Page 50 of Stolen Kisses
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Noah got up with the sun. Even on a kind-of vacation, he couldn’t ditch the early fishermen hours. He glanced over at Krista and watched her for a moment with the sun spilling in through the window, casting a golden hue on her face. Her dark hair fanned out along the pillow beneath her.
God, this woman is gorgeous.More than any woman he’d ever been with, and she had no idea. Which only added to her beauty.
Rolling away from her, he draped his legs off the king-sized bed that he was never supposed to have slept in last night, stood, and headed to go shower in the guest bathroom on the other side of the cabin. He was never fully awake without a blast of hot water on his face and body. Or without a cup of joe, which he set to making right after he toweled off. His gaze cast longingly at the bedroom where Krista was still sleeping. If he were still treating her as a best friend, he’d step in and pull her out from under the covers. He’d tease her for sleeping in. Things had definitely changed between them, though, long before last night. Long before that drunken kiss she’d laid on him a few weeks ago.
He sipped his coffee, hot and bitter, the way he liked it. He and Krista were in unexplored territory, which was something that usually excited him. He’d seen couples go from love to hate in a flash, though. That was something he never wanted to happen with Krista. It was the reason he’d always kept his attraction to her locked away.
The bedroom door opened and she shuffled out in socked feet, looking absolutely adorable with her sleep-tossed hair. He set his coffee cup down and waited for her to find him.
“Coffee?” she asked, eyeing his mug.
“Of course. Want some?”
“Do I? I don’t know what happened last night, but I’m tired and hungry.”
A grin settled on her mouth right along the same time his lips pulled up. “Don’t tell me you forgot. You barely drank a glass of wine.”
She continued shuffling toward him and sat on a stool as he moved to make her a cup of coffee. “No, I haven’t forgotten.”
He loved that melodic tone to her voice. It was especially beautiful this morning. Placing a mug and a container of sugar in front of her, he said, “Almond milk and four sugars.”
She smiled shyly as she met his gaze. Was she thinking about last night? About the things he’d done to her and wanted to do again?
“So, uh…” he said, then paused. He had no idea what to say to Krista these days. “How was last night?” A grin spread through her cheeks and he couldn’t help catching it. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m talking about sleep. How did you sleep?”
She shrugged her shoulders lightly, cupping her mug close to her mouth. “Perfect.”
“Good.” He cleared his throat. Why was he so awkward with her this morning? “I was thinking we’d grab breakfast on the way into town this morning. We can buy some nonperishables for the cupboards and a few cleaning supplies, and then get started making this place a honeymoon cottage.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Krista took another sip of her coffee, then hitched a thumb behind her. “I’ll just go get dressed.”
And if he were dating her, he’d follow her back into her bedroom and help with that. But they weren’t dating. He had no idea what they doing. Last night had been so easy and this morning things were…different. Maybe he should just proceed with the day as if last night had never happened. Which wasn’t at all what he wanted to do. Hell, he didn’t know what to do anymore. Perhaps they’d gotten whatever that was out of their systems and last night didn’t need to mean anything.
He chewed on his thoughts until Krista came back out of the bedroom, fresh-faced with her hair pulled neatly back into a low-hanging ponytail. She looked just like the girl he’d grown up with, only curvier with hips and breasts. And he never would have looked at the girl who’d grown up down the street from him the way he was looking at this woman now. He’d seen this woman naked, and he’d be replaying that image until the end of time.
Shit.This was Krista. Kris.
Noah turned away and grabbed his keys, jiggling them in the air. They had a job to do. Hopefully that would distract them both until he could figure out what the hell he was supposed to do now.
—
Krista couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Noah was treating her no differently than normal. Tears threatened behind her eyes, but she wouldn’t let him see her cry. First off, he was a man and, just like her brother and father, he got all squirrelly when tears were involved. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected this morning, but it wasn’t walking beside each other with a two-foot distance between them and barely being able to make eye contact. Or, if she was honest with herself, this was exactly what she would’ve expected from Noah. Last night had been just sex, a casual occurrence for him. It didn’t mean anything and he obviously wasn’t going to pursue anything further.
“So you don’t have any suggestions for stocking the pantry?” he asked, turning to her in the grocery store aisle.
“Well,” she said, trying to push her emotions back. “We want to get romantic foods.”
Noah lifted a brow. “Food can be romantic?”
“Of course it can. I don’t guess you’d know that, though.” She heard the insult in her tone, but couldn’t help it. Her feelings were hurt. Last night had been off-the-charts amazing. She’d woken with a skip in her step and a smile on her face. And now what they’d shared was little more than a dream. Part of her wondered if that’s exactly what it’d been because there was no evidence that it’d actually happened.
Noah looked over and frowned at her.
She pretended not to notice. “Pasta is romantic,” she clarified, tossing a couple boxes of dry noodles in the cart. “Stew isnotromantic.” Even though she’d thought differently last night. Last night she’d considered everything that had to do with Noah romantic. She reached for some creamy Alfredo sauce and put a few jars in the cart as well. She’d make sure to get a few bags of frozen vegetables to stock the freezer, too.
Noah trailed behind her, saying very little as they continued from aisle to aisle until they reached the wine display. “I might not know a lot about food and romance, but I do know that wine is more romantic than beer. Any favorites?”
