Noah (32 page)

~*~

“
Hickeys
?” Veronica turned from the mirror to Noah who was now sitting on the edge of the bed smiling at her smugly. “You gave me hickeys?”

“I got a little carried away.” He chuckled. “What can I say? You drive me nuts.”

She turned back to the mirror. Not one or two but three near
ly
purple hickeys adorned the front of
her
neck. Not even in high school when the kids thought they were cool and other girls actually showed them off did she think there was anything cool about them and
she
certainly
didn’t
now
at her age
. Especially
when she was getting ready to go back to work the
very
next day.

She lifted her hair to find a fourth on
e smaller than the ones in the front of her neck,
just under her ear. “How am I supposed to show up to work tomorrow like this?”

He stood up and came up behind her from behind and smiled into the mirror. “Oh wow. Those
are
pretty big.” She shivered at the touch of his fingers against the back of her neck. He brushed her hair away gently and kissed her nape. “Looks like I missed a spot.”

Her body was immediately awakened by the feel of his tongue against her neck and she pulled away. “Stop, Noah. I’m serious.” She
stifled a gasp
trying not to put too much thought into the fact that he was obviously planning on continuing what they started last night.

“I was too,” he said bringing his arms around her waist.

She placed her hands over his on her belly
and watched him in the mirror
as he kissed the side of her face. “Noah, I thought we said we weren’t going to do this.”

“Nope.” He kissed her cheek and hugged her tighter. “You said we couldn’t handle it. I said we’d work something out.”

She turned to face him all ready to lay her argument down, then winced when she saw the side of his face was still swollen. Placing her fingers gently on
over the lumpy area she began to ask if it still hurt when he lips were on hers again and she was swept away into another one of his amazing kisses.

When it was finally over after several long minutes of deep kissing
,
her legs
were
like
two wet
noodles
.
S
he literally had to cling to his big arms for support. He leaned his forehead against hers catching his breath
, his smoldering eyes looked into hers
. “If you don’t wanna do this just tell me and I’ll respect your wishes. But unless you say the word, this isn’t gonna stop.”

She had to think of something
—s
ome kind of compromise. As much as
her
brain insisted
,
she couldn’t bring herself to say the words she
knew she
should
be saying.
This needs to stop before
it’s too late.
But she couldn’t so she said the next best thing she could
come up with
. “I think we should at least slow it down. We’re friends remember? I
don’t
want things to change.”

With the words out there like that now
,
she realized that’s what it really was.
S
he now had this huge fear that things would change and she’d lose him. She couldn’t even bear the thought.

He took a deep breath, the lust in his eyes replaced by frustration.
“What do you think is going to change
, Roni
?”

“Everything.” She pulled away gently, a little surprised by the disappointment that he let her. “I’m going back to work. I need to concentrate on that. On getting myself back to the way I used to be. This,” she said
running her finger up
his hard forearm. “This will complicate everything. I have so much going on right now, and I hate to sound
selfish but I need your friendship now more than ever. If we continue to do this and things change…” she took a deep breath hoping he didn’t notice how emotional this was making her. “I’m afraid
we
’ll lose
what we have
.”

He pulled her to him again hugging her tight. “Nothing is gonna change I promise you that. But if slowing things down will make you feel better, then I’ll try to control myself around you.” He pulled back to face her again. “I’m not saying I won’t slip okay? Because I probably will—a lot. But I promise I
will
make an effort.” He tilted her chin up slightly
with his fingers, examining her neck and
smiled. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I think they look good.”

Veronica peered at him unbelievably. She’d suspected it earlier but now she was sure of it. The hickeys were no mistake.
His words from last night came to
mind
.
My Roni
. This was so like him. She should’ve known
the moment she saw them
.

“Yeah
,
well they’re coming off.”

He smiled even bigger and kissed her nose. “Okay. Whatever you say.”

An hour later and after
infuriatingly
having to google, “How to remove a hickey
?
” Veronica knew why Noah had been so smug and agreeable about her removing them. It was basically impossible to remove in a day or even a few
days
as dark as hers were. While there were many suggestions on how to lighten them
,
she learned a few things that morning. A hickey was a bruise—
popped
blood vessels under the skin. Albeit a far more enjoyable way of getting
a bruise it was still just a bruise
. And the only real
istic
way to get rid of it was to conceal it.

Thankful that it was
winter
and that she’d actually purchased a turtleneck when she’d shopped for work clothes she’d just have to get creative the first week of work.
She stood in front of her mirror examining the darks spots on her neck. The thought of Noah’s mouth
on her
and how good
his
hot
tongue and lips f
elt
sucking it
made her close her eyes and take a deep breath.

