Page 50 of Noah's Reckoning
“Noah,” she sighed. “It keeps getting better.”
It did. It did keep getting better.
And when I’d exhausted both of us for the second night in a row, I curled her into me and listened as she fell asleep in my arms.
I thought about leaving her Tuesday morning. I thought about going back to camp without her. I thought about how my bed wasn’t going to smell like her. How the hell was I going to be able to sleep?
I thought about all those things. And I thought about how she still hadn’t taken the pill.
13
Olivia
I woke up and reached for him only the bed was empty. I rolled onto my back and groaned, thinking how good I felt. Regular sex after going so long without it was good for my body. I felt strong and sated and ready to take on the world.
One more day.
Then he would go back. In a few weeks, I would be expected to fly up there and then what? He’d made it clear he wanted to keep it secret from the men at camp. Sure, Cal, Eli and Jackson knew. There really had been no hiding what we had been doing in that cabin when they showed up. But they were his boys and would have his back. Also, they were not the type of men who would lose respect for a woman just because she chose to have sex with a man.
Where did that leave us? Him flying to Anchorage? Us making sure we stayed in places where we were unlikely to run into anyone who might work for Dyson?
A couple days of sex then he’d leave again?
I frowned. I didn’t want that but acknowledging that meant I had to consider what I did want.
Noah. All of him. I wanted him to be mine. I wasn’t even sure if that was possible for a man like him. He’d already told me. He was thirty-seven and he’d never had a serious relationship with a woman. Work drove him. His passion for his job drove him. Sex drove him.
What about his feelings?
I let out a breath then got out of bed. I threw on a robe and made my way to the kitchen. I could smell the coffee brewing. Noah was over the sink mixing something in a bowl.
He wore jeans and a gray thermal Henley. His feet were bare, his hair was messy, and I didn’t know if he would ever be mine. It seemed like some big, impossible dream. Sort of like wanting to be CEO of an energy company.
The challenge, however, drove me forward.
“Pancakes,” he said. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I said. I sat at my island and watched him work. Then I noticed he’d set a plate for me. With a glass of orange juice and a mug of coffee, already waiting.
I swallowed a lump in my throat even as I took a sip of the orange juice.
When he’d finished stirring the pancake mix, he set the bowl down. He walked over to me and planted a kiss on my lips.
I thought he was more delicious than orange juice.
“Liv, babe.”
“What?” I asked.
That’s when he slid the pill I didn’t want to see from behind the mug of coffee so that it was right in front of me.
I looked up at him then down at the pill.
It was certainly the responsible thing to do. I was a woman on a very aggressive career path. Having a child really didn’t work with that no matter how many people said a woman could have it all these days.
Noah and I weren’t in a relationship. Nothing that was defined anyway. So it wouldn’t be fair to count on him for support. Not when he’d provided the means to prevent the pregnancy. When he’d made his wishes on the matter crystal clear.
If I made this decision, if I went down this path, I had to assume it would be all on me.
