"I'm not hungry for food."
His appetite was only for Libby, this amazing woman who had the audacity to make him feel more than he ever had before.
4
Noah heard the soft sound of a zipper in the dark. Libby was closing her suitcase.
Breathing deeply, her scent invaded his lungs and swamped his senses, bringing their lovemaking flooding back. All the steamy images, the moans, the caresses played out in his head one by one. His palm pressed the sheets next to him and they were still warm. She hadn't been out of bed long.
He didn't know what time it was but there was no light shining through the slit between the drapes. The sun wasn't yet up. She'd already told him that she had to leave at five to catch her early morning flight. She had a meeting to attend and a life to get back and honestly, he did as well. It was simply that at the moment that life back in Montana didn't look as attractive as it had only a few hours ago.
Can one night change everything?
Noah had always doubted that his life could turn on a dime but here he was...different. Whenever he'd traveled before he couldn't wait to get home, couldn't wait to sleep in his own bed. But now he wanted to stay and spend more time with Libby, get to know her better. It was that same voice that was also urging him to open his eyes and say something. Anything. Just so she wouldn't leave quite yet.
Just a few minutes more.
He wasn't going to do that, however. Hadn't they said everything already? Even after they'd made love, their bodies cooling and spooned together, they'd tried to make sense out of their tenuous and brand-new relationship. A relationship that from the beginning had an expiration date. Eventually they'd both sadly recognized that they'd met at the wrong time and place. It had only been by chance after all.
If he hadn't hung around the bar after his business associates left...
And if she hadn't spilled her water...
And if he hadn't offered to buy her a drink...
And she hadn't left her glasses in her room...
It was a bunch of what-ifs.
They had met, of course, and he didn't regret it. Not for a second. The only thing he could wish for was more time, which he wasn't going to get.
He could hear Libby quietly slipping on her shoes.
He stayed very still, not wanting her to know that he was awake. Then there would be more awkward talking and he didn't want that. He didn't want to ruin this one amazing night that they'd shared. At one point, she'd joked that they were like Bogie and Bacall.
We'll always have Chicago.
Except that Noah wasn't Humphrey Bogart and Libby wasn't Lauren Bacall. And they didn't even have a song to fuck with him in the future when it played. They did have a football game and a shared slice of chocolate cake. Libby had picked up the dessert earlier in the day from a local bakery and they'd shared it in a post-coital bliss. Never had food tasted better.
Tensing, he heard the lock click and then the hotel room door opened, light spilling in from the hallway. His eyes were only partially closed but he could make out Libby's outline in the shadows.
This is it. She's leaving. I'll never see her again.
His gut twisted and he had to fight the urge to jump out of bed, to make a small scene, and then draw this fucking torture out further. They'd made their decisions. But dammit, he wanted it to be different. If he wasn't so cynical and jaded maybe he could have held on to the fantasy that somehow, some way they would have made it work.
I'm a realist.
The door didn't close. It stayed open far longer than it should have needed to. Libby was still standing in the doorway. Even if he hadn't seen her, he would have felt her presence in the room. He was that aware of her. And he'd known her less than twelve hours.
She didn't want to leave any more than he did.
His hands balled into fists of frustration and his teeth clenched together, his jaw aching. Whatever this was, it hurt like a bitch.
"Goodbye, Noah. Sweet dreams."
Her voice was soft. So soft he'd barely heard her whispered words and then the door clicked closed. She'd known he was awake the entire time.
Now he was alone. Just like before he'd met her last night. But not like before.
Goodbye, Libby. Safe travels.
Numb. That was the only way that Noah could describe how he felt by the time he arrived at the airport for his own flight much later that same day. His business meetings had gone well and the trip would be viewed as a success when he returned home. He'd done his job and now it was time to leave Chicago. He had an eight o'clock flight out of O'Hare.
It was the usual rigamarole. Check in, then through security. He'd barely noticed the people around him, his mind elsewhere. He'd picked up a fancy coffee and settled into a chair, determined to keep his thoughts in the positive realm. He was going home, and although he'd arrive at his front door in the wee hours of the morning, he'd lay his head on his own pillow tonight.
Within a half-hour the waiting area had filled up as passengers queued for the flight. Noah kept his head down and his attention on the open laptop on his knees, composing an email to his twin brother Easton regarding all the particulars of the meetings he'd attended the last two days. It kept his focus where it needed to be. On the future.
"Is this seat taken?"
A woman's voice pulled his attention away from his work. An older woman, possible sixties or so, with graying hair and a big bag of knitting. She was pointing to the chair next to him. There weren't many empty seats left.
