‘I’ve fallen for you,’ she blurted, then winced, ‘but it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. I just … I wanted you to know, that’s all.’
The silence was deafening.
Until Noah laughed.
Laughed!
In fact, he was laughing so hard, he struggled to leverage himself up onto an elbow.
‘Excuse me,’ she huffed, sitting up to stare him down. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at what you said.’ Another chortle. ‘Or rather, I am, but it’s not what you think. It’s just …’
Finally, his laughter subsided, and he managed to pull himself up off the ground. ‘You think I don’t feel the same way?’
She shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to make assumptions.’
‘Beth, look around.’ He gestured at the remains of their romantic picnic, at the lanterns flickering against the now-dark sky. ‘You think I’d do this for someone I wasn’t completely head-over-heels in love with? You think I’d work for a pittance on justanyone’shouse?’
That got her hackles up. ‘I offered to pay you more! Several times, in fact!’
He gave her a meaningful look, though he was clearly still amused. ‘Are you listening to what I’m saying?’
‘Did … did you say, “head over heels”?’
He shook his head and corrected her. ‘Completelyhead over heels.’
All she could do was grin.
‘What are you waiting for?’ He leaned closer and crooked a finger. ‘Get over here, Little Miss Risk Taker.’
She couldn’t help it, she launched herself at him, though he caught her easily. And then, desperate to taste him, she kissed the laugh from his lips. The next thing she knew, her skirt was bunched at her thighs and she was straddling him.
He reeled back slightly, shocked, no doubt, at her uncharacteristic boldness.
She was, too. But then lust and love and all good things kicked in and their tongues collided in new and delectable ways.
Running her palms over his chest, she gloried in the hard contours beneath the fabric of his shirt. He tasted of wine and the sweet tang of strawberry. His hands were everywhere—on her thighs, in her hair, at the small of her back—pulling her closer, closer.
And oh, she could feel him, the length of him beneath her.
Instinct had her hips moving in a primal way, creating a delicious friction that she never wanted to end—she would lose her mind if it did.
Throwing her head back, she moaned.
Noah tensed. And his hands at her hips stilled her.
‘Beth.’ His chest heaved, his eyes flickering with a reflection of the flames from the lanterns, as if he literally burned for her.
‘Noah …’ She looked down at his shirt, calculating the steps it would take to divest him of it.
‘Maybe we should slow down.’
She swore she heard a record scratch. ‘What? Why?’
He swallowed and gently repositioned her. ‘You said you wanted to take things slowly, right? Well, you should know—’ he waved a finger between them, ‘—this is not the way to take things slowly.’
Not the way to—?Oh. She knew what was happening here. He was fast approaching the point of no return. Close to losing control. Because ofher. Her and her womanly wiles.
