Because I could see this. I could see having this. With him.
Which was obviously insane.
Once they were declared husband and wife and they kissed, we cheered for them along with the officiant and his wife. Then everybody had to sign their marriage certificate, and some part of me liked the permanency of both me and Noah being their witnesses. No matter what else happened, we’d at least always be linked in that way.
“We’re off!” Shelby said. She hugged me. Then she hugged Noah and thanked him again for everything, as did Allan.
They ran out, and we followed behind. Shelby stopped in the doorway to turn and give me her bouquet. “There’s no one else to catch it,” she told me with a wink before linking her arm through her husband’s as they headed out to the waiting SUV.
And I felt . . . at a loss. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen after the wedding, and I should have fully expected Shelby and Allan to ditch us, but it was still strange.
Noah seemed to sense this, and he put his arm around my shoulders to lead me over to the other car. When we got in, he asked, “What would you like to do? It’s too late to see a show, but we could walk around the Strip or maybe try gambling.”
“I don’t gamble. Accounting major, remember? I don’t play games when I know I won’t win.”
“Huh.”
“What was that sound for?”
“Nothing. Just an interesting piece of insight.” He unbuttoned his suit jacket and leaned back against the seat. “I have something in mind. A surprise, if you’re up for it.”
“Is this where I accuse you of kidnapping me?”
He grinned and leaned forward to press a kiss against my throat, in that hollow near my ear that I loved so much. It both turned my knees to melted butter and caught me off guard. This wasn’t technically in public, but it was the first time he’d kissed me anywhere besides his house.
Then I saw his eyes, the way they danced, and realized he was teasing me. He’d wanted to see what would happen if he did exactly what he just did.
“Two can play that game,” I told him.
“As they can most games,” he responded, ignoring my challenge. So I did the thing he’d mentioned earlier to the bottom of his ear, and he lost his smugness pretty quickly.
When we got back to our rooms, our faces flushed and our hair more than a little messy, he handed me a key to his room and told me to meet him there after I got changed. He kissed me quickly again, and I went inside to take off this infernal gown that was starting to constrict my lungs. I wondered what his surprise was and found myself rushing to see him again, leaving the dress in a purple pool on the floor and slipping on some yoga pants and a soft T-shirt. I used the bathroom quickly and brushed my teeth. Just in case.
It felt a little strange to let myself in his room, so after I did I called out, “Noah?”
“In here.” That was a sign of how massive these suites were: I had to go looking for him. He was by the bar, having a drink. He hadn’t yet changed; his jacket was off, his tie was loose, and the top three buttons of his shirt were undone.
How did this make him even sexier?
His expression softened again when I came around the corner, and I saw the way his whole body seemed to relax at catching sight of me. “Hey, you.”
That made my heart flutter. “Hi.”
“That was fast,” he commented.
What could I say? I missed you for the five minutes we were apart and wanted to see you again, so I hurried? “You said there was a surprise. I like surprises.”
“Do you want a drink?”
“No, thanks.” I hoped that wasn’t the surprise; I had alcohol in my suite, too. In fact, I was pretty sure I had everything in my suite. This hotel was not kidding around when it came to comfort.
“Do you like your room?” he asked.
“You mean the mini-mansion you put me in? Yeah, I guess it’s okay. I mean, I don’t know if you were trying to impress me, but if you were, mission a hundred percent accomplished.”
He smiled. “Let me go get changed, too. I’ll be right back.” I watched him walk into the open doorway of his room and had a moment where I saw him take off his shirt, revealing the muscles flexing in his broad back before he walked out of view.
I let out a sigh of disappointment and wandered over to the window. His suite appeared to be the same as mine, but given that I didn’t have a bathtub that would let me flash all of Vegas, it seemed as if he’d made sure Allan and Shelby had a nicer room than we had. Given that they only had one night for their honeymoon, it was so thoughtful of him to give them the best.
Everything he did was thoughtful.
Maybe Shelby was wrong. Noah might not have been falling for me, but it felt like I had fallen for him. No matter how hard I fought it or how much I wanted to keep the kissing thing separate from our friendship, it hadn’t worked. I cared about him so much. I’d never been in love with a man before, so I didn’t know if this was what it felt like, but it had to be close.
Should I tell him? But what would I say? I didn’t even know.
I drew in a shaky breath. Before I’d figured anything out, he was back in a black T-shirt and fuzzy-looking plaid pajama pants and his bare feet. He went into the kitchen and came back out carrying a cake. “Ta-da!” he said as he set it down on the dining room table.
The cake was blue and white, and was I mistaken or was that a Star of David on it? I came closer. It said MAZEL TOV.
“Is it my bat mitzvah?”
“No. After a wedding you’re supposed to have a reception. Which has a cake.”
“A wedding cake.”
“Kyle called a local bakery and they only had one that resembled a wedding cake, and we sent that over to Allan and Shelby’s suite, along with a bottle of champagne. You and I get this one.”
“You are the cutest,” I told him, again so touched that he was being nice to my friend.
“I might be,” he agreed. He took out his phone and turned on some slow music. “We have cake, and now we’re supposed to dance. That’s the other thing that happens at receptions.” He started walking around the table toward me.
“Um, no. I wasn’t kidding about the not dancing thing.”
“You weren’t kidding about the no kissing thing, either, and yet here we are.”
He took me into his arms, settling my arms around his neck while he pulled me close, slipping his hands onto my waist. I loved being pressed up against him, and so I didn’t resist.
Which he’d probably expected.
“We just have to move slowly, together.” He murmured the words against my ear and sent little heated shivers down my neck. “Do it for thirty seconds. If you hate it, I’ll stop.”
He was slowly running his hands up and down my back, making sure I wouldn’t hate it. As the song progressed, he moved his hands back to my waist and shifted his fingers under the hem of my T-shirt. I loved the feeling of his fingertips against my skin, the way he left mini-fires burning everywhere he touched me. I sighed against him, easing into that mindless pleasure he was good at invoking.
“Was this your plan for the rest of tonight?” I asked when he kissed my cheek, wondering if things were about to turn into the kissing portion of our night.