“Well, you have all this money, that you rightfully deserve, and yet you’ve never spent it on anything. You’ve never treated yourself to a night like this before, or an overseas vacation, or . . .anything.”
His question floated through the room towards me. It seemed like a simple one. But it wasn’t. It was very loaded, and it summarized the life that Zenobia had led in many ways.
“That’s just who I was,” I said softly.
“Was?” he asked.
I turned and smiled at him. “Well, the old me would never have smoked weed, even if it was accidental, the old me would not have gone down waterslides, and certainly wouldn’t be staying in a place like that. So, yes,was.Or at the very least,getting there.” I watched Noah, and his look seemed to draw me closer towards him. I reached out and took his hand. It felt so comfortable in mine. Like I’d been taking his hand forever.
“I like you like this,” he whispered. “It suits you.”
“Thanks, and I have you to thank for that,” I whispered back.
“No. I had nothing to do with this. I was just there when it happened. You—you—did all of this. I’m just along for the crazy ride.”
I smiled, and this time it was huge.
“You’re incredible.” He stepped forward and slowly placed a hand on the side of my face. This was exactly like the moment that Amanda Stone and Sheik Khalifa had shared . . .
Wait?
Why did I keep referring to that book? That book wasn’t real. It was someone’s else’s made-up romance, it was notmyromance, and I was no longer going to live inside the pages of someone else’s bloody love story. I was going to live my own love story. I was going to experience it and feel it, not as Amanda Stone, but as me. Zoe! The new me who was more than capable of writing the words to her ownrealromance and feeling whatever she wanted to feel, not what some character had felt.
“You’re the bravest, strongest, most adventurous person I’ve ever met in my life and, quite frankly, I’m a little in awe of you.” He reached out and touched the other side of my face.
“You are?” I choked back the words, because I could feel that tears were so close to the surface now, and I didn’t want to cry.
“Everything you’ve been through in your life—I can’t even imagine what it was like. And look at you, not only did you survive it all, but you’re thriving in your bright tie-dye clothes.”
I giggled and put my hand over his. A tear slipped out of my eye, and I was unable to stop it.
“Are you crying?” Noah asked.
“Not bad tears, happy tears. Tears of ‘I can’t believe this is actually happening right now.’It is happening, right?This isn’t a dream. We are standing here in the most beautiful room in the world and you do have your hands on my face and we did kiss, right? That wasn’t some dream or a fake memory or . . . something?”
Noah smiled. Slow and seductive and so, so sure of himself. The certainty gave him this sexiness that oozed out of him. He had a glint in his eyes, dark, a little bit dirty. Dangerous, even.God, it was so sexy.
“I mean.” He dragged the words out. “I’m pretty sure we kissed, but maybe we should do it again, to see if it’s familiar, or not.”
“Just to see if it’s familiar?” I asked, playing along. I felt so euphoric right now. I’d never played along in a flirtatious, sexy game before.
“Exactly,” he growled in a low, gravelly voice.
I closed my eyes and smiled, parted my lips and waited for him to kiss me. But when he didn’t, I opened them quickly to see what was going on.
“Oh wait, you wanted me to kiss you, not the other way around?” He let out a chuckle.
I gave him a playful smack on the arm as he teased me.
“Fine, fine. I’ll kiss you . . .if I really have to.” He rolled his eyes and then pulled me close. I let out a giggle that was low and kind of sexy-sounding, if I do say so myself.
And then he kissed me again, soft and slow and short. He pulled away as soon as he’d done it and raised his brows at me.
“Does that feel familiar?”
I cast my eyes upwards and shook my head. “Not at all.”
“Okay, let’s try again.”
