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She smiled. Her youthful dalliances in college had not prepared her for Noah. Those boys—and they were boys, no doubt now—didn't hold a candle to the man beside her. He'd been so gentle. She'd eventually convinced him she wouldn't break. He'd let her lead until she wasn't sure where to go next. Then he'd taken over and gotten them going again. At one point she'd bitten him, and hoo-boy, had she enjoyed seeing him lose control. She was definitely going to push those boundaries again next time.
Next time. She squirmed in tighter against him. They were in a relationship. She'd been focused on kissing him again and inviting him into her bed. But, yeah… she'd come to care for him. And he'd become a constant in her life.
"It's still dark out." His muffled voice set off vibrations in her core, and she rolled onto her back so she could see his face.
"It's not morning yet." Unable to resist, she brushed his lips with hers. One eye popped opened and glared at her. She giggled. "You can't be grumpy yet. It's still the middle of the night."
Noah pulled her close and kissed her more thoroughly. The evidence of his arousal pressed against her. He broke off the kiss and murmured, "I have something for you." He reached behind her for the nightstand and brought back… a box?
"More condoms?" She burst out laughing. "Where did these come from?"
He smiled sheepishly. "My pops always taught us to be prepared. I snuck these into my laptop bag in case the two in my wallet weren't enough. Since we used those pretty quickly, I grabbed these after that last bathroom break."
"Oh, you thought you were getting laid tonight?" She chuckled, running her hands up and down his chest.
He smoothed her hair back from her face. "Given that we've tried a couple of times, but have always been rudely interrupted…" He shrugged. "Again, I was being a good citizen and planning properly. You know, in case the stars aligned and tonight was the night."
She opened the box and pulled out a package. "I see. Well, since you did your homework, we should put these to good use. Don't you agree, Mr. Raines?"
He plucked the package from her fingers and pulled her close. "One hundred percent, Miss Broussard."
"We'll tell them next week," Noah said as he flipped the pancakes the next morning.
Claire pulled the plates out of the cabinet and set them on the counter next to the stove. She'd awakened before Noah and had turned on the coffeepot before hopping in the shower. When she'd exited the bathroom, he was working on his second cup. Funny, he didn't seem the least bit grumpy this morning.
"What's that smile for?" Claire looked over to find him watching her. He raised an eyebrow at her, humor lighting up his face. He was handsome all the time, but with that twinkle in his eye, he was downright sexy.
"I was thinking you don't seem like your usual grumpy morning self today for some unknown reason." She batted her eyelashes at him and gave him her best wide-eyed, innocent look.
"Oh, really?" he asked, pushing her back against the counter and sneaking in a kiss. She forgot what she was doing and pressed up against him.
"Jesus, Claire," he stepped back, gasping. "We'll never get out of here if you keep tempting me like that."
She smiled again. "Ditto." She looked over at the stovetop. "Don't forget your pancakes."
"Shite!"
She watched him hop around, wielding the spatula with unexpected grace. What were we talking about? Right, telling the team. "Next week during the weekly meeting? Or in a personal setting?"
"I'm not sure yet. I don't know if we need to tell Simon first or if we should tell them all at the same time. Let's play it by ear?" Noah's brow furrowed, and she wondered if he was worried about it.
She sought to reassure him. "Sure. We'll know when it's right."
Noah flashed a smile, then scooped up their breakfast and set the plates on the counter while Claire poured herself an orange juice.
"Eat up. We've got that presentation this morning, then the gnarly project meeting with the sponsors," he said.
"Oh, I'm not in that one." Claire took a bite. "These are delicious. What'd you do to them?"
"I found cinnamon in your cupboard. Why aren't you in the sponsor meeting?" Noah looked concerned.
"Only the team leads attend the sponsor meeting. Rick is the lead for the developers." She caught the frown on Noah's face. Should she be in the sponsor meeting? She didn't think so. She was part of the development team, not a team lead or manager.
They finished up breakfast, then cleared the kitchen. Noah didn't bring up work again until they were in the car. He told her about his upcoming meetings with the distribution team and how he had become a liaison between sales and production. "I'm not quite sure how that happened," he concluded.
They grabbed their things from the backseat and walked toward the building. "It's because you've got that fifty-thousand-foot view and can see all sides. You're the perfect person to help everyone see all the pieces." And he was really good at it. No wonder everyone deferred to him when discussing production processes.
Claire smiled at him as they swiped their badges at the security scanner. "See you at the presentation," she said as they parted ways and headed to their respective offices.
