Page 61 of Noel
I cough to hide my laugh.
She doesn’t look at me, but I see the corner of her mouth twitch.She knows.She senses it.
And God, I want to kiss her again.Bend her over that goddamn boardroom table and remind her she doesn’t owe these assholes an ounce of her genius.
But I don’t.
Not here.Not yet.
I’m just the silent shadow at her back, the big scary guy in black who everyone’s too afraid to ask about.
Let them wonder.
Let them think she’s protected by the devil himself.
They’d be right.
Because whatever this thing is between us—whatever strange, fierce, inconvenient fire she’s lit inside me—I know one thing for sure.
She’s mine now.
And I’ll throw down with anyone who tries before I let them dim her light.
We leave Big City Events just as the city starts slipping into that eerie winter hush—gray skies pressing down like a warning, snow dusting the sidewalks, traffic slower, people bundled up and moving fast.
Holly’s quiet beside me.
Not sulking, not angry.Just contained.
Like she’s got her emotions folded into neat, tidy corners so she doesn’t fall apart.
I don’t say anything.Just open the door for her, help her in.
She leans into my touch for half a second before pulling away like she didn’t mean to.
We’re halfway to the bakery when she finally speaks.
“They were going to take over, take credit for everything.”
I glance over.
Her eyes are on the road, but her fists are clenched in her lap.
“I know.”
“If I hadn’t walked in?—”
“They would’ve steamrolled you and then blamed you if anything went wrong,” I finish.“Typical power move.”
Her shoulders lift on a breath.“Yeah.”
“You handled it.”
She gives me a look.
“You didn’t make it easy with all that growling.”
Her lips twitch.
