Tempt The Playboy (Tempt 2)

Austin laughs from beside Lauren. “You couldn’t do yoga if you tried.” He continues laughing while Noah glares at him.

“Plus, you said we could do the downward dog thing,” he whispers to me. Coming close to my ear, he adds, “I want to make friends with you.” He kisses my ear then licks it, giving my body goose bumps. I shiver under his touch.

“What’s the downward dog?” Austin asks in a whisper that is not at all quiet. Lauren just shushes him.

“Don’t you two have to be somewhere?” I look back at them.

“Nope,” they both answer at the same time and then look at each other and smile.

“Come back home with me,” Noah asks me, leaning in and tracing my jaw with the tip of his nose. “Please.”

I’m melting. My insides are totally caving for this man who I said I would never sleep with again, this man who I left twice now. This man who knows how to play my body like a violin. His blue eyes say words that we are both not ready to say out loud.

“Okay,” I reply, and Lauren gasps from her side of the kitchen. She knows I never let my guard down with men, ever. “Besides, I think Austin is going to kill me for making him drink breast milk.”

Noah looks at Austin as he stands back, making room for me to get up and gather my stuff. “You drank breast milk, dude? Can you die from that?” He slips his hands in his shorts pockets.

Austin stills, while Lauren says, “No, you can’t. Now, go away before he goes nuts,” before turning to Austin. “You can’t die from drinking breast milk. Well, unless the mother had like HIV or something.”

Noah bursts out laughing, grabbing my hand and dragging me back out the door.

He doesn’t say a word before bringing me to the car, opening the door, and pushing me inside. Once he gets behind the wheel, he locks the door. “Just in case you want to jump out.”

I take my hand and toss my hair behind me. “Oh, please, you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you,” I say, grabbing the seat belt.

“Your nose is growing there, Pinocchio,” he says, starting the car. “Going to wake me my ass. You hightailed it so fast I think I still smell the rubber from the tires.”

I open my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out except, “I want coffee, please.”

He pulls away from the curb, making his way back to his house but stopping at Starbucks first. Once we get to his house, he rounds the car to grab my hand as I’m getting out. “You know, just in case you bolt.”

“Okay, I get it, you don’t like it,” I huff out. “It’s just.” I start saying and drift off.

“Oh, we will get to all that the minute we get inside,” he says, almost dragging me into the house. “So where do you want to do this?” he asks.

“We’ve done it almost everywhere.” I smile at him, sipping my Americano with soy milk. “I mean, I think we missed the coffee table, so maybe we can start there.” I point to the middle of his living room.

“Let’s go outside. We can sit by the pool,” he says, still holding my hand, dragging me there. He makes his way over to the outdoor lounger bed that we sat on before. He flips over the lid so we are blocked from the sun. I crawl inside and sit up with my back to the throw pillows. He follows me and does the same, holding his ice coffee in his hand. “So. We are going to get some things straight right now.”

I don’t say anything because his voice is curt and I have trouble swallowing, so I just nod while he continues.

“Number one. We do not ever, ever leave when the other person is sleeping or not aware.” He side eyes me.

I roll my eyes at him, taking a sip of my coffee again. “Okay, I get it. No leaving without telling you. Jeez.”

“You did it twice, Kaleigh, not once, twice. It might get my feelings hurt.” He looks at me now. “Why?” he asks the question that gets my heart going. It’s beating so fast I’m sure he can tell. He grabs my hand and kisses the inside of my wrist where he can feel my heartbeat. “This is me and you, Kay. You can tell me anything and I promise to never ever use it against you.”

“It’s nothing really. I just…” I shake my head, moving my eyes away from him and staring at the pool, watching the water move. “I fell in love with a man who never ever spent the night, ever. We actually only dated a couple of months, but it was my first real ‘love’ if you know what I mean.”