Noah (The Mitchell/Healy Family #1)(21)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“Yeah, most girls feel that way.” He looked up at the moving numbers on the elevator. “It’s a damn shame.”

I shook my head and prayed that the doors would open so I could get some distance between us. When they did open I hauled ass down the long hallway until I reached the number on the door that I’d been searching for. Noah was right behind me, but he’d stopped joking about threesomes.

Thank God!

Our room was immaculate.

I walked right in and plopped down on the soft bed. Noah took the bed nearest to the window and kicked off his boots before sitting down and grabbing a folding brochure.

“Do you want to order in, or go downstairs to the restaurant. It’s the same food either way.”

“How do you know that? Does it say that on that paper?”

He handed it to me. “Probably somewhere, but I’ve been here plenty of times with my grandmother.”

“You’ve been in this same hotel before?” I needed a second confirmation on that.

“Yes. My family always stays at this chain anyway, no matter where we travel to. We earn points for stayin’ with them.”

“And you’re farmers?”

He sat up and leaned forward so he was facing me. “Yeah, why?”

“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I guess I thought farmers were poor.”

Noah laughed and put his hands behind his head. “We do alright.” He was quiet for a second before he asked, “So, room service or restaurant?”

“Can I shower first?”

He motioned towards the bathroom and rested his head back on the pillow. “Go for it. Wake me up when you’re done and we can go.”

The bathroom was even more gorgeous than the lobby. Marble was from floor to ceiling and the tub had actual jets in it. The shower had one of those waterfall heads and the pressure was intense compared to what I was used to. On the sink was little samples of different shampoos and lotions. I was beside myself with excitement over the whole ordeal. It was also difficult to decide whether I wanted a bath or a shower.

I chose a shower since I knew that Noah was waiting for me. The hot water felt so good against my tender skin. I was sore from sleeping in the camper and then the truck. While washing my body, I thought about the man that was sitting right in the next room. I imagined what it would be like for him to slip into the shower with me. It was so wrong, but I couldn’t stop doing it. By the time I turned the water off, I’d gotten myself so flustered that I almost needed to take a cold shower.

It wasn’t until I hopped out that I realized I didn’t have a brush, or my bag that had my underwear and toothbrush in it. I wrapped in one of the large white towels and opened the door to retrieve them. Noah sat up and smiled when he saw me standing there and I just froze.

It wasn’t that I felt vulnerable or violated. His eyes were fixed on my body, and the skin that was exposed. I bit my lip and thought about what it would be like to drop the towel. I wondered what would happen, running different scenarios through my mind while standing there. “You need somethin’?” His question made me snap out of my trance.

“Um, no, I can get it myself.” I grabbed the bag and hurried into the bathroom, completely embarrassed.

I hadn’t tried on any of the clothes I bought, so trying everything on was making me nervous. It wasn’t like me to wear a skirt, or a dress, but I’d picked up one of each. I’d also managed to grab a couple pair of jeans that were from a fancy store I never could have afforded on my salary. The jeans were worn in certain spots, with custom rips down the front of each thigh. On the back pockets were just enough bling to make them snap and take away from my hips, that I felt were too wide.

The shirt was a little tight and way too low. I considered putting on a plain t-shirt and calling it a night. Then I thought about Noah, and how he looked without a shirt on. I wasn’t expecting anything from him, but having someone that looked like him staring me down made me feel good about myself. I refused to allow myself another moment to consider changing.

The blow dryer on the wall took forever to dry my hair, but it worked and that I could be thankful for. After applying makeup to my eyes and a light layer of gloss to my lips, I stood back and looked at myself.

It was weird that I barely recognized the reflection in the mirror. It had been forever since I’d gotten dressed up and worn makeup. I wasn’t even sure why I kept it in my purse for so long.

Since I knew I’d taken forever, I put my hand on the doorknob and slowly opened it. Noah was sleeping with the remote to the television in his hand. I walked over and leaned down to take it from him, to give him time to rest before we went out. My touch was enough to startle him awake. He grabbed my hand that had a hold of the remote and looked around the room, before stopping on me. I watched his eyes traveling from my legs then up to my br**sts. It should have made me angry that he was being so blatantly obvious about it, but it didn’t. He let go of my hand and it fell to my side. I couldn’t move. I just stood there letting him take me in. My breathing increased as his focus finally made it to my face. When he started to sit up I moved backwards. He was a good ten inches taller than me, so once he was standing I had to look up to see his face. “You ready to eat?” He walked past me as if the past four minutes hadn’t happened.

As much as I should have felt ashamed for wanting a rise out of him, I felt saddened that I hadn’t gotten the reaction I wanted. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Noah took ten minutes to shower and change, before we headed downstairs to eat. I sat on the bed waiting for him to walk out in only a towel, but he’d been smart and taken his clothes into the bathroom with him.

The elevator ride was just as awkward as the ride to our room earlier. I could feel his eyes on me, but refused to turn around and call him out on it.

For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I was so worried about him being interested in me. I’d just caught my boyfriend cheating on me with my best friend, and ran off with a complete stranger to escape life. I had no right to flirt or even hang out with the guy. Everything about the last twenty-four hours of my life were insane and reckless.

The restaurant was crowded and we were finally seated after having to wait several minutes. Our table was located against a wall. I took the back booth seat, while Noah sat in the chair across from me. While looking at the menu I noticed our waitress had come over and take in Noah. It gave me butterflies to watch him smile and speak respectfully to our server.