Page 98 of Hard Rock Tease
I turned around and hugged him. "I should have listened to you all those times you tried to stroke my ego."
"Watch out. Soon your head will be as big as mine." Noah took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it over.
I took it, confused. "What is it?"
"Just read it."
I opened the folded paper to find a contract. It looked like the one I'd signed before my very first meeting with Naomi and Noah. "Is this the non-disclosure agreement?"
"Close. Look at the last few lines."
I skimmed the paper. "Something about rights and royalties and copyright…?"
He took it from my hands. "I won't make you read the whole thing. But it essentially gives you official credit as one of the songwriters forYou Are My Heart."
I gaped, unable to process the words that had come out of his mouth. "What?"
"That's the title of our song. You're going to get songwriting credits for it. I changed the contract. You just have to sign it."
My mind raced. "You named our song after…?"
"I hope you don't mind I borrowed it."
Tears stung the back of my eyes. "I don't mind at all."
"I wanted our song to have a connection to your mom. It was her work, it was her love for you, that helped us complete it. Instead of feeling sad and angry and guilty whenever you thought of her, I wanted to help you feel something good. Something beautiful and loving."
I couldn't believe Noah had been so thoughtful. He'd taken something that had only ever caused me pain and heartache and turned it into something full of love and joy.
I stared at him for long moments before throwing my arms around his neck and squeezing tight. "Thank you."
"No. Thank you. I should have done this from the beginning. I shouldn't have tried to hide everything and keep it a secret." He ran his hands through my hair. "You deserve all the praise you're going to get for this song."
Noah's cell phone rang in his jeans pocket. I knew it must be his sister, because no one ever called Noah. I removed my arms from around his neck and let him answer.
I could hear Lily's excited chattering through the tinny speakers. She must have been so happy to finally be able to spend time with her brother again.
For all of Noah's fears and worries about her safety, Lily didn't seem to give two thoughts about the risks of coming home.
I couldn't deny I was nervous. I wanted to meet Noah's little sister, but I worried what she would think of me. If Lily was even half as protective of her older brother as he was of her, she would be a hard person to impress.
Noah and Lily had relied on each other their whole lives. It made sense they would be close, that they would look out for one another. I wanted to make a good impression on her.
Noah hung up the phone, unable to keep a smile from his lips. "Lily's anxious to come back."
"You really miss her, don't you?"
"Every day. I wish I had done things differently, but…"
I put my hand on his chest. "I'm sure Lily understands."
He placed his hand over mine, squeezing it. "I can't wait to introduce the two of you."
"Really?"
"Yeah. The two most important women in my life." He took my hands and placed a soft kiss on each palm before meeting my eyes. "The two women I love."
My heart burst in my chest. "Noah Hart, that's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."
