28. You’ve Been Pinned

Hailey felt more naked than she actually was—which was saying something since she didn't have on a stitch—and she struggled to not let it show from where she sat at one end of the couch, knees bent in front of her with her arms cinched around them. "So a woman you were involved with is downstairs, and she thinks you're giving her a job? What else is she expecting you to give her?" She used her most reasonable voice. She really did.

"She's not downstairs now. She left with Charlie, which is why I could bring Chance up here." The dog wagged his tail from where he lapped at his water bowl, obviously happy to acknowledge his new name. Noah stood at the opposite end of the couch with a throw blanket cinched around his middle like a towel.

Hailey cocked an eyebrow, ready for the rest of the answer. Instead, she got the throw, which he whipped off his body and dropped on her shoulders.

"You looked cold." He shrugged and resumed his spot at the other end. Yeah, naked Noah wasn't the least bit distracting. No wonder his ex had followed him to Fall River.

"I wasn't so much involved as I was … Shit, this sounds so bad, but here it is." His pained expression almost had her feeling sorry for him. Almost. "I was hooking up with her. We'd dated for about a minute over a year ago. It didn't go anywhere. She went her way; I went mine. Then I bumped into her in Denver several weeks ago and wound up staying at her place for a few nights. I was kind of in Wyatt's and Serena's way, and it seemed like a simple solution. Turned out to be way more complicated. I was coming from her place the day you and I … met on the pass." He shot her a sheepish look. "It was a casual thing for me, and I thought she was on the same page. I thought wrong. I was so sure I hadn't misled her, but somewhere along the way she decided that we were a ‘thing,' and now she's left her job and says she's here to ‘help' me. Whatever the fuck that means."

Who does that? The woman sounded a bit unhinged. "Did you plant the idea of working for you in her head?"

Chance ambled over and sat between them, his wary doggie face turning from one to the other, like a sunflower following the sunshine. Only nothing sunny was happening here.

Tortured emerald eyes lifted to hers. "I might have without meaning to."

Hailey pulled the wrap tighter around her shoulders. "Um, I think I need actual clothes for this discussion."

Noah gusted out a defeated sigh. "Grab mine too while you're at it, please? I'm feeling a little exposed myself." As if to underscore the sentiment, he stepped into the kitchen area, where the butcher block hid his man bits. Unfortunately, it did nothing to cover the delicious cut of his V, those washboard abs, or his stupendous pecs … and shoulders … and biceps … and forearms … and hands ...

Stop it!

She dashed up the stairs, on the hunt for clothes that had come off and gone on many times in the last twelve hours. Mostly they'd come off and were scattered in various piles around Noah's loft, a debris trail that mimicked the path of their unorthodox choices of places to indulge in adult playtime. And God, it had been exhilarating.

As she scoured the perimeter of the bed, the heady scent of sex and Noah wafting from the well-used linens, she reflected that the scene was comical in a twisted-fate sort of way, and witnessing Mr. Surly Man squirm in place would have tickled her funny bone if it didn't hurt her heart at the same time. But she reminded herself they hadn't known each other when he'd been with her—the downstairs ex-hookup. Still, he hadn'tbeen with the downstairs ex—Sandy—that long ago, and after a short span of time, he had switched to Hailey. Did that make him a manwhore? Throw in the drooling Germaines and Ursulas of the world, and the answer was: quite possibly. Another thought about Ursula struck, and Hailey put it aside.

She shinnied on her panties and pulled one of Noah's T-shirts over her head, loving the woodsy man scent that enveloped her. If things didn't work out between them, she was going to steal this shirt. Maybe a second one too.

Snatching his knit boxers and a random hoodie, she ran downstairs and tossed them at his head. "We left off at how you screwed up."

"Thanks for the reminder," he deadpanned. Even in the ridiculous combination of hoodie and underwear, the man's sex appeal came through. It was a living, breathing thing that prowled the shadows and banded its phantom arms around you, catching you unaware and defenseless.

