Noah (13 page)

“Lemme see?”

She knew what he meant. He wanted her to look up but she shook her head. She could feel him staring.

“Look at me, Roni.”

Spinning around so she wasn’t even facing him now, she took her time placing the casserole in the oven. The music still blared away. When she finally turned to face him his smile was so genuine and it was all for her, it made her heart speed up. “God
,
you’re adorable when you’re embarrassed.”

“Okay
,
so stop embarrassing me
,
”
s
he said, feeling the heat from her face rush south down her neck and back. She wiped the counter and cleared her throat. “
I
s that it? Are we done?”

The smile was ever present and she did everything in her power to try not to stare at those suckable lips and how his normally intense eyes almost twinkled now. “Well looks like you are but I’m not. You wanna give me a hand with these potatoes?”

She walked over and helped him peel and cut more potatoes.
A few minutes later,
‘
Baby It’s Cold Outside
’
started to play.
It was o
ne of her
all time
favorites so she gave in and sang along. Noah smiled and to her surprise
he
knew all the words so he sang the male part
to her
female
part
. She playfully leaned in to him singing. And he’d lean back when it was his turn. She noticed his
gaze became
heavier as the lyrics got more and more flirtatious but she kept singing. “So nice and warm.”

He glanced at the window amazingly not missing a single lyric. “Look out the window at that storm.”

She gulped knowing what was coming up. “My sister will be suspicious.”

His eyes were on her lips now. “Man, your lips look so delicious.”

Veronica pretended not to notice how his voice changed ever so slightly with that last line. “My brother will be there at the door.”

His eyes were still on her lips. “Waves upon a tropical shore.”

Giving in to temptation, she glanced at his lips as he licked them. “
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious
.”

He stopped singing and spoke the next line. “
Gosh
,
your lips look delicious
.”

Feeling a sudden heat, she forced her eyes away from those lips and stared at the potato in her hand. “I think this is enough
potatoes
.”

He was quiet and didn’t even move for a moment. She was almost afraid to look at him. When she did, his playful expression had gone hard and he cleared his throat. “Yeah, that should be enough.”

She scrambled across the kitchen and pulled a pot out of the cabinets near her knees. “You can use this,” she said handing him the pot.

His expression looked almost as stunned as she felt. “So that’s it. I think I’ll go shower now and get ready for our feast.
Looks like we’ll be eating all day.
”

Nodding he glanced at her, his eyes making a stop at her lips again before turning back to the pot in his hand. “Okay I’ll put these
on
to boil and do the same when
you’re
done
with the
shower.”

Shaking away the sudden visual of his hard body under the shower, she walked away quickly to the
bath
room.

Once safely behind the closed bathroom door she allowed herself to
let out
the
trembling breath
she
’d
held back
when she’d been so close to him in that kitchen. This had to stop and she would make sure nothing like that happened again.

At
Noah’s
age sex was probably eternally on
his
mind,
and she was certain that’s all he was thinking when he looked at her the way he did sometimes. As young as he was, he
was
an adult of sound body and mind. He knew what he was doing so if things ever escalated but didn’t work out between them she was certain he’d be okay with it. In fact she hated to admit it but that’s exactly what she was worried about. Not only would he be okay with it
,
most likely it was what he’d prefer. And why not? Why on earth would a guy his age, looking the way he did
be thinking about
settl
ing
down? It would be selfish of her to expect him to
.

She shook her head. “Nope, nope, nope
,
”
s
he whispered turning the shower on.

She wouldn’t even consider it. Besides she’d finally found another friend—one wonderful enough to go all out and plan a feast for them on Thanksgiving. Why would she be stupid enough to ruin that?

“Done
,
”
s
he said pulling her pajama top over her head.

That was it. It was out of the question and she was done thinking about it. She’d take a shower, get dressed and enjoy the very special meal her roommate, trainer and now good friend Noah had planned. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before stepping into the shower.

Noah was seriously going to have to go out and get laid soon. He couldn’t believe he’d gone this long, but wanting to be home spending his time with
Roni
had won out each time he’d had the opportunity these last few weeks.

What he’d done in the shower today had been happening too often now that he was around her so much. It wasn’t going to be enough soon
even if he visualized
Roni
the entire time. It only made him crave the real thing more
, especially if things like what happened in the kitchen earlier kept happening.

It was odd to say the least. When he first met her, out of shape
,
in baggy sweats the last thing he would’ve
figured her for
was a girlie girl. Then watching
her
work out week after week without a trace of makeup on and her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail he assumed he was right. He’d worked out with girls before but sweaty or not there was always a telltale sign of girliness
—t
he manicured nails, cute earrings,
or
perfect
ly matched workout outfits.

