Chapter 12

12

J essa walked through the hotel room door and set the coffees and breakfast sandwiches down before sighing loudly and throwing herself across her bed, the bag of her lingerie being discarded off to the side. Megan raised an eyebrow and stared at her before snatching her coffee and taking a long sip.

“You going to tell me why you’re being all dramatic?”

Jessa kicked her boots off her feet and pushed herself up into a sitting position before pulling her coat off and setting it aside.

“Why am I the clumsiest person in the world around Noah?”

Megan smirked over her coffee. “What happened now?”

“I ran into him when I was leaving the boutique. Like, literally ran into him.”

“Again?”

Jessa covered her face. “Yes.”

“Did you hit him in the junk again?”

Jessa slid off the bed and walked over to her coffee. She picked it up and took a long drink, letting the warm liquid warm her up.

“No. Not this time. I only dumped the contents of my bag on the ground, giving him a full view of what I just purchased.”

Megan gave her a knowing smile. “And what did you just purchase?”

Jessa picked up the discarded bag and pulled the contents out, showing them to Megan.

“I bet his eyes bugged out of his head when he saw those. Precursor for tonight?”

“Oh my God. Do you think he knows I want sex?”

Megan snorted. “I’m pretty sure he wants it too, so who cares? You made your intentions known when you dry humped last night, and now you’ll likely get it.”

“How embarrassing.”

“No, it’s not. There’s nothing wrong with two adults having consensual sex.”

“I just meant him seeing it is embarrassing. I look desperate.”

“No. You look like a woman excited to dress up for her man.”

Her man. Jessa blushed, thinking about that. Despite not knowing Noah for long, the instant attraction and want to be near him was there. It had been there since the very first moment she laid eyes on him in the resort lobby.

The warning bells sounded in her head, telling her not to get too close because she wouldn’t be there for long. But she wanted to be selfish. To allow herself to get close to someone other than Megan.

Maybe she was changing. Maybe she could finally settle down and pick a place to call home.

“Don’t freak out,” Megan said.

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. And there’s no need to. Just take things one day at a time. You never know. By the end of our trip, you two might realize you aren’t right for each other and you can walk away without wondering ‘what if.’”

But Jessa knew it likely wouldn’t happen. The amount of attraction she had toward Noah was unlike anything she had ever felt, and she didn’t see how that would go away anytime soon.

“I haven’t felt this before.”

Megan nodded. “I know. But it’s okay. You can still take things slow.”

Jessa took another sip of her coffee. “This is the second pep talk you’ve given me in two hours. I’ll probably need another tonight.”

Megan giggled. “I’ll be here.”

Jessa grabbed the breakfast sandwiches and walked over to the small table where her laptop sat near Megan’s and powered it on. She needed to clock her hours for the day, and there was no better time than the present to do so.

“So, what did you do last night?” she asked.

Megan shrugged. “Just went down to the bar. Hung out with Jackson.”

Jessa raised a brow. “With Jackson, huh? Is something going on there?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Megan opened her laptop back up. “Yep. He’s completely in love with his best friend.”

“Really? He told you that?”

“No. It’s obvious. Her name comes up constantly. No one stands a chance against her.”

Jessa chewed on her lip. What would be even better is if Megan met someone in Wintervale and wanted to settle down there, too. It would be perfect. She’d have her best friend right alongside her.

The thought of her even considering that had her heart racing in a matter of seconds. She was seriously contemplating it and she hadn’t even been there a full week yet.

What kind of voodoo magic is this town?

Noah spent nearly the entire day cleaning his house from top to bottom. It wasn’t dirty, since he kept it fairly clean. But he didn’t know what else to do with his time. He considered riding the gondola up the mountain to see if the staff needed any help for a few hours, but immediately bagged the idea. If seeing Jessa had taught him anything, it was that he needed to take more time for himself. Forcing himself to stay off the mountain on his days off had opened his eyes to how much he had missed.

When he broke up with his ex, he forced himself into work to keep his mind off things. He became a workaholic and didn’t know how to stop. Until seeing Jessa that day in the lobby.

The connection he felt toward her only got stronger as the days continued, and he suspected she felt the same way.

At 5 p.m., his phone rang and his mom’s name popped up. He accepted the call as he stashed his condoms in his nightstand.

Damn, he hoped Rhett hadn’t spread it around. The last thing he needed was his mom deflating his hard-on for the night.

“Hey, Mom,” he said.

