Page 32 of Starry Nights over Dragonfly Lake

‘No, you’re not,’ he heard Beth reply. ‘Our relationship is over, Jeremy.’

‘There’s no point giving me a reason and then not backing it up with proof, darling,’ replied Jeremy. ‘I can see why your research papers never made the grade.’

Noah heard Beth’s small gasp of dismay at the insult and felt something flare inside of him. He decided to interrupt their conversation before Beth became even more browbeaten.

He stalked into the lounge and saw Beth standing next to the fireplace, her face lit by the flames and nearby candles. She was looking pensive and strained, hugging her armsclose around her.

‘I mean,’ carried on Jeremy, who hadn’t seen Noah and was only looking at Beth, ‘who’s going to put up with you like I do?’

‘Maybe I’m already seeing someone else,’ she replied.

Jeremy merely laughed in disdain at her.

Noah took another step forward and Beth looked up upon hearing the movement. She looked at him for a second before her expression altered.

‘You know what? I can tell you exactly who’s putting up with me at the moment,’ she said.

Noah realised her voice had completely changed. She sounded confident and almost a little husky.

Beth began to walk towards Noah with purpose and wearing a wide smile on her face. And there was something else glowing in her eyes, he noticed. Excitement.

She came to stand directly in front of him and suddenly reached up to fling her hands around his neck. Then Beth leant forward and pressed her body against his.

As she tilted her head up, Noah, who was standing motionless in shock, saw her mouth the words ‘I’m sorry’ silently to him before she pressed her lips against his.

He was astonished at her actions but automatically drew his arms around her, drawing her even closer to him. Sorry? He’d never known a sweeter kiss before.

He didn’t know what was happening or why but for some reason he was entirely happy to play along with Beth’s little charade.

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Beth regretted her actions just as soon as her lips touched Noah’s mouth.

What was she thinking? She had nothing to prove to Jeremy. He was the lowest of the low. A cheater. The worst.

As for Noah, what on earth would he think of her? Just going up and kissing him like that? He must think she was totally crazy, as well as being extremely offensive.

When the idea to tell Jeremy that she was already dating somebody else had appeared in her brain, she hadn’t thought it through. But with Jeremy pushing her over and over, she had felt near to breaking point, unable to get rid of him.

And then handsome Noah had appeared at the door and she had hit upon what she had thought was a brilliant idea.

Now she just had to brace herself for him to back away and ask her what on earth she was thinking of by kissing him, as any normal, sane person would do.

And yet, as she began to pull back, she realised that his hands were now on her hips and he was drawing her closer. Much closer. The kiss deepened and all of her objections and racingthoughts melted away. It was an incredible kiss. She wasn’t even sure she’d ever been kissed like that before with such intensity.

Finally Noah drew back his lips from hers, his dark eyes smiling down. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes unreadable. Then she saw a twinkle in them as he drew his arms around her and leant his head down to hers again.

The second kiss was even more unexpected. Soft. Persistent. Incredible.

Finally, he drew back slightly from her face.

‘You were warned that I had a bad reputation,’ he murmured against her lips, the words soft enough that only she could hear them. ‘Reformed, obviously.’

‘Obviously,’ she murmured, somewhat dazed and breathless.

She tried to think of something else to say as he looked down at her. But not a single thought came into her usually chatty brain. The kiss had been wonderful, amazing. She was completely and utterly stunned and was somewhat grateful that Noah was still holding onto her as she was certain that otherwise she would have just sunk onto the floor.

She looked over his shoulder at her friends and the Jackson family who were equally shocked into silence as they stared at them from the doorway.