Roni had none of these things. Even when she started wearing the more flattering workout outfits, she steered far from cutesy and stuck with simple black or gray. Not that her new outfits hadn’t driven him insane
anyway
,
particularly
when he noticed some of the other guys at the gym eyeing
her
. He’d openly stared them down especially when they’d gaped and silently sent them clear warnings—don’t even fucking think about it.

The first time he’d gone in her
bath
room he expected to find lots of lotions and perfumes
,
maybe even scented candles. But what he’d suspected all along was correct. Roni wasn’t a girlie girl. In fact he’d yet to see her all done up. It was when she was in her loose fitting comfortable clothes and fuzzy pajamas that she seemed most in her element. Noah had always been into girlie girls. He liked them to fuss over their hair and loved watching them apply their makeup, especially the lipstick. Roni didn’t even wear any
,
yet something about her exuded femininity. She didn’t have to do all those things
. And she didn’t need makeup or scented lotions. It was all natural with her. It was what he now loved about her.

In the kitchen
earlier,
he’d barely been able to contain himself.
He’d been
that
close
to pulling
her
to him and taking her mouth in his
. The only thing that stopped him was fear of ruining this d
ay
he’d so carefully planned out. 

He knew Veronica was reserved and in a
way,
t
hat
was
also
part of the attraction. His days in the
ring had
been short lived because of his injur
y
but he’d been around Abel and Gio enough to know all about the groupies. Neither he nor any of his friends had made it to the big time yet, but even at this level, there were groupies. There was no denying that some of them were hotter than shit. And of course he’d had fun with plenty of them. He was a man after all. But there was something refreshing about a girl like
Roni
.

He’d long ago stopped looking at her as older than him. Of all the girls he’d ever met he’d never felt
as
comfortable around any of them as he did with her. He
always thought it but he had no doubts at all now. Age had nothing to do with friendships or any type of relationship. He’d known this his whole life. Some of his closest relationships
,
male or female
,
had been with people decades older than him.

Veronica was no different. The day she
’d
told him she was okay with being alone for the holiday he’d seen right through those
big
sad eyes and again this morning. When she walked in the kitchen trying to pretend she was upset about him not going to Gio’s. There was no hiding the glee in
those beautiful
eyes
of her
s
. In some ways he felt
sh
e
was
younger than him. She hadn’t told him a whole lot yet. Judging from the fact that someone had thought far enough ahead to make sure she was taken care of with a house and all the family portraits he’d been so consumed with since he moved in, he was pretty sure she’d been sheltered most
of
her life.  

He finished getting dressed and braced himself to meet Veronica in the kitchen. She was already singing and that voice of hers could silence a crowd.
Not because of her singing abilities. That was average at best, but that low silky smoothness of her voice could almost put you into a trance. 
He frowned remembering how
even
Abel had noticed it. But Noah had to admit it was hard not to notice. There was something so uniquely mesmerizing about it.

Gio called just as he was getting ready to walk out of his room and Noah winced remembering he’d forgotten to call him.

“Hey, Gio what’s up?”
Noah could he
ar
the noise in the background.
Even this early
Gio probably
already
had a full house.

“Not much. What time you coming down?
Rita is here and she was asking about you.”

Shit
. Rita was Gio’s cousin from up north. They had sort of a holiday understanding. Since she lived so far and only really came down for the holidays a relationship was out of the question. Not that Noah had ever felt inclined to have one with her but she was fun and very
generous
under the sheets. So a few times a year, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter—the holy holidays—they got together
. Though
the
ir
trysts were anything but
holy. It was perfect because she
openly admitted she wasn’t into settling down so she’d never been clingy
. Once she
went home,
he rarely
heard from her except maybe to text him
good luck before a fight
or a random question here and there. She was a cool chick and hot enough
,
but most importantly he never had to worry about her getting hung up on him.

“I meant to call you earlier, man. I’m not gonna make it this year.”

“What? What do you mean? Where you gonna be?”

Gio knew better than anyone that unless
Noah
was spending time with
a
chick or was at the gym h
e
really didn’t have anywhere else to be. And since Gio’s family was the closest thing
Noah
had to family he wouldn’t pass up spending the holiday with
them for a night of lust. But this was different. As cold a
s the
shower
had
been
that he was
forced to take earlier this wasn’t about lust. “I’m having dinner here
—a
t home.”

The second the words came out, it hit him. He’d never used the word home in relation to
where he lived
. It was always the Fuentes’ place or whatever other
f
oster parent
’s
place
he was
stay
ing
at
. The thought nearly suffocated him—he was getting too sucked into this whole thing. He had to keep in mind that this
also
was only temporary. Just like all the other homes he lived in through out his life
,
t
his was no more his home than any of those had been. So why the hell was he referring to it as that
?