“Hey, honey. Where are you?”

“At home. I had today off.”

“No, I know that. I meant are you on your way? Dinner is almost ready.”

Noah’s head whipped up as he mentally counted the days. It was family dinner night—a tradition they had started several years prior. The Blake family all got together at his parents’ house to have dinner together. Their parents had decided it was something that would help them focus on being a family and not only see each other at work.

“Shit,” he muttered.

“Did you forget?”

He sighed. “Yes. I’m sorry. Do you mind if I miss tonight?”

The silence on the phone was deafening. He pulled the phone away from his ear to see if the call was still connected.

“Hello? Did I lose you?”

“You want to miss family dinner?” Karen said.

“Yeah, is that a problem?”

“But why? You never miss family dinner.”

She wasn’t wrong. He made it a mission to always attend. Whenever he missed in the beginning, it was because of his sour mood when his relationship ended. It had made his mom worry even more about him. So he hadn’t missed one in the last year and a half.

He sighed and looked at the clock. He was supposed to be at the resort already picking Jessa up. Noah grabbed his coat and keys and walked out to his truck parked in the garage.

“I have a date.”

“With Jessa?”

“Yes.”

“Well, bring her. I’ll put out an extra plate.”

Noah’s eyes widened. Bring Jessa to family dinner? No one brought dates to family dinner. It wasn’t how they operated. The only outsider to ever join them had been Mia, but that was because everyone knew Jackson needed to be with her and she was basically a part of the family already.

But anyone else? Nope.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Noah said as he pulled out of his garage and drove toward the resort.

“Yes, it is. It’s a great idea. We all need to get to know her, anyway. It’s settled. Bring her.”

Then the line went dead.

Noah’s eyes widened. “Shit.”

He immediately dialed Jackson’s number as he pulled into the resort parking lot. Jessa would already be in the lobby waiting for him and he didn’t want to make her wait, but he also didn’t want to subject her to a surprise family dinner.

When Jackson answered the phone, he was already laughing. “No, I’m not getting you out of this.”

Noah rolled his eyes and stepped out of his truck. “Jackson, take one for the team. Bring Mia or something.”

“How is me bringing Mia taking one for the team? They already know her. Jessa is fresh blood.”

The dishes clinking in the background told Noah they were already setting a place for Jessa. He stayed just outside the main doors of the resort lobby and squeezed his eyes shut.

“I cannot bring Jessa there. I don’t trust any of you.”

Jackson scoffed. “Oh please. Dramatic much? You know you will not get out of this. If you don’t show up, you’ll upset Mom, and she’ll probably drive to your house and interrupt your date, anyway.”

Noah’s eyes widened. “She wouldn’t.”

He snorted. “Okay, bro. Take the chance.”

Noah growled and ended the call. “Damn it.”

“You okay out here?” Jessa asked.

Noah turned to find her standing at the entrance to the resort. He plastered a smile to his face and walked closer to her, setting a hand on her waist and leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

She blushed. “Thank you.”

He couldn’t see what she was wearing beneath her winter coat, but he suspected the little lacy black number might be under her clothes. He suppressed a groan and forced himself not to think about it.

Her fingers against his cheek brought him out of his thoughts. “Are you okay? You look upset.”

He sighed and mustered up the best smile he could. “I was supposed to go to family dinner tonight and completely forgot about it.”

“Oh. Did you need to cancel our date?”

He growled low in his throat. The thought of canceling a date when he had been thinking about it since last night, and especially after running into her that morning, had him frustrated.

Sexually frustrated.

A small smile tugged at her lips.

“No. I don’t want to. But if I don’t show up, my family might show up at my place, and that’s the last thing I need.”

“I see.” She shifted between her feet. “Do you want me to go with you?”

He took her hands in his and rubbed his fingers over her knuckles. “I don’t want you to unless you’re okay with it. But, selfishly, I also don’t want to say ‘goodnight’ to you yet.”

“I don’t either.”

He pursed his lips as another call rang through on his phone. He released her hand and pulled it out of his pocket, seeing his mom flash across the screen again.

“Tell her we’ll be there,” Jessa said.

He looked up at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’m sure.”

Noah answered the call before it could go to voicemail. “We’re coming, we’re coming.”

“Oh good! We’re eagerly waiting,” Karen said.

Noah sighed and ended the call, dropping the phone back into his pocket.

“I promise we won’t be there for very long. I’ll make it as quick as possible.”

Or so I hope.