who looked a little more clean cut than the others. He still had the trade mark dark hair and hazel eyes, but his clothing and hair style screamed ‘white collar’. He also seemed a little more reserved than the others. I shook his outstretched hand.

“And this loser over here,” Noah said, wrapping his free hand around the back of the last brother’s neck. “Is Eli. Eli is the smartest of us all. He’s about to start law school.”

Eli rolled his eyes
. “You know that’s completely contradictory, don’t you?”

Noah smiled at me. “See? Smart.”

He laughed, reaching out his hand for me to take. “Hi, Kaeli. Nice to meet you.”

I couldn’t help smiling.
Their banter made me feel at home. “Thanks. You too.”

N
oah looked around before quirking his eyebrows. “Where’re the ‘rents?” he asked.

Adam grinned. “Dad’s cleaning the grill, Mom’s telling him how to do it, and Kara’s umpiring.”

Noah laughed. “So, nothing’s changed then?”

Isaac grabbed Micah in a headlock. “Nope. Nothing.”

I giggled and Noah squeezed me harder. Yeah, I was going to like it here.

“Is that my baby I can hear?”

I turned at the sound of the woman’s voice calling from outside. Noah groaned and the others snickered.

“Hi, Ma,” Noah called out.

The next second a small, slim figure appeared in the doorway and I immediately knew it was Noah’s mom. She was obviously where they all got their dark hair and hazel eyes.

She strode into the room, her eyes, loving and kind, finding me. “Ah, I can see why Noah’s gone all gaga over you now. You’re gorgeous. Come here.”

She pulled me into a quick, gentle hug before pulling back to study me. “I’m Alli by the way. How’s your mother?”

Her question surprised me. I wasn’t expecting them to know my situation.

“Mom…” Noah said with a hint of a warning in it.

We both ignored him. “She’s okay I guess,” I said. “Happy to be free of things I think.”

She nodded in understanding. “I’ll have to come and introduce myself to her someday.”

Now that surprised me. Wasn’t it too soon to do the whole family interaction thing?

“Okay,” Noah said firmly, tucking me back under his arm. “That’s enough scaring my girl.”

“Oh, hush. She’s fine,” she said,
giving Noah a quick squeeze on his free side.

I laughed
, pleasantly surprised by the amazing rapport their whole family seemed to have with each other.

A light, tinkling laugh came from the doorway, and I saw
another woman coming inside, this one young, tall and blonde.

“Oh, thank god,” she said.
“Another girl. We need all the estrogen we can get around here.”

“Oh
, no we don’t,” said another voice behind her.

I looked out to see an older man
following her in, wiping his hands on a rag.

Noah squeezed me at his side.
“That’s Kara, Adam’s fiancé. And that’s my dad, Luke.”

I smiled, remembering Noah’s dad from the hospital. Without thinking, I nodded. “Yes, I remember your dad.”

Noah suddenly cracked up laughing and I realized my mistake.

“That’s right!” he said. “Dad, I hate to tell-”

I clamped my hand over Noah’s mouth as hard as I could. He laughed, trying to step away from me, but I clung tight, throwing my free arm around his neck so I could hold on tighter. He grabbed me around the waist, picking me up, but I wasn’t going to back down. He was not going to tell his dad.

Noah was still laughing under my
hand. His eyes shone with it. How he could breathe, I didn’t know. He was still trying to get away from me, obviously not very hard, but he was still persistent. When he almost shook me off, I jumped at him. Literally.

Hooking my legs around his waist, I clamped my hand across his mouth even firmer.

“Stop it,” I said, trying hard not to laugh myself. “I told you not to say anything.”

Noah brothers were full out laughing now. I must’ve looked ridiculous.

“Promise me you won’t say anything,” I hissed.

Laughing, he shook his head.

“Oh my god! You’re so stubborn,” I grumbled.

His eyes shone even brighter.

“Please?” I begged, trying the sympathy route instead.

He seemed to consider it, but then he shook his head
again.

Throwing my head back to glance at the ceiling with exasperation, I loosened my hand. “Fine. I hate you.”

He laughed. “No, you don’t.” Then he kissed me. Right there in front of his family. And I let him. Because, well, it was Noah. And I liked kissing him.

When he put me down, he grinned. Happiness shone from
his every pore. It was a beautiful sight. My laugh might’ve been his Achilles heel, but his smile, well, I thought it might be able to destroy a small nation.

“
So?” Isaac said impatiently. “Are you going to tell us now? The suspense is killing me.”

Noah glanced down at me and smiled before looking back up at his family. “Sorry. I can’t.”

And there I went, melting again…

Chapter 58

Noah

Being back amongst my family was amazing, but having Kaeli there with me was even better. By the end of the night she was so relaxed, smiling and laughing
, and teasing Isaac like she was born a part of us. She fit in perfectly, and it warmed me to see everyone so accepting of her.

Just after nine, we started the long process of trying to say goodbye. Kaeli laughed every time I cut someone off, shuffling her closer and closer to the door.

“Both of you have to come back soon, okay?” Mom was saying in her firm, no room for argument tone.

Kaeli laughed at my groan. “Of course. I’ll make sure of it.”

Nudging her into the open doorway of the car, I watched her slide into the passenger seat before closing the door behind her. Giving Mom a quick smile, I jumped into the driver’s seat and got the car on the road before either she or Kaeli could start up a new conversation.

A mile or so down the road, I glanced over at Kaeli to see her smiling serenely out the window. “So? Not as bad as you thought?”

She looked over at me and laughed. “No. It was fun. They’re all so nice. You’re lucky. I wish I had siblings.”

“I’ll share them with you,” I said, hoping she’d take the hidden meaning in my words.

“That’d be nice,” she said dreamily. “Did your parents name you all like that on purpose?”

“You mean the whole biblical thing?” When she nodded, I chuckled. “Yeah. I think Mom was hoping it’d turn us into angels or something.”

She laughed and I knew she was thinking just how far from reality that had become.

We stayed quiet for a little while as I drove. I wanted to know what she was thinking, but I didn’t want to come across too pushy either. The last thing I wanted to do was scare her away.

“So when do I get to see your apartment?” she said, interrupting my internal banter.

Her question surprised me. “You want to see my apartment?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“I could show you right now if you want,” I teased.

“Okay.”

My breath caught. I’d expected her to laugh, not agree in a sexy, breathy voice. Shit. I gave her a surprised glance. “Okay?”

She nodded.

My dick instantly twitched. Silently cursing, I tried to remind myself she just wanted to see the apartment. Not fuck. I could restrain myself.

Swallowing, I tried to regain some control. “Okay.”

Flicking on the indicator,
I turned and started heading towards my apartment.

By the time we got there, I’d only just succeeded in convincing myself I couldn’t have her. The only thing that worked was knowing if I moved too fast, I might scare her off and lose her. And that wasn’t an option. I was going to do whatever it took to keep her with me. Even sustain some blue balls.