“You’re tellin’ me,” he murmured between kisses down her spine. His warm, talented hands skimmed her waist, her belly, her hip, her thigh, and Julia was heating up again. “You feel like heaven.”
Her smile widened and her heart swelled. She tipped her head back to kiss him, caught sight of the clock on his nightstand, and she scrambled to a sitting position. “Is that right?”
He frowned at her. “What?”
“The clock. Is it almost ten a.m.?”
Noah propped one muscled arm behind his head and gave her that lazy half grin that made her want to do crazy things to him. “Eight hours of sleep—your rule. I’m just trying to obey.”
Alarm stung her chest. She was going to be late—and she couldn’t miss this appointment.
“Why?” He sat up, gripped her waist, and pulled her on top of him. Then brushed her hair out of her face and stroked his hand down her back. He made her feel so spoiled, so cherished. “Got somewhere to be? I was going to make you breakfast and feed it to you in bed.”
Her nerves were buzzing. She had to get away from him without looking like she needed to get away from him, all while not wanting to get away from him at all. “That sounds amazing. But with the guys coming over tonight, I’ve got to get to the grocery store and fit in your therapy and a workout before they get here.”
With a deep regret, she kissed him, then rolled off and popped out of bed just as his arm swooped out to catch her waist. She laughed and dodged. Noah dropped his hand to the floor with a dramatic groan of defeat, while he lay diagonal on his big bed, the sheets covering nothing but his perfect ass. And, God, he was a beautiful sight. Could easily make a girl forget every damn priority she had other than loving all over him.
She rummaged in the drawers he’d cleaned out in his dresser for her things and pulled on a fresh pair of jeans and a long-sleeved blouse, then started for the bathroom to tie up her hair.
“Not even a quickie?” he asked. “Seriously?”
She laughed The man’s sexual longevity combined with his appetite took “quickie” out of his dictionary. “Superstar, you don’t know the meaning of the word.”
His cocky laugh followed her into the bathroom. After a quick cleanup, she braided her hair into one long tail. When she came out of the bathroom, Noah had pulled on gray gym shorts and looked lusciously rumpled as he walked downstairs with her.
In the kitchen, she paused to flip on the coffeepot, then threw ingredients for Noah’s morning smoothie into the blender and set a baggie of his supplements beside the coffeemaker.
“Okay, you’re set,” she said grabbing her parka from the hook by the back door and stepping into her boots. “Warm up with a run, and we’ll hit the workout as soon as I get home.”
Noah stood against the opposite counter and Julia had a flash of memory, of seeing him in that exact spot five weeks ago, but now, he dangled her keys from the fingers of one hand with the most adorable smirk on his face.
A lot of things hit her at once.
One: he was ridiculously delicious.
Two: he was stupidly sweet, wickedly clever, admirably dedicated, and insanely adorable.
And three…
Holy shit…three…
The sting of terror ripped down her spine.
I love him.
She was full-on, head-over-heels, slobbering-all-over-herself in love with the man.
He lifted the hand holding her keys by one finger and jingled them. “I’ll trade these for a kiss.”
His words snapped her back to reality, and a chaotic burst of fear and excitement fluttered in her belly. She reminded herself this wasn’t forever, tucked her heart back into its little cage, and forced a smile through the discomfort.
“I don’t know,” she sang, sauntering toward him, then curved her arms around his waist and leaned in. She pressed her body the length of his and snuggled her face to his throat, breathing deep of his unique, intoxicating scent. Then she kissed the base of his neck. “You…” She kissed a little higher. “Drive a…” She kissed that spot just below his ear that made him shiver. “Hard…” Then she scraped his earlobe gently between her teeth, grinning when he did shiver. “Bargain.”
She snapped the keys from his hand and stepped away. He grabbed her back, his arm locking around her waist, drawing her up against him with enough force to make her giggle.
“Little cheat,” he said, then kissed her.
The simple feel of his lips on hers, lips that must have kissed her hundreds of times by now, still made everything but Noah drift away. His teasingly demanding kiss turned softer, then deeper, then passionate, until Julia tingled all over.