“He’s a great guy,” Sara said. “I’ve met him a few times and Jim and Emily talk about him all the time. You’re a lucky woman.”
There was no hint the woman was being catty or passive-aggressive in any way, but Carly still couldn’t help wondering if Jim and Emily had wanted to set up Noah with her because they thought they’d hit it off, or because Sara had asked them to.
The jealousy hit her like a wrecking ball out of nowhere, and she forced herself to nod at Sara. She had no coping skills for feeling competition for Noah’s attention, because she’d never been jealous before. No matter who he was dating or how that woman felt about her, Carly knew what she meant to Noah and she was secure in that relationship.
They’d ruined everything. If she reacted like this to the idea that Sara might be interested in Noah, how was she going to handle him finding a new girlfriend? What was it going to feel like when she saw him kiss somebody, or put his hand on some other woman’s butt?
Now her stomach hurt and she didn’t want an omelet anymore, so she told the women she’d see them later and took what was on her plate to the table Noah was already sitting at.
When she sat down next to him, she saw him look at her plate. “Is that all you’re having?”
She’d gotten some fruit and a bagel with cream cheese before fleeing from the conversation with Sara and her cousin. “Yeah, but only because I’m going to steal some of your scrambled eggs and bacon. There’s no way you’re going to eat all of that.”
“I don’t know. I worked up an appetite.”
She felt her cheeks get hot and kicked him under the table. “Stop that.”
He just leaned closer so he could lower his voice. “Again, I’m not sure what kind of boyfriends you’ve had in the past, but we’re kind of supposed to work up an appetite—so to speak—when we’re staying in a hotel. Especially one like this.”
She knew that. She just didn’t want to talk about it because talking about it made it more real, and their relationship was supposed to be fake. And the sex was temporary.
What happens on the Cape stays on the Cape.
That was the deal.
Chapter Seven
The sundress with the flowers was going to be Noah’s undoing. He’d noticed she looked particularly good at Brandy’s birthday party, but now that he’d had his hands on those legs and on that waist—hell, every inch of that body—the flirty skirt and thin straps made his mouth dry.
“How much time do I have left?” Carly asked as she fastened a small gold hoop in her ear.
Her hair was swept up into some fancy ponytail and he wanted to lick his way from her earlobe down her neck to the strap of her dress. Maybe if he captured it in his teeth and tugged, he could—
“Noah!”
“What?” She was giving him an exasperated look, so he did his best to shake off thoughts of stripping that dress off of her. It wasn’t easy, though.
“How much more time do I have to get ready?”
He looked at the clock, which she couldn’t see from the other side of the room. “Five minutes, but you look ready to me. What else do you need to do?”
“Maybe put a little makeup on, but it usually takes me longer than five minutes because I never wear it and I screw it up.”
“Because you hate it. And you look absolutely beautiful right now.” He thought she’d smile, so her frown caught him off guard. “What’s the matter?”
“That’s a weird thing for you to say to me.”
“I...” He paused because he wasn’t really sure what that meant, and he didn’t want to make it worse. “What do you mean?”
“That’s not something you would say to me. You tell me I look fine or that I need to fix my hair or you grunt and tell me to hurry up, butabsolutely beautiful? That’s weird.”
“Sorry?”
“You can’t change, Noah.” She was a little panicky—he could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice—but he’d be damned if he could figure out why. “Our friendship can’t change because we had sex one weekend on Cape Cod.”
“Of course our friendship’s not going to change. You’re my best friend. You always have been and you always will be.” He had to believe that because he couldn’t picture his life any other way, and he didn’t want to try.
“And we’re just having sex this weekend because it’s fun. Like skiing or four-wheeling. So you shouldn’t be talking to me any differently.”
