The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(45)
“I agree,” Robin mused. “Long distance can be tough, but I’m sure you’ll work it out.”
Noelle looked up sharply. This was not the reaction that they were supposed to be having. She glanced over at Celeste, who was watching Noelle with furrowed brows.
“You sure you’re all right?” Celeste asked.
Noelle nodded. “Yes, thank you.”
“I’m going to call Percy and see where they went,” she said. “Excuse me.”
Celeste left the kitchen, and Amara and Robin got the idea to heat up some slices of blueberry crumble pie and eat it with ice cream. Noelle’s mouth started to water. That was her cue to leave. She bid Amara and Robin good night.
In Jeremiah’s bedroom, she sat at the edge of the bed and let out a deep sigh. Well, she’d done her job. She got to spend the weekend in a nice big house, eat tasty food, and attend a fancy party, all while wearing cute new clothes that she got to keep. And now she was going to have thirty-five hundred more dollars to put toward her college savings. Her only regret about this weekend was that she hadn’t had a chance to sit on the actual beach or swim in the ocean.
Reality would set in tomorrow once she was back home. She’d need to start looking for another job. But she’d milk these last vacation-esque moments while she could.
About an hour later, she heard Jeremiah’s footsteps climbing the stairs.
“Hey,” he whispered as he eased inside the room. He closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes before he walked toward the bed.
“Where’d you go?” she asked.
“The beach. I talked with Percy for a while. I thought he was coming to lecture me about arguing with you in front of our mom, but he ended up trying to give me relationship advice. Then that somehow turned into him going on a tangent about how he’s learned to anticipate Robin’s pregnancy cravings. Irrelevant to me, but interesting overall, I guess.”
He produced one of the assorted Smith’s Sweets cookie party bags from his pants pocket.
“Nabbed this for you,” he said as he sat beside her.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Noelle grinned and did a little dance, immediately opening the bag.
She bit into a sugar cookie, and her eyes almost rolled to the back of her head. Jeremiah laughed as he watched her. After finishing the cookie, she tied the bag closed and placed it on the bedside table. She pivoted to face Jeremiah again, and when she moved, the bottom of her dress rode up her thighs. He glanced down at her exposed skin, and it made her think of the way he’d looked at her last night in her dress. Her pulse quickened, and she suddenly felt hot all over.
“Thank you for being a good fake girlfriend this weekend,” he said, bringing his gaze back up to her face.
“Thank you for hiring me to be your good fake girlfriend.”
They fell quiet and stared at each other, smiling softly.
For a moment, Noelle let herself wonder again what it might be like to date Jeremiah in real life. After a long day of socializing at his sister’s party, they’d shower and curl up together in bed. She’d rest her head against his chest and fall asleep listening to the sound of his heartbeat as he whispered sweet nothings in her ear.
Her attraction to Jeremiah made sense. She tended to gravitate toward men who were emotionally unavailable or emotionally resistant. Jeremiah was dealing with some emotional issues that he didn’t want to discuss. That didn’t bode well for a real relationship. Not to mention, their lives were quite literally going in different directions with him moving to California.
However, there was no harm in simply imagining what it would be like to have him as her funny, sweet, sexy, generous boyfriend, was there?
“Can I say something?” he asked. His voice had gone husky. It made the hairs on her arms rise in awareness.
She swallowed thickly. “Go ahead.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t say this because I’m not sure if it’s against our rules. But I liked kissing you yesterday. I wish we would have kissed more.”
Noelle’s heart pounded violently in her chest. She looked at his full lips, entranced.
“Me too,” she admitted.
Her words caused the air to change between them. Jeremiah inched closer to Noelle, and she inched closer too. What am I doing? He was her client, and they had clear boundaries in place.
But this was new territory. She’d never wanted to kiss a client before, never craved their touch.
She reached out and tentatively grazed Jeremiah’s bicep with her fingertips. His muscle flexed beneath her hand. His fingers brushed against her knee as his hand traveled higher to rest against her thigh. They drew to each other until they were chest to chest, breathing heavily. They weren’t kissing, but their mouths were so close, they may as well have been. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. He lifted his other hand to cradle her cheek. His movements were slow, hesitant. She had all the time in the world to move away, but she didn’t.
She realized that he was waiting for her to make the first move. She was composed of hunger and desire as she pressed her lips against his. Jeremiah made a small sound in his throat, an exhalation. He kissed her back and this time it was unlike the chaste kiss they’d shared in front of his family. This kiss was open-mouthed and scorching, tongues knocking against each other. It was a kiss filled with the pent-up tension that had been building between them all weekend. Or more accurately since he’d first visited the bookstore. He sucked on her bottom lip and heat pooled between her thighs. His beard prickled against her face, but she liked it. She brought her hands beneath his shirt and skimmed her fingers across the expanse of his stomach. He kissed his way down her throat to her breasts, cupping them in his hands. She eased back onto the bed, and he leaned over her, covering her body with his. She felt the hardness of his erection settle against her thigh. She rubbed her hips against him, and he groaned.