Page 56 of Reclaiming Love

Chapter 30

Noah leaned against his door, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes closed, and relived the moment he’d caught Melissa red-handed.

It could not be and yet it was. The girl he’d spent last night with had turned out to be nothing more than a two-timing she-devil. Right now, believing she had a twin was more desirable than facing the truth.

But then last night…he’d been certain that it was the start of something. He’d been sure of her too—the way she’d looked at him, he could see it in her eyes—what she felt for him. He’d always liked her but had needed to know that there might be a chance, no matter how slim, that she felt the same. Last night he was sure he had his answer.

But now…

It didn’t take much to figure out what she and Matt had been doing. He’d been annoyed at himself for not taking her contact details, but now with all that had happened, he was relieved it had turned out that way. He had nothing to say to her and he had no interest in listening to anything she might have to say. Someone like that, a two-timing, double-crossing woman like that was the last thing he needed in his life. Yet, no matter how much he thought it all through, it still didn’t make any sense. She had been a sweet, friendly, easy-to-get to know kind of girl. He was familiar with lies and deception—he’d seen it and dealt with these things with Bree. He’d stared both in the face and look how that had ended.

Paul hadn’t spoken of their other housemate too much. But he recalled that he’d referred to him as a jerk—and was thankful that Noah had moved in. Noah himself had only met Matt briefly when he’d moved in and collected his key. He couldn’t yet formulate his own opinion. Though maybe now all future opinions of him would be tainted.

A message beeped on his computer screen, reminding him that he still had a priority call to deal with. He’d need to get onto it before it got escalated all the way up to Rory. But the way he felt right now, he didn’t have a clear enough head to focus on anything, let alone to give this technical problem his attention.

Feeling confident that Melissa had left the apartment by now, Noah stormed out into the kitchen to get the coffee that had been denied to him last time. He touched the shiny kettle—the water was still just-boiled hot, the way he liked it. Caffeine would help down.

“Hey.” He turned to find Matt, this time dressed in a T-shirt, looking through the cupboards.

“Hey.” Noah turned back and fixed his coffee. He wasn’t in the mood for talking, and this guy was definitely the last person he wanted to speak to.

“How’re you settling in?” He munched on a croissant and observed Noah.

“Good.” Noah held his mug, ready to return to his room.

“Yeah?”

Noah sighed, the guy seemed eager to strike up a conversation. “The room’s a bit small, but we have Wi-Fi, so…nothing to complain about.”

“Late night?” Matt asked.

“Yeah.”

“Get up to anything exciting?”

“We went to”—he stopped himself before he said anything that might give Melissa away—“some place with people. What about you?”

“My girlfriend—Melissa—she went out last night, but I had stuff I needed to do…”

Noah’s insides stiffened. He felt like an eavesdropper, listening to a conversation he had no right to. Nodding politely at Matt he made a move to leave but the hint was lost on Matt who continued to talk. “She wanted to go out. I hate all that noise and people. But you know how girls are.”

Noah grinned, as if in understanding and took a step forward.

“Still, she couldn’t wait to get here first thing to show me how much she missed me.” A greasy smile swept his face and Noah felt the bitter taste of coffee suddenly repulsive.

Paul was right; you are a jerk. This time he took a firm step forward. “She seems nice enough. Anyway, sorry, man. I’ve got an urgent support call to take care of.”

Matt jerked up as if he remembered something. “Paul said you work for Black Diamond.”

Noah nodded his head.

“I hear they’re looking for people. I’m trying to leave. The place I work for is a joke. I’m looking for more money and more responsibility. There’s no chance of me moving up at my current place. Do you think we could get together and go through a few things? You know, if you could give me pointers.”

“Yeah, sure,” said Noah, though the last thing he wanted to do was to spend any time with the guy. “Not at the moment though. I’m kinda busy.”

“Cool. I can wait. Maybe we’ll hook up next week sometime?” Matt suggested.

There was nothing he wanted less. Finding himself in a corner, Noah gave a nod of his head. “Sure.” Then left. He’d have to make sure he was never around the same time as that guy was. Especially when Melissa came over again.

She couldn’t wait to get here first thing to show me how much she missed me.The words rankled him. He’d never before been so wrong about anyone as he had with Melissa. She was far from the seemingly shy and slightly introverted but normal girl he’d believed her to be.

His work cell phone rang as he returned to his room and he answered it with relief, thankful to have something that would distract his mind from Melissa’s betrayal.

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