Naked (30 page)

“I told you.” He shrugged. “I have friends.”

“Did you check up on me?” Her body got hot, her blood threatening to boil inside her veins. “Did you look at my medical records?”

He didn’t confirm it out loud, but the look on his face told her everything she needed to know. And who else had he told? Had he mentioned it to her mother?

“Don’t worry. I won’t betray your secret.” He leaned forward and tried to place his palm on her cheek, but she jerked away.

She looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. Eyes were watching them from all angles and they’d witnessed her not-so-subtle rebuff.

“I have to go.”

“Violet, please.” His hand caught her around the wrist and he pulled her closer into an embrace that could be mistaken from the outside as romantic. “You had to know that I’d check up on you.” His breath was like humid, summer air on her face. “These things are more than just relationships. They’re transactions. I would think your mother has done her research on me as well and would be pleasantly surprised.”

She scoffed. This was exactly what she’d feared was in store for her future. Her mother had officially gone off the rails.

“Excuse me.” She jerked her hand away and stepped back with a pleasant smile. “I have somewhere to be.”

She walked past him, and couldn’t help bumping her shoulder into his side. It was petty, but it made her feel better.

Patrick Wharton was everything she should want. But this guy had no idea she was thinking about someone else. Every time he’d touched her, she felt nothing. Every time he’d smiled at her, she felt nothing.

There was only one man who could bring a real smile to her face. And she needed to find him.

But he was nowhere to be found. Had he left? Without saying goodbye?

She circled through all the tables, checked the bar, even waited outside the men’s room for ten minutes before she made her way to the front of the restaurant. And that’s when she saw it, through the window of the tiny waiting area, the tiny flash of burnt orange—Noah’s tie.

He was leaving.

“Noah!” she yelled out the door. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, but he wasn’t happy to see her.

His expression of sadness was like a kick to her stomach. Had he seen her with Patrick? He had to know there was nothing between them.

Then why would he walk away?

She had to explain. He needed to understand that he was the only man who made her feel whole. Like herself.

She held out her hand, but he made her wait, nervousness burning a hole in her stomach like acid while he contemplated her offer. But then he sighed, and walked over to the front door, taking her hand in his.

The simple touch ignited something inside her. Something she hadn’t felt for one moment while she was talking to Patrick. And definitely not during any moments of her relationship with Steven.

She guided him to the empty coatroom at the front of the restaurant and locked the door.

“What’s up, Violet?” He stood so far away from her, keeping his distance. And his words…There was something wrong with him.

“Nothing.” She smiled. And for the first time in a really long time, she believed that. For the first time it felt like everything in her life was in place. “Noah, I think…”

She was going to tell him exactly how she felt. Even though this was supposed to be temporary—they had agreed to temporary—she didn’t care. She was willing to go out on a limb. Just as with the residential project, she needed to take a chance even though she might end up falling flat on her face. “I want to tell you something.”

The cherry on top of coming clean with her feelings…the fact that she was going to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse. One that included 25 percent above market value. But she’d give him any amount he wanted for that house. It was for a good cause: her reputation at the company and his future.

“I want to tell you something, too.” With two steps he was in front of her, one hand clamped around her hip, the other cupping her cheek. “I saw you with that guy.”

She tensed. “With Patrick?”

He nodded. “It made me crazy.”

Her stomach fluttered. She loved the possessive nature of his affection for her. It was alarming yet never failed to kick up her libido.

“You don’t need to worry about Patrick. He’s only a child oncologist.” She waved him off. “He has no idea how to make me a cabinet door.” She winked.

His face softened at her joke and he pulled her closer. “All I kept thinking was that he needed to stop touching your arm. Because it’s my arm. I’m the only one who can touch you.”

She’d never known how much she wanted to belong to someone until this very moment. But she had every reason to believe that it wasn’t
someone
she wanted to belong to, it was Noah. “Then touch me.”

His eyes darkened, despite the already rich chocolate color they’d taken on in the dim light. And just as she’d wanted, the air between them had taken a turn.

His hands roamed over her body. Touching everywhere. Almost everywhere. She noticed he avoided her neck.

His hands kneaded at her hips, then pulled her closer, hard against his erection. Then he stepped forward, bringing her with him, until her back was flush against the wall. That’s when his hands moved to their favorite spot—her ass. But they didn’t linger. They roamed—up her rib cage to her shoulders, and finally stopped when he cupped her neck between his hands. She knew her dress hid the area, but this was the first time she’d let him touch the spot for more than a moment.

He recognized the event, too, capturing her lips in a hard, rough kiss, as he pushed his pelvis against her.

“I think you have a thing for fucking in public, Violet Walker.”

She panted, her words coming out in a slight stutter. “Is that…a problem for you?”

He grunted a “hell no,” his hands still at her neck. And when his finger found bare skin below the neck of the dress, she froze. After the conversation with Patrick, she couldn’t risk Noah reacting the same way.

She grabbed his wrists and lowered them to his sides. “No touching.”

He groaned, letting his forehead press against hers. “We’re back to that?”

Like the courteous person she was, she grabbed the bottom of her dress and hiked it up, the lower half of her body now completely bare.

The low growl that rumbled in his throat sent a rush of excitement directly to the place where he was staring. “You’re not wearing any panties.”

The cool air infiltrated between her legs and she gasped when his hand slipped between her thighs and cupped her sex.

Her hips jutted out, putting a space between her ass and the wall. She let out a heavy breath when his other hand snaked around her hip and pressed against her lower back.

With one hand at her clit, his other hand pressed against the opening of her—

She shuddered. Not in climax, but in utter elation. He’d never touched her there before. No one had ever touched her there before, and she liked it.

