“What?” My “what” was so soft it was almost inaudible over the sound of my heart beating against my ribcage.
“I was just thinking how wrong you are about all of that.” His voice sounded rough around the edges, not as smooth and polished as it normally was.
“You were?”
“Yes. You’re totally wrong about not being good at it. You are good at it and I am totally seduced.”
“Really? Did I? When? How?” I was genuinely shocked by this.
He didn’t answer, though, he simply stepped all the way out of the pool and stood in front of me in his underwear. And truthfully, he might as well have been naked. I tried not to gape at the way the wet underwear seemed see-through and how it was now sticking to a certain part, creating a very detailed outline of the whole affair. And when it was clear I’d been looking for too long I quickly looked away and mumbled a “sorry.”
“Wow, do I feel a little objectified right now!” Noah chuckled.
“No! I didn’t mean to . . .” And then I stopped talking and looked at him. I wasn’t going to fight these feelings any longer. “Actually, I kind of did mean to.” My voice was seductive and I was pleasantly surprised to hear this version. It was foreign to me, but it sounded good.
“You did?” He lifted one of his brows at me, that sexy, cute signature move of his.
“Well, you’re hot, I mean, look at you.”
Noah shook his head. “No. Look at you.” He said it in a way that made my head spin, made my arms feel like they were floating and made it feel like my feet were no longer on solid ground.
“No one’s ever said anything like that to me before,” I whispered.
“Then I’d better make up for that . . .”
CHAPTER 67
He wrapped a wet hand around my waist and pulled me towards the pool, towards him. I didn’t object, I just let him lead me towards something totally new, exciting and also a little bit frightening. But one thing I’d learnt over the last two weeks was that the best things in life did seem a little frightening at first. But they were always, inevitably, the best things for you. The things that pushed you out of your comfort zone and took you to new, better places. And this, right here, Noah, the sea, the heated pool, the two of us, this felt like a better place.
He pulled me into the pool. It was so warm that I winced in surprise.
“I know,” he said. “Warmer than you expect.”
“Much.” I slipped my shoulders under the water, slinking down into its heat until only my head was out. Noah did the same and we bobbed up and down like this together for a while.
“Why do you like me?” I found myself asking, a question I hadn’t even thought of asking, prior to it coming out of my mouth.
“So many reasons. Some I can explain, some I can’t.”
“Try,” I said.
“How do you explain the reasons you feel close and attracted to someone? I think those are a little inexplicable. They come from somewhere else inside you.” He smiled. “I don’t know, does that make sense?”
I smiled back. “It does. I felt so comfortable with you from the beginning, as if being with you in your house was just . . .” I tried to look for the word, but it escaped me.
“Right?” he asked.
“Right,” I repeated.
“I felt the same way.” He reached up and ran his thumb over my lips and then he moved it down, onto my neck, my shoulder, where he circled one of the scars I had. I put my hand over his.
“Don’t,” I said.
“Why?”
“They’re ugly. I don’t like them.”
He pulled my hand away gently and laid his entire hand over the scar. “I like them.”
“No, you don’t. How could you?”
“They’re you. They’re what you’ve been through. They’re what made you who you are. A survivor.”
I laid my hand over his now and closed my eyes, and it wasn’t long before I felt his lips on mine again. This time they tasted of strawberries and champagne and the slightest bit of chlorine. I loved the taste. I wrapped my hand around the back of his head and drew him in for a deeper kiss. Our mouths melted together, and I no longer knew where his ended and mine began. He walked me backwards, until my back collided with the side of the pool, hard. Water