He’d asked her for a night together in Lake Tahoe, but she’d been too afraid of what she was feeling to dare accept. Now, as he took a step back, then reached his hands out for her just as he had on the ski slope, she made her choice with her eyes wide open…and slipped her hands into his.
* * *
Colbie had no idea what parts of Seattle they passed on the way to Noah’s house. She couldn’t focus on anything but the hand he’d placed on her skirt across her upper thigh. Even though he wasn’t touching bare skin, wasn’t kissing her, wasn’t even saying any sinfully sweet things to her at the moment, her hormones were racing around as if he were doing all of those things at once.
While he carefully watched the wet and slippery road through the windshield wipers, she took the opportunity to drink him in. The faint stubble across his chin. The small scar above his right eyebrow. The dark hair that brushed just past his collar. Everything about him was pure male perfection. And she couldn’t believe she was going to get to kiss and touch every inch of him soon.
"Keep looking at me like that and we may not make it all the way to my house, after all."
Pleasure lit through her veins. She used to dream of someone wanting her like this…until she’d nearly stopped dreaming altogether.
But as he pulled into his garage, the weight in her stomach that had lifted when she was in his arms fell part of the way back into place. She turned her face from him, not wanting him to see her wavering again. Especially since she could guess that Noah was a man who made a decision and stuck by it, regardless of the risks.
"Colbie?"
Only a coward would continue to stare out the window. She’d been a coward in Lake Tahoe and where had it gotten her? Wracked with desperate dreams of the man she’d thought she would never find again.
She turned her face back to his just as he said, "I would never do anything to hurt you. Do you believe me?"
Just a few weeks ago, Colbie had vowed never to trust another man as long as she lived. Not with her body. And definitely not with her heart. Which was why she had to be honest with Noah, regardless of how much she wanted him...and even though she’d already promised him the night.
"I don’t know you. And since it turns out I shouldn’t have trusted a man I thought I knew so well, I have to ask myself—how can I trust you now?"
Noah responded to her honesty by picking up her hand and placing it over her heart, covering it with his. "Right here." Now he moved their hands to his chest, pressing her palm over his breastbone. "And here." He paused, letting her feel the strong, steady beat of his heart. "That’s what we’re going to listen to tonight."
She thought he would kiss her again to really make his point, but he didn’t. He simply brushed his other hand across her cheek and said, "Come inside so that we can get to know each other better—" His gaze darkened again, heating the car up at least ten degrees. "—before I strip your clothes off and make love to you."
She was supposed to be able to get out of the car after he said something like that?
Fortunately, he came around to take her hand, so it didn’t matter if her legs were less steady than ever in her heels. When, she wondered, was the last time a man had done something even as simple as that? An everyday courtesy that meant so much.
Moments later, he was leading her inside his stunning house, complete with a wraparound view of Puget Sound.
"Noah, your house is incredible."
Despite the huge windows, it was warm and welcoming, rather than just a big fancy box built to maximize the view rather than comfort. She could easily see herself living in this house, making dinner in the large kitchen, curling up under a blanket to read on the couch.
"I told my architect I wanted a place I could raise a family in."
Although she had only a vague idea of how much a waterfront house like this cost in Seattle, it had to be a heck of a lot more zeros than she’d ever seen.
Slowly, she turned to him and asked, "Should I know who you are?"
He drew her to him as his heated laughter filled up all of her empty spaces. "My sister would tell you not to do my ego any favors."
Oh, how Colbie loved hearing him laugh. There was such warmth in his joy. Such pleasure, too. Already, she found herself wanting more than one night. She wanted to hear him laugh while they were riding bicycles around the lake...or while they were rolling around together on a bed, tickling and teasing each other.
She already wanted him, but though the week she’d already waited for him had been too long, now she wanted to know him, too. Even if it meant having to wait a little while longer for another kiss.
"Tell me about your family, Noah."
He moved into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of cabernet. It was what she’d been drinking at the bar, and she wondered how he’d even had a chance to notice what was in her glass.
Then again, he noticed everything, didn’t he?
He poured two glasses and brought them over to where she was still standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. She took the glass from him as they sat on the couch.
"My parents are great. They’ve been married thirty-five years and still live in San Francisco, where I grew up. My sister Barbara lives there, too. She’s two years older than me and used to beat the hell out of me when we were kids."