Chapter 3

So I now have a grumpy, angry, hot-as-hell man in my suite at the Bellagio. Hailey"s father set us up in luxury so we could enjoy her birthday celebration as much as her, and I"m glad for it because the room seems just a little bit smaller with Noah inside it. He"s sitting on the pull-out sofa bed, grumbling to himself. I wave a bottle of water in front of his face, and he takes it begrudgingly.

I sit down beside him, a little scared that he"s going to shout at me again. I"ve always known Noah to be a soft-spoken man. I"ve never seen this side of him. I want to talk about his daughter, but I"m not sure if that is just going to upset him again.

"Noah…"

"What?" He says flatly.

"I talked briefly with Mae." I watch my words because this part can be tricky. "I don"t think she"s going back to New York anytime soon."

"You think I don"t know that? Mae has been stubborn since the day she came into this world."

"Then why come all this way if you knew there was nothing you could do?"

"You"re not a parent, you wouldn"t understand."

"So, help me understand."

"I told you, I made a promise to my wife to make sure my daughters were taken care of. They have all the opportunities in the world. Mae is very talented. She can easily get into a music program at the university of her choice. She could hone and perfect her craft before throwing herself into a field where there"s an ongoing battle."

"What I hear from all of that is that you want to protect your little girl. But it seems that she wants to make her path in her own way. She"s an adult now."

"Just barely turned eighteen."

"I think she would appreciate your support, even if you don"t agree with the way she"s doing things. Isn"t it more important to be able to talk to her often and keep tabs on her without fighting? Right now, you"re alienating her."

Noah looks down at his hands, and it"s as if he"s just realized there"s a bottle of water there. He opens the bottle, breaking the seal, and takes several gulps.

"I feel like I"m losing her. I already lost her mother. I couldn"t stand losing Mae as well. Or any of my kids, really."

"That"s what I mean. Compromise. Accept her choices and ask for her to keep in contact so you know she"s okay. That way, you can keep tabs on her, and if something changes and she wants to come home, she can feel free to tell you because she knows you will listen."

He fidgets with the bottle in his hands. "Sounds so simple when you put it like that."

"That"s because it is."

"What were you doing at a male strip club, Meghan?" He says in a harsh tone.

I inch my chin up. "We came to Vegas to celebrate our friend Hailey"s thirtieth birthday. The strip club was one of her surprises. The guys did a dance for her, and then she had a special fantasy catered just for her afterward."

"I don"t like seeing you in a place like that. I don"t like seeing Mae in a place like that."

"It"s not like it was a sex club or something. We were just having some harmless fun. You can"t be that much of a fuddy-duddy."

"Did the strippers hit on you?"

"No, I"m not beautiful enough for that. One did go for my friend Alice, though. I think she"s spending the night with him."

"You see, that"s what I"m talking about. And why on earth would you think you are not beautiful? You"re smart, independent, and drop-dead gorgeous."

I hear the words coming out of his mouth, but I hesitate to believe them. They make me blush, though. I cough to cover my embarrassment and frantically try to find another subject to switch to. Food. Maybe food can be a distraction.

"Have you eaten? Maybe we can have some room service sent up?"

"If you"re having something, then get me the same, but if it"s just for me, don"t bother."

I walk over to the desk and get the room service menu. I order us a roasted tomato bisque grilled cheese and a piece of chocolate ganache cake for me. Noah"s presence in my life right now is a bit unsettling, and some sugar might just hit the spot.

"You like chocolate?" He asks from where he"s sitting.

"I love it, but it gives me migraines. Sometimes, there"s no other thing that will do the trick to calm my nerves."

"I make you nervous?"

"You did shout at me tonight."

"You"re meddling in things that are not your concern, Meghan."

"That doesn"t sound like an apology."

"That"s because I"m not going to apologize. That was a private conversation between me and my daughter."

"Well, you were screaming at each other in the middle of a strip club. Doesn"t get more public than that." I move over to where he"s sitting and sit beside him again. "Noah, I don"t want to fight with you." I take a deep breath and grab his free hand. "Tell me about raising three daughters. That must have been challenging."

I feel asking about his daughters and raising them himself is a topic he can open up about, even if it is a delicate one. But my ploy works, and he starts telling me stories about the girls when they were little. From everything he tells me, Mae was really a handful, even from the start.

Time passes quickly when we suddenly hear a knock at the door, followed by a call, "Room service."

Opening the door for the server, I start racking my brain about other topics we can small talk about. Noah is an imposing man, and my attraction to him makes me dizzy. When the table is set, I sign for the meal, and the server hurries to leave.