He scrubbed his beard with one of those strong hands she admired so much. "I was antsy to get out of there, and I cut my time short without tying things off the way I should have. I blamed my escape on being short-staffed, which led to joking about needing a good waitress and her coming to work for me. I guess I was trying to let her down easy—I'm a chicken when the waterworks start—and it never occurred to me she'd take me seriously." He visibly winced.

"That's a pretty awful joke." And such a man thing to do. "I can see where she might have jumped to conclusions. It makes me wonder …"

"What?" He held out a hand for Chance to sniff.

She folded her arms across her chest. "You have this woman downstairs who thinks you're together. You have Ursula who's positive you'll be together. Is there something I should know?"

His brows cinched together. "I don't follow."

"Do you drug your women so they all suffer from the same delusion? Do I need to worry that I'm going to wake up under some kind of spell that compels me to add our names to a wedding registry?"

He snorted. "Hardly."

"You have quite the magnetic pull, Noah Hunnicutt."

"Not on you, though." The sad note in his voice gave her hopes a lift.

Don't be so sure about that, barkeep. I'm only human.

"I'm just trying to figure out what kind of guy I've been spending the last twelve hours with."

"I get it. My track record sucks, and if I were looking at me from your vantage point, I'd think I'm a total douche. But I don't want you having any doubts, so ask me whatever you need to ask."

"Why did you start seeing her in the first place?" Hailey was genuinely curious. The answer might lend her more insight into what made Noah Hunnicutt tick.

He scratched Chance's chin. "Honestly? She was pretty and bubbly, and when she came on to me, I was flattered. My ego was on life support after all the ups and downs with Ursula, and it needed shoring up." He paused a beat. "Sandy told me she was coming off of a messy breakup and wasn't into serious, so I thought ‘Why the hell not? Might do us both good.' I didn't expect anyone to fall for anyone else. It's one of the reasons I cut out the first time, but I guess I forgot all about that when I ran into her again."

"She must be very persuasive." Hailey tried to picture the femme fatale.

"Not really. She started out by apologizing for the time before and wanted to know if we could be friends again, that she knew I didn't want to get serious. I believed her. Throw in the fact that I hadn't been with anyone since Wyatt's wedding and I was still licking my wounds, and one thing led to another." He shook his head. "I know. You don't have to say it. I'm a dumbass and a dick."

"Maybe, but you're also a man with some tender spots like the rest of us. It's understandable."

His eyes widened. "It is?"

"We all need someone from time to time to let us know we're attractive and that we're not alone. Just because you don't want anything long-term doesn't mean you don't need to feel that human connection now and again, like us last night."

His eyes clouded over. "Wait. If you're comparing last night to me fooling around with Sandy, you're way off base." He took a long-legged stride toward her, but she backstepped, bewildered. "I never said I wasn't into long-term. I wasn't into it with her, or anyone else for that matter." A piece of Hailey's heart tore off but mended when his voice grew soft. "But that was before I met you."

She blinked.

One corner of his mouth quirked. "Yeah, you heard me right, surfer girl." Then his arms were surrounding her, pulling her to him. She fell against him, melting into him, molding herself to his hard, strong planes. His arms held her close, keeping her safe, and she burrowed her fingers into his thick, silky strands. He stuck his nose in her hair and breathed in. "I know we haven't known each other very long, but this … You feel different, and I like it a hell of a lot. I don't want it to go sideways before it even gets off the ground."

He drew back and peered at her, sliding his hands to her waist where they remained anchored. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here, and I hope like hell you don't lop it off, but I like you. A lot. I like being around you, and I want to spend more time with you—even if you do shut down my restaurant." He reached up and yanked on a tress playfully.

Despite the knot of emotion swelling in her throat, she managed to choke out, "It's only because you were horny."

