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Afterward, they’d cuddled up and watched more TV, sharing dozens of kisses in interesting places before she’d dropped off around four. Though Jake wished he could take her up to bed and sleep beside her, he didn’t feel right about doing that in his sister’s place. They’d already violated Alexa’s couch, which he was tempted to ask his sister to bronze.
He tucked a blanket around Noelle’s shoulders. Her blond hair curved around her cheek and her long lashes fluttered in sleep, making her look as innocent as he’d always imagined her to be.
He grinned. The streak of wickedness she’d been hiding was a definite bonus.
Restless without Noelle’s voice and laughter to keep him company, he went downstairs to his sister’s fitness room. If he was pulling an all-nighter, he might as well make the most of it. Better to spend those hours working out than turning over how he could possibly be falling for a woman he’d known most of his life after only a few hours.
Fine, that wasn’t the whole truth. He’d loved Noelle—platonically—since they were kids. She’d been like another sister to him until, somewhere along the line, he’d stopped thinking about how to slip garter snakes in her sleeping bag and started wondering how her soft, generous mouth would feel under his.
Now he knew. And nothing would ever be the same.
He pushed himself through a session on the treadmill and the rowing machine, then did a long set of reps on the weight be
nch. Instead of feeling tired, adrenaline pumped through his bloodstream. And never more than when he heard a creak on the stairs and looked up to see Nellie standing there in her bra and panties.
Though it couldn’t be later than five a.m., she looked wide awake. And completely irresistible. “Hi,” she said, toying with the little ribbon between her breasts.
“Hey.” Perspiration poured off his body. He mopped up the sweat on his face, trying not to think about how he must look. “Get some sleep?”
“Mmm-hmm. You didn’t.”
“No.” As she bounced down the stairs, he willed his eager dick to remain at ease. Lost cause. She was just too damn pretty and smelled too damn sweet when she sauntered up to him and slid her hand under his damp T-shirt. One caress and he was as hard as the iron he’d just pumped.
“You’re hot.” She leaned up and licked his mouth open, her eyes gleaming. “FYI, I stole one of Alexa’s condoms.”
Jake groaned and stared up at the recessed lights in the ceiling. He wanted, more than anything, to make love to her. Even though he would’ve wished for something different for their first sexual experience, preferably something involving a bed and more romance than the glitter ball on TV, there was no going back. They could only go forward.
But before they did, they had to talk because he wasn’t letting her go. Hopefully, she felt similarly. If not, at least there would be one barrier not crossed between them. One thing he wouldn’t have to remember and regret. If that made him a coward, so be it.
Jake took a deep breath. “We can’t do it like this. It’s not right.”
“Sure it is.” Her smile faltered slightly as she pressed her softly rounded breasts against his chest. It took all his strength not to groan again. “We’re ready to rock and roll…aren’t we?”
His first inclination was to talk her out of it. He was the older, wiser one. The one who knew best, yada, yada. She didn’t know what she wanted and hadn’t thought things through. If they had sex, she’d probably be full of remorse when she woke up and it would be his fault that he hadn’t realized she’d just wanted to do something wild and daring—
Except her eyelid was twitching, the nerves there as jumpy as the bunnies on the shirt she’d been wearing earlier. She must’ve figured he’d turn her down, if not for this reason then five others. But she was still taking the risk. Still putting herself out there.
Tonight wasn’t only some lark to her. The truth of that shone back at him from her eyes, and if he ignored it, then he would lose a hell of a lot more than his pride.
He cupped her cheek, and the weight of the past year—Maureen leaving, his feelings of inadequacy, coming back to town to see if it still held a place for him—fell off his shoulders like the snow still coming down outside. In her hopeful expression he could see his future, even if he couldn’t quite envision it yet.
They fit together. Though he’d never consciously let himself consider pursuing her, kissing her tonight had been all the evidence he needed to realize his folly. How could he have looked everywhere else when where he belonged was right here, in her arms?
“Jake?” she asked, voice wobbling. “Say something. Please.”
“Nellie,” he murmured. He couldn’t call her Noelle right now. She was his Nellie. Swallowing hard, he feathered his fingers over her face. They kept moving when he heard his sister’s unintelligible yell upstairs, followed by a succession of slamming doors and quick steps down the stairs. Both he and Nellie glanced toward the stairwell as Alexa appeared, looking as model-fresh as if she’d just rolled out of bed after a full night’s rest. No cushion creases on her face, that was for sure.
“Knew you were here somewhere,” she said triumphantly, her expectant expression shifting into a frown. “I was going to ask why the cops are in my driveway but now I have a better question. Where the hell are your clothes?”
…
“You really slept with my best friend.” Alexa shook her head and stared into the guest room where Nellie dozed. His sister stood ramrod straight, the poster child for a fifteen-hour energy drink. “You truly are a horndog, aren’t you?”
“We didn’t sleep together.” Jake winced at Alexa’s piercing look. “Not exactly. And it’s not about sex.”
“Oh really? Then what is it about? I asked you to come up here and make sure none of my party guests showed. I didn’t ask you to play naked spin the bottle with my closest friend.”
“Keep your damn voice down,” he muttered, wondering for the millionth time how a woman who always smelled like flowers could possibly be so overbearing.