"God, I"m starved," I confess. "Do you need help?"

"I"m wondering how much of my pride will take a hit by acknowledging I might need some help getting up from here."

I roll my eyes and go near him to lend a hand. I grab his hand, which is warm against mine, and help him up. I put his arm around my shoulder, and we walked towards the table. I feel more than see that he"s sniffing my hair, but I ignore it. It"s probably my imagination. A man like Noah wouldn"t be interested in someone like me. But then I"ve seen a whole new side of him tonight. Can"t go by my old preconceptions about who and what he is.

Sitting next to him, I quietly place the cloth napkin in my lap and eagerly dive into the soup. I see a smile come to his face, and I freeze mid-spoonful.

"What?"

"You weren"t kidding when you said you were starved," he says. "Plus, you are eating with so much gusto it"s like this is the best meal you"ve ever tasted."

"This is good." I simply say. "Tell me about your wife."

"Meghan…"

"I have an opportunity to get to know my mentor, and I"m taking it."

"That is personal information that I"d rather keep private."

"Is that why you haven"t dated anyone since your wife passed?" I pushed, and I didn't know why.

"How do you know that?"

"I heard Dad say something about it."

"So you were eavesdropping."

I put my spoon down and dry my lips with the napkin. I look at him straight in the eyes. I blush because having his full attention makes something throb between my legs, but I remind myself that tonight, I want more from this man than what he gives to every other person.

"You"re my mentor, my teacher. It"s normal for me to want to know more about the man I admire above all others."

It"s probably not wise to put all my cards on the table like that, but I need to get through to him. Every bit of information is like my next breath. I need it to survive.

"Your dad should be the man you admire above all others, little one."

"Don"t change the subject. Have you resigned yourself to being alone? Is it because of your daughters?"

He seems at odds with himself as he puts down his spoon.

"Anna and I were high school sweethearts. I took one look at her and knew we were meant to be together. As soon as we graduated high school, I proposed, and we got married after she finished college. Her father made us wait until she was done, in case she didn"t want to be just a homemaker but a professional. But once we started out life together as husband and wife, the kids started coming, and we loved every one of them."

"Mae was 6 when my wife was diagnosed, and the next two years were hell for her and the entire family." His lips are in a thin white line from the pressure he"s feeling as he"s reliving his wife"s condition.

"After she was gone, I focused on raising the girls the best way I could, but it wasn"t the same without her. Now there"s an Anna-shaped hole in my heart, and I"m only able to patch it up with the happy moments my daughters have in their lives."

He stops talking, and his eyes are unfocused as if he"s looking far away. The mood is somber, and I don"t know how to change it. I get up, stand behind him, and put my arms around his chest. I place a kiss on the side of his face as I say my words of condolence. He looks at me, surprised. And I take it a step further and place a kiss on his lips. It was only meant to be a soft, closed-lip kiss, but he opens up in response to our joining lips, and I can"t help myself. He tastes like tomatoes and spice, and a thrill runs through my body when his tongue touches mine. There"s heat in the kiss, and I"m so affected I pull away from it.

I go back and finish my soup. We stay like that in silence, both of us eating. When I start eating my cake, I blush again because when I eat chocolate, I make the most seductive moans, no matter where I"m at. Noah is looking at me funny, and I hurry to apologize.

"Sorry, I really like chocolate."

"I should go." He says but doesn"t move.

"You"re staying here tonight. I need to keep an eye on you and your blood pressure."

"Are we going to sleep in the same bed together?"

"There"s a pull-out couch, but I think we can share the bed. We"re both adults."

"You trust me to be a gentleman?"

"I trust you"ve had a hard night and need some rest."

I finish the rest of my chocolate cake – no, I did not give him any – and then go to the bathroom to shower and change into my pajamas. Unfortunately, they are a bit more revealing than I"m comfortable with at a sleepover, but you"ve got to work with what you"ve got. When I leave the bathroom I see Noah sitting on the edge of the bed, taking off his shirt. The hair on his chest is salt and pepper, and my hands ache, wanting to run my fingers through it, and see where the path takes me.

Sliding into bed, I offer what I hope is a reassuring smile, and turn onto my side. I feel the mattress depress and wonder for the millionth time what it would be like to be held tight in his embrace.

"Goodnight, Noah."

"Thank you, Meghan. For helping me, but…" He hesitates and I feel him fiddling with the sheets. "That kiss was a mistake. It can never happen again."