He smiled as he rolled to one side and sat up, ignoring the unhappy twitching of his cock. “You know how to flatter a man. But no, you shouldn’t be offended. Thinking straight is both my gift and my curse.”
She remained flat on her back, wrinkling her nose. “If you say so.”
He braced one hand on the quilt and leaned his face close to hers. “I do say so. And I mean it. It’s not easy to pull away from you, but I don’t want any regrets between us. When I make love to you for the first time, I want to know that we’re both all in.”
Her eyes widened. “All right. But please make an effort not to get any sexier, okay? I’m not sure how much more I can resist.”
“Ditto,” he said, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose. “So when can I see you again?”
She sat up, reaching for the sandals she’d kicked off when they’d settled in for dinner. “Um, I don’t know. I’m pretty free this week. Just virtual assistant stuff in the mornings and helping my mom with the petting zoo in the afternoons. But I can skip out on the petting zoo whenever. Mom’s used to managing without me.”
He nodded. “Then how about tomorrow night? I got drafted into helping set up the mud run obstacle course tomorrow afternoon, but—”
“Oh my God!” She turned, grabbing his wrist. “Really? You’re so lucky! I’ve been dying to get on that crew for years.”
“Really?” he asked, laughing. “You enjoy getting up to your elbows in mud?”
“Absolutely,” she said, surprising him. “I love obstacle courses. But Spark and Steve never let girls on the Mud Run course creation crew.”
“Ridiculous. And sexist,” he said, grinning when she huffed in agreement. “So why don’t you come work with me tomorrow? Help dig around in the mud and then we can go get ice cream or something?”
“That sounds amazing.” She stood with an easy grace before turning back to him with a wink. “And we’re not likely to get into any trouble if we’re busy getting muddy.”
He gazed up at her, admiring the elegant curves of her body, highlighted by the setting sun. “I don’t know about that. I bet you’ll look pretty sexy muddy.”
Her grin faded as she crossed her arms at her chest. “So when do we sort things out? My appointment is this coming Monday. The doctor said I could cancel as late as the morning of, but…”
“I’m set to fly out Sunday afternoon,” Noah said, sobering at the reminder of just how serious she was about moving forward with her plans. “Why don’t we enjoy the next few days and agree to come to final decisions on Saturday. Sound good?”
She cocked her head to one side. “Not really, but I can tolerate a few days of uncertainty as long as I know you’re still seriously considering things.”
He stood, taking her hand in his. “I’m seriously considering everything about you. All I ask is that you do the same.”
“And what would you like me to consider?” she asked.
“Putting the baby plans on hold and giving this thing between us a shot. I can move up my plans to relocate to Lonesome Point, and we can date like normal people with no sperm sample hovering over our heads.”
She sighed, but she didn’t call him crazy again, which he decided to take as a good sign. “All right,” she finally whispered. “I’ll consider it, but that’s all I can promise. My past is still my past, Noah. No matter how much I would like to erase it, it’s a part of who I am and it’s changed me. I don’t know if I can believe in this kind of thing anymore. Especially, that it can be easy.”
He moved closer, pulling her into his arms. “Then I’ll just have to do my best to change your mind.”
CHAPTERTEN
Yasmin
By the timeYasmin got home Wednesday night, it was too late for her to be calling up anyone for some major life advice, so she waited until bright and early Thursday morning before phoning her friend Layla. If anyone could give her advice on how to move on after an ugly relationship, it was Layla Lawson. Layla might be living happily ever after with a red hot cowboy now, but not long ago she was in a marriage that gave new meaning to the word nightmare.
But she’d gotten out, learned to trust her own heart again, and moved on with the man of her dreams.
Yasmin hadn’t wanted to bother Layla with her questions before—she knew Layla had her hands full with her new baby—but now she didn’t see any other way forward. She needed advice, and she needed it now before she did something she would live to regret.
“Good morning,” Layla said, delight clear in her tone. “Your ears must have been burning. I was just talking about you.”
“Really?” Yasmin smiled. “Good things I hope.”
“Great things. The hotel hasn’t been the same since you left. The spunkiness level at the front desk is down at least fifty percent. Is this the call telling me you’re coming back to town at the end of the summer, so I don’t have to hire my maternity leave replacement full-time?”
“Sadly, no,” she said, nibbling her lip. “Or maybe not so sadly. I’ve sort of…met someone. Here in Lonesome Point.”