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“Are you going on your break soon?”
Becca turned to look at the clock. It was a few minutes past one, which was when she usually had her meal and rested at a nearby cafe. She spoke into the empty shop, trying desperately not to be sucked into his striking face.
“Yes, actually, why do you ask?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something if you’re free. If not, we can chat later.”
Becca was torn. She wanted to learn to trust Noah again, and the only way she was going to do that was by actually spending time with him and balancing her responses. She was sure that Ray would understand her desire to let him try, to give him the chance he had begged her for.
Becca slipped out her phone and sent Ray a quick message, apologizing profusely. She then gazed back up to find Noah there, leaning against the display case, his charming eyes lined up with her own.
The embers in her belly began to hum.
“Is that a yes?”
They went to a cafe that Becca frequented for lunch and chatted like no time had passed between them. Becca was still in her uniform, but she let her hair come loose. It was wavy and glossy in the autumn glow. She noticed Noah taking a closer look at her as she shook her head, running her fingers over her skull to massage the tightness of the ponytail.
She loved it when he looked at her like that. He wasn’t a beast looking to devour her … which she really wouldn't have minded either … but a cultured critic, gazing with the utmost respect and indulgence at a piece of art.
Her memory flashed back to the hundreds of times they had made love. She knew he was her mate instantly, not only based upon the intuitive knowledge all shifters are born with but because their connection transcended the physical. He made love to her in every sense of the word. Not clawing ferociously toward a climax, but with a gentle, steady nourishment of touch that brought her home every single time.
Her chest began to flutter at the thought, and she tried to bring her focus back to the moment. She had finished her club sandwich, and he had finished a burger. Becca was about to say that she should head back when Noah blurted out his intentions for the lunch.
“I want to take you away for the weekend.”
Becca cocked an eyebrow at him, feeling strangely sanguine as she hooked eyes with him. His energy was that of a nervous little boy, swallowing hard as she teased at the straw in laborious stirs.
“Take me away?” she murmured. “What do you mean?”
“There is a lake house that Lev owns,” Noah said, licking his lips anxiously. “He said that we could use it anytime but that this weekend might be the best time, especially with all of this rogue bear drama.”
Becca had completely forgotten about the rogue bear. That told her all she needed to know about the effect the man before her was having on her mind and body.
She wanted to go with him, of course. Which was her knee-jerk reaction. Staying at a private estate with him for an entire weekend sounded like fucking paradise. There was absolutely no way they would be able to avoid sex at that point. The second the vehicle parked, she would pull him inside to take her on the kitchen table.
But she was also terrified. Having a romantic getaway with someone was one thing, but what about the rest of their lives? A relationship couldn’t be forged in a weekend. It was forged out of the sticky bullshit that arrived when life sucked the most. Would they be able to survive all of that?
Becca shifted in her chair, losing the little bit of snark she had felt for a mere second. She shifted her jaw back and forth in consideration.
“I don’t know, Noah,” she said softly. “To be honest with you, that all sounds so lovely, but it also scares me.”
They were sitting at a tiny table made of old rustic iron. It barely had enough space to hold their plates and glasses. So Noah curled his hand around the surface and touched Becca’s wrist from below. He wrapped his strong hand around it, holding her like she was dainty glassware.
“I understand, Becca,” he said, looking at her with an intense sincerity that made her heart thunder. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But I am going to prove to you I am not that man who left you. I’m not going anywhere.”
Becca was soaring. Noah wasn’t some shit-talking fuck boy who just babbled for the sake of it or to get a woman in bed with him. He’d already had her in bed many times, and he had even denied it to her when she was a vicious beast in his truck the other night. The look in his eyes was mournful, and Becca knew that she would regret it if she didn't take that chance.
She took her free hand that had held the straw and reached across the table. Noah was slightly startled when she touched his face, tenderly stroking his cheek with her thumb. She felt his tension dissolve as he nestled his face into her touch.
“Take me away then, will you?”
Becca had the next few days off work, so the timing for their little adventure was perfect. She finished her shift and giddily returned home to pack a few things. She tossed in forgotten lingerie and thongs, her belly stirring with that good old firestorm Noah had started the second he’d burst back into her life.
It was a wonderful feeling she didn’t want to lose. She told herself to be realistic and reasonable, but another part of her saidfuck it all.
They drove up to the lake house that same night. It was spontaneous but exhilarating. Becca couldn’t remember the last time she had felt this alive. It all had been tied to the past with Noah, memories she had thrown into the sea with a weight of sorrow tied around it.
But things were different. They were going to be different. She just knew it. Becca wanted to trust her intuition again. She told Ray about the trip, and despite Ray’s own trepidation, her friend told her to enjoy herself.
