Page 12 of Noah

The guys didn't get it. I needed to make this pub more than a passable success. I'd gone against my parents by not finishing law school. If I was to earn any respect from them, I needed this pub to be at its best. I wouldn't be satisfied until everything was complete and running smoothly.

"You don't understand what it's like to have parents like mine."

"Why do you think the pub isn't successful?" Ethan asked. "Look at all the people here. Eating, drinking, and dancing. Are you losing money?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not. It's not that." They really didn't get it. I furrowed my brow. Enough about me and the pub. "Forget I said anything. I don't want to talk about it."

"Noah met a guy," Liam said, redirecting the conversation.

"I didn't meet him," I argued. "He's a regular. He waited for me after work on Friday."

"Was the sex good?" Ethan asked.

"Why did you jump straight to that, Ethan?" Owen asked.

"Because I know Noah," Ethan replied. "I think I've introduced him to you."

"We didn't have sex."

Ethan's eyebrows rose. Yes, my habit was to sleep around. I'd tried the relationship thing. There was always some grating thing about the guys I dated that made it impossible to continue the relationship. Maybe I was searching for the unattainable.

"We went to Jimmy's. Had pie and talked."

"Talked as in got to actually know the guy," Ethan ribbed.

"Sort of. Brody didn't tell me much. He asked questions and let me do the talking."

"He's not a big talker," Liam chimed in. "Sits at the bar. Has his G&T and wings."

"Are you going to see him again?" asked Owen.

"At the bar if he comes in," I answered. "He didn't come in yesterday or today."

"So … you were watching for him?" Ethan refilled his pint glass.

"Maybe. He's like a puzzle I want to figure out." Something about Brody intrigued me. I'd never met someone who said he was interested in me, but the attraction wasn't apparent in his expression. Wracking my brain last night, I'd figured out what was different about him. He hadn't fully smiled, and he had barely made eye contact with me, constantly ducking his gaze away.

When he had briefly held still, matching my gaze, his eyes had spoken softly to me.

There's a saying that says still waters run deep. I suspected that was the case with Brody. Underneath that calm demeanour, I sensed lay a deeply passionate man.

I knew pulling emotions from him would be a challenge. Normally, I liked my men easy, but something about Brody was drawing me to him. Even this early on, I couldn't run if I tried.

The guys were all looking at me.

"I'll see how it goes," I said, giving them enough to keep them off my back.

The guys let the topic drop. Owen, eight years into his real estate agent career, told us about an incredible listing he'd picked up. A mansion on the ocean. Plus, two properties that he had sold. We were excited for him. At least one thing was going right in his life.

Liam reached over and grasped the back of my neck, massaging and caressing the nape. It was his way of saying that he supported whatever I wanted to do. Business and personal.

As the rest of our group chatted, my mind drifted back to Brody. I'd spoken the truth to him. I'd love to have his face looking down at me in bed. But something inside me was telling me to slow things down. Get to know him first. Uncover some of the hidden places in the man.

If he'd let me.

Chapter Four | Brody

I moved a few file folders around on my desk, making sure they maintained the categories I had placed them in. I didn't have too many cases on the go but enough that my legal assistant, Alesia, was kept extremely busy. On cue, she popped her head in through my doorway as I was about to check my email again. "Do you have a minute? It's personal stuff."

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