“You are?” I choked back the words, because I could feel that tears were so close to the surface now, and I didn’t want to cry.
“Everything you’ve been through in your life—I can’t even imagine what it was like. And look at you, not only did you survive it all, but you’re thriving in your bright tie-dye clothes.”
I giggled and put my hand over his. A tear slipped out of my eye, and I was unable to stop it.
“Are you crying?” Noah asked.
“Not bad tears, happy tears. Tears of ‘I can’t believe this is actually happening right now.’ It is happening, right? This isn’t a dream. We are standing here in the most beautiful room in the world and you do have your hands on my face and we did kiss, right? That wasn’t some dream or a fake memory or . . . something?”
Noah smiled. Slow and seductive and so, so sure of himself. The certainty gave him this sexiness that oozed out of him. He had a glint in his eyes, dark, a little bit dirty. Dangerous, even. God, it was so sexy.
“I mean.” He dragged the words out. “I’m pretty sure we kissed, but maybe we should do it again, to see if it’s familiar, or not.”
“Just to see if it’s familiar?” I asked, playing along. I felt so euphoric right now. I’d never played along in a flirtatious, sexy game before.
“Exactly,” he growled in a low, gravelly voice.
I closed my eyes and smiled, parted my lips and waited for him to kiss me. But when he didn’t, I opened them quickly to see what was going on.
“Oh wait, you wanted me to kiss you, not the other way around?” He let out a chuckle.
I gave him a playful smack on the arm as he teased me.
“Fine, fine. I’ll kiss you . . . if I really have to.” He rolled his eyes and then pulled me close. I let out a giggle that was low and kind of sexy-sounding, if I do say so myself.
And then he kissed me again, soft and slow and short. He pulled away as soon as he’d done it and raised his brows at me.
“Does that feel familiar?”
I cast my eyes upwards and shook my head. “Not at all.”
“Okay, let’s try again.”
He kissed me again, this time longer and slower and even sexier than the first, and when he was done, he pulled away and raised his brows at me.
“Mmmm, I don’t know, I’m still not sure. Something about it is ringing some bells, but . . .”
“Oh, fine! You leave me no option then.” And with that, he grabbed me and dipped me like you would do in Strictly Come Dancing. This time, the kiss was not soft and slow. This time, it was something else entirely. He held me like that in his arms, kissing me hard and deep, and I’d never been so vulnerable before. The only thing stopping me from falling backwards onto the hard marble below were his arms around me. And even though he was physically stopping me from falling, I couldn’t help but think I was falling for him in another way entirely.
CHAPTER 65
Three hours later, after the briefest nap in my room, which Noah and I had both agreed we needed, and a really long soak in my bath, I was getting ready for my first date with Noah. The sun had started setting, and the view out my bedroom window was stunning. The orange from the sun was painting the waves a warm caramel color that I was quite mesmerized by. I didn’t have a large selection of clothes to choose from, only the ones Sindi had lent me, and they weren’t exactly very “first-date-y.” I was feeling excited and nervous, I’d never really been on a first date before—well, not one that meant anything, and this one meant something. I was almost done when my phone beeped and was lit up by a message from a number I didn’t recognize. I clicked on it and read, and as soon as I did, I knew exactly who it was from.
Noah: So, I’ll pick you up at seven.
I smiled to myself, walked up to my bedroom door and looked out. Noah was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, phone in hand, staring straight at me. We smiled at each other and then I looked back down and typed my reply.