Page 9 of Guarded
In fact, the only emotion Noah betrayed was the slight curling of his lip.Disgust.
I didn’t blame him. I was pretty disgusted with my behaviour too.
I added an item to the short list of things I knew about my mate.Noah knows his self-worth.
“Do you have something you want to say? Or is yourplan just to stare at me like a gormless idiot? If it’s the latter, I suggest you take a picture so I can continue with my day. I have a lot to do.”
Shit. He was talking to me. How did words work again?
The curl in his lip deepened. “Well, if that’s all…”
My hand shot out to stop the door from closing. “No, wait. I’m sorry.”
One of Noah’s brows rose as he opened the door slightly wider. Over his shoulder, I spotted two identical faces spying on me from the staircase.The one on the right slid a thumb across his throat.
Great. Nothing like grovelling in front of a murderous audience.
“What are you sorry for, exactly?” Noah folded his arms over his chest. We were the same height, but the way he was glaring down at his nose made me feel two feet tall. “Turning up uninvited like an irritating salesman?”
“No.” I tried desperately to compose myself, but it was hard. My soul was screaming about the fact that my mate was within arm’s reach but I couldn’t touch him. “I mean, yes. I’m sorry about that too.”
Noah tapped his foot, glancing pointedly at the slim watch on his wrist. “Will this take long? I do have places to be.”
Irritation prickled at me, and my mouth ran ahead of my brain. “Oh, sorry. Don’t let meeting your fated mate interfere with your day.”
Noah went deadly still. “What did you say?”
I winced. Fuck. Shouldn’t have said that.
“Uh-oh,” one of the twins murmured.“Tenner says Noah stabs him.”
The other twin pulled out a literal bag of popcorn from behind his back. “Nah. Too violent for Noah. Hundred onhim blasting him all the way to the end of the drive though.”
“Why waste my energy?” Noah drawled in response to the twins’ betting. “I can just close the door on him and his pathetic apologies.”
Once again, I found myself shoving against the door. “No, wait. I’m sorry. Again. I promise, I’m not a prick. Please, just give me a chance.”
“A chance?” The words were barely more than a whisper, but I knew it was the calm before the storm. Noah might have looked delicate, but the power I could sense in him was greater than anything I’d ever faced before. Magnificent. “You’ve had those already, buddy. Three, in fact.”
His nostrils flared as he stepped over the threshold, crowding into my space. Surprise had me stepping back in alarm. “First, when you realised I lived here and decided to fuck off to god knows where.”
“I know, but?—”
“Second”—Noah bulldozed on, not giving me a chance to speak. Which was fair, seeing as he’d given me several and I’d just stared at him like the gormless idiot he’d accused me of being—“when you saw me that day with Gloria and fuckingknewwhat we were to each other.”
“Look, if you let me?—”
“And third, when I tried to approach you after.” Noah was trembling now. Not from fear or sadness, but from fury. There were even sparks dancing around his fingers. I wasn’t sure whether fated mates could hurt each other, but I thought I might be about to find out. “You’ve hadplentyof fucking chances, Jeremiah.”
The sound of my name on his lips was like an arrow to the heart. One spiked with the same venom he’d coated myname with. “I know. I’ve been a complete dick. I thought if I left before meeting you that I’d be able to stay away.”
“Oh, how benevolent of you.” I winced at the sarcasm lacing his voice. “I should count my blessings.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, wondering how I’d managed to fuck this up so fast. “I just…wasn’t thinking.”
“That much is obvious.” Noah snorted. He crossed his arms and tapped his fingers against his elbows. “Tell me this, did you stop to consider how you leaving would affect me?”
I licked my lips nervously. “What do you mean?”
