Noah’s words made my heart flutter. I’d had guys feed me lines over the years, but I could tell the difference. Noah meant every word he said.
Maybe, at first that’s what he’d done; during our one-night stand and later when we ran into each other at the grocery store. But now, his words were filled with honesty, vulnerability, and intention.
“Yeah, it does kind of feel that way, doesn’t it?” I stood up, my legs still trembling with the aftershocks of pleasure.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to get cleaned up. And I worked up a bit of an appetite.” I said, pulling my shirt over my head. I didn’t bother picking up my bralette. I had a feeling Noah would be removing my clothes again before the day ended.
“Let’s find you some food.” He stood up to grab his boxers.
We had a light lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup, and put the movie we’d abandoned back on. I fell asleep on the couch, nestled cozily in Noah’s arms.
When I awoke, the TV was off, and Noah was reading Atticus’s book.
“Hey, sleepyhead.” He smiled down at me while I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.
“What time is it?”
“After six, I think,” Noah answered. “You looked so comfortable; I didn’t want to wake you. Figured you needed the sleep.”
I’d slept for over four hours. “Yeah, I guess I did.” I yawned, sitting up. My stomach grumbled and the baby kicked, both letting me know that I was due for another meal.
“Good thing I put an order in for pizza,” Noah said, hearing the hungry complaints my stomach had to make. I blushed with embarrassment. “Hey, don’t be embarrassed. We burned a lot of calories, and you’re eating for two.”
Half an hour later, a driver dropped off two medium pizzas from Pizza Picasso, which we ate in the great room with the woodstove throwing off a comforting heat.
He’d also stocked up on chips, including a couple bags of dill pickle chips for me.
“I noticed you liked them,” he told me, smiling that secret smile that always made me feel like he was paying more attention than he let on.
“You did catch me red-handed trying to fill my cart with them.” My lips twitched with amusement, and Noah laughed.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Noah
* * *
We had a quiet Saturday, our loft romp aside, and I loved every minute of it. We stayed up late snacking, talking, and playing a trivia card game, which Nellie kicked my ass in. The girl had a fount of trivia facts in her arsenal, and she wiped the floor with me.
“Damn, you’ll be a great addition at family boardgame night,” I said as I packed away the cards.
“Do you guys still do family boardgame nights?” Nellie asked, surprised.
“On occasion, yes. Not as regularly as when we kids, but we usually break out a boardgame during special occasions like Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter.”
“You guys do something for Easter?” Nellie’s eyebrows rose, like she was shocked by that admission more so than the fact that my family still played boardgames together.
“Yeah, we do,” I chuckled. “We’re not a religious family, but my mom loves any excuse to cook a big meal. And my dad loves setting up an insane Easter egg hunt for the twins.”
“Ah, yeah. I could see that.” She smiled softly.
“Well, what do you want to do now?” I asked, stretching beside her.
“After all the eating we did, I kind of feel like I need to go for a walk,” Nellie said, rubbing her stomach.
“We could do that,” I told her. “Or we could exercise a different way,” I suggested, wriggling my eyebrows playfully.
