Page 113 of The Kissing Booth
I took a few breaths just to calm myself down. I turned my cell off so we wouldn’t have any more interruptions. Then I dabbed on a little lip balm and fluffed my hair out before I went back into the bedroom.
Noah was lounging on the bed, his arms behind his head and one leg slightly bent. It wasn’t a pose, really, but right then he looked like a male model. He had his eyes half closed, totally relaxed. I didn’t think he’d noticed me come back.
I looked him up and down. He was so handsome, with his tousled dark hair and the tux – even his crooked nose. He was tall enough to make me feel dainty. And I loved his eyes, so bright and blue and piercing – and now they were wide open, looking me up and down in such a way that I blushed.
‘Beautiful as you look tonight in that dress, Elle, I have to say I prefer you without it.’
‘Oh really? And what makes you think that’s going to happen?’
He smirked. ‘I don’t think it’ll be a problem.’
I smiled flirtatiously back at him as he swung himself up off the bed and strolled toward me. I raised an eyebrow, wondering exactly what his plan was.
But he suddenly stopped short of me. ‘Come here,’ he said in a surprisingly soft voice, then pulled me into his arms and walked backward until he was sitting on the bed, with me on his lap. When he wrapped his arms around me tight, I snaked mine around his shoulders. It was such a tender, intimate moment.
‘We don’t have to do anything, you know. If you want to take things slow now, just say the word. I didn’t get this room for that. I just wanted to be alone with you – even if you choose to go home later.’
I was stunned – here I was, certain the one reason he’d booked us this suite was so we could have sex, and now he was saying he wouldn’t rush me if I didn’t want to. Flynn, giving up sex for me.
Jeez.
First he got down on one knee to ask me to the dance, then the whole song dedication, then the petals on the bed – now this?
Man. He reallyhadchanged.
‘I heard you saying to Lee earlier you thought we’d rushed into it before,’ he said then. ‘And we’re doing it right this time, so I thought...’
I did say that to Lee, because I could be brutally honest with him now and not feel so judged. I hadn’t even imagined Noah might’ve been there to hear though... Lately I had been worrying that we’d rushed into it, that I hadn’t been thinking straight, too caught up in the thrill of sneaking around.
This was how my first timeshould’vebeen, I thought, looking at the suite, the flower petals; Noah...
I shook my head against his. ‘No, I want to.’
If this was a cheesy romance, now would be the time for us to sayI love you.
As it was, he mumbled something I didn’t catch, and kissed me full on the lips, making me melt in his arms. He helped me pull off his jacket, and while I worked on his shirt buttons, he yanked at his tie, pulling away from me just long enough to tug it over his head.
I giggled helplessly when, in his haste, he managed to get the tie stuck in his mouth.
‘Don’t even,’ he threatened, a mouthful of tie muffling his words. I giggled even more, but he soon shut me up by kissing me. At that point I let myself stop thinking completely. There was no conscious thought behind any of my actions. Tonight was just... justus.
Chapter 25
BLINKING MY EYESopen, I yawned and rolled over, and found myself nose-to-nose with Noah. His lips were slightly parted, and his eyelashes looked unusually long lying against his cheek like that. He looked so peaceful, so innocent.
I wriggled in closer to him, and watched him sleep. I’d always wondered why people in relationships did that – why they just stared at someone who wasn’t even doing anything. But now I understood. It was like seeing them in their most vulnerable state.
After a while, though, when he still hadn’t moved and I was too wide awake to even think about going back to sleep, I decided to wake him up.
‘Noah,’ I said softly, close to his ear. ‘Noah... Wake up...’
He grumbled incoherently, and put an arm around me, pulling me in closer, but he didn’t open his eyes.
‘Noah,’ I said again.
No response.
I leaned forward and pressed my lips gently against his, and then he rubbed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair.
