Page 1 of Resisting You
Chapter 1
Noah
Stop shaking.
I clenched my hands together, trying to get them to stop trembling. A bad habit I’d had for as long as I could remember when I was angry. I shook. Literally, I shook everywhere. Hands, knees, belly… hell, even my eyes twitched if I was really pissed off.
I took a deep breath and did my best to calm myself, adjusting the wireless earbuds I wore.
“Do not sign me up for this, Kristen. Imeanit.”
“A Bachelor Auction for charity will look good, Noah. You have to trust me on this. Every other single guy on your show is participating. Even your friend, the tattoo artist, is doing it! It won’t look good if you don’t.”
West was participating in this bullshit? That didn’t sound like him. Then again, after some of his tattoos went viral, he basically became as big of a celebrity as me and I was the one who referred Kristen to him to help manage his career.
I couldn’t help but wonder if that was a mistake. “I don’t care that it won’t look fucking good, I’m not a piece of meat that can be bid on,” I snapped at her. My voice echoed, bouncing off thewalls in the small Atlantic City chapel and I winced, scanning the area, where several couples stood in line for impromptu weddings.
Across the room, I caught Rosa’s eye… Rosa Alvarez. The most gorgeous woman I’d ever laid eyes on. And the only woman I’d ever asked out who had turned me down.
Multipletimes.
“What’s going on?” she mouthed to me from across the room.
I tried to wave off my anger, but even as I did that, my damn shaky hands gave me away. Her eyes fell to the tremor in my fingers and she dropped her cheek to her shoulder as if to say,Come off of it.
“Sir,” a woman’s voice said behind me. “This may not be a traditional church, but we’re still a chapel. And there are still people trying to get married here.”
“Shit,” I hissed and dragged a hand down my face. “I have to go, Kristen. My best friend is getting married any minute now. Just don’t… don’t sign me up for anything yet. Got it?”
She sighed. “Fine. You have until tomorrow to decide. But Noah, I’m telling you… not participating will be a mistake. You’re single and easily the show’s hottest eligible bachelor. It will go a long way in your contract negotiations for them to see how desired you are by the fans.”
That was sort of the problem. I didn’t even know if I wanted to resign on the show. Lately, I’d been dreaming of more serious roles. Movies. Theater. Roles that didn’t include sticking faux vampire teeth in my mouth and CGI blood pouring from a damsel’s neck.
“Just think about it,” she said. On that note, she ended the call.
From a marketing and public relations standpoint, I knew she was right. But it just felt wrong. It felt icky.
I already had to constantly put myself on display for this show— taking off my shirt and showing my muscles any time the writers demanded it. Not to mention, I’d nearly ruined what little relationship I still had with my brothers because of these PR stunts.
Luckily, we had managed to repair the damage… mostly.
I was already posing for every magazine, stripping off my clothes for every photoshoot, and now… now they wanted me to literally sell myself for a date night?
It’s for charity. Sure, that’s how they convinced you to degrade yourself. Couldn’t I just donate to that charity directly and call it a day?
Before I could cross the room back to where Rosa and my best friends, Reid and Hazel were standing, about to get married, Rosa was on her way over to me.
The scent of citrus clung to her and I smiled, knowing that she’d just eaten an orange. It was her favorite snack and she almost always had at least one on her at any given time.
I’d always found it hilarious… an orange. One of the hardest fruits to eat in public on the go. But that was Rosa for you. She never took the easy way.
Her fingernails slid across my shoulders and she touched me in a way that I was sure was meant to be comforting, but it lit me on fire. Her big, brown eyes concerned and tilted up at me and her pouty mouth curving into a worried frown. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
I took a deep breath and tugged the earbuds from my ears, stuffing them into my pocket. “Everything’s fine. Did they say how much longer?”
She shifted her bouquet of flowers into her other hand and looked at her watch. “Well, they said ten minutes fifteen minutes ago, so…” She ended the sentence with a shrug. “But then again, it’s a little unusual for them to have a request like ours.”
Since Reid and I were both famous… me more than him, but only because directors don’t get the same facial recognition as actors… and Hazel’s star was on the rise, we had asked that they clear out any awaiting couples during the ceremony so that no one could slip in and snap any photos or record us. Even now, in the waiting room, we had requested a security guard to make sure no one had their phones out.
