Page 32 of The Enforcers: NOAH

Chapter 11

Noah wished like hell he could have dragged Mina straight off the dance floor and made love to her then and there. The fifteen-minute drive back to her house was giving her too much time to think, and he could feel her second-guessing herself.

Probably what he should be doing, too.

But he wanted her so badly, he felt like he was burning from the inside out. He wanted to hold her and protect her and bury himself in her until she soothed all the raw places inside him.

He wanted to touch her soul and make her see him as more than just Angus McHottie out for a good time. He felt helpless and frustrated and filled with excitement and desire, and his wolf was pacing and howling and wanting.

When they got to the house he stopped the car and said, “Wait there.” He went around and opened her door, taking the bags of food from her.

He could feel her slipping away from him. He couldn’t let it happen, and he didn’t know how to stop it, or why it mattered so desperately that he make love to her here and now.

He just knew it was important. She was important.

She unlocked the front door and he followed her inside, not giving her the chance to tell him the night was over. He took the bags from the restaurant straight to the kitchen and unpacked them, putting the cake and sauce in the microwave and setting the timer.

“Noah,” she said softly.

He turned, and she was gazing at him, her green eyes dark and troubled. He moved toward her, trying not to crowd her, but knowing he had to erase that troubled frown from her face and tell her everything was going to be all right.

He moved his fingertip over her forehead between her eyebrows, smoothing the skin and feeling the tiny muscles relax. He moved his hand down her hairline, stroking those fine tendrils that always escaped and curled around her face.

“I love your hair,” he said softly. “No matter how much you try to make it behave, it always escapes and shows its true, maverick personality. Like you.”

She put a hand flat on his chest. Not quite pushing him away, but not letting him come any closer.

“Don’t say it,” he whispered.

She shook her head helplessly. “Noah, this is crazy. You’re sweet and fun and amazing, but you’re too young and there’s Brock and Robbie and the custody suit, and my lawyers and debts and…”

“I know,” he said. He moved in closer, and she gave a sigh and stopped pushing on his chest.

“I just need to know,” he said. “Do you feel anything for me?”

She bit that sexy lower lip, worrying it with her teeth. Finally, she nodded. “That’s what scares me,” she admitted. “I feel so much, and we don’t even know each other.”

“I know.”

“I can’t believe you’re still not scared,” she said.

If she only knew.

“I am,” he said, moving even closer so his lips were almost brushing hers. The microwave hummed in the background.

Her scent filled him with joy and terror. All the fears and feelings inside him spilled out into the charged air between them.

“I’m scared you’ll push me away, and I’ll never have the chance to get to know you, or make love to you, or see you smile at me with your whole heart in your eyes. And I’m scared like you are, that this isn’t real and it’s moving too fast, and maybe we’ll end up breaking each other’s hearts. I’m scared I’ll screw it up and let you down when you need me. I’m scared I’ll hurt you and I won’t be what you need, that all the things wrong with me are too much for you to want to handle. That you won’t be able to accept who I am.”

She bit her lip and he saw tears rising in the corners of her eyes.

He leaned his forehead against hers. “So the smart thing would be to take it slow, to say goodnight right here. Maybe it would be even smarter to not do this at all.”

He raised his thumb and brushed away the tears that were beginning to fall.

“But I can’t stop the way my heart feels, and it feels like it’s being torn in two whenever I think of kissing you goodnight and walking out the door.”

The microwave finished and the timer beeped, but his gaze never left hers.