Noah (16 page)

The microwave beeped just in time for her to catch her breath and turn away
again
. “Well,” she said as she took the popcorn bag out and grabbed a bowl to spill its contents in. “The over indulging came with its consequences.” She turned back to him and smiled. “You were witness to that first hand. No more
extra
butter for me.”

That smile again
,
so tender
but
unlike when Nellie smiled
at
her like this it touched her in a way she couldn’t understand.
“
I’m proud of you. You fought your way out of that dark stage of your life and look at you now.” For a moment, the tenderness in his eyes disappeared as he took her in from top to bottom, making her breath catch then it was back and he smiled again. “
Not an easy thing to do you know.
You did good, Roni. You should be proud.”

She took in a slow breath hoping he wouldn’t notice how a few words and his beckoning gaze affected her. “I am proud.” Picking up the bowl of popcorn, she started to the living room feeling his presence right behind her. She now regretted not grabbing another bowl because sitting by herself on the recliner would be rude since they were going to share the popcorn
.

Sitting down on the sofa, Veronica decided she would stop worrying about her relationship with Noah and just enjoy the rest of her Thanksgiving evening. She didn’t even flinch when he sat a bit closer than she had expected and after several time
s
of their fingers
accidentally
touching as they both reached for popcorn at the same time, her heart stopped reacting so erratically. For God
’s
sake,
they were two grown
adults
not middle school kids.

By the time the evening was over they made it through without any more uncomfortable moments or inappropriate flirting and Veronica concluded this was the beginning of what she hoped would be a wonderful long term friendship.  

~*~

Visions of
Roni
and some of the wicked things Noah imagined her doing to him with a can of whip cream, made for an extra long shower the following morning. It was becoming increasingly harder for him to be around her and not let on what he was feeling. Though he wondered if he should even try.
If she wasn’t so damn hard to read maybe he’d know whether or not to hide it. She sent out more mixed signals than a baseball coach. One minute flirting outrageously and staring blatantly at his lips, then in the same breath, backing down and making an exit out of the room just as fast.

But it was just as well. Even though it’d be more than fun to
have Roni underneath him
and admittedly in the beginning it’s all he thought about. The more he spent time with her and got to know her, he was now afraid that wouldn’t be enough. If he ever did get that far with her he’d want more and she made it clear she wasn’t ready for anything like that.
L
osing the only family she’d ever known had to be hard. No telling how long it would take her to be ready. He had to shove the thought out of his mind and be thankful for what he did have—her friendship. For
now,
it’d have to do.

Roni
had dropped him off at the gym that morning. With the
rain letting
up even if it was predicted to be only for a day, he’d finally be back on his bike.

Noah was spending a few hours at Gio’s today. He hated to admit it but if he hadn’t already spoken to Gio that morning and agreed to come over he would’ve gladly
accompanied
Roni
t
o
the park
instead
. She told him after he’d gotten off the phone with Gio that she was going to be there for a few hours taking pictures—said it was something she used to do a lot until her mom got sick and only recently started doing it again.
She e
ven gave him a quick tour of he
r
small darkroom
. He got to see some of the photographs she’d take over the years.

To his surprise she had a lot more talent than she’d let on. But even more surprising was how he’d felt seeing the pictures she still kept of her and Derek
’s
names carved into a tree with a heart around it that appeared to have taken a lot of work
. He wasn’t going to ask at first but after seeing
a couple more
the words had
just flown out and the contempt in his words had hardly been masked.
Why do you still have these?
 

Her answer was unsatisfactory to say the least. She shrugged saying she almost never threw out any picture she took
but these pictures were displayed most prominently and it literally turned his stomach. He’d been
that
close to asking her if she still had feelings for the
dick
. But he realized that was getting a little too personal. Most importantly alarms had gone off when he glanced at the picture again and was inundated with a rage he’d never felt before.
Certain that any more questioning would come out more like unjustifiable demands than a simple question, he’d excused himself and walked
out
of the dark room confused as hell at his reaction.

Even now as he rode his bike
, which
usually calm
ed
him, thinking about the damn pictures and wondering if she did still feel something for the douche had him involuntarily gripping the handlebars hard
er than he would normally
.

He drove his bike all the way into the back of Gio’s driveway.
As expected Gio, Abel, Hector and a few of Gio’s sister
s
were all out back
as Gio worked on his bike. What he hadn’t expected was for Rita to still be there. Her eyes gleamed as he took his helmet off. 

“You were missed last night
.
” She smiled teasingly. “What kept you? Or should I say
who
kept you?”

