AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There’s more than one way to skin a cat, though. I’ve always hated that expression! Perhaps I can circumnavigate Noah’s situation and find his pains all on my own.
With an effort I smile, but it is fake. A forgery. An imitation of what I think a smile should be. ‘Alcohol in the evening can actually disturb your sleep. Perhaps that’s it?’
We both know it isn’t. He smiles and, just like mine, it rings with falseness.
‘Could be.’ He takes another sip from his beer, though, his eyes holding mine over the rim and there is a challenge in them. Back off. He doesn’t want me to have my therapist hat on. I promised him I wouldn’t, didn’t I? Wasn’t that the trade-off I made, to sleep with him?
But I can’t not. It’s hard to draw the line between what I do for a living and how I live my life. Particularly with people I care about.
Yes, I care about Noah Moore, and not just because we’ve slept together. I care about all of him, including his health, his happiness. I want to help him, but not as a therapist. As...what? As the woman he’s sleeping with? That’s normal, isn’t it?
‘What’s for dinner?’ I prompt, desperate to return our mood to its previous lightness. He hesitates only a moment before reaching for the cardboard boxes and flipping the lids. One is filled with oysters and scampi, the other with sushi.
I adore all three and my tummy gives a little groan of appreciation. Now when he smiles, it is genuine.
‘What would you like?’
‘Um...oysters.’
He lifts a brow, but neither of us says what we’re thinking—the rumoured effects of oysters as an aphrodisiac. I’ve never found that to be the case anyway; then again, until meeting Noah Moore, I had thought myself to be somewhat disinterested in sex. I reach for my wine. Before he takes a plate from the cupboard, he washes his hands at the sink. It’s a normal gesture, just a small one, but it seems almost incongruous. He dries his fingers slowly and then turns to face me.
He catches me watching him and smiles. My heart lurches.
‘Have you ever been to Rivière?’ I ask the first thing that pops into my head.
‘The oyster bar?’
‘Yeah.’ I nod. ‘It’s one of my favourite places. I used to go there all the time when I was younger, and get a half-dozen oysters and have a glass of champagne.’
‘Before you had your child?’
‘Ivy,’ I supply.
His smile lifts to me. ‘Ivy?’
I nod.
‘Like Holly and Ivy.’
Used to being teased about my love of Christmas by all and sundry, I’m more sensitive than perhaps I should be. ‘Yes.’
‘Like the Christmas carol?’
‘Like the Christmas carol,’ I confirm with a defiant nod.
‘That’s pretty fucking cute.’
My pulse throbs. ‘Really?’
‘Sure.’ He takes a plate down and begins to arrange oysters onto it for me. ‘Lemon?’
I nod.
‘So I take it your asshole of an ex didn’t mind you going to your oyster dates solo?’
‘He didn’t know.’
‘Really?’ Noah passes me a plate and then begins to arrange his own. I stay sitting on the countertop and he perches his arse opposite, watching me as he swallows his first oyster. It’s strangely erotic to see it go down his throat. I look away.
