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He tucked his hands in his pockets. “Last night when we were talking, I was in the bathroom and started to run a bath. I put my phone on the side of the bath when I went to answer the door…”
My stomach sank. “I think I know where this is going.”
“Yeah. Long story short, Poosh is an asshole, and if you ever asked me something, I have no idea what it was.” He pulled his lips into a thin line. “My phone is a fucking doorstop. I went by the store this morning, but they said it’s going to take a couple days to get my number transferred to the new SIM card. I don’t have your number, and I didn’t want you to think I was ignoring you.”
“Little bit late,” I admitted. “I’ve been cursing you all morning and coming up with ways to torture you.”
He nodded slowly. “I figured you’d say that.” He smirked. “I wasn’t. I had no way of getting hold of you, and I don’t even know your surname to look you up on Facebook.”
“I’m barely there anyway.” I leaned against the table. “At least I can stop fictionally murdering you now.”
“I appreciate that.”
I grinned. “So you came all this way to find out what I wanted last night?”
“Pretty much. I also never found out who Polly is, and it’s been pissing me off.”
“She was the nine-one-one operator I spoke to when I was in the fire.”
“Thank God for that. I once dated a Polly in Maine and I was beginning to think you’d tracked her down.”
“I’m not that crazy, Noah.”
It was his turn to grin. “What did you want to ask me?”
Oh, shit.
I had to do it face to face.
I wasn’t prepared for this.
My cheeks flushed with warmth. “Um—okay.” I made sure not to look at him while I said it. “When I was in the fire, I told myself that if I got out alive, I’d find out where you lived and if it was close enough, I’d ask you out.”
Even though I was staring at the calendar that was just above his shoulder, I still caught the way his lips pulled into a stupidly sexy grin.
“You did, huh?” Noah pulled his hands from his pockets and folded his arms over his chest.
He did it deliberately. It made his biceps look good.
This wasn’t fair.
“Um, yes.” I cleared my throat.
“And were you going to ask me out last night?
I nodded.
“Well, this is fun.”
I glared at him. Laughter danced in his bright green eyes. He was enjoying this way too much for my liking—mostly because I was hating every second.
I wasn’t a nervous person by nature, but there was something about him that made butterflies erupt in my stomach. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew it was a dangerous thing.
“Have you changed your mind?”
“About what?”
“Asking me out. You said you were going to, but I don’t hear it.”
I opened my mouth but again, nothing came out. Instead, I blushed furiously. Seriously, you could fry eggs on my cheeks. They’d probably come with a taste of face powder, but my cheeks were hot enough to cook them for sure.
Noah grinned and, dropping his arms, came over to me. “Look, I’ll make this easy on you. I have to be at work in—” he checked his watch, “—twenty minutes. I don’t have time for you to stand here like an embarrassed goldfish, opening and closing your mouth every two seconds.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
He stopped only a few inches from me and cupped my chin, placing his thumb so that the tip of it brushed the curve of my lower lip. His gaze dropped to my mouth for a second, making my heart beat a little faster. “Reagan, I’d love to go out with you. I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow. Pick somewhere to eat and let me know, okay?”
I swallowed. “I don’t have your number.”
“Right.” His lips pulled to the side. “What’s yours?”
Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from the warmth of his hand on my chin and grabbed a pen and paper to scribble it down, then tore off the corner and gave it to him. “Don’t lose it,” I said, looking him in the eye.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He leaned in and, right before he plucked the torn paper from my hand, he brushed his lips over my cheek.
A shiver tickled down my spine at the brief touch. I fought against it—I didn’t need him knowing how much one tiny kiss had affected me.
“I’ll talk to you later,” he said, giving me one last flash of a smile before he turned around and left.
It felt as though he’d taken all the air in the room with him, because the moment his steps fell out of earshot, I gasped in a huge breath and sat my ass down on the nearest chair.