“I need to fuck you.” His two fingers pressed harder against her tight bud. “I’m going to fuck every part of you, Violet. I’m going to
see
every part of you.” She sucked in a breath and looked up, her pleasure subsiding for a moment. “When you’re ready.”

She smiled and pressed her lips against his, rocking her hips so he didn’t forget he was supposed to be moving his hands to get her off.

Which he did. His fingers sending zings of pleasure all over her body.

But then he froze, pulling away. “What did you want to tell me?”

“Screw it.” She attacked his mouth, reaching behind him to his back pocket. “Screw me.”

She pulled out his wallet and fumbled for the condom, her right hand tight and unable to remember the fine motor skills she’d learned as a child.

She cursed under her breath and that’s when he took the wallet, grabbing the condom and throwing the leather to the ground. He placed the foil between his teeth and lifted her. Using his pelvis to balance her against the wall as she rubbed against him. She needed to quench some of the ache that throbbed between her legs, the ache his fingers had teased out. It hadn’t been enough. Humping his stomach wasn’t enough either.

He took the condom from his mouth and whispered against her ear, “I’ll screw you, Violet.” He wasted no time dipping his fingers between her folds and using the moisture to circle her clit.

With his mouth pressed against her ear, he continued ramping her up to orgasm with his fingers, as he said, “I’ll fuck you until you no longer want me.”

His words hit her like a tidal wave. He was in, until she decided she no longer wanted him.

If she gave in to her world, that could come to pass. But she didn’t want to think about that. Not right now when she was floating just below a monstrous orgasm.

With frantic movements, and an even more frantic heartbeat, she undid the zipper of his pants and pulled out her favorite part of his body. She stroked it a few times and he hissed at her ear. As they pleasured each other with their hands she knew in this moment she didn’t want to be anywhere else. With anyone else. This man was giving her everything she needed. Fuck the people on the other side of that door. Screw the judgments of her colleagues and supposed friends.

Right now the only thing getting screwed is you.

When he was sheathed, he placed the head of his cock at her entrance and she wiggled her body until he penetrated. With one long thrust, he seated himself inside her. He was so big, stretched her so fully and completely. And she knew at this angle it wouldn’t take much for her to tip over the edge.

But then he lowered her against the wall until her knees were resting on his forearms and his hands held her under the arms. She felt like a pendulum, the way she was suspended in the air. And when he began to move, she’d never felt so invaded. So completely manhandled.

He picked up the pace and assaulted her pussy, his cock banging inside her in time with heavy grunts and groans. She thanked the heavens for his occupation—for his strength to keep her in this position. She thanked the heavens for his cock—the perfect length and girth to get her off. She thanked fate, which she had long given up on, for bringing her to Stillbride to meet this incredible man who knew just what to do to make her unravel.

And so she did. In his arms while he thrust inside her with such urgency.

She grabbed on to his cheeks and forced his head up. Her nipples were like glass against her bra, her skin on fire, and she knew without a doubt that her eyes were glazed over and reflected her complete state of bliss.

All of the sensations coursing through her body came to a peak, and she exploded from the inside out. First her pussy clamped down on him and that tension extended to the rest of her body as she tightened in his grip. She went limp when it was all done, barely registering his release, barely noticing the fact that he’d bit down on her breast through her dress as he came.

It was the rolling of his head against her chest that lulled her back to reality. She brought her hands up and massaged her fingers over his shaved head.

They stayed like that in silence for a few moments, both of them content to just be with each other. Maybe because they both knew eventually they wouldn’t be.

“You want to get out of here?” she asked, finally breaking the silence.

With mumbled words from her chest, he asked, “Your place or mine?”

He dropped her down, and it took a minute for her to get her bearings, but she managed to mutter, “Definitely yours.”

She’d gotten so caught up in having an orgasm that she hadn’t mentioned her project. Which was probably for the best. She should wait until she had all the papers in order instead of just blurting it out. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t gather some intel in the meantime.

“I was wondering…Since you’re doing all those renovations. How much do you think the house is worth?”

That was pretty subtle.

“According to Paige, I could probably sell it for four hundred thousand.” He tucked himself back into his pants and zipped up. “But I’m not flipping this one. It’s a present for my mother.”

Her heart stopped and she might have forgotten how to breathe. “Wha…”

“I didn’t mention it before because we weren’t really talking about our lives, but yeah, my sisters and I bought the house for my mom and we’re giving it to her as a present for her retirement.”

He grinned. He was so happy about this plan. And she knew how much he loved his family.

She was a huge piece of crap.

How the hell was she supposed to give him an offer on the house now that she knew he wasn’t doing all this work for himself, but for his mother?

“You all right?” He threaded his hand through her hair at the back of her neck and kissed her temple.

She croaked out an acknowledgment. “You just rocked my world with your penis.” She looked up and met his eyes, the same eyes that stared down at her with pure affection. “I’m totally great.”

You are so fucked.

They both stopped short when they slipped out of the coatroom to see Patrick standing by the front door.

Noah didn’t falter as he took her hand and walked them out of the restaurant.

She should be terrified Patrick would spill the beans to her mother. But none of that mattered right now. Right now she had to come to terms with the fact she was going to purchase and bulldoze the house Noah and his sisters planned to give their mother.

Chapter 25

Noah knocked twice on the trailer door before he stepped inside. Lewis was exactly where he’d expected: bent over his desk, hard hat resting on the top left edge, a cup of coffee in one hand and a pencil in the other.

When he looked up, he nodded in acknowledgment.

“I want to talk about future opportunities,” Noah blurted. He’d forgotten to even say hello. “I’d like to explore more permanent employment.”

Lewis gestured for him to take a seat on the opposite side of his desk. He joined him, putting down his coffee and crossing his ankle over his knee.