Noah finally shut off the faucet and turned to face her, one hip leaning against the sink. “It might be irrelevant now.”
For a man who hated riddles, he sure was puzzling. “Why?”
He let out a sigh. “Call me crazy, but I thought that kiss last night was pretty good.”
Elisa blinked. “Then I’m crazy too.”
“But Trish said thatyousaid that we…that this…” he gestured listlessly between them “…was all in the past.”
Trish? Why was he talking to her co-worker about them? Elisa struggled to keep up. “I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either.” Noah shrugged, his face drawn tight. “Because, not sure about you, but last night feels pretty recent to me.”
Frustration and confusion waged a battle to take over. She struggled to keep her feelings off her face. “Noah…”
Then it clicked. Her words to Trish and Delia in the diner’s kitchen that day Noah met with her dad for the inspection report. What were the exact expressions she’d used about her and Noah?Once upon a time…past tense.
Elisa groaned. “I said that to Trish when you first showed up here with my dad last week.” She lifted her brow. “I was referring to ouractualpast.”
His lips pressed together, his gaze narrowing then widening as understanding registered. “Oh.”
“Bigoh.” Elisa tilted her head. “You’re telling me that all morning, you thought I regretted what happened last night?”
He lifted one shoulder, eyes averted. “I suppose so.”
“And you still helped me?” Her heart cracked a little. She reached for his arm, and this time, it relaxed under her touch.
“I suppose so.” He met her gaze, eyes cautious.
She traced a design on his arm with her finger, her pulse racing. “You still hauled away soggy waffles and cold eggs?”
A grin tilted his lips. “I suppose so.”
“I want to say something very not nice about Trish right now.” Elisa trailed her fingers down his arm until their hands joined. His fingers threaded with hers and her stomach flipped. “But I won’t.” Trish must have been confused, at best, or speaking from jealousy, at worst.
“I think we’ve given her way too much consideration already.” Noah moved their joined hands behind Elisa’s back and pulled her closer. Her free hand rested on his chest, his heart beating a runaway rhythm that matched her own. “Therewassomething I really wanted to tell you.”
Elisa lifted her face toward his, their gazes tangling. “Yeah?”
His brown eyes deepened from morning blend to dark roast as they dropped to her lips and back up. “Yeah.”
Him looking at her like that…oh, bless it. The stress of the morning melted away under his gaze until theft didn’t exist anymore. Betrayal, worry over the hunt and the café and the future…it faded into black. There was just Noah, and the scent of his cinnamon gum and her cinnamon buns surrounding them, and the assuring weight of his hands on her waist as he studied her up close.
He felt like coming home. Which was sort of silly, considering how he’d left home once.
Left her…
No. She shook away the thought, searching his gaze, seeing no remnant of the young man who once hurt her. This time was different.Hewas different now.
Right?
Noah was going to kiss her again. Her back arched, ready. Her toes twitched, eager to propel her up and closer to his lips. Her fingers gripped his arms, steadying her as his gaze threatened to sweep her away.
But this kiss would be different, wouldn’t it? Every fiber in her tingling body knew it, and despite the urge to launch forward, logic kept her grounded. The kiss at the courthouse had been an impulsive chemical reaction, an inevitable simmering over of mutual desire and shared history.
This one would be intentional. No one could blame this time on hormones or familiarity or the past. If he kissed her this time, it would be full of promise…a whisper of a promise they hadn’t dared yet voice.
Memories of their time together lapped like the bay against the dock. Her shoulders stiffened. He had voiced it once, hadn’t he? Promised her forever.
