Page 65 of Wicked Games We Play

Sinking into my desk chair, I piled the important papers neatly into their appropriate manila folders and organized them into the drawer of my desk that I keep locked so they’d be ready for me when I came back to work on Monday.

Tomorrow was the grand opening of Petals and Lace, and Lily was finally taking me to see it for the first time tonight. Despite my best effort of wearing her down, she made me wait until all of the finishing touches were made before she would show me the space, and I was looking forward to celebrating this huge accomplishment.

“Hey! Have a good weekend,” I yelled to Aaron and Will as I passed their desks and headed to the doors of the police station.

When I stepped into the crisp evening air, something shifted in me and a sense of peace washed over my body, enveloping me in a calmness I hadn’t felt… ever. Things were finally falling into place.

CHAPTERFORTY

Noah’s truck rumbled as we drove through the back roads that led out of Ridgewood, back into Shadow Hills, and toward my boutique. It was time for him to see the space I created, and my heart was pounding in my chest more rapidly with every mile we drove. He tucked his right hand between my thighs while he drove with one hand on the wheel, and his thumb swept back and forth on my leg. The sweet gesture did nothing to soothe the freak out that was currently happening inside of my head.

The grand opening was tomorrow morning at ten a.m. and the closer it got, the more the feeling of imposter syndrome set in. I couldn’t run a successful business, could I? I guess we’d find out soon.

All I had left to do was to show Noah the space and have our own pre-grand opening celebration tonight. The red wine, corkscrew, and two glasses sat in the tote bag on the floorboard next to me, along with some cheese, crackers, and prosciutto, even though we had just finished dinner.

Noah pulled up right in front of the boutique, parking along the curb before killing the engine. Hopping out of the cab, I fished for the keys inside my bag while Noah came and stood beside me. Streetlights illuminated the sidewalk, and a few couples leisurely walked around, hand in hand. All around us, businesses that stayed open late were preparing to close, and most patrons had already left the area. The Square across the street was quiet for this time of night, which surprised me since Fridays were usually jam-packed with teenagers.

In retrospect, Shadow Hills probably wasn’t the best choice of location for opening my boutique—Ridgewood would have been a better choice—but the opportunity was one I couldn’t pass up. Mrs. Landry had offered me a gift, and I would have been the most foolish woman alive not to take it.

Maybe one day I could open a second location in Ridgewood, assuming that one day in the future, Noah and I would live together and I would call Ridgewood home.

Noah.

Holding my hand in his, he stood patiently while I jingled the key in the door of Petals and Lace, disengaging the lock and pushing the door wide. A smile touched my lips when the smell of eucalyptus and lavender permeated the air, drifting from the boutique. It was the exact smell I envisioned when I began setting my dreams in motion. It was the scent that reminded me of home. Taking a breath to ready myself to share this with Noah, I patted the wall beside the door, feeling for the light.

Noah pressed his body against mine and wrapped his arms around my middle while my hand fluttered along the wall. “I can’t wait to see what you’ve created, Flower,” he murmured, rubbing his nose against the side of my jaw.

The man was a distraction, and I couldn’t find the light switch when everything about him was clouding my senses. He knew what he was doing; the evidence pressed into my back.

“I can’t find the light,” I breathed as he pushed his hand down the front of my jeans. They were tight, and his hand was too big to get too far in, but his fingertip was just barely able to brush against my clit, sending licks of fire through my veins. Moaning, I pressed my ass tightly against his erection, involuntarily rubbing against it with need.

“Unless you want me to get you naked right here, Flower, you better find that light switch,” he groaned, giving my clit a little more attention before pulling his hand back out of my jeans.

He stepped back, putting a little space between us, and the moment the feel of his body left mine, a rush of relief and disappointment blew through me. The thought of forgetting the tour of my boutique and getting naked was enticing, but I really wanted to show Noah all my hard work privately.

Without his body pressing against me, I could stand up straighter and refocus on the task at hand: finding the light switch.

Soon, Petals and Lace Home Decor was lit up and I watched with wonder as Noah’s eyes scanned the space that I had created. Slowly, he moved around the boutique, giving everything that his eyes met the attention it deserved.

He took his time, looking at every piece of inventory I had stocked, flipping some things over to look at the price tags I had created, before moving on to the next table. It took all the restraint I had not to follow him around and ramble incessantly about every single item I had picked out. I forced myself to stand near the cash wrap and leave him be so that he could take it all in. He let nothing show, hiding everything from me behind a cool neutral mask.

When he circled around and met me at the cash wrap where I stood. I held my breath, waiting for his reaction—or feedback, orsomething.

Finally, he let the expression show and he beamed at me. Immediately, he calmed my nerves, and I released the tension on my shoulders.

“Lily, look at this place. You did this,” he burst, taking my face roughly between his two palms. He crushed his lips to mine, kissing me hard before tugging my head back to look at me again. “I am so fucking proud of you.”

My face literally hurt from how hugely I was smiling at him. Giddiness bubbled inside of me, and the way he looked at me made the butterflies in my stomach go crazy.

He pulled my face back to his, meeting my lips and urging them to open with his tongue. For several minutes, we stood in the middle of my unopened boutique, curtains drawn, just the two of us. We made out like teenagers barely coming up for air. When we finally parted, we were both breathless and flushed.

“You know, there’s just one more thing that needs to happen before I can officially open for business,” I teased, looking up at him from below my lashes as I trailed my finger up and down his chest.

He watched my hands through hooded eyes while they traveled lower down his torso. Gripping the bottom of his shirt, I tugged up, untucking it from his pants.

“What’s that?” he asked through a husky breath.

Slowly, I unhooked each button of his dress shirt, stopping to press my fingertips across the planes of his smooth muscles once it had fallen open. I smiled and slid my hands up his chest, grasping his shirt when I reached his shoulders, and pushed it off him, letting it fall to the floor.

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