The Summer Girlfriend (Heart Beach, #1)(60)

He chewed on his bottom lip and huffed a quiet, humorless laugh. “I hope so.”

Noelle felt exposed as she looked at Jeremiah. Like the thin, opaque wall they’d erected in the name of their agreement was slowly lowering.

“Thank you for telling me about college and your mom,” he said. “I know you didn’t have to.”

She smiled, like it wasn’t a big deal. But the reality was that they’d made the choice to open up to each other and there was no turning back now. The realization made her heart beat faster and her skin tingle. She rubbed her arms.

“Are you cold?” Jeremiah asked, and she nodded, pretending that was the reason for her sudden chills. He stood and held his hand out toward her. “Ready to go home?”

“Yeah.” She grabbed his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Locking hands only made her skin tingle even more, like little lovebugs were crawling across her fingers. The butterflies were trying to make a comeback too, and she reminded them that Jeremiah wasn’t her real boyfriend.

It was quiet inside the house when they returned.

“Everybody’s probably asleep or in their rooms,” Jeremiah whispered.

He started for the stairs, and Noelle was hit with the startling realization that she would have to spend another night with him in the same bed. But this time she’d spilled her guts to him and she’d inadvertently removed the layer of emotional aloofness that she usually kept in place with her clients. Next to him in bed, she’d be left with nothing but her confusing feelings as he lay inches away from her.

This was a disaster.

“Wait!” she hissed. Startled, Jeremiah quickly spun back around. “Um, I want a snack.”

“Actually, you know what?” he said. “Me too.”

“Okay!” she squeaked.

No, no, no. She was supposed to go to the kitchen and freak out about her feelings for him, alone. He wasn’t supposed to come with her! But what could she say now? No, don’t go to your own kitchen in your family’s house?

In the kitchen, Jeremiah made a beeline for the cabinet above the sink. Noelle joined him at the counter, and her frazzled thoughts were momentarily forgotten when he produced a box of Smith’s Sweets sugar cookies.

Her eyes widened as he lowered the box into her hands. She thanked him, immediately opened the box, and pulled out a handful of cookies.

Jeremiah laughed as he dug into the box for a cookie too. “You’re like Sméagol when he sees the ring. But you’re much prettier, obviously.”

Noelle snort laughed. “You’ve read Lord of the Rings?”

“No, just watched the movies.”

“I love that you remembered Gollum’s real name, but you confused Mamma Mia! with Grease.”

He smirked. “What can I say? I’m one of a kind.”

“That you are.” She tilted her head. Her treasonous butterflies made her ask, “So, you think I’m pretty?”

Jeremiah leaned his elbow against the counter and brought his face an inch closer to hers. She stared into his warm brown eyes as her pulse thundered in her ears.

“?‘Pretty’ isn’t a strong-enough word,” he said. “?‘Stunning’ feels more accurate.”

Her breath caught, and she blinked, deliciously overwhelmed by his nearness and his compliment. “Stunning recognizes stunning, I guess,” she murmured, and the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile as his eyes sparkled.

Flirting? Unprovoked? When no one was watching? This was not part of their agreement. Still, they smiled goofily at each other in the silent kitchen. Noelle briefly tore her eyes away from Jeremiah’s face to grab another handful of cookies. At the same time, she heard footsteps in the hall, coming their way. She couldn’t get caught eating sweets! Not when she’d lied last weekend about not liking them!

In a panic, she shoved the handful of cookies in her mouth and pushed the cookie box into Jeremiah’s hands.

“What the—” he said, fumbling not to drop the box. He whipped it behind his back just as Celeste walked into the kitchen.

“Oh, you’re both home now,” she said. She was dressed in a black satin pajama set.

Noelle smiled with her full chipmunk cheeks and waved.

“Hey, Ma,” Jeremiah said smoothly. “Getting a late-night snack?”

“Yeah, just warming up some funnel cake,” Celeste said, going to the fridge.

With her back to them, Jeremiah quickly returned the box to the cabinet, and Noelle chewed like her life depended on it. Why couldn’t her jaws work faster?!

Celeste popped her funnel cake into the air fryer and turned to face them again. Noelle swallowed the cookies, throat dry as hell, as Jeremiah crossed his arms over his chest. They sported matching nothing to see here smiles. “Don’t judge,” Celeste said, misreading their expressions. The air fryer beeped and she took the funnel cake to the island. “I know it’s terrible to eat this much sugar before bed, but Marty’s is the best. I couldn’t resist.” She paused and observed Noelle. “Do you eat funnel cake? I know you said that you don’t like sweets.”

Noelle’s stomach grumbled. She decided to make an amendment to her lie. “I do like funnel cake sometimes.”

“Here, have some if you want,” Celeste said, pushing the plate toward her. “Funnel cake is meant to be shared.”