And yet the heat swirling in her stomach seemed to insist she accept just how much she’d enjoyed the feel of his lips on hers.
Jane cleared her throat and fidgeted again. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I felt trapped. You know how my mother is. And what you saw was like ten percent of the crazy she can be. I swear I wasn’t planning on it, but I know it’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have told her that we were dating. That’s probably why she?—”
“Hey.” His hand landed on hers, lightning fast.
She gasped as her eyes dropped to where he touched her. His thumb trailed along the back of her hand. Back and forth, teasing the hairs on her arms into an upright position. When he didn’t say anything, she forced herself to look at him.
Noah remained facing forward, but his eyes darted to her and back to the road a couple times as he murmured, “What are friends for?”
His words were like cold stones dropping to the bowels of the ocean. The weight settled in the bottom of her stomach, and those happy flutters flickered out of existence.
Friends.
Why did she hate that word so much?
She blinked at him, her mouth agape. Of course he’d say they were friends. She’d told him that she was sorry for practically calling him her boyfriend. Noah wasn’t capable of reading her mind. He wouldn’t have been able to see that something had changed after their kiss.
Wait a minute.
Had something changed for him, too? Had Noah realized that he wasn’t interested in her?
What if the spark she’d felt had been one-sided?
She closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness accosted her, and she leaned back against the seat. “You’re such a good friend, Noah.”
Slowly, he pulled his hand from hers.
“You’re probably my best friend.” Her voice sounded weak, even to herself. She didn’t want to put that label on them anymore. There was a part of her that really wanted to explore the sensations that Noah had started within her. She’d been kissed before, but nothing had ever been that good.
And she might have blown the whole opportunity to smithereens because she’d been too scared to let him become part of her life.
Jane turned her head to the side and stared out the window. Noah turned up the radio, and the two of them drove the rest of the way home in silence.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
That kiss.
Dang, that kiss was something else.
Noah stared at the ceiling above his bed, hands laced behind his head. If he thought he could keep Jane out of his thoughts with enough time, he was sorely mistaken. Jane was… everything. She’d tasted like sweet dreams and sunny skies. She’d smelled like a spring morning after the rain. She’d felt like absolute heaven.
But apparently, she didn’t feel the same.
The first apology she’d given him had been like a dagger to the chest. Then she’d twisted that dagger with the second apology on their way home. She was sorry.
Sorry!
How could she not see that he had feelings for her? He knew it was written on his face. His brothers could see it. Bo could see it. Heck, he wouldn’t have been surprised if Jane’s own mother had seen it.
But Jane?
She was blind to it, and maybe that was for the best because she clearly didn’t feel the same way about him.
He sighed and closed his eyes, allowing himself to replay that kiss in his head like his favorite parts of a movie. Her body had been soft and warm and perfect as it had pressed against his. Already he craved holding her like that again.
He wouldn’t, though. Noah couldn’t risk destroying just how close they’d become over the last several weeks. He couldn’t lose what they were to each other, no matter how much he desired her.
A knock on the door drew Noah out of his thoughts. It was afternoon. He shouldn’t be lying in bed right now. There was work to do, and he’d been late to get home. But his mind was elsewhere.