Abel smirked but otherwise didn’t seem to know anything. Hector wasn’t even paying attention
. He was too busy
talking to Gio’s sister
s
.
Noah glanced at Gio, whose expression gave nothing away but Noah knew there was no way Gio would tell anyone his business. “I just had other plans this year, but I’m here now to make up for it.”

“Ooh sounds promising,” she
said, walking
up to his bike. “I got a car this year—the Honda out front. Did you see it?”

Noah hadn’t noticed anything as he drove in. His mind had been so muddled the whole way there, all he could think of was Roni and Derek. “No
,
I didn’t see it.” He stepped off his bike hanging his helmet on the bike
’
s handlebars.

Rita’s hand was immediately in his. She’d never made a secret of her attraction to him and she had no qualms about everyone knowing about their
understanding
. “C’mon I’ll show it to you. It’s why I’m still here. I’m leaving later today but maybe we can go for a drive first.”

She smiled
and
the
continued
gleam in her eyes
was
very telling
about
what she had in mind.
Something that Noah would normally jump at the chance for and could actually use the way he’d been feeling lately.
Somehow,
that morning
’
s exchange took the excitement out of
even
this
for him. He couldn’t believe how worked up he still felt. Turning back to the guys, he saw Abel smirking and he rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

Rita turned back to them as well
,
lifting an eyebrow. “Maybe not
right
back.” 

“Two
minutes?” Abel asked laughing.

Noah didn’t bother responding but a chuckle escaped him. For once since seeing the pictures in Roni’s dark room,
he
fel
t
h
is
tension dissipate ever so slightly.

Rita clicked the keychain she held and the chirp of her car went off as they walked out to the front of Gio’s house. It was an older model Honda Accord but still in very good shape. “I love the color,” she said as they approached the silver
sedan
.

Once in it, Noah had just closed his door when she leaned in and planted a deep wet kiss on him, leaving
very little
to anticipate. Her tongue was in his mouth, eagerly roaming every inch. She moaned against his lips, sucking on his bottom one. “God, I love your lips,” she said breathlessly. “
Let’s
get out of here.”

She sat back licking her lips and turned on the car. As
t
he
y
sped off she
updat
ed
him on everything she’d done since she’d last seen him
.
Noah didn’t know why but his head spun trying to come up with a reason why they shouldn’t do what he knew
she had in mind.

They reached a secluded parking garage not far from Gio’s house.
It was a
place they’d frequented
in the past
for the very same reason
. Rita wasted no time. Her lips were on his the moment she pulled the keys from the ignition.

Something had changed since the last time he’d been with Rita. Noah couldn’t put his finger on it but he didn’t feel the same carnal excitement he normally felt when he was with her or any other girl. Maybe it was the fact that he still couldn’t get Roni and those damn pictures out of his mind. Somehow, he didn’t think anything would get his mind off them now.

Rita’s hands fumbled with his zipper pulling it down then reaching in
to
his briefs.
 
She wrapped her hands around his instant erection then smiled at him
. Wasting no time
,
she pulled a condom out of the glove compartment with her other hand and it seconds had it on him. Then with a move so fast a ninja would envy her she was on his lap, her skirt pulled up to her thighs and she slipped right on
to
him.

Noah’s head fell back
acceptin
g the incredible pleasure of it
,
holding her by the waist. He lifted his hips
in rhythm with hers
pushing in as deep as possible.
Her moans only intensified his arousal.
Okay maybe nothing could
alleviate the annoyance he felt over the pictures
but
closing his eyes
,
imagining this was Roni, making him thrust even harder,
definitely helped.          

Noah’s injured shoulder had healed nicely and he was training in the ring once again. With his client list growing, he was busier than ever. He spent entire days in the gym now. Training others in the morning, then working on his own training
throughout the afternoon
.

Since Abel
(
who was as good a promoter as he was a fighter
)
had already lined up a fight for Noah before the end of the year, Noah’s training was
in
high gear. After working out with the bags for a couple of hours he did sparring with either Abel who was a monster compared to him or Gio who was more at his weight level and on occasion Hector who was still a feather weight
.

At that point of the
day
is when he’d become a bit distracted looking out for Roni who arrived for her workout in the evening. In the past weeks of living with her, his feelings for her while he tried to play down even to himself were beyond
just
physical attraction. He looked forward to talking to her now—telling her about his workouts and the new clients he’d picked up. She was as excited about his first fight as he was though she admitted to being
a little
nervous about watching him fight. But she promised she’d be there ringside even if she had to cover her eyes.

Not only that, he loved hearing her talk about the photos she’d taken and she
had
even show
n
him how she developed them and the process of getting them printed. She’d since removed the offending photos from her lab. Noah hadn’t asked why. He was just happy to see them gone.