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I’d hoped we would get a chance to meet up, but I’d figured the odds were slim. The prospect of spending a morning with him in Cape Town sent a giddy rush of anticipation through me.

“Great. I’ll see you then.” His voice softened. “Good night, Vu.”

“Good night, Wilson.”

I hung up, my smile stretching from ear to ear. If I were alone, I would’ve kicked my feet and screamed into my pillow.

When I looked at my friends again, they were off their phones and blatantly eavesdropping on my end of the conversation.

“You’re in trouble,” Brooklyn said. She looked equal parts amused and concerned.

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head, her earrings catching the light. “Be careful. That’s all.”

CHAPTER 39

CARINA

The next morning, Brooklyn left for the airport and Scarlett slept in while I met Noah for breakfast near the hotel.

When I showed up at the café, he was already there and “incognito” in an unassuming sweater, baseball cap, and trainers. The cap shadowed half his face, but it was him. He was unmistakable.

My stomach flip-flopped as I approached him. I stopped a foot away, drinking in the sight of his tanned skin and stubbled cheeks. It was my first time being this close to him in weeks, and I’d been unprepared for the wave of emotion that swept through me.

“Hi,” I breathed.

I almost leaned in to kiss him until I remembered we were in public. Still, the way he looked at me was as warm and sensual as a physical caress. His eyes trailed over my face, neck, chest, and legs like he was trying to etch every detail into his memory. When they returned to mine, a spark of something electric passed between us.

His slow smile melted me into a puddle. “Hey, little bird. I missed you.”

Maybe absence had distorted my memory, but he looked taller. Broader. More imposing. When Noah placed a hand on the small of my back and guided me to our seats, my skin lit up like a live wire.

Be careful. Brooklyn’s warning floated through my mind before I pushed it aside. She was understandably concerned that I was getting in over my head, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I was already here. There was no turning back.

Noah and I abstained from PDA since we were in public, but we spent breakfast catching each other up on the past few weeks. He gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament; I regaled him with my travel adventures so far. However, since he’d hired a private driver to take us to our next location, we finally, finally got the chance to exchange a proper greeting in the car.

The doors had barely closed before his mouth was on mine, one hand curled around my nape while the other threaded through my hair. The kiss started gentle, but it gradually became harder, more urgent, as weeks of pent-up longing broke free.

I sank into his embrace, my fingers digging into his shoulders. A throaty, involuntary noise escaped my throat when he tugged my head back so he could deepen the kiss. It felt like I was taking my first real breath since we last saw each other, and his presence filled every inch of me—my blood, my lungs, my very bones. I was drowning in him, and I never wanted to surface.

We were so lost in our own world that we both startled when the car stopped, and our driver cleared his throat.

“Sir, ma’am, we’ve arrived,” he said politely. He was careful not to look at us in the rearview mirror, but I detected a tiny smirk as Noah and I hastened to compose ourselves.

“Thank you,” I said with as much dignity as I could muster. “We’ll be, um, back.”

The driver tipped his hat. “Take your time. Have fun.”

Yep, that was definitely a glimmer of laughter in his voice.

I exited the car, my cheeks burning. “Don’t you dare,” I warned when Noah’s face broke out into a sly grin.

“I didn’t say anything.”

“But you were going to.”

“I was just going to say, we were probably the highlight of his week. At least we weren’t fuck⁠—”