Yeah, it did, but he would not argue that point with her. “I have failed at many things in my life, Olivia.” He brushed the hair dangling over her shoulders back, giving him the view of her breasts covered in bubbles he craved. “But the bigger point is, I go after what I want regardless of if I might fail.”
She studied him a moment then shook her head, laughing softly. “You know, you really do surprise the hell out of me.”
“In a good way, I hope.”
“It’s definitely good,” she answered, resting her hands on his shoulders. “You’re not at all what I thought you’d be like after our first meeting. You were all power and strength and seriousness.”
“And you liked that.” He grinned.
“You’re damn right I liked that.” Her heated eyes agreed. “But I never expected you to be so sweet. I feel like I’m going to come out of this week stronger than I came into it, and if I’m being honest here, I wasn’t expecting that.”
He cupped her cheek, still amazed when she so effortlessly leaned into his touch. “I am a dominant, Olivia. I am not only here to take and give pleasure to your body, but I am here to feed your soul, as you feed mine.”
She gave a small snort. “How do I feed yours? I feel like I’m doing nothing at all.”
Oh, how wrong she was. “You give me a taste of sweetness and softness and light in a world of lies, seriousness, and uniformity.”
Her brows rose. “I do?”
“You do.”
She averted her gaze.
Knowing exactly what she needed to hear because he could see her needs written all over her face, he sat up, sending the water sloshing over the sides of the tub. He might never have given a woman his heart fully, but he’d never taken away what Cameron had taken from Olivia. He could do with a few minutes alone with that man.
He gently tucked a finger under her chin, drawing her gaze to him. “Some men can’t stand a woman who shines. That’s their insecurity. They can never measure up, even though they want that sparkle for themselves. Don’t let Cameron’s failure make you believe for a second that your sparkle is not there.?
??
And because he didn’t need—or want—a reply he sealed his mouth on hers in a passionate kiss and hoped she believed him.
Chapter 8
The next morning, with her body still humming from the night before, a soft clicking sound jolted Olivia awake. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times until her vision decided to recognize the world around her. Slowly, a coffee cup appeared on the bedside table. Confused, she lifted her head from the pillow and spotted Noah walking away toward the bathroom. Smiling to herself, she snuggled back into the pillow as she heard the shower turn on. Coffee before anything…that was Olivia’s motto. Okay, so Noah was officially the sweetest man ever to have already figured that out about her. In fact, that’s what she liked most about Noah.
She’d never been with a man who was so attentive before. So far, he had been kind when he didn’t need to be, and he paid attention to all the little things others usually missed. The world needed more men like Noah. Though maybe it wasn’t so hard to be attentive for seven days. A year of that was probably impossible, which maybe explained why Noah couldn’t hold down a serious relationship.
With a sigh, she sat up against the pillows and reached for her coffee and took a long sip of the hot brew. The steam from the shower began to form on the mirror. Slowly, with each and every sip of coffee she took, her mind woke up a little bit more and she came to a solid conclusion.
It didn’t matter whether Noah could be this man all the time. All that mattered was that he was this guy right now, and she needed that guy. For a month, she’d lost the ability to trust people. Noah somehow brought that back so very easily. She’d laughed more with him than she had in weeks. She felt important and sexy and all things that Cameron and Lacie stripped away from her.
The bottom line was she felt more like herself now than she had in a month. Or even long before that. Because the tension inside her had calmed. The sadness had eased. All the negative things her mind told her had silenced. And Noah had returned that to her life in only days of knowing him. His touch, his compliments, his strength, his truth, his steadiness…she apparently needed all that to feel better, and she did feel better. She felt happy.
She took a few more long sips of her coffee while the sun shined through the window, promising a beautiful day. This week with Noah was going to change her life forever, of that she was certain. But what was she going to do for him? When they walked away from each other at the end of their week, what would he take with him?
She stared into the bathroom again, hearing him whistling some tune she couldn’t make out. Part of her wanted to go in there and join him. The other part of her knew the second she did she would not be able to think straight.
Before she could settle on a solid plan, her cellphone beeped. She grabbed it off the end table and saw a text from her mother.
I’ve missed hearing your voice the past couple days. Call when you can.
Olivia smiled. She was close to her mom. They typically talked every couple of days. She texted back: I’m out of town with a friend. I’ll be home tomorrow. Call then. Love you.
She took the final few sips of her coffee then set the empty mug on the end table while keeping her phone in her other hand. She opened Google and began searching for things to do in Bedford, New York. The very first thing on that list could not have been more perfect. She clicked the website with a smile, and minutes later, her booking was confirmed.
That was when she realized she wasn’t alone anymore.
She set her phone down on the bed and glanced up, discovering Noah had exited the bathroom, steam following him. He was stark naked and using a towel to rub the beads of water from his hair.