Hot and Bothered - Erika Wilde Page 0,4
she also said she hoped I’d find a woman I absolutely had to have, and that woman makes me work for her affection.” Some woman who’ll reform you and your playboy ways, she’d added.
His stomach knotted at the recollection. At the time he’d been amused with Melodie’s comment and had responded with a teasing “It’s a novel thought, isn’t it?” But now that he was in that exact situation, trying to get the attention of a woman who aroused and intrigued him beyond his normal span of interest, his predicament wasn’t so funny.
Natalie had gotten under his skin and kept him coming back to Murphy’s on a regular basis. For months now he’d flirted with her, trying to coax her into a date, but she always turned down his invitations, despite the subtle longing he’d seen shimmering in her eyes. Initially, he’d been baffled because no woman had ever resisted his advances for so long, and admittedly his male ego had taken a direct hit. Then she became a challenge to him, and now an obsession.
One he couldn’t seem to shake.
And at the moment, his aroused body was making that fixation known. Just standing near enough to touch and kiss her had made his blood run hot and his dick tighten in awareness. It had taken every ounce of willpower not to taste her parted lips, and judging by the desire he’d seen flash across her features, he knew she hadn’t been immune to their close proximity, either.
Undoubtedly, he was highly attracted to her, but it was more than just her incredible body and their sizzling chemistry that drew him. While she was outwardly intelligent, gorgeous, and sweet, there was more to her than met his trained eye, a vulnerability he’d glimpsed a time or two. She was very private, very reserved. And there were emotional barriers she’d erected that gave him the impression she was hiding something deeper than feigned disinterest.
“My game.”
Noah turned around and frowned at Bobby, who was grinning triumphantly. “Huh?”
“The game’s over. I won.” His friend leaned a hip against the pool table and shook his head. “Man, you really do have it bad for her if you can’t concentrate on a game of pool.”
It would be ridiculous to deny the obvious, so Noah didn’t even try.
Bobby jutted his chin toward the front of the establishment. “She’s on her way out, Romeo. Here’s your chance to impress her with your chivalrous charm and open the door for her—which in turn might open the door for you, if you know what I mean.”
Noah certainly did. “Thank you, Dr. Phil,” he joked, and made his way to the front of the bar, beating Natalie to the entrance by three paces. He opened the door for her, and she glanced up at him in startled surprise.
She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder and smoothed her hand along the jacket draped over her arm. “Are you leaving, too?”
“Sure am.” He waved his hand for her to precede him, then followed, falling into step beside her on the sidewalk, welcoming the cool evening breeze on his too-warm skin. “Actually, leaving the same time as you is a shameless ploy to walk you to your car.”
Abruptly, she stopped, a frown marring her brow, though there was no denying the awareness in the depths of her eyes. “I can make it to my vehicle on my own just fine. I don’t need an escort, Noah.”
“I didn’t say you did,” he replied gently, trying to put her at ease and lighten the moment between them. “This is solely for my pleasure.”
Her tense shoulders loosened up, and the corner of her mouth twitched with a hint of a smile. Still, she hesitated, seemingly divided between letting him accompany her or telling him to get lost.
Not wanting to lose the ground he’d just gained, he opted for a bit of humor. “You know, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t bite.”
She visibly shivered and slipped into her lightweight jacket. “Oh, yeah? How can I be so certain of that?”
She was eyeing him in a way that was more playful than suspicious, and he took his cue from her. “Because if I did bite, I would have taken a nibble or two out of you by now.” Without thinking of the consequences, he reached out and lifted her dark, shoulder-length hair from under the collar of her jacket.
Her breath caught as his fingers slid through the warm, silky mass at the nape