Page 58 of Who's Saving You
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Nik
“I hope you got the rooms straightened out.”
We walk down the hall, she’s slightly one step ahead of me. She wants to be independent, I’ll let her, plus the view from behind is amazing. “Sorry, hotel is booked. You’re with me.”
“No fucking way,” she says, glancing back at me, a smile tugging at her lips showing me she doesn’t mean a word.
“I understand it’s going to be hard for you to keep your hands to yourself, but try to be the grown-up here and behave.” She tosses me a look over shoulder as we continue down the hallway. “Or not. Either way, I’ll make it worth your while.”
In true Noelle fashion, she has sniped out comment after comment since we left the stadium and restaurant. But this one makes me laugh. I pretended there was a mix-up with the rooms. There was no way she was staying with Stone. And if I’m being honest here, my self-control is waning. We’ve had moments where I wondered if she felt it, too, and I've been pushing a bit here and there to see if she responds. And after tonight's dinner? I think we’re both on the same page.
Sure, she aggravates the fuck out of me, but I’d love to try to fuck that attitude out of her. After the guys made mention of her being a cougar, I haven't stopped thinking about it.
I realized her sweet scent, which is so intoxicating, is because this chick has a serious sugar addiction. She’s always got candy close by, and it's left me craving more than just sugar. I'm craving her, and I’m falling fast.
I don’t know when it happened. Well, fuck, I actually do know when it happened. That first meeting at the hospital. But I couldn't get involved with her. I couldn’t get close. But now, this forced proximity has me learning another side of her, and I like it.
The door opens and Noelle steps in first. The door shuts behind us with a soft click and she slips off her heels with a quiet sigh. The city is still alive beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, lights glittering across the river like we’re in some faraway galaxy. But in here, the silence hits.
I toss the keycard for Touchdown Towers onto the dresser, then shrug out of my suit jacket, catching her reflection in the window. Her hair’s slightly mussed from the wind outside. That strap of her black dress is still testing my patience.
“This hotel is very elegant for being packed with football players.” Her tone is light and teasing.
“We occasionally know how to behave.”
“Occasionally.” She smiles. “This is a beautiful city. I’ve never been here before.”
“No? I’ve been here a time or two, but I don't usually get to enjoy the nightlife. It was nice to get out. You held your own tonight,” I say casually, loosening my tie. “Loving was convinced you’d bail by appetizers.”
Noelle smirks, half-laughing as she opens the mini fridge. “If it weren’t for their girlfriends, I was thinking about it. I enjoyed talking with them. Valentina is very intelligent but closed off. You see how Nico works for her?”
I smirk. “I do. It’s good for him, he needs a woman with a strong personality, someone to keep him in line.”
“And I still can’t get over the fact that Scottie and Nicholas are going to have a baby! Her eyes go wide. “Like, how does that work? He’s going to be flying all over the country half the year, and she's going to what? Be a single mom?”
“It’s only eight away games. If I were her, I'd welcome the quiet.” I laugh and shake my head, still a bit in shock about that myself. “I knew he was in deep with her, but I didn't know it was baby-deep. He seems ready for it, to each his own.”
She laughs. “Yeah, to each his own. I’ll say that watching you and your oversized man-children friends talk about game stats was actually weirdly entertaining.”
I raise a brow. “Man-children? I’ll have you know, those guys are highly respected athletes.”
“Please,” she scoffs, taking out a chilled bottle of wine and grabbing a glass. “This is free, right?” She winks, and I laugh as I take the bottle from her and grab the corkscrew. This will cost me $150 on tomorrow's check out tab. I pour and hand her a glass as she says, “One of them bet fifty bucks on who could eat more breadsticks.”
“Fastest fifty bucks I ever made.” She laughs with me, and then I say, “Coming from a cougar, I guess I could see why you’d call them children.”
Her eyes get wide. “Excuse me?”
I smirk and unknot my tie, letting it hang around my neck. “They Googled you. And when they found out you're seven years older than me, they ran with it.”
“Hm. Cougar only applies if I actually like you.” She sips her drink and turns her back on me, watching out the window.
I unbutton my shirt and pull it from my pants. “You do.”
She scoffs and throws up her middle finger, but then turns toward me, eyes slightly hazy with wine and tequila from dinner, eyeing my chest. “They love you, you know.”
I furrow my brows, caught off guard by the softness in her tone. She continues, “You’re their anchor, even when they’re being idiots.”