A warm, sexy chuckle rumbled through his chest. "I'd be lying if I said that never entered my mind, but you need to understand one thing: that horniness is selective. My dick seems to zero in on you and no one else, so from that standpoint, I'm wrecked. But it's more than that, and I can't put my finger on it. I just feel … I don't know … good when I'm around you." He gathered her hair in his hands and wound it around his knuckles. The tug on her scalp sent tingles through her bloodstream and flared heat in her core. "I haven't got shit to offer, Hailey, and I have no clue how to relationship, but with you, I want to try. I want to follow where it leads us, as far as it leads us. You've seen me at my worst, and you're still talking to me, so I call that a huge win already. What do you say, surfer girl? Wanna be my hoochie mama?"

She couldn't help but smile when she looked up into the most beautiful green orbs she'd ever seen. They twinkled with hope, and her insides liquefied into a warm puddle. No one had ever declared himself to her the way he just had, nor had anyone ever looked at her the way he was looking at her. Her innards began breakdancing. Havoc was being wreaked inside her. Happy feet tap-danced in her veins.

Apparently, her giddiness took too long to sort because he nudged. "But if you don't, I get it, and if you'd rather keep it cas—"

"Fuck buddies?" she blurted.

His eyes widened. "Not the term I had in mind, but the same general idea. Except … wait. You know what? No. I'm not down with that. If you want the body, you're gonna have to take the man that goes with it."

Seriously, could she get any gooier inside? Soon her liquid emotions would be oozing from her pores.

"Um, I could get on board with that scenario. Does this mean we're like an official couple? You've pinned me like old people used to do when they were young or something that makes us exclusive?" Shit, she was no good at relationshipping either.

He threw his head back and let out a laugh that warmed her all over. Then he dropped tender kisses on her forehead, her nose, her eyes, whispering, "Yeah, consider yourself pinned." He nipped her earlobe, and in a heated voice that dripped with decadence said, "And to prove it, I'll pin you to the wall later and show you just how much I love the idea of belonging to only you."

Chills cascaded down her spine.

Chance looked on and let out a happy little whimper. "My dog likes that idea too," Noah mumbled right before his mouth launched a spirited assault on her neck, her jaw, her ears. His hands got in the act too, dipping below the top of her panties and shoving them out of his way. He filled his hands with her bare ass and squeezed, pressing her to his steely length. "Feel that, babe? My dick's already showing off for you," he growled against her skin.

"Oh God," she squeaked. In a breathless rush, she added, "But first we need to deal with your little dilemma."

He came to a grinding halt and stared at her. "We?"

Lust had her nodding like a bobblehead. "Yes. I have an idea. Maybe."

A lazy grin spread across his handsome face. "I want to hear all about it. But first things first. Sandy's not expecting to see me for a few hours, which means …" A roguish gleam lit his eyes.

"Means what?" God, she barely had air enough in her lungs or brainpower to articulate a coherent thought because he kept stealing them from her.

"Which means I get to take you upstairs and make love to you a few more times. Unless you want to do me in the closet. I think that's about the only place we haven't been yet."

She nearly burst out with a laugh, but other words elbowed each other for her attention.

"Make love." Is that what we're doing? Oh yes, that's exactly what we're doing.And it couldn't have felt more right.

Before she could enthuse with a "Yes!" to his fine idea, his mouth took hers in a consuming kiss. Soon she was lost in the sensations created by lips and tongues in sync.

Digging her fingers into his hard-planked shoulders, she wrapped her legs around his waist and fused herself to him, anticipation bubbling inside at the thought of their bodies also moving in sync. He must have sensed it too because he nearly ran up the stairs.

Two hours later, the cringeworthy scene unfolding before her couldn't have been more different. Hailey tried to still her jangling nerves as she swiped at Mountain Coffee's pristine counter. Again. Closing time was near, and the place was empty except for Noah and Sandy seated at a table in a quiet corner.

How weird was this diorama? How often did a girl get to witness her newly minted boyfriend stamp a "The End" on a past relationship?

