“But?” he prompts.

“We can’t act on it. Things have to go slow, maybe after Diana sees I can actually do this, she’ll take me serious. Once that happens, maybe we can give us a shot.”

Noel traces my lips with his finger. “I don’t think I can live without at least kissing these. How about we make another deal?”

I tilt my head. Noel always has some sort of scheme brewing in that devilish mind of his. Before he has a chance to set the terms, I come up with some of my own that I can live with while still getting this project done. “How about for every kiss I give you, I get ten minutes of uninterrupted time working on the charity project.”

Noel smiles up at me through sexy, long lashes. “Sure, I’ll agree to that. But I warn you, if you kiss me like you mean it too much, I won’t promise to hold off.”

A fierce blush spreads all over my face.

“How about we start with one right now?”

Before I can answer, Noel pulls my lips to his. The warmth of his mouth is so familiar. I close my eyes and shut my brain off. Nothing else matters but the here and now. This kiss—the one I’ve been reliving in my mind over the past few years—is finally happening.

My lips part, and his tongue finds mine, swirling around like a well-practiced routine. A sound of intense need catches in the back of his throat, and I press my body against his.

His hand slips under my shirt and brushes against the skin on the small of my back. I shiver. The feel of his skin on me floods me with desire. I can’t remember ever wanting Noel as badly as I do now. Maybe it’s because I know what I’ve been missing. Or maybe it’s because he’s turned into an incredibly attractive man. Either way, he’s the only thing I want in the world right now, and I can’t get close enough to him.

My hand flies into Noel’s hair as he slides his hand down the length of my body. His fingers dig into my thighs before he hitches my leg around his hip. He pushes his pelvis into mine and all that separates us is a couple of thin pieces of fabric. His erection strains against his boxers—Noel wants this just as much as I do.

He trails kisses across my jaw. I toss my head back and arch my chest into him. “Oh God, Lane. You smell fucking amazing.” A shudder rips through his body as I moan in his ear.

The sound of my own voice catches me off guard. I rise up. All I can focus on is his blue eyes, alive with intense need. He wants me to say I need him—that I want him to take me. Here and now. But I can’t do that. We have to slow down.

I push him back a little. “Wait a second. We agreed to only kiss.”

“You can’t kiss me like that and not expect me to get turned on.”

I turn away from him and blush.

Noel pulls my face toward him. “Don’t,” he whispers, “don’t be ashamed. It’s incredibly sexy when you let yourself go like that. I never knew you had that in you.”

“People can change. I have grown up a little. I’m not that same silly, naïve girl you knew back in high school.”

He grins. “Well, I liked her, too, you know. But this version of you is down right fuckable.”

My face heats up and I roll away from him. Noel sits up and pushes himself off the bed before grabbing his shirt from the floor.

“Where are you going?”

He grabs a towel out of one of the drawers. “To take a cold shower—I have a feeling I’ll need a lot of those these next two weeks if we keep kissing like that.”

I flop back onto the bed when Noel shuts the door behind him. He has no clue the same goes for me.

CHAPTER TWELVE

The next morning I wake up before Noel and creep out of the bedroom with my cell in hand, doing my best not to wake him. I dial Aubrey’s number and then look at the clock. It’s only a little after eight. She’s going to kill me for waking her up, but I have to know that she got back to her hotel okay.

She answers on the fourth ring. “Hello?” Her tone is raspy and slow.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to wake you, but I wanted to know what your plans are for today.”

She giggles. “Stop, Riff.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re still with him?”

“Yes,” she says, breathlessly.

I frown, knowing she’s probably going to spend the rest of her time here with Riff. “So I take it you’re busy.”

Aubrey sighs. “Don’t be mad. We’ll be together all the time in about a week when you come home. Besides you have Noel to play with.”

“You know it’s not like that.”

She giggles again. “But it could be just like that if you’d let it.” Riff mumbles something in the background and I hear the distinct sound of sucking. “Um, gotta go, Lanie. Love you.”

Before I can get another word of protest in, she hangs up. Aubrey’s always been one to live a little on the wild side. I guess, her messing around with Riff should’ve been expected. He’s a horn ball and she has a thing for the bad-boy type. I should’ve seen that one coming.

I lay my phone on the table and run my fingers through my hair. A strong pair of tattooed arms wraps around my waist, and I stiffen. “Noel, what are you doing?”

He pulls the hair away from my neck and kisses the delicate skin there. “I thought we made our feelings for each other pretty clear last night.”

I pull away from him. “Just because I said I feel something for you, doesn’t mean we get to act on it.”