The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(46)

Mayday! Mayday! Earth to Noelle! Abort mission! Abort!

Her brain was flashing a million warning signs. She wanted her brain to shut the hell up and let her body run the show. Where were those destructive butterflies when she needed them?! But she knew that her brain was right. As much as she wanted Jeremiah, they’d already blurred the lines enough. She didn’t want them to take things too far.

“Wait,” she breathed.

Jeremiah stopped immediately. His face was buried in the crook of her neck. She felt his breath fan against her skin.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“No, you don’t have to be sorry.”

They were still embraced, hearts pounding, breathing heavily.

Jeremiah pulled away and rolled onto his back.

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” he repeated. He looked over at her. “Are you upset?”

“No,” she said, touched by his obvious concern. He didn’t look like he believed her. “I swear that I’m not upset.”

He closed his eyes. “I’m paying you to be here. I promised no funny business.”

“Yeah, but I kissed you first. And…I wanted you to kiss me back.”

His mouth curved into a grin, clearly pleased by her admission. But he schooled his features into seriousness again. It made Noelle laugh.

“Either way,” he said. “It won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

“Like I said, you don’t have to be sorry. But okay. I appreciate that.”

He let out a weighty sigh. “I’ll sleep on the floor.”

She blinked at him, but before she had a chance to respond, he rolled across the bed until he reached the edge and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

“Jeremiah,” Noelle hissed. “What in the world?”

She crawled to the edge of the bed. He lay on his back with his arm slung across his face, covering his eyes. From this vantage point, she could see that his erection was still alive and well. Unable to help herself, she stared.

“Eyes up here, ma’am,” Jeremiah said, peeking an eye open at her.

“Sorry.” She laughed quietly as she looked at him. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor. That’s ridiculous.”

“It might help with our breakup story.”

“Or your family might think I’ve physically harmed you because of that loud-ass thud. And that’s the last thing I want them to think.”

He didn’t say anything. She watched his chest rise and fall as he breathed.

“Come back up here,” she said. “I swear that it’s fine.”

“You’re sure?” he asked, and she nodded.

He hesitated, but then he climbed back up onto the bed.

“I promise I won’t touch you,” he said. “Even if you hog the blankets and leave me to freeze and develop hypothermia.”

Noelle laughed again and shook her head. “You’re crazy.”

“Maybe,” he said, running a hand over his face as he smiled at her. “Maybe just a little.”

Then he hopped off the bed and went to brush his teeth.

In his wake, Noelle felt a persistent fluttering in her stomach. She lifted her fingers to her swollen lips.

Okay, fine.

Maybe she did have a bit of a crush on Jeremiah. It was hard not to. But her feelings would fade soon. Years from now, Jeremiah and this whole weekend would be just a funny story.





Chapter Fourteen




In the morning, Noelle woke to a notification from her bank app that Jeremiah had sent the second half of her payment. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. Jeremiah’s side of the bed was empty. She checked the time. It was almost ten a.m. She didn’t want to get out of bed yet. This bed was a lot more comfortable than her bed at home.

The door opened, and Jeremiah poked his head inside the room. He locked eyes with Noelle and smiled. Butterflies danced across her esophagus.

“Good morning,” he said. “I was hoping to leave within the next hour or so. That cool?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll get up now.”

“Take your time. You want coffee? I just made a fresh pot.”

“Sure, thank you.” She pulled back the covers and swung her legs to the floor. She glanced up at him.

“Okay.” He paused for a beat. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good,” she lied. True to his word, Jeremiah hadn’t touched her for the rest of the night, and she hadn’t touched him either. They’d secluded themselves to their respective sides of the bed, and she’d tossed and turned for hours before finally falling asleep from pure exhaustion. Keeping away from each other had been for the best, but it had also been torturous. “How about you?”

“Yeah, same,” he said. He cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you to get dressed. I have to talk to my mom really quick.”

“Okay, I won’t be long.”

He smiled again before closing the door. Noelle let out a deep breath and urged her heartbeat to chill out.

When she returned to the bedroom after showering, there was a steaming mug of coffee on the bedside table next to a new box of salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. Her heart rate increased again as she grinned like a fool. How was she supposed to like him less when he’d taken it upon himself to become her personal snack fairy?