Page 79 of Axe Backwards
He put his arm around me and squeezed. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
His thick swallow was audible. “I’m embarrassed.”
I pushed him away, wiping my runny nose in a very unladylike way. “Why? Because you expressed emotion?”
He shrugged, his lips pressed into a line.
“Please, that is the opposite of embarrassing. You’re expressing your feelings and processing your trauma. You’re working to be better for your child. Fuck, if we put you on a billboard, every woman on planet earth would line up to date you.”
He froze, his gaze darkening. “I don’t need a billboard. I already have a girlfriend.”
Slowly, he used his thumb to wipe an errant tear from my cheek.
Electricity sparked under my skin, and an awareness took over.
Suddenly, I realized how intertwined we were. His arms were still looped around me, and I was almost on his lap. Our faces were only inches apart.
And I felt more alive than I ever had.
I should have defused the situation. Put some distance.
Instead, I leaned into him, letting myself enjoy his warmth and his strength.
“I know it’s fake. I know you’re not interested. You don’t feel…” He swallowed thickly, the column of his throat far too close. There was no avoiding the sexy way his Adam’s apple bobbed as he trailed off.
It wasn’t true. Not entirely.
Though I denied it, though I refused to let myself admit to feeling anything for him, the pull was strong, and it was harder to ignore every day. The desire to see him and hear him and smell him was all-encompassing sometimes.
I craved the warmth and comfort that came with sitting on this very couch with him and Tess.
I’d lain in my bed, smelling the pillow he’d slept on only minutes before, thinking about what his scruff would feel like against my skin. How those strong, calloused hands would hold me.
And his lips. I couldn’t stop staring at them.
“I feel it.” I held my breath, anxious for his response.
His eyes widened in surprise, and his body tensed, but he didn’t let go.
I expected him to respond with a quip, to make light of the situation. To brush it off. If he didn’t, what happened next could change everything.
He didn’t speak. Instead, he cupped my face and kissed me.
Hard. Insistent and hungry.
It wasn’t like any kiss I’d ever experienced. There was no tentative testing of the waters.
No, Noah dove right in.
I threw my arms around his neck, and in one fluid movement, he pulled me into his lap and held me so close our chests were pressed together.
He deepened the kiss, taking all I had to offer.
In the space of two heartbeats, my body went into overdrive. My pulse pounded in my ears and all the way down to my toes. The feel of his lips on mine sent tingles coursing through me.
When he slid his hands down my back, cupping my ass in my sleep shorts and pressing me against his body so I could feel him, hard and needy, my vision went spotty.
