Page 143 of I Shouldn't Feel This Way

Noah was so much more experienced than me—it made me insecure. I kept hoping that we would cross that forbidden boundary with one another sometime soon.

“I want you ready in ten,” he said.

“Ten?It takes me ten minutes just to heat up my curling iron!”

He snickered under his breath. “Fine, you have an hour, which will be enough time for me to finish up my work. Meet me in the garage when you’re ready.”

I could hardly contain my excitement. Whatever he had in store for us was going to be amazing … I hoped.

****

Music was blasting from outside the house as I walked down a narrow hallway that led to the back door of the garage. I was wearing a strapless, black mini dress that had a transparent mesh at the back, and I had styled my hair straight, matching my outfit with a pair of black, Gucci pumps. I did consider going commando but decided against it and changed into a black thong.

The music was getting louder as I approached the door. I didn’t know what to expect tonight. You know that nervous feeling you get minutes before your hot date is about to arrive? That’s exactly how I felt in that moment, and the feelings only intensified when I walked through the threshold and stepped into the garage.

There he was, hovering over a car engine with his black sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I couldn’t help but check him out. He didn’t hear me enter, since the car stereo was playing on max volume. I’m pretty sure it was Daft Punk—they have such a groovy electronic sound.

I walked down a couple of steps and smiled when I saw him nodding his head in time with the music. I had no idea what he was doing, but if I had to guess, he was inspecting the oil. My stepdad was a mechanic, and I remembered taking an interest in his line of work when I was twelve. He had been fixing Granddad’s car in the garage one evening when we went to visit, and I was desperate for any kind of praise from him, so I offered my help by handing him tools. But that jerk just yelled at me most of the time and told me that I was an annoying distraction. I was hurt and ended up running away that night, hiding out in a tree until my mom finally found me. Yeah … bad memories.

The recollection quickly evaporated when I heard Noah singing “Lose Yourself to Dance”—finally, I remembered the song. It was the first time I’d ever heard him sing. I wanted to surprise him and wrap my arms around his waist from behind, but he had finished what he was doing and shut the hood of the car before turning around to face me.

“Oh, hey.” Noah smiled charismatically, grabbing a rag from the table.

“Hi,” I replied shyly.

He leaned over the driver’s-side door and turned down the volume. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Just stepped in, actually.”

His eyes slowly cascaded down my body, making me blush.Someonewas pleasantly surprised to see me. Noah looked so sexy, and I’m not exaggerating at all when I say that. He was wearing a fitted black shirt, with a couple buttons undone, exposing a bit of chest. A black leather belt was looped around his trim waist, and I especially liked the stainless steel AX buckle in the front. You could never go wrong shopping at Armani Exchange! His outfit really came together with the dark blue denim trousers—and this man still didn’t cease to impress me with his footwear. He wore a hot pair of black leather army boots. How was he a lawyer? He could’ve easily been a model at Milan Fashion Week. Clothing didn’t make Noah look attractive—hemade clothing look attractive.

“You look …” he began.

Sexy, hot, drop dead gorgeous?I was hoping it was all of the above.

“Breathtaking,” he finally said.

Noah always gave me the chills whenever he spoke in that deep sexy voice of his. I stopped breathing when he moved toward me and slid his arms around my waist, kissing my neck sensually.

Is this actually happening?I slowly breathed out.

“Nice whip,” I said.

“Ferrari California, 2013 model.” He pulled back and looked at the car. “It’s a seven-speed, dual-clutch transmission. Sexy ride, huh?”

In my opinion, that winning smile and nonchalant attitude were way sexier. Honestly, I would have ridden in anything, as long as Noah was beside me. But the car was definitely hot—a black on black convertible. I couldn’t wait to get inside.

“Noah, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“How much money did you exactly inherit?”

He paused. “Enough to afford all this—and then some.”

I guess that meant millions … hundreds of millions …billions?

“Buckle up, beautiful.” He opened my passenger door.

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