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Yet another example of him taking care of me without taking credit for it. I didn’t want to be all warm and fuzzy about it, but dammit, he was sogood.
D curled his hand behind Nadia’s neck and pulled her close to whisper in her ear. I felt like a voyeur when a pink flush bloomed on her neck. In my haste to look away, I locked eyes with Noah, who sat between us.
He’d quietly listened during dinner as D regaled us and the couple sharing our table with stories from the professional football trenches. Unlike the gleam I always saw in Shaw’s eyes when he and D talked about the pros, Noah showed only a cursory interest.
Why wasn’t he gearing up for a fantastic career full of money and non-problematic women throwing themselves at him? I wanted to dive deeper into his loyalty to the family D created for him—and the rough childhood that had made him choose PE teacher over professional football player—but I didn’t want to make him feel obligated to answer me in front of all these people.
The threat of whatever price he’d demand also made me hesitate, but I’d spent some time thinking about the options. Noah wouldn’t make me do anything I wasn’t comfortable with, and there was always the possibility I could convince him to answer for free.
I nodded at the half-empty dance floor. “Dance with me?”
He shook his head. “I’m not a good dancer.”
“I don’t care.” I stood and pulled him out of his chair. “Let’s go.”
I felt D’s gaze on me as we left the table, so I sent him a sassy wink. He could make of it what he would.
Noah edged us to the far side of the dance floor, where a thin line of other dancers offered us a bit of privacy. The music leaned heavily toward slow songs, so I was confident Noah would be fine. Anyone could hold me and sway.
His arm slid around my waist, and his fingers splayed at the base of my spine as he gathered me close. Goosebumps erupted at the brush of his thumb against my skin, but I otherwise tried to remain unaffected.
Noah’s gaze roamed over my head, and he maintained a couple of inches between us as we moved stiffly to the music. I might as well have been dancing with my grandmother. Then again, Grandma Edie’s short stint with belly dancing had convinced her she could gyrate like she was backing up Beyoncé. She’d put Noah to shame.
I bit my lip, unsure how to tell him I wanted him to pull me closer and stop wasting the moment. “Noah, you’re allowed to touch me. We’re not at a middle school dance.”
Heat flared to life in his eyes, or maybe he let it take the forefront because I could have sworn every tiny touch and accidental brush during dinner came with an accompanying bolt of fire.
The pressure from his hand increased, finally bringing my body into contact with his. I looped my wrists behind his neck, and to his credit, his eyes stayed firmly locked on mine despite the abundance of cleavage available to him.
“Have you heard from your uncle?”
Noah immediately stiffened again, though this time he didn’t pull away. “No. He usually only calls once a month.”
I played with the short hair at the nape of his neck and phrased my next statement carefully. “You can call me, you know. After. I don’t know the history, but I’m happy to take your mind off of it. Anytime, Noah.”
He let out a puff of air. “I don’t want that part of my life to touch you.”
“Why?”
Noah stared over my head for a long moment, and I thought I’d pushed too far, but he started talking. “My dad went to jail for assault when I was six. I haven’t heard from him since. That’s how I ended up with my uncle. No one else would take me in.”
“What about your mom?”
“She died shortly before that.”
I couldn’t imagine a life where my parents weren’t there for me. They never let me doubt they loved me, despite my less than stellar record of falling on my face after my brother proved he could fly.
“I’m so sorry, Noah.”
He shook his head, finally meeting my eyes again. “My uncle and aunt never planned to have children, but they didn’t have a choice when Dad went to jail. Craig didn’t want the negative press that could result from abandoning his nephew while he was trying to build his career. He’s a successful surgeon in the Bay Area now.”
“You don’t think there could be more to their decision?”
“Maybe, but what I told you is what I grew up hearing directly from them. I was welcome in their house as long as I lived up to their standards and reflected well on Craig.” He offered me a sad smile. “They gave me a stable home, for which I’m grateful, but he never let me forget where I came from.”
My heart hurt for Noah—the man now holding me tightly in his arms, and the boy he’d been. No wonder he was passionate about helping lost kids. He still carried one inside him.
I wanted to go back in time and bitch slap Craig for poisoning Noah against himself. The possibility wasn’t entirely off the table in present day either. If Craig ever came to visit, he’d better stay well away from me, especially if I happened to be behind the wheel of a car.
