Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
About the Author
1
Noah Anderson didn't spend many evenings out on the town. He was far too busy running the Anderson ranch and all that entailed, plus he wasn't getting any younger. He couldn't party like he used to and then wake up before dawn to work all day. He needed - and liked - his sleep. A quiet evening at home with a cold beer and a good movie was far superior to loud music and a crush of people.
Duty called, however, and that's why he was sitting in a dimly lit hotel bar in Chicago. He'd been locked up with business partners and they'd capped today's meetings with a few cocktails and a handshake. Signatures on the dotted line would come later, but a deal that would make both sides a hell of a lot of money was incredibly close. He had one more meeting in the late morning and then he could go home.
The bartender nodded toward Noah's empty beer glass. "Another?"
Did he want another? He'd only planned on having one and then going back to his room, ordering some room service and making it an early night, but the urge to go back to his empty room wasn't strong.
"Sure. Thanks."
It wouldn't hurt to have a second. He could sit here at the bar, watch one of the televisions showing a football game, and maybe do a little people watching as well. It was a past-time that he enjoyed immensely, although he usually reserved it for the airport. A hotel bar would be just as good, though. Unlike in his hometown of Tremont where he knew everyone and they all knew him; here he was completely surrounded by strangers. He'd never see any of them ever again.
The bartender slid another draft in front of Noah. "Here on business?"
The guy was probably trained to make small talk with the customers. It was a safe question considering Noah was in a suit and this hotel was chock full of businesspeople.
"I am. It's been a good trip so far. I go home tomorrow."
"Where's home?"
"Tremont, Montana," Noah replied with a grin. "Don't worry if you haven't heard of it. No one has. It's a small town, too small to be on a map."
"Born and raised here in Chicago," the bartender said, wiping down a glass. "But I like the idea of a small town. It always sounds so friendly."
"It usually is but there are downsides. Everyone knows your business and you know everything about your neighbors. Even the stuff you don't want to know and desperately wish you didn't."
The bartender laughed. "Sounds like fun. I already know way too much about most of my friends and family. My name's Joe, by the way."
"Then you'd fit right in, Joe. I'm Noah."
"Are you hungry?" The bartender slid a plastic menu in front of Noah. "You can order anything from the dining room right here."
"I'm not sure–"
Noah didn't get his entire thought out of his mouth before it went completely dry, the words stuck in his throat. He couldn't seem to drag his gaze away from one of the women that had walked into the bar. The entire world had come to a standstill.
She was gorgeous, but not obviously so. It wasn't so much her looks that entranced him, but her genuinely happy smile and the way she carried herself, confident but not in an arrogant way. She was laughing at something her girlfriend had said and her entire face had lit up. She was so...alive, so animated, that the room practically vibrated now that she'd walked into it. It was as if everything had been in black and white but now it was a riot of color.
And all she'd done was enter a room and laugh. What witchcraft was this?
Noah had never had any trouble with the female sex. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Whether due to his last name or other more earthy attributes, women had come to him. He hadn't had to chase them down. Therefore, he'd never found himself in a romantic drought unless it was a self-imposed one.
He'd broken up with his latest girlfriend about a month ago and he'd been fine on his own since then. No loneliness. No eating ice cream and wallowing in self-pity. He'd welcomed the time to himself and had thrown even more energy than usual into his work on the family ranch. He hadn't been looking for a woman. At all.
But he couldn't deny that this one had caught his eye. There was simply something about her that intrigued him. Turning back to the bartender, he could still feel her presence even though he couldn't see her.
"I think I will order some dinner."
He wasn't fooling anyone, least of all himself. He'd been planning to eat in his room but now he wanted to stay here longer.
That's stalking. I'm a big creeper.
Noah rationalized it away by telling himself that it was more enjoyable to eat here in the bar talking to Joe than alone in his room. He was an extrovert, after all.
The woman and her friend had taken a table only a few feet away from where Noah was sitting. He could see them out of the corner of his eye. They ordered a round of drinks and some food to share.
This is pathetic. I'm acting like I never get laid.
Inwardly chiding himself at his curiosity, he tuned the two women out, gave the bartender his order, and then concentrated on the football game that was in the second quarter. By the time his food arrived, he'd completely forgotten about the woman. Mostly.
He could still hear her laughter every now and then along with the other female. Whatever they were talking about they were having a good time doing it. He glanced around the small bar and there were a few other patrons, mostly male, but they didn't seem to notice anyone else, either deep in conversation or heads down over their phone.
"Can I get you another beer?" Joe asked, wiping down the bar.
