“Surely there is some department rule against coworkers fraternizing.”
Noah crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze never wavering from her. “Are we fraternizing?”
“Well, you’ve seen me naked and carried me to bed.” She quirked a brow as if she had him. “The closest thing I’ve ever done with a coworker is have breakfast with some guys after our shift. Not one has ever been in my bedroom, let alone seen me without clothes.”
Noah shrugged. “We’re friends. I was worried and for good reason.”
Lucy came to her feet, standing only inches from him. “My friends don’t come into my bathroom when I’m taking a bath.”
Why did his eyes have to go to her lips? And why did she challenge him? Couldn’t she just accept his help and not be so defiant? Yet something about that independent manner turned him on.
“Get dressed,” he told her. “I’m going to crash on your couch.”
“Why are you so adamant about keeping an eye on me?”
There went that guilt growing back to full size. His late wife had said she was fine after the storm that ripped through their tiny town. She’d come up out of the cellar with him and Emma and kept complaining of a headache after a board had hit her in the back when they all raced to shelter.
Moments after emerging when they all thought it was safe, she collapsed and died. Just because someone said they were fine didn’t mean they knew what was going on inside their bodies.
“I’ll be on the sofa if you need anything,” he told her.
He turned and crossed the room to the door, but her words stopped him.
“I don’t know the circumstances surrounding your wife’s death, but I assume that’s why you’re so protective now.”
Noah remained in the doorway, his back to her. “You don’t need to know the circumstances.”
No one needed to know the details of his life before coming to Stonerock. He didn’t know exactly why but it seemed imperative to maintain that privacy. He just felt that if he didn’t discuss the tragedy, then the hurt might ease one day. Maybe he’d be able to leave those painful memories behind and not pull them into his new life. Hell, he had no idea. This was such unknown territory, he truly didn’t know how to react.
He heard Lucy shift behind him and he stilled, waiting to see what she’d do or say. “No, I don’t,” she whispered. “But I know that you’re still reliving that moment. You probably feel like—”
He whirled around, surprised to see she’d come so close to him and still wore only the thick terrycloth towel. “You have no idea what I feel,” he growled. “Our situations aren’t the same and I’m not going to let you get into my head and try to fix me.”
Her bright eyes held his and he hated how terrible he felt for speaking so harshly to her. But, damn it, he wanted his thoughts, his feelings to stay locked inside where they couldn’t hurt.
“I don’t want to fix you,” she murmured. “I want you to come to the conclusion yourself that you can be happy again.”
“I’m happy.”
Okay, that didn’t even sound convincing to him, let alone trying to sell it to Lucy. His eyes darted over her shoulder to the picture on her bedside table. A candid shot of her and who he assumed was her late husband. After two years, the fact she still had a picture of them by her bed proved that she wasn’t as far removed from grief as she’d declared.
“Since we both know you’re lying,” she went on, “I’d say this conversation is over.”
Noah shifted his attention back to her. This woman somehow managed to frustrate him and turn him on all at the same time. One minute she challenged him, and the next she tossed out that sweetness that was so uniquely her. He never knew which Lucy he’d encounter at any given moment.
“Did you have something else to say?” she asked, still clutching that damn towel between her breasts.
“I have plenty I want to say, but this isn’t the time.”
When he started to turn, she grabbed his arm. “Spit it out. Don’t run from whatever is on your mind.”
His eyes raked over her body; he couldn’t help himself at this point. She smelled too damn good, looked like something from every man’s fantasy. She was killing him.
And he’d rushed over here, so there was nobody to blame but himself.
But he couldn’t talk. Not now.
“You’re pretty much naked and we’re both exhausted,” he said, as if the obvious needed to be stated. “Let’s just agree to revisit this another time.”
Like maybe when his head was on straight and he wasn’t staring temptation right in the face.
“Revisit this?” she questioned. “You mean the attraction and the fact you’re hiding from it?”
There she went with that no-holding-back attitude. “I’m not hiding.”
“But you’re attracted.”
Gritting his teeth, Noah fisted his hands at his sides. There was no reason to lie about it or even attempt to deny the truth. He knew it, she knew it. The question was: What the hell did he do about it?
And why couldn’t she just get dressed?
“You need to put clothes on and get some sleep,” he told her.
“I plan on doing both,” she informed him, tipping her head to the side. “But you don’t need to stay. My hip is bruised, my back is sore, and my head hurts. I’m well past the age of needing or wanting a babysitter. And I don’t take pity, either, so if that’s the only reason you’re hanging around—”
He kissed her. Damn it all. She was ranting and he couldn’t take it another second.
Noah covered her mouth with his, but kept his fists at his side. If he reached up now, he couldn’t guarantee that towel would stay in place. He’d seen exactly what she had as she lay all sprawled out in her bath and now that her body was flush against his, he had a perfect idea of how gloriously their bodies were lined up.
Lucy sighed into him and he felt her lean against him as if melting into his touch. And he desperately wanted to touch her. He hadn’t kissed another woman in years, but having his mouth on Lucy wasn’t a struggle and he sure as hell wasn’t feeling guilty now. No, if anything he was more ramped up than ever.
When her hands settled on his shoulders and her fingers curled into him, the last shred of Noah’s control snapped. He framed her face and shifted his stance, spreading his legs wider for her to step into him. She tasted so good, too good. He shouldn’t be craving a woman he’d only known a short time, but there was no way he could ignore this tug.
Lucy’s sweet body arched against him at the same time she let out a groan. Noah slid his hands down over her shoulders and between them to the knot in her towel. Just as he started to give it a tug, Lucy jerked and stepped back. She clutched that towel as she had before, but now she was panting…and looking anywhere but at him.
“This is…” She shook her head. “Noah, I can’t.”
Reality smacked him in the face and he wondered how the hell he’d gotten to this point. He’d been so adamant about not even admitting to the attraction, yet he was ready to take her to bed. And there was that picture just over Lucy’s shoulder that mocked him, mocked them.
But there was something much larger going on here and it had nothing to do with the way they felt and everything to do with the fact that Lucy, who had pursued him, had pulled back and was now trembling.
Maybe she wasn’t as healed as she thought.
Would