Page 48 of The Forever Formula
He shrugged as if this was all perfectly normal and took the pants from me. Amazingly, they actually sort of fit, at least his trim waist, though the legs were halfway up his calves.
I slipped on clean pants and a T-shirt and cut the light. The darkness was blinding as I shuffled to the bed. He was waiting for me under the covers.
Noah Hart. In my bed. The thought was still unreal. Megan would have been proud, of course.
His arm was outstretched, ready to scoop me into his side. I rested my head on his shoulder.
“This won’t be practical for sleeping, but it feels nice,” I told him.
“Not practical? Says who? I can hold you all night like this.”
I snorted. “You’ve had people sleep overnight before, right?”
A shockingly long silence passed.
“Not like this,” he finally told me.
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I didn’t really want to ask. It suited me much better to be none the wiser.
“I can’t believe I’m really here with you,” I said with a giggle.
Noah squeezed me harder to his side. It was the perfect moment—comfortingly familiar, tender and sweet.
After a while, when I thought he might have already fallen asleep, he stroked my hair lightly. “Thank you for staying.”
I breathed out softly at the thought in his words, and my eyes welled up with tears.
I didn’t want to be constantly comparing Noah to Roger, but I couldn’t help it in that moment. My heart was filled with this feeling ... like I was whole suddenly. Like I was cared for completely. Like everything was going to be like this from here on out.
There were too many thoughts in my head just then.
How stupid I’d been for not realizing that Roger didn’t really love me. He’d never go to sleep with me, even when I begged. He said he hated cuddling, it was too cliché, and he never whispered sweet words to me.
I’d been missing out completely on all of that. The stuff that makes a relationship ... the moments that let you know you are the center of someone’s world. I wasn’t even sure if Noah felt all that deeply about me, but I could already see it was a hell of a lot more love than Roger had for me.
If Noah was game, I was going to take the chance to be with him. I didn’t need to rush it, I had all the time in the world ... but I knew I wasn’t going to hold back anymore.
Maybe all this had happened for a reason—losing my job, leaving Roger, having to come back home to take care of Grandpa’s affairs. The universe was pushing me right back to where I needed to be.
And right now, I needed to be in Noah’s arms.
21
SURPRISE VISITS
Rachel
Everything was falling into place. Things I didn’t think I needed or wanted. Things I could have never known to wish for.
Like the cabin, for example.
Renovating the cabin had been so much fun. So far, I’d painted every paintable inch of it, replaced the hardware on all the cabinets, changed out all the outdated faucets, and stained the deck. Now it was time to change out the light fixtures. I mean, a house only needed so many seventies style globe lights.
For the first time in my life, I had money. Grandpa’s life insurance had come through quickly, and it was more than I’d expected. Still, I felt guilty, knowing there were six figures sitting in my bank account.
I mean, Grandpa could have sold the house a long time ago and had an easier retirement. He could have canceled his life insurance policy and used that money for himself. I wouldn’t have blamed him.
A little part of me knew, though, that he’d kept this house for me. It was where I’d grown up and the only house I’d ever known. And he had that insurance policy to make sure I was taken care of. Even if he was gone, he was still very much here with me, caring for me like he always had. It was a comforting thought.