Why not? He wasn't driving. He only had to navigate back to his room and fall asleep. Maybe a third drink would help him sleep in a strange bed. He was getting old and set in his ways. He didn't like sleeping away from home.
He was just taking the first sip of his beer when he heard a voice at his left shoulder.
"Excuse me, can I get some more napkins? I spilled my water."
It was her. The woman he'd been looking at earlier. Her voice was soft and a bit husky. Her perfume teased his nostrils, something floral mixed with spice.
Joe grabbed a stack of paper napkins and handed them to her but also quickly came around the bar, towel in hand and ready to assist.
"Let me help you."
This time Noah did turn around and was surprised to see that the woman's companion wasn't sitting at the table. She must have left at some point when he was watching the game and eating. She and Joe quickly cleaned up the mess and carried the sodden napkins back to the bar where he disposed of them in an out of the way trash can.
"I'll get you another drink. It was just water?" Joe asked, already filling a glass with ice.
"Just water, thank you," the woman laughed, sliding onto a bar stool. "I don't even have the excuse that I was drinking. I'm just that clumsy."
"No damage," Joe replied with a grin. He slid her new beverage in front of her. "It's all good."
"Thanks
for the help."
Instead of moving back to her table, the woman stayed in the seat next to Noah's.
"What's the score?"
Is she talking to me? She must be because no one else is around.
"Ten-seven, in the third quarter."
She squinted up at the television set. "Thanks. I can't see well without my glasses. They're in my room."
And just like that...they were talking to each other and she'd been the one to instigate it.
"You're welcome," Noah replied. "It's not that great of a game. Sloppy offense and marginally better defense."
She raised her brows and a smile played on her full pink lips. "Frankly, I wouldn't know the difference. I like to watch football but I don't know much about the game. I don't know the difference between a screen pass and a blitz."
"A screen pass is for offense and a blitz is defense," Noah explained, but didn't bother going into the finer details of the gridiron. She didn't appear to be asking for the information.
"That's more than I knew a minute ago." She sipped her water and her gaze flickered over him. "Here for business?"
His hand reflexively went to his knotted silk tie, so different than his usual jeans and t-shirt. "Yes, I am. Does it show?"
She nodded. "It does, but it wasn't a wild guess. I'm sure most of the people in this bar are here for business."
"Are you?"
"Yes, although I'm not sure if it was worth it or not. I won't know for days."
"You and your friend seemed like you were celebrating."
Her smile widened. "Were you spying on us?"
Shit. Noah could feel the heat in his cheeks.
"Of course not, but I could hear you laughing."
Did she believe him? He couldn't tell, but then she didn't seem perturbed about the idea, either.
"Tonight didn't have anything to do with business. Sandy is a friend from college."
Noah didn't know what else to say. He would offer to buy her a drink but she had a full glass of water in front of her. They ended up watching the game for a few minutes until the next commercial.
Why not?
"Can I buy you a drink?"
She held up the glass of water. "I've got one, thanks. Are you trying to pick me up?"
"What? No...Just...no."
The heat was back in his cheeks. This woman had brass balls, though, and he admired her spirit. His mother would have said she had gumption. Mom loved gumption.
Laughing, she shook her head. "Relax, I'm just giving you a hard time. You're a little uptight."
Uptight?
"Literally no one in my entire life has called me uptight," he replied. "My brother, on the other hand, he's uptight. I'm the laid back one."
"You have a brother?"
Noah chuckled at her innocent question. "I have three brothers but the one I was talking about is my twin. I'm older by seven minutes."
"There's...two of you? Are you identical?"
She appeared disturbed by that thought. He didn't blame her.
"Identical twins," he confirmed. "But no one has any trouble telling us apart. Easton wears suits every day and I'm usually in jeans. His hair is also cut much shorter than mine. Now...he's uptight."
Her gaze swept him again from head to toe, her gaze warm and appraising. "Jeans? You must have a casual job."
"I work on a ranch. I'd ruin this suit before sunrise."
"A ranch? You're not from Chicago, then."
"Montana. And you?"
"Denver, and I do have to dress up every day. I work in a bank. I'm quite jealous that you get to wear jeans."
With her long legs, she would look amazing in blue jeans. Today she was dressed in a black pencil skirt, white sweater, and black high heels. Her chocolate brown hair was coiled on the top of her head but a few stray curls had escaped and were resting on her cheeks. Noah couldn't help but wonder how long her hair was. He was a sucker for long hair. Long hair and amber-colored eyes.
"My name is Noah, by the way."
He realized he didn't know her name. And he wanted to. Badly.
"Noah," she repeated and he liked the way she said it, with sort of a sigh at the end. "My name is Libby."
A pretty name.
"It's nice to meet you, Libby."
