Page 72 of What Is Love
Roe and I both turned our heads to the right. Near the entrance to the hall stood a man from the picture hanging on the wall with the guitars I’d seen in Roe’s house. He and Roe looked so much alike. They had the same stormy blue eyes, same black hair, but this man’s had a little gray in it and was cut shorter. He was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and well-worn light blue jeans. His skin was tanner than Roe’s, as if he had spent long hours on his motorcycle in the sun. He was just as heavily tattooed as Roe, if not more so.
Roe sighed and stepped away from me. “Dad, this is Lottie. Lottie, this is my dad, Noble.”
I pushed off the wall and walked toward him, offering him my hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Walker.”
He took my hand with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Lottie.” As he stared at me, his smile dropped. “Have we met before?”
I tried not to blush as I remembered yesterday.
“You walked in on us yesterday morning, remember?” Roe said as he came to stand next to me.
His dad shook his head. “Not that.” He couldn’t take his eyes off me. “You look so familiar. I swear we’ve met before.”
“I don’t remember ever meeting you, Mr. Walker,” I said.
“Call me Noble, please,” he insisted.
Roe put his hand on the small of my back. “We ordered food. So we should get back.”
Noble nodded and stepped aside so we could walk by. We were only a few feet away when he asked, “What’s your last name, Lottie?”
Roe and I paused to glance back at him. “Kendry,” I answered.
His eyes widened as he looked from me to his son and back to me.
“Dad, you okay?” Roe asked.
Noble quickly turned and began walking away. “Yeah, ignore me. I—I just remembered I gotta make a call.”
Roe and I stared at each other, confused, before Roe closed his eyes and shook his head. “Let’s go eat.”
Chapter Nineteen
We hungout at Noble’s until we were done eating. During that time, Roe had tried to talk me into staying at his place instead. When I agreed, he followed me back to my hotel room to collect my things.
As soon as we got there, I went right to work repacking my suitcase. Roe took a seat on the foot of one of the beds. His eyes followed me as I walked by him multiple times collecting things. I was headed to the bathroom when his arm snapped out and grabbed me around my waist. I surprised us both by smiling down at him as he pulled me to stand between his legs.
“That’s the first time you’ve smiled at me,” he said as he stared up at me in awe. “You have a beautiful smile, you know that?”
I shook my head.
His hands went to the backs of my bare thighs. “You do.” He rubbed small circles on my skin with his thumbs just before he gently pulled on my right thigh. “Lift this leg.”
I did as he said, and he brought my knee up by his hip on the bed. Then his hand on the back of my left thigh moved up to my butt under my skirt and he lifted me until I was straddling hislap. The position made me aware of my sore knees, but just like earlier, I didn’t care.
One of his hands stayed on my butt under my skirt while his other went to the back of my neck just before his lips found mine. I held onto his shoulders as I tried to process everything he was doing to me. His tongue stroking mine, the feel of his warm hands on me, the way his fingers pressed into my skin—it was all too much and not enough.
He rolled us and laid me on my back like I was made of glass. Kneeling between my legs, he took off my shoes. He came back up, propping himself on his hands and knees over me, and kissed me. He pulled away a hair’s breadth and whispered against my lips, “I’ll have my interview now.”
It took a second for my lust-fogged brain to understand, but when it did, my heart sped up in a good way. I ran fingers down the side of his face, feeling his cheekbones, his jawline. This was Roe and I was safe. Ever since I’d vulnerably shared my fears of the future with him, I hadn’t been able to imagine it without Roe being my assistant. It gave a little bit of light to what was still a nightmare I couldn’t escape from. “Okay.”
At my consent, his mouth recaptured mine as he moved a hand between my legs. His fingers touched me through my underwear, undoubtedly feeling how soaked the silk fabric was. He began rubbing me along my seam until he brushed over my clit, making my hips jump a little. He smiled against my mouth as if proud that he could pull such a response from me.
He moved his hand up toward my hip. His tongue devouring mine wasn’t enough to distract me from the feeling of his fingers grasping the side of my panties. My mind left the moment and went somewhere dark and unwanted. Before he could move them, I pushed on his chest, breaking our kiss. “Don’t rip them!”
The panic in my voice made him go still.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I repeated rapidly as if that could take back ruining the moment, but it just seemed to make things more awkward.
