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She needed to put some distance between them so that she could think. She wasn’t capable of rational thought with him so deliciously close, with his body nearly pressed against hers, but she couldn’t make herself step back.
“This isn’t happening.” She hadn’t meant to speak the words. She hadn’t meant to wrap her arms around him, either, but she failed spectacularly at both.
Noah whispered, “Oh,Bomboncita,it’s very much happening,” and he pressed his lips to hers.
Oh my.
His kiss slammed through her, reverberating all the way to the tips of her toes, and a groan crawled up from some well inside her she’d didn’t know was there. Noah Whitlow was kissing her, and she was powerless to stop him. Like the current of a river overflowing its banks, her mind spun, sank, surfaced, and then spun, sank, and surfaced again. Faster and faster, she spun, caught in an endless torrent of unfamiliar sensations.
The whirlpool inside her set a stark contrast to the slow descent of his right hand along her spine as he dragged her closer and secured her against him, his arousal hard and substantial against her belly.
“Mmm, you are a dangerous woman, Emma Morgan.”
“I’mdangerous?” Her response barely squeezed past the lump in her throat. He was the dangerous one!
“Sí.” He nipped her lower lip. “Mmm, strawberry, not cotton candy.”
“What?”
“Your lips. I imagined they tasted like cotton candy, but they actually taste like strawberries.”
Imagined.
That one simple word acted like an accelerant on the need burning through her.Imaginedimplied he’d been thinking about her, fantasizing about her even. The dark, delicious Noah Whitlow had beenthinkingabout her?
He nibbled her lower lip again. “I want to take you inside and explore every inch of your body, a thousand times over, but alas, we have somewhere to be.”
She might be out of her depth here, but she knew what he wanted. Sex. She’d dated in the past, but the idea of sex had always frightened her. She’d never been able to lower her shields enough to be emotionally intimate with anyone, let alone physically. But now, with Noah so close, fear was the last thing she felt.
Let go,she ordered herself.
But her arms didn’t obey the commands from her brain. Need hijacked control, and it didn’t want to relinquish it.
Let. Go.
Her arms fell to her sides, and after one more soft kiss, Noah looped her arm through his and led her to the sleek black sports car at the curb. She didn’t recognize the make or model, but she recognized luxury when it was parked directly in front of her.
She ran her palm over the glossy body as he opened the passenger’s door for her. “This looks like it belongs about fifteen years in the future.”
“In a way, it does. This is the Nav-7 prototype. It’s an electric, self-driving, voice-activated beauty R&D has been working on. The self-driving is good, but the voice-control aspect is proving to be a bit more problematic than we’d like. On manual, she handles like a dream.”
“May I see for myself?” She held her hand out for the keys. “Or are you one of those guys who doesn’t let other people play with his toys?” The challenge had no right or wrong answer. She simply wanted to see what he did.
The left corner of his mouth tipped up. “Can you drive a stick?”
“No.” She instantly deflated. Her father hadn’t exactly been keen on teaching her anything, let alone how to drive a standard. Her brother had been the one to teach her to drive.
Grinning, Noah plucked a set of keys from his pocket and held them out to her. “Good thing it’s an automatic, huh?”
“Seriously?” She didn’t wait for his answer. She snatched the keys and raced to the driver’s side. The car’s interior smelled of leather andhim, spicy and rich, a heady and intoxicating combination.
“I disabled the voice-activation,” he said, “as well as the self-driving.”
“That’s fine by me.” She hit the start button, and the car purred to life. Unable to stop her smile, she turned to him. “Just tell me where to go.”
He directed her toward the interstate, heading south. And man, he hadn’t lied. This baby handled like a dream.
“Okay, it’s official,” she said as she zoomed around a semi. “I want one.”
“When they’re ready for sale, you’ll be the first person I contact.”
“Sweet.”
They left the heart of Houston behind. While she wouldn’t call the area rundown, it wasn’t far up on the ladder. Buildings sported missing slats of siding. The sidewalks rose and cracked with the earth. Several of the buildings had bars on their windows, but despite its blemishes, the neighborhood didn’t give her scary vibes. It just felt old and lived in.
Noah directed her to a parking lot on the corner, in front of a restaurant called Isadora’s. The building’s sides were white-painted cinder blocks, and a green awning shadowed a brick facade decorated with white lights. Judging by the parking lot, Isadora’s was packed to the brim. She felt lucky to find a parking spot. The restaurant was a far cry from anywhere she pictured the suave man beside her ever setting foot, as far removed from the elite and powerful lifestyle he was no doubt accustomed to.
Ice chilled her blood. Was the restaurant’s far-removed proximity thereasonhe’d picked it? Did he not want any of his rich, powerful friends to see them together because he was embarrassed to be with someone like her?
The idea it might positively crushed her.
