He seemed to need reassurance. She was trying to hold it together. She wasn't ready to be vulnerable with him. "I'm fine."
There was a loud beep on the overhead speaker system, and a garbled page came through.
Noah waited it out. "You don't sound fine."
"I'm as fine as I'm going to be until I get finished here. Thanks for checking up on me, but you can go now."
She couldn't describe the expression that crossed his features. Exasperation, maybe? "After all the times you've barged in on me lately, you think I'm just going to walk away now?"
"I didn't barge in on you," she protested.
"You broke into my house."
"The door was unlocked."
A smile that could only be described as ornery crossed his lips.
Her stomach swooped, as if she’d been thrown in the air performing one of the cheer stunts all those years ago.
"I'm already here. Unless you want to call security and make a big scene, I'm staying."
She gave in with a muttered "fine," and he followed her through the heavy door back into the waiting room. How much longer could this take?
She'd never realized how close the uncomfortable plastic waiting room chairs sat to each other until she sat next to Noah. He took up the entire chair, and with his arm on the armrest between them, he took up plenty of her space too. Her shoulder was pressed against his biceps, but, if she shifted away, he would feel it. This was her space. She wasn't giving him any more of it. So she stayed where she was, even though being so close to him was awkward and uncomfortable.
I'm not shaped like a woman anymore.Why had she admitted that to him? Every time he'd crossed her mind in the last few days, her memory had played back the words, and she'd almost choked on her embarrassment.
I'm not interested.Why hadn't she said that instead?
Maybe because it would've been a lie. After the kiss they shared, he’d have had every right to call her on her baloney. He had put their kiss in his top five? It was by far the best kiss she'd ever had.
Why had it had to happen now? With him?
Now that she had a boatload of baggage and no desire to share it with anyone.
"Did you eat lunch?” he asked. “Do you need me to get anything from the cafeteria?"
She could appreciate his thoughtfulness, even though the man irritated her like nothing else. "I'm fine."
"Your doctor might buy that, but every time you sayI'm fine, it just reminds me you're lying."
She crossed her arms over her middle, not caring if he could feel the defensive posture from where he sat. "I am fine. I don't care whether you believe me or not. How do you get here anyway?"
"Car service."
"You keep surprising me. First, walking to my house. Now this. So all this time... you could've left your farm anytime you wanted?"
"Pretty much."
She couldn't contain the question. "So why don't you ever go anywhere? Or have friends? You can't be happy all alone."
"You're wrong about that. I am happy."
"Every time you say that," she mimicked him, "I know you're lying. Nobody wants to be as alone as you are."
He laughed softly, a hard edge to the sound. "Why is that so hard for you to believe? I have Aiden to help me with my business. I talk to my mom frequently." He grimaced, as if he was embarrassed to admit it.
But he had no social life. She didn't think anybody could be such an introvert that they didn't need at least some companionship.