"It's nice to meet you, Noah." She tapped the rim of her half-empty glass, their gazes meeting and lingering. There was...something between them. He could feel it. He wasn't an inexperienced kid. He was a grown man and he damn well knew when an attraction was reciprocated. "If the offer is still open, I wouldn't mind a drink after all."
The evening had taken an unexpected turn.
But he wasn't complaining in the least.
2
It was well after midnight. Libby and Noah had been talking and laughing for hours but now even the bartender Joe was beginning to yawn and glance at the clock. Closing time was twenty minutes away and he'd just warned them it was last call.
Noah couldn't remember the last time he'd closed down a bar. College, perhaps? Hell, maybe Jason's bachelor party but then he remembered that they'd ended up at his cousin's house by midnight, playing poker until the sun came up.
But tonight, he simply didn't want the evening to end and clearly Libby felt the same. Not once had she looked at her cell phone or suggested that it was getting late. They were having too good of a time getting to know one another.
She was smart with a wicked sense of humor, a combination that Noah found intoxicating. She absolutely struck him as a go-getter, grabbing life by the handfuls and living it to its fullest. So far, she'd told him that she'd studied rock climbing and had been a racecar driver for a day. The latter had been a birthday gift from her sister and brother-in-law, the former something that she'd always wanted to do.
She worked in the loan department of a bank and was determined to move up, which was why she was in Chicago, interviewing for a management training program at a major financial institution. She liked mint chocolate chip ice cream, pizza, and her favorite vegetable was sweet potatoes. She'd told him frankly that she didn't like to eat anything green if she could help it. She was a dog person; she liked reading more than television, and she hated hot weather.
She also smelled terrific and her skin was as soft as satin. He knew that because he'd brushed her hand with his at one point when she was talking about her first heartbreak. That simple touch had sent a rocket of electricity through his bones that he hadn't expected. He couldn't remember the last time he was this physically attracted to a woman but his hormones were in overdrive.
Not that he was letting Libby know that. He didn't want to be that guy who thought he was going to get lucky and act like a douchebag. He was going to be a goddamn gentleman even if it killed him.
Later in the evening, Noah had told her stories about growing up with three brothers and a bunch of cousins and she'd told him about growing up in the Midwest with her one sister and dad. Her mother had left when Libby was a teenager to find herself. Eventually she'd remarried and divorced more than once, only contacting her two daughters a few times a year. Dad had eventually remarried to a wonderful woman who adored the girls and they were one happy family now.
"You know absolutely everything about me now," Libby declared with a giggle, but not because they'd had too much to drink. They'd switched to ginger ale sometime around the end of the football game. "I have no secrets."
Noah shook his head. "Everyone has secrets."
"Nope, not a one. You know it all."
He doubted it but it he'd certainly learned a great deal about Libby tonight. One thing stood out among it all though...
He wanted to get to know her even better.
Denver wasn't that far. They could travel back and forth. They could make it work. He hadn't felt this much for a female in way too long. It wasn't just a physical thing, although he found her incredibly attractive.
He liked her. Genuinely, as a person and not just a potential bed partner. He'd enjoyed sitting and tal
king with her tonight more than his last several dates. Combined.
They had...chemistry. The awareness between them was real. He could feel the heat simmering just under the surface but neither of them had acknowledged it.
Sighing, she pointed to the clock on the wall behind the bar. "I think Joe wants to close up and go home."
Noah couldn't argue, although he wanted to. The evening had flown by far too quickly.
"I'll walk you to your room," he said, reality beginning to rear its ugly head. Their time together was over.
"You don't have to–"
"I want to," he cut in. "It's late and it would be less than gentlemanly not to see you to your door."
And he wanted to stretch out this night a few minutes longer. Get her phone number and make a date for tomorrow.
With a wave of thanks to Joe and a big tip, they both exited the bar and headed for the elevator. Libby had told him she was staying on seven and he was on five. It was only minutes later that they were standing in front of her hotel room door. They'd both barely spoken the entire way there, and with each passing second he'd felt the panic rising inside of him. His heart was beating far too fast and the back of his neck was warm. He couldn't let this woman slip out of his life. He'd only just found her, even if it had been by accident.
"How about dinner tomorrow?"
He had a late flight out but he could reschedule for the next morning.
She didn't answer right away, looking down at the hotel carpeting and then finally up at him. Her teeth had sunk into her lush lower lip and he could instantly see that her answer was going to be no.
Did I read this wrong?
I thought she was feeling the same way.
Disappointment crashed down and it was a real, physical pain in his heart. Wait...when did his heart get involved? It was far too soon for that.
Dancing With Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 10) Page 1