Page 41 of My Kind of Trouble
Alex let out a humourless laugh and his words dripped in venom, ‘Oh baby, we both know it’s not his hands you want on you tonight. I did you a favour, and you know it.’
Baby. Was she hallucinating? She shook it off because the word had sounded far too sexy coming out of his mouth, and she was in far too much of a compromising position right now. But also, who else’s hands did he mean? His?
‘You want to go running around, dancing on tables and shaking that ass for men that don’t deserve to see it, then you better be willing to take responsibility when they all end up eating their teeth if they touch you.’
She felt the briefest flutter in her stomach, but then it was her turn to let out a maniacal laugh as the lust-induced fog cleared and her anger returned.
He chose that moment to set her right onto her feet and started to pull her through the streets in the direction of their hostel. But she pulled back and set her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
‘Are you for fucking real right now? Again, who do you think you are? You are such a hypocrite! You spend the entire night eye-fucking and flirting with some horny blonde and then have the audacity to dictate who I can and cannot have a good time with. I’m surprised you could tear your eyes away from her cleavage long enough to notice. Fuck you, Alex!’ She spat out the words and it only made him smirk, his lips lifting up in the corners.
Was he enjoying this?
Quicker than she could process, she was being pushed down a quiet street, her back against a wall and his body pressed to hers. The bricks were cold against her flushed skin as he caged her in.
Chapter 25
Alex
Noa was so damn sexy when she was angry. She was sexy all the time, but angry Noa, she was another level. It almost made Alex want to piss her off more often.
He couldn’t stop himself when she’d shouted at him like she wanted to rip his balls from his body. This feisty brunette would be the death of him. And the shocked look on her face when he’d pressed her against the wall had been priceless. But he hadn’t thought much further than that, and now they were so close and completely alone. All hewanted to do was crash his lips to hers and show her just how crazy she had made him all night.
‘Jealous, Trouble?’ he taunted, knowing she’d bite.
She pushed against his chest, but the move lacked all conviction.
‘Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t do the caveman type. And Idefinitely don’tdo the fuckboy type,’ she retorted, but her hands fisted in his T-shirt as she said it, and his eyes tracked the motion.
Her pupils were blown, her blue eyes now almost black, desire swimming in them. The look she gave him set him on fire. He itched to touch her. But he wouldn’t. Not until she asked. It felt like they’d been dancing around their feelings for each other recently, and the look on her face now made him sure this thing did not just go one way. But it was a dance he would happily continue until he knew she was sure.
Because, once he had her in his arms, felt the touch of her lips and been buried inside her, he knew there would be no going back. He would not repeat his previous mistake—have her there with him one minute only for her to bolt the next. Even though everything in him ached for her, she was worth the wait. Just as he’d expected, he could see the turmoil behind her eyes, her impulse to overthink everything kicking in and suddenly she pulled back, putting space between them that felt like a giant, gaping hole.
But he just grabbed her hand and led them back to the hostel in silence. He would allow her the space she needed to process the feelings she had accidentally made clear she had for him. But after tonight, he was not holding back and, once she realised that he could give her everything she wanted, Noa Drake would be his.
Chapter 26
Noa
Ho Chi Minh City had turned out to be a flying visit. Even for Vietnam, the city was busy in a way that just felt exhausting, and none of them had felt very connected with the place or inclined to stay. That was the perks of going with the flow Noa realised, complete freedom. They’d had no restrictions on their time and could jump onto the next available flight to Da Nang, where they had now been for the past few days.
After the events of Ho Chi Minh City, Noa had been on edge around Alex. She didn’t know howto act. She knew he and everyone around them had noticed it, but they had, luckily, given her space to figure it out. She considered whether to acknowledge what had happened, but her head was honestly swimming with so many thoughts that she didn’t know what she would say or do if she did.
She had been jealous the night he flirted with the blonde in the bar, and she had accidentally let the mask fall. He saw the jealousy and called her out on it. She couldn’t take it back now. But did she like Alex Fletcher like that? It all felt so messy and, despite how busy they’d been as they travelled through Da Nang and explored the huge city with all their new friends, she just couldn’t keep her mind from wandering to him. She needed to make sense of it.
She’d once thought she had feelings for him before. However, that was back when she was twenty, and it all ended in a one-night stand followed by a very quick pros and cons list that resulted in her decision to make a pact to put the night behind them. They swore that they would never think about it again. But now, that’s all she could think about and, unlike back then, telling herself that this would only hurt Ryan and Alex in the long run was not enough to deter her from her thoughts of pouncing on the man.
What didn’t help is that, as if he knew something had shifted in her, Alex had been so kind and attentive over the past few days, and they had started getting a lot closer. That, accompanied by the fact that they were both in Hoi An Old Town, in a longboat, sailing down the river as part of the lantern festival, was causing all kinds of crazy butterflies to set flight in her stomach.
They sat side by side in the wooden boat, an older Vietnamese woman rowing behind them. The whole scene surrounding them was lit by so many different colours oflanterns. They glowed in the dark night, and the gentle sway of the boat, along with the soft lapping of the water against the wood, made a sudden rush of emotions wash over her. She had once dreamed of being here and sitting here now, with him, it felt so intimate. Romantic almost. She felt so comfortable in his presence. Neither of them felt the need to fill the comfortable silence with words as they sat and just enjoyed the perfect moment.
Noa came to realise that, somewhere along the line and without even knowing it, she had stopped trying to mess with Alex. She’d lost sight of that. It no longer seemed important as she focussed on the pull that still existed between them instead. She’d also lost sight of her need to put herself back together after her breakup, because she was never truly broken. She never gave Lucas all her pieces in the first place, and that had made getting over him easier than she’d ever imagined. And, here and now, she felt more whole than she’d ever felt.
She watched Alex from where he sat beside her. Thick stubble framed the quiet smile on his face. His hair was a perfect mess from the evening breeze. He was completely relaxed and entranced by the display around them, and Noa was entranced by him. She felt her chest squeeze.
Because it wasn’t the light display dancing across the water that had her unable to look away. Or the colourful buildings blanketed in ripe green leaves and pink-petaled flowers. It was him.
A lump formed in her throat as another realisation dawned on her: she had deep, messy feelings for her brother’s best friend. And, she thought, maybe she always had.
