“What?” he asked, his mouth full of maple syrup breakfast goodness.
“You eat like my little brother,” I explained, pointing to his plate with my fork. “He likes it all mixed together too.”
“I like the way all the tastes combine...” Big blue eyes looked at me in complete innocence, thinking I was making fun of him.
I smiled. “That's what he says, too!”
Noah swallowed and grinned. “So you have a little brother? Is he here on the island with you?”
I shook my head. “No, he's back in the States. He starts high school this year. Will you hand me the orange juice?”
Noah's eyebrows rose, but he reached for the juice. “High school?” I could see his brain trying to do mental math to figure out if I was far younger than I looked.
“Thanks,” I said as I took the juice and poured a big glass. “The two of us are nine years apart.”
“Oh,” he replied, a relieved smile lit up his face. He put another bite of food on his fork and got ready to put it in his mouth. “Are you two close?”
I shook my head. “Not really. I got stuck watching him a lot growing up, but now that we're so far apart, I kind of miss him. He's a good kid.”
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Noah took another bite.
“Or forgetful. Though I doubt I'll forget all the frogs he put in my pillowcase anytime soon. Little child was a brat.” I laughed. It was a funny memory now, but at the time I nearly took him to the local pond and drowned him. “Do you have any siblings?”
Noah swallowed. “An older brother.”
“What does he do?” I added some more maple syrup to my plate. It was just too good.
“He works for me,” Noah said with a grin. I set my fork down and eyed him.
“See? I knew you had to be successful. Reporters, Jack Saunders, and an older brother that works for you. You must do more than just flip distressed properties. What do you do?”
Noah shook his head. “Not telling.”
“Why?” I took another bite and swallowed. “Do you work for the mob?”
Noah laughed, nearly choking on his eggs. “No, no mob. I've been accused of it, but I can honestly say that I don't work for the mob.”
“Hmm. Do I need to be worried about what you do? I mean, if you're a hit man, I'd like to know.” I felt a little bit of anxiety at the fact that he didn't want to tell me exactly what he did for a living. I was getting the very clear impression that he had a good deal of wealth, but there were a lot of shady ways to make money. I wasn't nearly as afraid as I should have been, though. For some reason, every fiber of my being already trusted him completely. Even the little worrywart fibers that liked to whisper things in the wee hours and didn'
t fully trust that gravity existed, trusted him.
“You only need to worry if you're a distressed property,” he answered, leaning back in his chair and pushing his empty plate forward.
I patted my chest. “Nope, still a human.” I played with my fork in the last remnants of egg on my plate.
“I'll tell you this,” he said, relenting slightly. “I have several businesses, and they all deal with real estate in some form. I am very successful with what I do. And the reason I don't want to tell you, is because I'm afraid you'll be tempted to go Google it and you'll find out about those failures I was telling you about earlier. The press hasn't been very nice to me, and there are a lot of lies being spread around.”
I set my fork down. “So why don't you just tell me now? Then I'll know the truth.”
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “If I tell you, I'm afraid you won't look at me like you are right now. I'm afraid you'll look at me the way everyone else does, and that would kill me.”
His eyes focused on mine, the candlelight flickering and bringing out the handsomeness of his face. There was an energy to him that I couldn't escape. Didn't want to escape. At that moment, I didn't care what he did. I just wanted to be with him. Besides, it didn't matter what he did anyway. He was leaving soon.
“You haven't asked me when I'm leaving yet,” Noah remarked as if he could read my mind. For all I knew, he could.
“Maybe I don't want to know. Maybe I like the illusion that you might stay.” I swallowed hard. I hadn't realized that the words were true until I spoke them. The idea of him staying was like being told I could have the moon. I wanted it so badly, but I knew realistically it wasn't going to happen.
“How about this, then? I'll tell you what I do when I leave.”