It was
crazy
how fast just thinking of his lips on hers, his hard body
pressing
against her
,
had her panties working overtime again to soak
up
her puddles
like they had last night
.
She exhaled slowly
,
her body trembling with the visuals of her and Noah.

Deciding a long shower is what she needed she got her things together and headed to the
bath
room. It might help her get her thoughts together. Before last night she was already anticipating this week to be an emotional roller coaster. The turn things had taken with Noah would only intensify everything
now
.

It almost made her mad. She’d been looking forward to her new beginning. This was supposed to be exciting, refreshing. Instead that was overshadowed now with thoughts of her and Noah. She meant it when she said she was afraid to lose him and she
’d
kn
o
w
n from the very beginning
this could be the very thing that would cause that.

How in the world did she really plan on getting her social life
back now without it causing friction?
The life she knew
.
B
runches with friends her age—Friday night cocktails with the girls from work at a nice restaurant, not backyard parties with dance crews and brawling teenagers. Although she had to admit that until that idiot started hitting
on her the moment
Noah
was out of sight
, she’d been enjoying herself.  

She glanced in the mirror just before she stepped in the shower. The ridiculous hickeys
looked
almost painful
,
though
getting them had
been anything but. She sighed shaking her head
—ironic.
This was something
a
middle school kid would pull to mark his territory.
And to top it off
Noah
thought it was funny.
Did he not get
that
he was not gaining any maturity points here?

Veronica could only hope her shower would help her relax because she knew the next few weeks were going to be a challenge.

***

Because it was New Year
’
s day, one of the few holidays Jack ever closed down the gym, Noah hadn’t made any plans to leave the house today. That was until
Gio called to ask how he was feeling and mentioned he was going over to his uncle
’
s house to help him pile up more sandbags. He said his uncle
’
s yard always flooded and was already a mess from the recent storms.

Since Gio was al
wa
y
s
ready to jump when it came to helping Noah with
anything
,
Noah volunteered immediately to help. At first Gio balked at the idea saying Noah should stay home and rest since he was injured but Noah reminded him he was a boxer and knew how to take a punch. The guy hadn’t even hit him
that
hard, he just hit the perfect spot. The fucking pussy obviously knew how to land a sucker punch.

Noah ran into Roni in the hallway as she made her way back to her room from the
bath
room in her robe. He knew he’d promised to control himself but Roni had to know that was going to be damn
near impossible now
.

Pretending to move out of the way for her he took advantage as soon as she tried to pass him and leaned into her against
the
wall. “You smell good,” he whispered against
her
cheek, inhaling the soap on her still wet skin. Then he kissed her chin. “Let’s see?” He lifted her chin and smiled. “What happened
?
I thought they were coming off?”

She pushed him playfully and glared at him. “You knew damn well they weren’t coming off so easily.”

He opened his eyes wide
feigning bewilderment
as she slipped away from him. “Really? You tried?”

“Oh, stop,” she said opening her bedroom door.

He laughed. “Listen
,
I gotta go help Gio with something. Did you need me here today?” He took a step forward and smirked. “For
anything
? Because if you do I can always call him back in a second and tell him I can’t make it.”

She rolled her eyes then smiled wickedly. “Oh
,
you’d do that for me, Noah
Quintanilla?”

He took
a
menacing step forward knowing he’d have that
robe
off her in seconds if she so much as hinted he wanted him too. “Absolutely.”

The wicked smile faded as she squeezed the front of her robe shut with her hands. “Thanks but I’ll be okay.
I have
a million things to do to get ready for my first day tomorrow.
”
She started backing into her room with a wave. 

The disappointment settled but the excitement of knowing he was that much closer to what his tightening crotch was anticipating
was enough to keep him smiling. He waited until she disappeared behind her door to adjust himself in his pants and walked away. Damn
,
this was going to be harder than he thought. 

There was an unexpected surprise when he arrived at Gio’s uncle
’
s house—his daughter—Rita. Since she lived up north, the possibility of her being at her dad
’
s house hadn’t even crossed his mind. He’d almost kept driving when he realized it was her car parked out front but Abel and Hector had just pulled up and saw him as they started out of Abel’s truck.

She came out to greet them and thanked them for coming over to help. She also explained she was staying until she had to go back when school started—in a week. Noah managed to not get caught alone with her the whole time even after she invited them in for a lunch she prepared.

It wasn’t until he excused himself thanking her for the lunch and started walk
ing
out that she followed him.