off while I fought against a smile. “That was not fun! That was terrifying!”
“Yeah? Why you smiling, then?”
“I’m not smiling!” I insisted, but even as the words fell from my lips, I couldn’t fight the grin. I laughed, softly at first before it took over completely, and I laughed so hard I had to wrap my hands over my stomach, my forehead hitting the place between his shoulders as I tried to catch my breath.
When I looked up again, Noah just quirked one brow in victory.
I shook my head. “You’re infuriating, Noah Becker.”
“I believe I was the first one to say that about you, Ruby Grace Barnett.”
I smiled wider, blowing out a breath before running my hands back through my damp hair. “Okay. Fine. I admit it. That was fun.”
“Told you.”
“What now?”
He grinned, thumb hovering over the throttle as he faced forward again. “Better wrap those beautiful arms around me again, sweetheart.”
And I did, just in time for him to cut the wheel and floor it, spinning us in a donut circle that made huge, billowing waves around us. I was laughing and squealing, leaning into the turn with him when he cut the wheel again, and we went flying over the waves we’d made.
I didn’t know how much time passed with him doing donuts and figure-eights and making waves bigger than the jet ski before he’d send us barreling over them, but I did know that the huge smile didn’t leave my face the entire time. My cheeks hurt by the time we finally slowed again, and we were both breathing hard, chests heaving with the adrenaline and excitement.
“You’re wild,” I whispered on a laugh, trying to catch my breath.
“What’s that?” he asked, grinning at me over his shoulder.
“You’re wild!” I said louder, throwing my hands up in the air and turning my face to the sun. I closed my eyes, basking in the rays and the feeling of euphoria for a long moment. When I looked at Noah again, he was watching me, throat thick with a swallow as his eyes searched mine.
The sun that had felt so light and airy just moments before seemed to beat down on us then, the heat unbearable, our lips so close where he tilted his head toward me, where I leaned into him.
My hands slipped around his waist again, shaking a little as they settled over the ribs and valleys of his abdomen. I licked my lips, eyes falling to his before I caught his steel gaze once more.
There were so many words I wanted to say in that moment, so many words that would have completely annihilated our friends only agreement.
Kiss me.
Touch me.
I don’t feel this way with anyone else.
Each new thought shocked me more than the last, and my lips parted, the effort to catch my breath lost somewhere in the wind that swept over us. I should have been thinking about Anthony, about our wedding, about everything I needed to get done for it, about everything we would do as a married couple in our life together.
I should have been thinking about anything other than how much I wished Noah would cross the line we drew between us and capture my lips with his.
He wanted me. I knew he wanted me. And I knew if I leaned in even another inch, he’d take me.
So, with every ounce of willpower I had, I backed away, eyes floating down to the seat between us before I looked at him again, wearing a fake, everything’s okay smile.
And instead of saying all the words whirring through my mind, I settled on three safe ones, instead.
“Can I drive?”
Noah
The sun was a lazy ball of fire riding on the evening clouds later that day when Ruby Grace and I spread out a large blanket on the beach. She was lying on her stomach, her legs slowly kicking in the air as she popped another strawberry between her lips. Her focus was on the lake, on the jet skis and boats and fishermen and tubers and swimmers.
Mine was on her.
The back of her swim suit top had shifted, showing me the lines the sun had already made on her skin that day. Her hips were narrow, her small ass curved and toned, her legs still the epitome of every man’s fantasy as she swung them gently in the air — back and forth, back and forth, ten manicured toes skating the sky.
I would have been perfectly content to stare at her, just like that, for