“You haven’t.” Needing her closer, I pull Noelle onto my lap. Then I tip her chin up so she has to look at me. “You haven’t scared me off. Not for a second. And we wouldn’t be helping you as a client. It would be because?—”
Shit. Is it too soon to call her my girlfriend? And is this really the time to get into it?
But I’m not sure what else to say that would be honest, so I admit, “My team would help because… I think of you as my girlfriend. Maybe it’s too soon to say that. But it’s true. I don’t care how many dates we’ve been on. I want to help because you’re important to me.”
“Webb.”
“I’m not going to lie, Noelle, no matter what, I’m going to watch out for you. And I’m going to look into that piece of shit Ken, because he deserves to get what’s coming to him. So even if you change your mind about me?—”
“Webb.” Noelle covers my mouth with her hand. As she looks at me, a smile tugs at her lips. “Are you going to let me answer? Or are you just going to keep talking?”
Oops.
Once she removes her hand from my mouth, I reply sheepishly, “Let you answer.”
“Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“Okay to all of it. Helping me. Making sure Ken is punished for the gross things he did. And… calling me your girlfriend.”
Some of the worry I’ve been carrying since I got the call about Noelle falls away. “Are you sure?”
She nods. “I wanted to handle it on my own. And then… I was scared I’d mess things up with you. But now I’m realizing that wasn’t the best decision. I wasn’t being fair to you. You’ve been honest with me from the start, and I?—”
“You had your reasons. I understand.”
“Still. If I’d just told you, maybe we could have stopped Ken already.” Hope lights her gaze. “Doyou think you can stop him?”
“Yes.” There’s no hesitation. “We’ll figure this out, sweetheart. And in the meantime, I’ll make sure you’re safe.”
Noelle stares at me. Suddenly, her chin quivers. Her eyes shine with tears.
Panic surges. “What’s wrong?” I glance at her hand to make sure it’s not bleeding again. “Is it your hand?”
She shakes her head. “No. Nothing’s wrong. I just…” She flings her arms around my neck. “I was feeling so terrible. But I’m realizing it’s not as bad as I thought. And that’s thanks to you.”
My heart twists. “Noelle.”
Her lips press softly against mine, tasting of mint and salt. Then she looks at me. “My boyfriend.” She kisses me again. “I like the sound of that.”
And just like that, everything in the world feels right again. “I like it, too.”
CHAPTER 10
NOELLE
By the timewe get back to Webb’s apartment, I’m more than a little overwhelmed.
The first time I came to Blade and Arrow, it just felt like going over to someone’s house to hang out with their friends. A giant, eight-thousand-square-foot house, but a normal house, nonetheless.
Yes, I noticed the tall black fence stretched around the property with a biometric keypad at the gate, but I didn’t give much thought to it. I was more concerned with how the night would go—would I like Webb’s friends, would they like me, and would I be glad I agreed to the date or regret it?
And once my initial jitters wore off, it reallydidfeel like an ordinary barbecue. There were jokes, delicious food, a cornhole tournament with strange rules like tossing the beanbags with your eyes closed or spinning around in a circle six times before throwing, averyenjoyable walk through the woods with Webb, capped off with another kiss at my door at the end of the night.
I knew Webb’s friends were all former Special Forces, but they just seemed like ordinary guys. Very muscly and unusually good-looking guys, but not the intimidating men I’d imagined before arriving.
But on my second visit, my experience has been dramatically different.
