Rafeapologized,for fuck’s sake.
He never did that.
Not once in the entire time I’d known him.
Standing, I tossed the wrench in the toolbox and stalked into the clubhouse.
And froze.
Noelle stood next to the Christmas tree, her head bent toward one of the ornaments.
She hugged one arm across her middle, but the other reached for the red twine and popsicle stick reindeer I’d stuck on the tree a few days ago.
“I made that in Kindergarten.” I crossed the room to stand beside her.
She didn’t startle like I expected but nodded like she’d known I was there all along. “It’s adorable.”
Her green sweater dress hugged her curves and brought up a whole dream sequence of memories and temptations.
The sad look on her face stopped me from asking her to join me upstairs.
That look couldn’t be fixed with sex.
She needed an emotional release, not a physical one.
Though I could make her forget about her troubles if given enough time.
I tapped the reindeer ornament, making it sway back and forth on the branch. “How are you?”
She shrugged and sighed. Never a good sign.
“Want to talk about it? Yesterday was a shit day. I could use a chat.” I played all my cards at once.
Noelle had a tendency to internalize her problems.
If I made it seem like I was the one with an issue, she might break down and talk to me.
The forlorn look in her eyes put a nauseating pit in my stomach.
Did she still feel bad about what happened yesterday?
“Sure.” She shrugged again, but the tightness eased from her shoulders.
I held out my hand and took hers. “Come on.”
I led her to my workshop and nudged her toward the stool where I’d been sitting minutes ago. “I need to work on these bikes. We can talk while I work.”
“I don’t know anything about bikes.”
She settled on the stool and tugged her dress down over her thighs.
It slid right back up again, and she gave up with a huff.
I pushed a tray of parts in front of her.
“I’ll teach you.” I walked her through how to change the oil in my bike–information she would never need but helped ease us into the conversation we really needed to have. “Sorry about Rafe yesterday.”
Her tongue poked out between her teeth as she concentrated on tightening the bolt the way I’d shown her.
