I was ruining it by keeping secrets.
Some secrets went deeper than affection or even love.
Some secrets were worth dying for, and this was one of them.
Noelle might be a cop sent to take us down.
The thought bordered on ludicrous, but my instincts had never steered me wrong.
“I’m sorry you can’t be part of our Christmas Eve, but we’ll be back Christmas morning.” I slid my hands to her hips and brought her flush against me. “We’ll be all yours for as long as you want after that.”
She might be a cop, and she might try to take us down, but for the first time in my life, I didn’t care about that.
I cared about keeping Rafe and the others safe.
If I truly thought Noelle was a threat to our club, I’d say something.
Based on how she looked at me and how she acted around us, her feelings were real.
Did she have the balls to throw all those feelings away and try to take us down?
On what grounds?
We might not be one hundred percent clean, but no one had evidence of wrongdoing.
I knew that for a fucking fact.
Rafe wouldn’t stand for it.
Noelle tucked her head beneath my chin and wrapped her arms around my waist.
“I guess that’s good enough.”
See?
She accepted the rules.
She might not like them, but she abided by them. That counted for a lot in our position.
Damn it.
I should tell Rafe about my suspicions.
I should, but I wasn’t going to.
Like Noelle, I had no facts, and I wasn’t the type who made accusations based on feelings.
I’d keep her secret—whatever it was—as long as she was willing to keep ours when she found out.
I had no doubt Rafe would bring her fully into the know eventually.
If she stuck around long enough.
Noelle rubbed her head back and forth over my chest. “Your heart’s racing, Ash.”
“Because I’m thinking about you.” True.
She didn’t need to know the thoughts were not sexual.
