Page 97 of After All This Time

I’m going to die being seduced by this tall, blue-eyed guy with dirty blonde hair who obviously belongs in a romance novel.

Holy shit, that’s it. Noah Kaplan is a man written by a woman. That explains so much.

I pick my head up and look at my reflection in the tall mirror. “Why are we standing in front of your mirror, smart ass?”

“You asked me who got me into romance. Take a good look in the mirror, Sweet Peach.”

Okay, where the hell did that come from?

It takes me a hot minute to realize I’m the person who got him into romance. I should win a medal for getting this guy into romance. A gold one that athletes win at the Olympics.

“Wait.” I pause. “I’m the person who got you into romance?”

His hands move down to where my biceps are.

I’m shocked goosebumps aren’t popping up all over my skin right now.

Ah, there they are.

His breath is hot against the back of my neck. He chuckles, staring right at me in the mirror. “Yeah, I went down the romance hole and never came out of it thanks to you.”

I smile proudly, raising my eyebrows up and down a few times. “You’re welcome. I have to say it’s impressive you told me the truth. I thought you were going to lie out of your ass and say they’re your sister’s books.”

“Why the hell would I do that?” His grip on my upper arms gets tighter.

He’s not angry.

He’s trying to get a reaction out of me.

And it’s working. A faint noise comes out of my mouth. Faint enough that Noah can’t hear it.

His hands move back to my shoulders. “You’re very tense.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I’m not tense.”

“You have a lot of knots in your shoulders.”

Oh God, he’s massaging my shoulders.

“Well, I like my knots, so you can leave them alone,” I say to our reflections in the mirror, sass pouring out of my voice.

He whispers in my ear. “I bet you do. But I’m going to loosen them a bit. Tell me to stop, and I’ll stop.”

Just fucking kiss me already. Throw me down on your goddamn bed. I’m begging you to put me out of my misery.

“Don’t do it so hard.” My body twitches.

“Stop being such a baby. I’ll be gentle. I promise.”

Remember when I said he was going to kill me by looking into his eyes?

No, that’s not how I’m going to die.

This is how I’m going to die.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

noah

---