Page 56 of Catching My Dreams

“So this is how you won him over,” Ella said, walking into the room once Archie was happily chomping. “Snacks.”

Caught red-handed, Noah looked up at her with wide eyes. “I plead the fifth.” He put Archie down like he was ridding himself of the evidence.

Ella shook her head and came to a stop in front of him. “It’s okay. I know you need the extra help. It’s not easy making friends with a face like that and a personality as boring as yours.”

“Is that why you invited me into your bed last night?” he asked with a smug grin, reaching out to her and pulling her in.

“If I remember correctly, you spent most of the hours before that providing me with food,” she pointed out.

Noah’s grin was replaced with an exaggerated frown. “I feel attacked, and I’m not loving it.”

“What’s wrong, Warner? Can’t handle the banter?”

He grabbed her waist and lifted her up onto the counter behind her. “Not when it’s calling my ability to charm into question.” His fingers moved over her legs, the skin-on-skin contact doing something funny to Ella’s insides. “I’m a very insecure man, you know.”

“Oh, I can tell,” Ella replied, unable to hide her amusement.

Noah leaned closer and slowly ran his lips along her neck. “You’re so cruel to me, Montgomery,” he whispered against her skin. “I was in the process of making us breakfast, but now I might have to reconsider.”

“That would be cruel,” she argued, shivering when he placed a kiss on her throat. “You can’t wake a girl up to the sound of pots clanging and proceed not to make breakfast.”

“It would serve you right.” His nose grazed against her neck, and he sighed. “But since I have practice this morning and I need my energy, I guess I don’t have much of a choice.”

“You could always make food just for yourself,” she pointed out with a laugh.

“Considering it’s your groceries I’ll be using, that might come across as even more of an asshole move.”

She nodded. “You’re right. You have no choice but to make me breakfast, too.”

“I guess not.”

He placed another kiss on her neck and slowly worked his way up until his lips met hers. He parted her lips with his tongue, and with one stroke, she was putty in his hands. She melted against him, her fingers sinking into his hair and her mouth greedily deepening the kiss. He groaned, and the sound sent a coil of heat down her spine.

She didn’t think she would ever get enough of him. Of the taste of him. The feel of him. Just him being there in her house. She tightened her grip on him, hooking her feet behind his back and drawing him so close that she could feel nothing but him and the cold marble counter beneath her.

His hands roamed over her hips and waist, his touch as eager and hungry as she felt. But all too soon, he pulled away.

He swallowed, his eyes fixed on her lips and his chest rising and falling rapidly. “We need to stop before I take you right here.”

The image his words conjured in Ella’s mind sent another wave of heat through her. “Is there a reason we don’t want that to happen?”

“Doctor’s orders, remember.”

Ella lowered her hands to Noah’s shoulders. “I don’t think this is the kind of strenuous activity Julian had in mind when he gave those orders.”

“Is your neck still sore?” he asked.

“It’s better than yesterday,” she replied, trying to be evasive without outright lying.

“Better is not recovered.” He unhooked her feet from around his body, chuckling when she fought him and failed to keep her grip on him. “Is an omelet okay?”

Ella sighed. She wished he would be less noble. “Sounds great. Should I make us some coffee?”

He shook his head. “I’ve got it. You just sit there and look pretty.”

She narrowed her eyes to slits despite the smile teasing the corner of her lips. “You know women are more than just objects for your perusal and enjoyment.”

“Are they really?” he asked with feigned shock. Her eyes narrowed further, and he grinned. “Yes, I’m aware. You’re far too vocal to ever let me think of you as an inanimate object.”

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