“Lib?” he asked, concern in his eyes. One minute she’d been playing around with him, the next she’d practically turned to a statue, her hand glued to his chest.
She forced a smile and stepped back. She would not make things awkward between them. She needed Noah. No matter what her heart wanted, her body wanted, she couldn’t afford to do anything that would risk pushing him away, especially now. She tugged on the sweatpants in his hand. “Thanks.” Confusion wrinkled his brow as she pushed him out of the bathroom. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
When she emerged several minutes later, he was looking at his laptop again. He glanced up at her with a sly grin before closing the lid.
He wanted her to try to wrest his secret plans from him, so she gave him a haughty smile instead. “I’m starving.”
“Good thing for you they have a continental breakfast here,” he teased, packing his computer into his messenger bag. “We can take our things downstairs and leave after we eat.”
She noticed his bag on the bed, the lid open. He brushed past her, and into the bathroom, as she turned her attention to the wedding dress he’d arranged on the bed next to it.
Noah came back out and packed up his toiletry bag. “What do you want to do with your dress? It won’t fit into my bag.”
“Leave it.”
He spun around to face her. “You’re the one who picked it out, not Mitch, right?”
She hesitated. “Yes.”
“Do you love it?”
“What?”
He released a sigh, looking embarrassed. “Megan’s mother picked out her wedding dress, but she had her heart set on another one. Josh bought it for her.”
“I know. I was there,” she teased.
He forged on. “Libby, do you love the dress?”
She tilted her head to the side and gave him an ornery grin. “If I say no, does that mean you’re going to buy me a new one?”
Groaning, he grabbed her shoulders, then enunciated his words slowly. “Do you love the dress?”
She did, but she couldn’t very well wear it again. What man would tolerate her wearing a dress she’d bought for her wedding to another man? She could hardly explain that her reasons for almost marrying Mitch weren’t exactly honorable.
Noah grabbed the room key and walked out the door without another word.
Had she pissed him off? She couldn’t figure out what she’d done other than borrow his toothbrush.
But she didn’t have long to contemplate it. The door opened a few seconds later, and Noah walked in with a clear trash bag. “Hold this open.” He shoved it toward her.
There was no denying him, so she did as he’d asked. He folded up the gown and crammed it into the bag. When he finished, she looked up at him with an inquisitive gaze and he shrugged. “We couldn’t leave it. If nothing else, you can sell it on eBay or make an art piece out of it.”
She sucked in a breath, then released it, thrown off by an unexpected rush of emotion. “Thanks.”
She slipped on her wedding shoes, then stood in front of the full-length mirror. Noah’s black T-shirt hung to her thighs and his gray sweatpants were rolled up to her ankles. The drawstring in the waist was pulled so tight it looked like she had a life preserver hidden under her shirt. The beaded, two-inch white heels topped off the ensemble. “I look like I’m about to join to the circus.”
Noah grinned. “You look better in that shirt than I ever did.”
She’d seen him in this shirt before, and she had to admit he filled it out quite nicely. It swam on her. “You liar. You’re loving every minute of this.”
“Okay, you look like a homeless person who stole a bride’s shoes. Happy? Let’s go eat.”
He insisted on carrying his bag and her dress down to the lobby. The obvious wedding dress crammed into a trash bag drew strange looks from other guests at the breakfast buffet, but they flat-out gawked at her. She was used to getting attention, but not like this.
A couple of younger women sat at a table together, snickering as they watched Libby pick up a tray from the counter and follow Noah in the food line.
“Is this some new fashion craze?” a woman behind her asked.
“Yes.” Noah leaned around Libby with a serious expression. “It’s taken over Lesser Mongolia and Kurdistan. It’s all the rage.”
“Kurdistan?” she asked in amazement. “I had no idea it was a high-fashion country.”
“Until a few months ago, they had no fashion at all. They used to go around naked. Do you know how cold it gets there?” Noah asked, heaping his plate with bacon. “Let me tell you, it’s not pretty. I had to draw the line when Libby tried that one.” He shook his head with mock disapproval. “You can only imagine how many times I had to bail her out of jail.”
The woman eyed Libby up and down.
“I can see what you’re thinking, what with her swimming in these clothes,” Noah said, moving to the next food station, “but I can assure you she has the figure for it. She used to walk around town and cause massive car pile-ups from all the men gawking at her. In fact,” he winked at her with a conspiratorial grin, “she wasn’t arrested for indecent exposure. She was arrested for breaking up so many marriages—those men got one look at her and they knew no woman could ever compare to such a goddess.”
The woman’s mouth dropped and she stared at Libby wide-eyed before she realized what she was doing and jerked her gaze back to Noah. “I had no idea someone could be arrested for that,” the woman said.
Noah nodded. “They had to make an emergency law. It’s called the Libby Law. In Hedonista, Iowa.” Noah shot Libby a wide grin and moved to the other side of the room to get some coffee.
The woman kept sneaking glances at Libby, but Libby ignored her, trying to keep a straight face as she walked over to join Noah.
“Walking naked in public?” Libby whispered.
Noah shrugged.
He started to say something to her when one of the seated young women snickered, then stage-whispered, “She’s so tacky. There’s no way she could break up a marriage.”
Noah’s back stiffened as he glanced over his shoulder, but Libby simply reached for a mug and poured herself some coffee.
“I have no idea what that fine looking man is doing with someone like her,” the woman continued.
The second woman giggled. “Must be charity work. Girls like her make guys feel sorry for them, which is why they never give us a chance.”
Noah’s eyes hardened, but Libby put her hand on his arm. “Ignore them. They’re not worth it.”
He stood still for several seconds, but then he set his coffee cup on the counter and handed Libby his plate. “Could you take this to the table for me? I’ll bring your coffee over.”
She tilted her head and narrowed her gaze. “Why? What are you going to do?”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “Trust me on this one, okay?”
“Okay . . .”
“I’ll join you in a minute.”
Libby took the two plates to their seats and watched as Noah wandered over to the table with the two women. He grabbed a chair and pulled it over to their table, angling it between them. “Good morning,” he said, pouring on the charm.