Page 45 of Pure Seduction (Chamberlin Brothers 1)

Fuck. I needed to stop thinking about it or I was going to have a difficult time remaining decent—not to mention walking.

“Noah?”

Shoving that thought aside, I made myself focus. “It’s a surprise.”

“A surprise? I don’t really like surprises.”

I frowned and shook my head. “That’s not what I remember.”

“Yeah? Well, things change. I’ve changed. And the adult me likes to know where she’s going.”

“Ah, I see. And what else does the adult you like?”

Laurel chuckled, and the sound was as effective as a hand stroking my dick. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I was well on my way to knowing last night.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t have stopped.”

No shit. “Is that an invitation?”

Laurel ran her gaze down over me, and when it settled on my lap, it took every ounce of willpower I possessed not to pull the car over and haul her across the console.

“More an…observation.”

“Duly noted.”

Her coy smile made me grip the steering wheel a little tighter.

“So you never answered my question. Where are we going?”

I stopped at one of the two red lights in town, and when Laurel scooted down in her seat, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is there a bounty out on your head I don’t know about?”

She glared at me, and her irritation made me laugh even harder. “You know exactly why I’m doing this. It only takes one person to see me sitting in this car and the whole town will know before morning. I told you, I don’t want to be part of the local gossip.”

“I get it.”

Laurel frowned, and I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like there was more to what she was saying than she let on. Before I could ask, however, the light turned green, and we were off again. Laurel straightened and shook her hair back from her face.

“You don’t need to worry, I promise. We’re going somewhere private.” This time when I glanced at her, Laurel’s eyes were fixed on me, and the desire from yesterday was back full force, but with a hint of…wariness? “Just you and me.”

She took in a steadying breath, and as she let it out, she bit down into her lower lip.

We fell into silence as we sped out of town, and thank God I knew where I was going, because all thoughts were now fixated on how incredibly sexy Laurel was.

When we finally reached our destination and I pulled into the drive, Laurel sat forward in the car and stared out the windshield.

“This is the winery, Noah.” She looked at me, alarm stamped all over her expression. “Why are we at the winery?”

“This is where we’re having dinner.”

Laurel’s eyes widened as she turned in her seat. “I’m not having dinner in there with you. Are you out of your mind?”

“Not last time I checked. And why don’t you want to have dinner in there? Is the food bad?”

“Of course the food’s not bad. It’s the finest dining in town.”

Her indignation was adorable as she stood up for her place of employment and, well, my family’s legacy.

“Then why would I want to take you anywhere else?”

Her words came to a dead end, before she seemed to regroup and shake her head. “I’m not going in there.”

“Why? Everyone else is gone for the night.”

“But—”

“But what?” I unbuckled my belt and pushed open the car door. “What’s more private than here? Plus, you owe me a taste testing, and I’m about to collect.”

22

Laurel

WHEN NOAH PULLED up at the winery, I’d thought he was insane.

But when we drove inside the gates and headed up the drive, the calm and peace of the night seemed to envelop us. There wasn’t a car or building beyond the villa directly in front of us, and as I climbed outside and took in the vast property, I realized that we were well and truly alone out here.

“Still want to leave?”

I looked across the hood of the car to see Noah was watching me, and that laser-like focus made my heart thump. I knew that tonight was probably a mistake. A decision I’d made when my guard was down. But as I looked at him standing there, finally within touching distance, I shoved aside any doubt and decided to live in the moment for a change.

“No. I actually think you might be onto something.”

Noah walked around the hood of the car and held his hand out to me, and I took it. His skin was warm to the touch, his hand large and strong. I took a step toward him.

“I had another reason for bringing you out here tonight.”

“You mean other than the fact that there’s no one for miles and miles and miles?”

Noah grinned. “Yes, besides that.”

“And what might that be?”

“Nostalgia. This is where we had our first kiss.”

I narrowed my eyes. “No we didn’t.”

“Yeah we did.”

I let out a soft laugh as he started walking me toward the front door. “You’re trying to tell me that I remember it wrong? Our first kiss was behind the science department, second semester of our junior year. It was my first kiss ever. It’s not exactly something I’m going to forget.”

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