I nod and raise my arms as she pulls it over my head, dropping it to the floor.
Keeping her eyes on me, she tentatively caresses her fingers along my bare chest.
I flinch when they roam over the breast tissue where the lump is located, swallowing as her gaze lands there. She lowers her face to kiss the tattoo on my chest, which I added to a few months ago, her and Caleb’s names both over my heart now.
“You’re beautiful, Noah. This,” she says, her warm palm flattening softly over my chest. “The cancer…” Her voice cracks. “It doesn’t define you or make you any less of a man. Not to me, and not to Caleb.”
I swallow hard and nod.
“So please let me love you, Noah. Let me show you.”
Squeezing my eyes closed, I inhale a deep breath, knowing what she’s asking. But when I look down and find her eyes pleading, I know I can’t deny her.
“Okay, whatever you need, sweet girl.”
Her lips pull into a soft smile. “Then kiss me, Noah. Kiss me until I’m delirious with need, then take me back to our bed and make love to me.”
I search her face. Her expression is resolute, even with the uncertainty hanging over our heads. There she is, the strong, confident, kind, and beautiful woman we’ve come to love and cherish.
I lower my mouth to hers and whisper against her lips. “I would never deny you, sweet girl, you know that.” And then I kiss her with all that I am and all that I have.
Chapter Eighteen
CALEB
Noah’s diagnosis put everything into perspective. He and Jessica have always been the most important things to me, only now, I see things with vivid clarity. Themaybe one daysneed to be today. Tomorrow is not a given, and I refuse to wait—not now, not ever. What’s that saying? There’s no time like the present, and it’s absolutely true.
Noah has the date come through for his surgery, and I know it’s at the forefront of all our minds, especially his and yet we’ve not really discussed it, not properly anyway.
Aspen is spending the night with Maggie. She’s a nurturer by nature and dotes on our dog like a grandchild, and if I’m being honest, I like the idea of Maggie having the added company.
She’s retired, which means she no longer works for us, but she is and always will be very much part of our family. She thinks I offered her work as a favour to her husband, but it was more than that, and I knew she wouldn’t take a handout. So, it was a way of still being present in her life.
Only her husband knows I paid off their mortgage, and as disgruntled as he was, I know it gave him peace knowing shewouldn’t have to worry about losing the house if the worst should happen with his heart problems.
I pace back and forth. Never have I felt this nervous, to the point I am sweating through the material of my shirt. I pull at my tie, the air around me growing thick—suffocating.
Touching my pocket for what feels like the millionth time, I continue to assault the carpet, about ready to wear a hole in the thick pile as I wait for Jessica and Noah to join me.
I am taking Jessica and Noah on a date tonight, so we all got ready separately. Usually, it’s so we can’t be tempted to forgo the date, staying home and fucking instead, which has happened one time or two. But not tonight. Nothing will deviate me from my plan.
Jessica is the first to appear, wearing a gorgeous bodycon dress that stops at her knees.
“You look stunning, as always,” I say as she approaches me, her signature perfume delicate and sweet. I wrap my hand around her nape, angling her face towards mine as I lean in for a kiss. Her taste is pure decadence as I tease her tongue with mine. I know she’s wearing lip stain, she always does on date nights, so I don’t have to worry about it getting all over me.
I groan as I pull back and rest my forehead against hers, soaking her in.
“You okay?” she asks, her palm resting against my chest. “Your heart is racing.”
“I’m fine,” I lie. I am shitting a brick, worried the box in my pocket is sticking out like a sore thumb.
“Noah is going to be okay, Caleb. There’s nothing we can’t face together.”
I run the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip. “I know, little one.”
“Room for one more?” the man in question asks, stepping up to us, his suit matching mine. I smirk as I take him in.
He wraps his arm over Jessica’s shoulders. She looks up at him, and he leans down for a slow kiss, instantly making me hard.
