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Oh dear. Maybe she couldn’t live with it.
“We’re here.”
Distracted by the conversation, Noelle hadn’t even noticed the car had stopped. She looked out the window. All she could see were miles and miles of open land. “We’re where?”
Wilson opened Wes’s door. He got out of the car then turned to offer her his hand. She took it and crawled out, the roses still in her grasp.
Noelle stood staring, her hand still encased in Wes’s. Where there had been miles of open land on her side of the car, on the other sat a private jet, complete with red carpet leading up to the stairway.
Holly and Jeff got out of the car.
“Did you guys get a new G6?” Jeff asked.
“Dad bought it a few months ago,” Wes answered.
“Man, I love being friends with you.” Jeff clapped a hand on Wes’s shoulder.
Wes laughed. “So you’ve said.”
Jeff and Holly made their way to the aircraft. Noelle’s feet couldn’t move.
“You have a plane.”
“We have a plane.”
Still holding Noelle’s hand with his left hand, he waved his right hand toward the plane. “You up for an adventure with me?”
Was she? She feared an adventure with Wes might lead to a broken heart. She took in the sight of the plane. And Wes. A lock of his hair had fallen down his forehead from the wind. Everything in her said a broken heart might just be worth it. There was only one way to find out.
“Yes.”
Chapter Twelve
Wes tried tofocus on the performance but his thoughts kept drifting back to what Noelle had said in the car on the way to the airstrip in Montana. Being the kind person she was, her intentions in helping him with the Bake-Off were motivated purely by friendship. Still unsure if his intentions were friendly or if he wanted more, he questioned whether or not bringing her to New York was a good idea.
Wes’s assistant had scored tickets to a show at Lincoln Center celebrating years of theater and the arts. He didn’t have the luxury of being picky about what performance they saw, but the others looked pretty happy with the evening so far.
They’d started the evening at his favorite Italian restaurant. The food was impeccable, but he appreciated most the privacy he received while there. It wasn’t as if he were famous by any means, but he was known in the social circles. The last thing he wanted was to be seen by business associates or anyone who would ask a bunch of questions about Noelle or about how long he was back. He wanted to scoot in under the radar and leave.
Funny thing. He’d never felt that way before about his home in New York. It was his known factor. His world. His pace. As he sat beside Noelle, taking in the music and theatrics before him, he could appreciate it all, but a piece of him longed to be back in Montana. With her.
He glanced at her, the light from the stage casting an angelic glow over her skin. Her hair was twisted and pulled back, soft tendrils of curls falling around her face. The deep blue dress she wore brought out the color of her eyes, now watching intently as people danced across the stage. Her shoulders were bare, only a narrow strap of blue holding up her evening gown.
He’d considered bringing her to the ballet, but wasn’t sure that would be a positive or not. After all she’d been through in the accident, not to mention it taking away her future in dance, he deemed it best to stick with a different kind of performance. Based on her reaction so far, he’d made the right decision.
“Are you enjoying the show?” he leaned in to whisper in her ear.
“Oh, yes!” Her smile lit up the balcony where their private seats were. “This is amazing, Wes. I can’t thank you enough for this.”
She placed a hand on his arm as she turned her attention back to the stage. On impulse, he took her hand in his and linked their fingers. Instead of pulling back the way he thought she might, she settled in closer to him, her eyes glued to the show but her body close to his.
Maybe he’d read too much into her comment about friendship. He still hadn’t identified his own feelings yet, but wanting to be near Noelle as much as possible was taking precedence in his life in a hurry. In the short amount of time they’d known each other, he’d shifted from thinking about work 24/7 to enjoying the little things like sharing a cookie with Annalise or talking with Noelle over a cup of coffee.
That afternoon, they’d strolled through Central Park, Noelle in awe of the beauty. As well as those around them, they’d soaked in the unusually clear day for that time of year. Hell, he’d walked through Central Park countless times in his life, but seeing it through her eyes made him see it differently. He was beginning to understand that seeing most of life through Noelle’s eyes opened his in a way they’d never been opened before. Maybe that was why he was falling for her. Yeah, he’d admit that much. He was falling and if he wasn’t careful, he’d be a goner quicker than he could say Bachelor Bake-Off.
The voice that had been nudging at him since they’d left Montana reared its ugly head again. He had a meeting the next morning with Ronald Spellman. After listening to Noelle talk about the rumors going around Marietta, he wanted to dig deeper into the real estate deal. When he found out Ronald was on location in New York, finishing up a film, Wes scheduled a time to talk with him face to face. What better way to find out what was really going on with the deal than from the horse’s mouth?
He rubbed his thumb along the top of Noelle’s hand. He didn’t like not telling her all that he knew about the deal, but until he had all the details, he deemed it best to keep things close to the vest. He chuckled as Mike’s words echoed through his mind. His brother wasn’t wrong. Wes had always made a point to not share until it was absolutely necessary. It was part of what made him a successful businessman. The less others knew of what you were thinking or had knowledge of, the more you had control over a situation. What was the old motto? The best way to kill a deal was to talk about it.
