God, I love sweatpants.
“You know …” I start with a seductive smile. “Aidan once tore Piper’s panties clean off. Like legit ripped them into pieces.”
Noah’s silent for a moment, staring at me. Then he throws his head back. His laugh is loud and unrestrained, and I love it, though it’s not at all what I expected when I decided to share that fun little anecdote. Doesn’t matter. It’s moments like this that I’ve come to treasure so much, when he’s free and happy and completely unconcerned with any of the myriad of things he no doubt stresses over in a day. He’s not analyzing the case, or anxious about being a good dad, or worrying over his shitty relationship with his parents.
When he looks back at me there are tears in his eyes.
“You did not just say that,” he gasps out.
I shrug.
“Geeze, Luce. How do you even know that?”
“Believe me, it was like pulling teeth to get her to share that juicy tidbit.”
“Well,Idon’t want to hear about that shit! You really thought telling me about Aidan’s bedroom activities would get me riled up?” He shakes his head in an obvious attempt to dispel the image, though he’s still grinning.
“Oooh! Shit!” I point at him. “You said shit! I swear, Noah, I’m going to have to wash your mouth out with soap one of these days.”
He just winks. I think Noah’s finally managed to break the mental and emotional link he’s long held between cursing and his asshole father’s abuse. Pride wells in me as I grin up at him.
“Anyway,” I continue, “back to the panty-ripping thing. It’s pretty fucking hot, don’t you agree?”
“I guess …”
“Think you could do that?”
“Well, yeah, but it won’t be as hot now that you’ve asked. And you hardly even wear panties these days.”
“Hm. True. Not wearing any right now either.”
“Lucy,” he groans.
“I guess you’re right,” I continue, shrugging. “Okay, save it for another time and surprise me.”
Noah smirks, then drops his hand onto my thigh. “Will do, kitten. In the meantime, though–”
But we’re interrupted once again by his phone.
“Someone seems pretty insistent on getting a hold of you. Is it about the case? You can go ahead and answer it, you know.”
He rolls his eyes, once again declining the call.
“It’s my dad’s secretary. I haven’t been by to visit them since Boxing Day and I sort of cut out early on that brunch, if you remember.” He raises a cheeky eyebrow at me. “Anyway, when my mom gets frustrated with me she turns communication over to Didi. Don’t let the cute name fool you–she’s a dragon lady.” He gives a wry smirk. “Or a dog with a bone, in this case,” he adds holding up his phone as it once again begins to ring in his hand and he silences it.
His mom.
I’ve avoided this conversation for over a week now, but he’s just given me the perfect opening.
“Speaking of your mom …”
Noah frowns. “What about her?”
I clear my throat. “Well, the girls we’re talking about throwing me a shower and … they wanted to invite her. She is the grandma, after all.”
“Oh.”
Does he look sweaty all of a sudden?
