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Essentially, she lovedhim.
There was a brief moment where she felt her heart kick hard, but it faded quickly because it wasn’t scary. Noah Wylder was a good man—a great man, a kind and loving man. He worked so hard to overcome a crappy childhood and he was thriving and achieving his goals all on his own. What made her sad was that she wondered if anyone celebrated those achievements with him. Meeting his one brother, she saw how comfortable they were with each other, but considering Jax was a top player in the NFL, Lily knew he was extremely busy in his own life. Noah’s accomplishments probably looked tame in comparison to what he was doing.
And then there was his other overachieving brother, who was one of the biggest singers in the world right now. Noah didn’t talk about Simon much, but that was probably because they didn’t spend a whole lot of time together. Lily thought of her sisters and even though they didn’t get to spend a lot of time together since she’d left for college, they always talked on the phone at least once a week and texted random stuff all the time.
“And I’m a little overdue for our calls,” she murmured.
As for Noah’s parents? She had no idea what those relationships were like other than the fact that they were divorced and they all took care of his mother. It hit her that she had no idea if his father was in the picture at all or if he’d finally walked away. Hell, she didn’t even know if he was still alive!
“I should probably know some of this,” she mumbled, wondering if she was just too wrapped up in her own life that she never asked or if Noah simply didn’t want to talk about it.
And she wasn’t sure if this was the night to bring it up at all.
“Probably not.” Tonight was about them having one final night of privacy before her parents got home and she moved back in with them and her father went back to the office and continued to torment Noah. Groaning, she really hoped she could bring an end to that issue for him. Lily had a great relationship with her father and knew she’d have to sit him down and tell him how she felt. “He’ll listen to me,” she said confidently.
And she was going to keep on believing that.
At home, she showered and did her hair and makeup before calling in their dinner order. Noah texted that he was on his way a little after five, and as she slid on her pretty new undies and dress, she looked around and decided the rest of the place needed a little dressing up too.
So, she lit candles, put on some soft music, and made sure her bedroom was all cleaned up with the blankets all neat and turned down.
“Perfect.” Walking back out to the kitchen, she poured the wine, smoothed a hand over her dress and swayed and danced as Elton John crooned “The One.” Lily moved to the spot in the living room with the most space and did a couple of spins before simply letting the music move her.
And that’s how Noah found her.
She spotted him immediately when he walked in, but she kept dancing until the song ended. His gaze was intense as he strode over to her and possessively wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her.
Oh, my…
Her knees went a little weak as she melted against him. When he lifted his head, all Lily could think of was that he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. Her hand caressed his stubbled jaw and it was that moment that definitely sealed the deal for her—she was in love with Noah.
“What’s that smile about, beautiful girl?” he asked gruffly, one strong finger stroking her cheek.
“I was just thinking how incredibly handsome you are,” she whispered, “and how much I love being with you.”
It was probably way too soon to say I love you, even if it was how she felt. The last thing she wanted to do was spook him. Lord knows her father was probably going to try doing that if she didn’t sit him down right away.
“I love being with you too,” he told her, his eyes scanning her face. He looked ready to say more, but the doorbell rang, breaking the moment.
“Dinner,” she said before moving out of his arms and sauntering over to the door to accept the delivery. “Thank you!” When she walked back to the kitchen, she felt like her feet never even touched the floor. With the bag on the table, she began unpacking it. “I was going to attempt to cook for us tonight, but then I figured…do I really want to ruin a romantic evening like that?”
Chuckling, Noah came over and helped her, and within minutes, they were sitting down and sipping their wine. “Why doesn’t it ever look like this when I order takeout?”
“Well…I know the owner, and when I called I made sure I name-dropped to make sure everything got a little extra attention,” she admitted. “I used to hate when my parents did that, but we always ended up with better food or whatever it was we were getting.” Frowning, she looked over at him. “That made me sound like a total bitch, right?”
He grinned but shook his head. “No. This is the way you grew up, Lily. And honestly, that’s the first time I’ve heard you say something like that. It’s not like you throw the Montgomery name around to get perks.” He shrugged. “Because that would be a little…um…you know…”
Shame washed over her, and suddenly she couldn’t look at him.
“Hey.” Reaching over, he took her hand in his. “What’s wrong?”
“That’s what I was doing in Miami,” she murmured.
“What?”
Now she looked up and felt slightly mortified. “I used my father’s name and how he used to play in the NFL to make sure I got noticed. I was afraid that they wouldn’t take me seriously or that I wasn’t good enough and…”
“Hey,” he softly interrupted. “I think that was a normal thing to do considering where you were. Most people would try to find something to use to their advantage when competing against so many people.”
