His body tenses under my touch. The tension whenever Riff’s name comes up is so odd. The anger between them clearly hasn’t left his system. “Yeah, he and Aubrey both, and he actually apologized again for the golden ticket thing.”
Noel shoves his lips into a thin line and runs his hand through his hair. “Did he say anything else?”
The thought crosses my mind to ask him about the dirt that Riff implied he has, but the look on Noel’s face stops me. He looks angry, and I don’t understand his problem with Riff. He always tells me his band mates are his brothers. The way he’s acting at the mention of Riff talking to me, isn’t very brotherly love-like.
I place my hands on Noel’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Is there something we need to talk about?”
Noel flinches like I just smacked him in the face. “No. Why? Do you think we have something we need to discuss?”
His tone catches me off guard. Why is he so defensive all of the sudden? Is he really keeping things from me like Riff implied?
I drop my hands from his chest. “No. I guess not.”
I turn to walk away from him, but he catches my hand. “Hey…are you mad at me?”
I shake my head. “Of course not. I just don’t understand why you are getting so angry.”
He sighs and pulls me back against his body. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. Riff can push my buttons like no other. I don’t want him around you when I’m not there.”
Maybe he isn’t hiding anything after all.
I trace his jaw with my fingers. “You may not trust Riff, but you need to trust me. There’s no one I want other than you. Nothing he can say will ever change that.”
Noel pulls my hand away from his face and kisses my fingertips. “I don’t want to lose you, Lane. The thought of it scares the shit out of me.”
“Me too. I can’t believe we’re together again. Nothing is going to break us up this time.” My voice sounds firm.
His large hands cup my face and his thumbs rub against my cheeks. His blue eyes search my face. “Promise?” Noel whispers.
I don’t look away from his gaze. “I promise.”
Noel’s mouth crushes against mine as the words leave my lips. The heat bounds between us and my hands fly up into his thick, dark hair. His hands slide up, under my t-shirt and stroke the flesh on the small of my back.
I moan and Noel chuckles. “I love that you get turned on so fast for me. It’s unbelievably sexy. How come you weren’t like this in high school?”
I kiss his lips and shrug. “Scared, I guess, and inexperienced.”
He grins. “What do you expect from two virgins?”
He cuddles me tighter and I smile. “True, but I’m glad it was you.”
“Me too.”
We spend the rest of the day hanging out in our room. Most of our time in each others arms making future plans and filling in the blanks between us from the last few years.
The food from our room service order is devoured quickly.
“Are you excited that your boss will be here tomorrow?” Noel asks.
I swallow down the last bite of my hamburger from room service before answering. “Excited and nervous.”
He tilts his head to the side. “Why nervous? You already have the job locked down.”
“I know, but I really want Diana to like me. If she finds out that we are…together, she may not take me so seriously.”
People from all over the globe request Diana for projects. She has the magic touch. It seems like everything she gets her hands on turns into a world wide phenomenon.
I can only dream of having a career like hers one day.
He touches my cheek. “How could she not love you? You are the best person I know. You’re straight laced—head always in the right direction. I pretty much think you’re perfect. And who doesn’t love perfection?”
My face blushes and I look away. He thinks I’m perfect. The most perfect man in the world thinks I’m perfect. Someone is going to pinch me soon because this is too much like a damn dream.
“I’m nowhere near perfect, Noel.”
Noel nods and touches my nose with his fingertip. “You are to me.” He hops off the bed. “I have to take a shower and get ready to meet up with the guys for sound check.”
I gaze up to him and grin. “I suppose you want me to wash your back?”
He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “That would be nice…among other things.”
I laugh and chuck a pillow at him as he heads towards the bathroom. The faded jeans he’s wearing hugs his back side just right and I appreciate the view. How did I ever get so lucky?
My cell phone rings the minute Noel shut the bathroom door. I fish it out of my purse by the third ring. The caller’s name appears on the screen and I smile as I answer.
“Too busy to call me this morning or what? I need some juicy details. I’m dying over here,” Aubrey says.
I giggle. “Well, I was a little…preoccupied.”
“Score one for the Sex-God. I bet he’s amazing.”
I’m silent for few seconds and I know the suspense is killing Aubrey. “You know how they say things get better with time…”
Aubrey shrieks into the phone. “Gah! You are so lucky. He’s amazingly hot, sweet, and now we can add great in bed to the list. You know I’m jealous, right?”
“Why are you jealous? You and Riff have a thing.”