“I’ll pass along your enjoyment to the chef. Seriously, though…do you mind if I hang out?”
Noel snagged a stray flake of role on her thumb with her teeth. “Why would I mind?”
“I didn’t know if my idea freaked you out? When I suggested we keep pretending we’re dating?”
Noel paused her chewing, considering whether freaked out was the right phrase. “No, I’m not freaked out. Are you freaked out?”
“Far from it.” His words were warm and soothing. “I just don’t want to make things awkward between us.”
“No, I’m good. I have been kind of thinking…”
“Yeah?”
“Should we tell your family what we’re doing? So they don’t hear it from someone else?”
“I can do that. They’ll be disappointed.”
“What do you mean? In me?”
“No. That it isn’t real.”
“Oh.” Noel coughed, hoping he hadn’t heard the slight tremble in her voice. She pulled out a spoon and dished portions from every container. Turkey, ham, yams, potatoes, green beans, and macaroni were soon piled up high. She popped it into the microwave for a few minutes.
He came around the counter and stood only a few inches away. “Noel?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re not looking at me.”
Noel turned, tilted her head up and met his gaze. “I am.”
“Not really. You were looking at the floor. The food. Even now, your gaze keeps shifting toward the microwave.”
“I told you I’m hungry.”
“Uh-huh.” He sounded unconvinced.
“What?”
“Nothing. Just distracting you so I can do this.”
The minute his fingers touched her rib cage, she squealed. “No! No, stop! Damn it!”
Nick held her against him, his fingers moving up and down her sides until she couldn’t breathe. She squirmed to get away, turning in his arms. When his hand grazed her breast, they both froze.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to do that.”
Noel was acutely aware of his arm locked around her waist, her back plastered against his front. His warm breath puffed against her neck, close enough that she could imagine his mouth dipping lower to brush against her skin.
“It’s okay.” Her words hushed, fully aware he hadn’t let her go and a tiny voice inside didn’t want him to let go.
Being held by Nick felt too damn good.
His hands flattened against her stomach, as if reading her mind. “Things just seemed so tense and I wanted to snap us out of it.”
Honesty won out and she blurted, “I’m not tense I just…I didn’t expect to like kissing you.”
“You thought kissing me would be bad?” He sounded offended and she smiled.
Noel’s heart galloped in her chest as she admitted, “I’ve only ever thought about it one time.”
“When?”
“The night you came home from basic.”
This time, she didn’t have to imagine his lips on her neck. He pressed a light kiss there and whispered, “Me too.”
Noel closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds, memorizing the warmth. The texture. The sensation of electro shocks racing down her spine. “You did?”
“Yes. I almost did kiss you. But then you ran off and…”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. She’d taken off, scared of her feelings, and left the space open for Amber to step in. His words broke the spell and her eyes flew open. She was in her kitchen with Nick, letting him trail kisses along her skin. Enjoying it. Craving it.
But Amber managed to worm her way back in, ruining everything.
She jumped away before she fell further down the rabbit hole, his arms falling away easily, leaving her bereft of his warmth. Several seconds of silence ticked by with their breathing the only sound in the room. Finally, Nick reached out and laid a hand on her arm.
“Noel… Look at me.”
Noel turned, facing him.
She couldn’t keep her hands still and settled finally on smoothing them over her pink scrubs. “What are we doing?”
Nick shook his head, as if trying to get a grip on himself. “I don’t know. I thought we were being honest.”
“Yeah, but we don’t want to do this. We only kissed the first time to save face in front of Amber and Trip. Not actually jump into something that could potentially ruin twenty-plus years of friendship!”
“We also admitted we’ve had these feelings before.”