Page 30 of Noah
“I hope you’re up here because the meeting went well and you’re celebrating.” Her eyes dropped to the whiskey bottle. “And I hope you’re planning on sharing that.”
“I wasn’t,” I said softly. “But I also didn’t expect to have anyone to share it with.”
I wondered if she’d understand what I was talking about. Maybe she had no idea how lost I was feeling or how much it hurt when she ran out on me. How would she know, after all? I’d certainly never said anything to her about how I felt. And I hadn’t exactly showed her.
Her smile was gentle. “I needed a sunset. And some whiskey.”
That was all I needed to hear. I dropped down next to her, close enough our legs were touching, and set the bottle within reach. “And yet you’re up here without whiskey and asking to share mine.”
She took the bottle, opened it, and took a sip, than held it out to me. “You shouldn’t be finishing a whole bottle on your own, anyhow. It’s bad for your reputation.”
“Why do you think I’m on the roof? No one up here to see me being bad.” I took the bottle with a quick grin and took a longer sip, myself.
She lifted one brow, grabbed the bottle, and took an even longer drink.
Trying to beat me. As usual.
It happened so slowly I barely noticed it. I asked her why she was up here and she told me she’d been in her room, trying to get some stuff sorted, when an email came in. The orphanage had heard from her dad, or a man claiming that title, and had offered to facilitate a meeting. They wanted to do a DNA test to see whether she was his daughter, though the timeline matched up.
He wanted to be back in her life.
I drew her to me at that, knowing exactly how that must have made her feel. She’d been dumped at the orphanage within hours of being born, and her parents had never been back. I didn’t even know if the orphanage had bothered to look for them, and I knew Molly had written them off long ago. Privately, I agreed with her. If they’d wanted to find her, they could have. After all, they knew where they left her.
She never talked about them, but they’d left their scars. She didn’t trust anyone to take care of her. She never had.
Except me.
The idea of one of those parents suddenly coming back into the picture must have terrified her. Or made her furious. Probably both.
“What about you?” she asked, handing the now half-empty bottle back.
I took my longest drink yet, surprised there was still any whiskey left, and slipped it back to her. “I,” I told her, barely slurring the word, “was brilliant.”
She snorted. “Still sporting that huge ego, I see.”
God, she was gorgeous, and as familiar to me as my own face. The way she tilted her head when she was making a joke. Covered her mouth when she laughed. Slid her finger down my arm when she was making an important point.
She was everything.
And I was drunk.
I leaned in and let my tone turn teasing. “Even bigger than you know. Wanna see?”
19
MOLLY
Oh my God, I was kissing Noah for the second time within twenty-four hours.
Only this wasn’t just kissing. It had started out that way. Noah made a joke that was obviously an attempt at being suggestive, and when I laughed, he took that as all the encouragement he needed. He’d leaned forward and brushed his lips across mine, the touch so beautiful, so gentle, that it had taken my breath away.
When I didn’t pull back, he moved again, and before I knew it I was on my back on that rooftop, his arm behind my head to cushion it and his lips all over me. He kissed like he was dancing, the rhythm slow and sexy, but with a driving need that told me exactly what he had on his mind. I reached up and wrapped my fingers in his hair, savoring the feel of him there. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
Again.
The world spun around me and I wondered for a moment if I was getting drunk off the alcohol on his breath. Or was it soaking out of his skin and right into mine?
Wait, maybe I was just drunk. I’d been drinking, too, so that must be it. Why else would I be taking this chance? We were on the fucking roof, for God’s sake, the sky open and painted in technicolor above us as the sunset washed over the sky. He moved to settle between my legs and I opened for him, my heart hammering with how much I wanted him. Fucking hell, I was aching in places I didn’t even know you could ache and I felt like my heart was going to explode. He pushed against me then, his cock hard and ready, and I moaned up into his mouth.
