Page 104 of Purchase Power
Chapter 31
Lucy agreed to meet with him in his room that night, which Noah took as a sign things were heading in the right direction. To celebrate – but not to intimidate – he got out some of his best liquor. Wine was too forward. Champagne too cheesy. As much positivity as Noah held in his heart, he didn’t want to set himself up for intense embarrassment should Lucy continue to spurn his advances. Nor did he want to ruin any chances with her. This was it. This was his chance to finally,finallytell her how he really felt, and nothing inspired him more than how she had interacted with Stacey a little while ago.
Lucy was fashionably late, now that her paycheck no longer hinged on catering to his every whim. Yet when she arrived, she did so with a bit of fanfare. The door dramatically flung open. Her skirt, clinging tightly to her thighs, bunched upward and invited Noah’s eyes to traverse the sweet trails of her skin. Her blouse was simple, but beautiful. Something straight out of the closet he had prepared for her the first time she joined him in Gabriel Manor.
Her hair was the same, however. Longer. Darker. The blond half on the bottom swished atop her chest and caressed the white of her throat. Her complexion, her perfect countenance, beguiled Noah into speechless passivity. She wasn’t dressed for anything fancier than a night in with her rich husband, but by God, he wanted her. Now. Forever.
“Well,” she announced with a wistful whisper, “here I am. You wanted to see me?”
He extended a stout glass of his finest cognac to her. At first, Lucy appeared to turn it down. Then, she held out her hand.
“Thank you for stopping by my quarters, Ms. Craig.” He tapped his glass against hers and had a sip that slid effortlessly down his throat.
“Please.” She had a sip as well, although whether she found it delightful or not, she did not reveal. “Call me Lucy, Mr. Gabriel.”
“And please call me Noah.” This whole “Mr. Gabriel” thing was only hot if they were roleplaying. So far, nothing about this was sexual. At any rate, Noah was not interested in role-playing with his beloved until they had reestablished their relationship. “Have a seat.”
He had motioned to the couch, but Lucy chose the upholstered tub chair. She sat with such precision, one leg crossing over the other that Noah held out hope that she was attempting to seduce him.It’s working. Good Lord, is it working.In an ironic twist of fate, it might be him getting on his knees and worshipping her sweet, delightful center – anything to make her fall in love with him tonight.
“You have been so very generous, Noah.” Lucy continued to drink from her glass until resting it against her chest. Noah had to pry his eyes away from the generous cleavage pouring from her blouse. In any other circumstance, it would have been an appropriate outfit for an outgoing lady of the house. Now, however? When he had to hold back his urges and his precious words?Chaos. Everything feels like chaos between my legs.“My sister and I are eternally grateful for all that you have provided. And, now that there are no more secrets between us, I am much more comfortable in your house. You have a lovely family.”
“My sister is the only family I really have. My mother doesn’t count. My father hasn’t counted in years.”
“Even so, I think of Candace as like your family. You take dear care of her, don’t you?”
“She takes much more care of us, however. Particularly my sister.” Noah curled his knuckles against his knees. “I wanted to talk to you about today. The way you acted with Stacey was… well, I had never seen her take to relative strangers the way she has with you and your sister. She trusts you already. Regardless of what you think about her, she certainly thinks of you as good friends. Maybe even family. That’s a high honor from her.”
Lucy’s lips pulled into a tight line. “I’m sure it is. She’s a very sweet girl, and she loves her big brother very much.”
Something about the way she said that made Noah sigh. “I’m sorry I didn’t at least tell you that I have a sister. I have to be very careful, though. If the wrong person finds out about Stacey, let alone her state and how she got there, it could be bad news for my family. I’m always keeping nosy people away. I should have worked harder at that, I suppose.”
Lucy grimaced. “Nosy people… suppose that means me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was a writer looking for something interesting to write about.”
“Why would you have told me? It would have inhibited our relationship.”
Finally, Lucy glanced up and caught his eye. “You would have thrown me out on my ass at first whiff of my keyboard.”
“And what would you have written should you look up my family and see the whole truth? I shudder to think.” It was the truth. As much as Noah loved Lucy, he couldn’t imagine a world where she had unprecedented access to the skeletons in his family’s closet. How that would impact Stacey alone…I can’t think about it. I would implode.“Everything I do in my personal life extends to Stacey. I believe it’s my genuine nature to be more reticent and introverted than the average man, but I have also shunned serious relationships with women because most of them aren’t right for my family. There have been girlfriends who found out about Stacey when the time was right. Most of them tried to make it past the shock, but some of them were survivors themselves, I later came to find out.” That was as shocking for him as Stacey’s history had been for his girlfriends.To think, I put them through that for my family’s secrets.“I had to harden my heart a bit. If I wanted a girlfriend, it was better to treat it as nothing more than sex. I don’t know if you noticed, but I do love sex.”
Was that a smile cracking on Lucy’s smile? And not a dubious one, either? “I may have noticed. You always said you were not an intimate man, yet you had no trouble getting quite intimate with me.” One leg slid against the other. Noah allowed his gaze to linger on her shin, remembering what her body felt like beneath his. In front of his.On topof his.
“I believe you know what I mean by intimacy, Lucy.” Noah cleared his throat. “When I kissed you… that was the first time I kissed a woman like that in a very long time. I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy it.”
“I now understand why it is difficult for you to invite women into your heart. A woman may not have been the big betrayer in your family, but that’s not the point, is it? You were still hurt. Maybe not like your sister was, but it would be insane to think you weren’t permanently affected as well. I mean, for fuck’s sake, you said…”
“Yes. I remember.” Noah didn’t wish to relive his guilt and regrets.I meant what I said.It would have been better if he were his stepfather’s true target. He was a hardier child. He could have born it better. Maybe had a chance at growing up and forgetting about it…
Yes, he knew that was crazy. Yes, he knew things didn’t work that way. Yet when it came to thinking about his sister and all of the pain she still endured on a daily basis, Noah remained convinced that he had the greater constitution for abuse. He didn’t care what a therapist said about that. He would go to his grave shouldering the guilt for those feelings, the regret that he hadn’t acted faster as a child. Beating the shit out of his stepfather wasn’t enough. He should have… he could have… he would have…
“Sorry. I’m sorry for everything, Noah. That article may have secured me a nice new job, but I’m already regretting it. Meeting your sister only makes that clearer to me.”
“What you did to me doesn’t matter,” Noah said. “What you do to my sister means everything. So far, you have been splendid. I always want to make it clear that this isn’t normal life here at Gabriel Manor. There are usually a parade of professionals and specialists who help keep an eye on her and make sure her day-to-day goes as smoothly as possible. Things are a bit chaotic right now because it’s just Candace and me doing the best that we can.”
“Your best is remarkable.”
“It would be more remarkable if we were a normal family, but things are what they are.”
Lucy folded her hands in her lap. “Noah…”
