Page 1 of Play Hard
CHAPTER 1
Noah
Afamiliar scent wafted through my nostrils, causing my thumb to pause over my phone. Suddenly, telling Lance to kiss my ass I’d be there when I got there was a distant memory. Every molecule in my body was too busy responding to the warm, sensual aroma. Brushed mahogany, smoked vanilla, golden amber and a hint of apricot. It was a fusion I’d never forget. A soothing balm to the ache buried deep in my chest.
Ever.
That was the name of the perfume. And when I lifted my head I saw the only woman to ever wear it.
Serra Davis.
Our gazes locked. The widening of her eyes indicated she was just as shocked to see me as I was her. Before I could say anything—I’d have to think of what the hell to say first—she jerked back as if I’d reached for her. Then she turned and attempted to get off the elevator. But the doors were already closing, halting her exit.
“Can’t stand the sight of me now?” was what finally fell from my lips. Not exactly what I would’ve planned to say seeing her for the first time in eleven years.
She turned slowly until she was once again facing me. My hand clenched around the phone before I slipped it into my pocket. My other hand, thankfully, fell to my side as my fingers twitched. I wanted to touch her. To reach out and brush the back of my fingers over her cheek the way I used to do whenever she was near.
Her skin was still the same golden-brown hue, still looked as smooth and soft as it had so long ago. High cheekbones, perfectly arched brows, expressive eyes and that damn bow shaped mouth. I had so many memories of that mouth. My dick was just about to start its stretch down memory lane, when the elevator started to move. I barely registered the glow of the number on the control panel behind her, indicating the elevator had stopped on the fifth floor to pick her up. I’d just gotten on at six and pressed the lobby button. Serra hadn’t made a selection, so I assumed she was going to the same place.
“Wasn’t expecting to see you,” she finally replied with an exasperated roll of her eyes.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her even when she moved to the farthest corner of the elevator car and folded her arms over her chest.
My gaze instantly dropped to her generous breasts that her action had pushed upward as if to taunt me even more so than the memory of her had done these past years. The purple dress she wore stopped just above her knee and hugged those breasts like a second skin. There was a bow tied at her waist that I was certain if I yanked on it, the material would fall to the floor.
As tempting as that thought was the frosty glare that greeted me when I dragged my gaze back up to her face, jolted me back to reality.
“So, you forgot I lived in Providence?” I asked, not at all believing that shit. “Like you forgot to tell me you weren’t satisfied with our relationship anymore.”
Yo, I felt like a fuckin’ fool. And honestly, I hadn’t felt this way in a long ass time. But there had always been something about Serra that had me doing and saying things I never imagined I would. I guess today was no different.
Except it should’ve been. I wasn’t that twenty-one-year-old who’d fallen head over heels in love with this woman’s pussy. Nor was I the immature guy who believed her when she’d said she wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship. In the years we’d been apart I’d seen a good portion of the world, made a decent amount of money, suffered another tremendous loss and resolved a lot of shit from my past. So, standing a few feet away from her shouldn’t have me feeling off-kilter.
“Are you serious?” she asked, then huffed. “That’s what you say to me after all this time?”
I shrugged but I just couldn’t stop staring at her. She was so fuckin’ beautiful, it almost hurt to continue staring. My damn traitorous heart wouldn’t let me look away.
“You’re the one who turned around to walk away, like you weren’t going to say anything to me at all,” I shot back.
“Because there’s nothing left to say,” she replied.
“Yeah, that’s what you said the last time.”
She rolled her eyes again. “And I meant it.”
I shrugged again. “So you did.”
There was about twenty seconds of tense silence before a screeching that sounded like bad brakes on a tractor trailer, pierced the air, then the elevator car jolted. Serra pitched forward and I lurched toward her, arms extended to keep her from falling on her face.
Her palms flattened over my chest. “Shit,” she hissed.
My fingers were tight on her waist as I held her close. Too damn close.
“Are we stuck?” She stared up at me, brow furrowed, eyes wide.
Finally able to tear my gaze away from the face that had haunted me more nights than I could count, I glanced around to the control board like I expected it to have an answer. It didn’t, of course, and that only deepened my frown. My hands left her waist, immediately missing the warmth that filled them the second they connected with her.
“Well, don’t just stare at it,” she said from behind me. “Press the button. Make it move. Do something, Noah!”