He'd been right about Sandy: she was pretty, in a Sydney Sweeney kind of way—which meant she was perfect—but Hailey couldn't muster jealousy because Noah's body language said it all. The more Sandy leaned across the table, the farther away he drew, arms crossed over his chest, balancing on his chair's back legs. Any observer would have recognized that Sandy either hadn't received the memo that he wasn't into her or she'd tossed it into recycling.

Sure, it bothered Hailey that she was watching her man—yes, hers—talking to a woman he had once bedded, but she drew comfort from the fact that he had never pursued it further. It was plain that whatever attraction he had felt for the woman had died on the vine.

Oh, and there was the other detail: he'd been inside Hailey's body, groaning out her name, only an hour prior. Yeah, Hailey couldn't hold back the satisfaction that factoid stoked.

Nevertheless, the vignette was painful to witness. Occasionally, he darted pleading eyes Hailey's way, but they'd agreed she was only there as a buffer in case Sandy decided to pull out a can of crazy. People tended to be better behaved when someone else was watching. As far as Noah's ex was concerned, Hailey was just the help. She was, in fact, working. Amy had slotted her into the closing shift at the last minute so she could run a few errands.

Snippets of their conversation drifted on the air as Sandy's voice rose and fell, matching the emotions waving over her face. "You offered me a place to work, Noah. You made me give up my job!"

Oh no, he didn't! Hailey took another forceful swipe at the counter.

"The way I remember it, you and I both joked about it, but I never meant it to sound like I actually had a spot for you. I can't even keep my regulars busy, especially now. I'm sorry if you took me seriously." He was the epitome of calm and diplomacy, damn it!

"And what about us, Noah?" Sandy squawked.

There is no "us," you hussy! And, barkeep, you need to be more forceful! Hailey refrained from gnawing on the towel.

He dropped his voice in a range too low for Hailey to pick up. Sandy's voice, on the other hand, climbed.

"Fuck you, Noah! You might as well have said, ‘Thanks for letting me use your body for a few nights. Now that my itch is scratched, I'm out.' What a prick! You lied to me. You led me on."

He tilted his head, and his eyes got that dangerous cut-glass glint in them. "If anyone lied, Sandy, it was you," he gritted out. "You set me up. You told me you wanted to keep it light. In fact, I remember you throwing around the term ‘friends with benefits' a helluva lot. If I'd known you had no intention of keeping it casual, I would've said, ‘Have a great life,' and moved on."

Yeah, take that!

Sandy burst into tears. Noah rocked forward in his chair, and his expression dissolved into pure anguish. Hailey watched as he reached out a hand, pulled it back. Lord, the man was a sucker for tears. This revelation surprised her because he had that bartender ninja skill that let him see past a person's facade, but he was completely missing that this chick was putting on an act. His hand extended again.

Don't do it, Noah! Don't fall for it.

A shadow looming beyond the front door seemed to catch his attention, and he leaned the chair back once more. The silhouette sharpened into a familiar figure right before she stepped through the door and pointed at him.

"There you are!" Ursula, perfectly clothed and coiffed, perched her hands on her curvy hips and shifted her scowl from Noah to Sandy and back again.

Noah leaned farther back and tipped over, man and chair clattering to the floor. While Hailey clapped her hand over her mouth and ducked from behind the counter, the two other women gasped and rushed to help him up. She screeched to a squeaky stop. He didn't need her jumping into the fray. Not only did he appear undamaged, but his harem was handling the situation quite efficiently, even if they were exchanging mean-girl glares and yanking on him as though he was the rope in a game of tug-of-war. Hailey couldn't decide if she was amused, annoyed, or both.

She was pivoting back toward her station when the door crashed open and Dixie stepped inside, swathed in hot fuchsia and neon lime. Her head snapped toward the trio wrestling on the floor.

"Boss, you need to come! Right. Now."

Shrugging off the women, he hopped to his feet, slid Hailey a contrite look, and faced his fluorescent manager. "What's going on?"

"Helene Holiday just died!"

His reply came in the form of a canted head and a quizzical expression.

"In your bar!"