Page 49 of Before We Fell

“Sure we can. I don’t really give a shit that you’re Riley’s teacher. I like you, you like me…and don’t lie, you admitted it earlier. And I’ve decided there’s no point in waiting anymore.”

Her nose scrunched, along with her lips. “And I don’t get a choice?” The hint of fire burned in her tight voice.

Little Miss Lauren was pissy? I fought a grin. It’d probably tick her off further and her knee was awfully close to my junk.

“Only if you make the right one,” I replied. “But go ahead, tell me you don’t want me.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you, Noah.” She closed her eyes and relaxed against my hand still curled at the back of her. I gently pulled my hand out and slid it down her side until both of mine were at her waist. “But this isn’t right. And it’s complicated. And I could get in trouble.”

I’d thought about her job. It had held me back. There wasn’t any point. “It’s not against the rules, Lauren.”

My confidence must have surprised her because her eyes widened, head tilted to the side. “Did you…did you look into it?”

Safest to step out of reach as her voice rose, I stepped back and put space between us. Just enough so that I’d see a kick coming. “Yep.”

I’d put the intern on it as soon as I went back to the office. The request hadn’t even fazed him, a testament to how my old firm trained their interns—obey and no questions. I’d almost felt bad pulling him off the case but when he’d come back twenty minutes later, employee handbook in hand, and no mention of relationships between parents and teachers imminently meaning a pink slip, I decided there was no point in waiting.

I liked this woman.

She liked me.

It’d been a month, and she was the only person I thought of outside Riley.

So yeah…I was taking this.

“Holy crap, Noah.” Her hand went to her face and she rubbed her forehead. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”

“Technically it was Elijah…Elias…whoever.” I shrugged. Ethan? Erik? I honestly had no clue what that guy’s name was.

With a finger and thumb pressed to her temple, she peeked at me through narrowed eyes. “Who? Never mind. It’s not important.”

She pushed off the wall and stepped around me quick enough I couldn’t even reach for her to haul her back to me.

“You should go.” Her voice was vacant. Tired. Possibly more so than mine was. “I can’t do this tonight.”

“What? Admit you want me?”

I understood. I’d thrown a lot at her, and I could be patient when required.

Ah…that was a lie. But if she needed time, I’d give her a day. Two days, max.

Spinning on her heels, she shoved a finger in my direction. “Is this about Shawn?”

Sixteen

Lauren

Unbelievable!I stomped my foot and pounded my fists against my hips. Noah, in contrast, stood there, smirking at me in a way it physically hurt to hold back not kissing it off his face.

Gracious…that kiss. I could still taste him. It was the kind of kiss that I feared I’d always be able to taste.

That still didn’t mean I wasn’t having thoughts of throttling the man.

But really?

“Doesn’t have anything to do with Shawn, at least not in the way you’re thinking.”

“What?” I thrust my arms over my chest, crossing them. “That you saw a shiny new toy someone else wanted and you decided you didn’t want that someone else in your sandbox?”

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