“That’s probably why we’re not laughing. You’ve really upped your kissing game since then.”
He happened to glance over at her at the exact moment she looked at him and their eyes locked for a few seconds. She looked the same—the Carly with the smile always hovering at the corner of her lips who’d been his best friend his entire life—but the whatever-it-was crackling between them was new. And weird and a little bit scary.
“You think so?”
She rolled her eyes and turned her head to look out over the dark ocean. “Must be all the practice you’ve had.”
He’d dated a lot in the past. Who didn’t? Especially when you were a good-looking guy in a tourist town. But he’d slowed down over the last couple of years. They were reaching an age when a lot of the women were looking to settle down—like Carly was—and he wasn’t there yet. He wasn’t really sure he ever would be, so he was being a lot more selective about relationships.
“They’re watching us to see if we’re fighting,” she said, and he cast a quick glance over to the fire pit, where Jim and Emily were with a crowd of family members, but were both watching them.
“Or waiting for us to kiss again,” he said, and she chuckled.
“Maybe it does help sell the story if you touch my butt.”
She didn’t have to ask him twice. He didn’t know what her dress was made of, but it felt like silk gliding under his hand as he traced the curve of her back and settled his palm over the curve of her ass. His fingertips pressed against her hip, pulling her closer.
Again he felt the change in the chemistry between them, along with the very-not-faked pang ofwantthat didn’t make sense after all these years together, but he tried not to think about it too much in case he started frowning again.
He was all for touching her butt and putting his arm around her, but there was no way in hell he’d survive another kiss like that from his best friend.
Carly brushed her teeth and washed her face in front of the mirror, which was a hard thing to do without looking her reflection in the eye.
That kiss.It should have been an easy thing, a quick coming together of their lips that would be something they’d joke about for years to come.
Instead, it had changed everything. The alcohol buzzing through her hadn’t had nearly the impact on her senses that Noah’s kiss had, and the two mixed together were making her feel as if the ground had shifted somehow. She wasn’t supposed to want Noah.
He’d touched her butt. She’d told him to kiss her. She’d invited him to touch her some more. And now she wanted to shove him against a door or a wall and taste every inch of him.
To tasteNoah, for crap’s sake.
And to really put the frosting on the sexual-tension cupcake, in a few minutes she was going to have to go climb into bed with him. Wearing a T-shirt she’d stolen from his suitcase, no less. And she was going to have to stay on her own side of that big bed. And sleep.
As ifthatwas going to happen.
But she couldn’t hide in the bathroom all night. And maybe, if she was lucky, the beer had caught up with Noah and she’d find him sprawled on the bed, snoring. His snoring wouldn’t help her fall asleep any faster, but at least she’d be spared wondering whether the silence in the room was the awkward kind or just the going to sleep kind.
Luck wasn’t her friend tonight. Noah was in bed, but he was plugging in his phone to charge and had his back to her. Since his lamp was the only light left on in the room, she rushed to the bed and slid between the covers, turning her back on him.
The mattress shifted under Noah’s weight as he moved, but the light didn’t go off.
“Is that my T-shirt?”
Busted.“I forgot my pajamas.”
“Who forgets to pack something to sleep in?”
“Somebody who usually sleeps in nothing.”
“You sleep naked?” He sounded like he might be choking.
She shouldn’t tease him. She should tell him to shut up and go to sleep, but she couldn’t help herself. “Usually, unless I’m really tired and fall asleep in my bra and panties.”
“The lace ones?” Now he sounded like he was being strangled.
“Yes, the lace ones. And I bet you’re in your underwear right now, smartass.”
“Oh yeah? What do you wanna bet?”