"It's fine," he replied, inching his own carryon closer to his legs. "No one is sitting there."
"Thank you," she said with a sigh, lowering herself into the chair with audible relief. She immediately pulled out her phone and tapped away at the screen. "I hate flying these days. It's all hurry up and wait. I was standing in the security line for over an hour."
That line had been particularly brutal tonight. This was one of the reasons Noah liked to travel light.
"At least our flight is on time," he said, keeping his gaze on his laptop. As nice as the woman was, he didn't want to get into a conversation. He wasn't in the mood to chat. "We'll get home before morning."
"That is good. At least, we're having a better night than those poor people." She nodded toward the televisions overhead. The airport had CNN on the monitors. "They have to be scared to death."
He glanced up and saw a banner on the bottom of the screen - Twelve Hostages Held in Bank Robbery
"What is the world coming to these days?" the older woman asked, shaking her head. Noah didn't get a chance to reply as the flight attendant came over the loud speaker and announced that boarding for the flight was about to begin. Since he was flying first class, he could board right away. A nice perk that tonight he appreciated more than usual.
He bid the lady a safe flight and boarded the airplane, stowing his carryon under the seat and getting settled. Buckling his seatbelt, he felt the engines rumble underneath him as the last of the passengers trundled down the aisle. To his relief, no one was sitting next to him for the flight and he wouldn't have to make awkward small talk with a stranger for three hours. What could he say if they asked him how his trip went?
Well...I met this amazing woman, made love to her, and then we parted, never to see one another again.
That was probably TMI for the average airplane passenger.
Had it even happened? Perhaps it was all a highly realistic illusion caused by too much hotel food and not enough sleep. Had Libby even been real? Had any of it been real?
Maybe she wasn't as wonderful as he remembered. Perhaps in her real life, she wasn't as interesting or funny or intelligent. Perhaps she hadn't really felt the same and was just humoring him. Maybe she did this all the time when she traveled, picking up strange men and making them believe things that weren't even true.
What if...what if she actually had a boyfriend, or even worse, a husband? She hadn't been wearing a ring but that didn't mean that there wasn't a
man back in Denver. Maybe that's why she'd been reluctant to see him again. She was already in a relationship and he'd simply been the guy-on-the-side. What did he really know about her? Shit, he didn't even know her last name. Somehow, they hadn't shared that bit of information about themselves. It hadn't seemed important.
Except...she hadn't seemed to be lying. Her expressive features hadn't seemed to be hiding anything from him. On the contrary, her emotions had been laid out for his inspection just as his had been for her. She'd seemed sincere and he couldn't deny the mutual attraction. He'd felt it. It was real, even if none of the other stuff was.
Where did that leave him? Nowhere, of course. He'd never see Libby again. Their paths had crossed for that one brief night and he'd have to be content with that. It was all they were going to get. It might have worked or it might not have. They might have gotten on each other's nerves and ended up hating each other. He'd never know. She was going to have to become a lovely memory tucked in the back of his mind, always perfect because she hadn't had a chance to be anything else.
Libby, a beautiful woman who in one night had captured a piece of his heart. Whether she was real or not, whether she'd been telling the truth or not...
She'd set the bar sky high for any other woman.
5
Two years later...
Liz Holden was lost. Completely and totally. According to her GPS, she should be in front of her best friend's house but instead she was on a long, isolated stretch of road and she hadn't seen a human being for at least an hour.
Her best friend Mallory was getting married to some guy that obviously lived in the middle of nowhere and Liz was supposed to be one of three maids of honor. Because Mallory wanted all three of them and couldn't decide between them.
That was, of course, assuming that Liz wasn't permanently lost and that they didn't find her body in the spring. Mallory had warned her that Tremont was small and she hadn't been kidding. Liz had driven through it in minutes.
Now the Anderson family ranch was a different story. According to Mallory, the ranch was far larger than the town and that had proven to be true as well. The entrance to the ranch had been a long way back. She only hoped that she hadn't inadvertently driven off the property when she wasn't paying attention. There were a hell of a lot of dirt roads that led to heaven's knew where. So far, the Anderson ranch was...empty. Except for some cattle and trees.
And it was that emptiness that had unnerved her. The absolutely deserted roads had her white knuckling the steering wheel. Weren't there any people around here? Just where in the hell had her friend Mallory moved to? There were lots of cattle but actual human beings seemed scarce.
Now her GPS had taken her down a muddy dirt road and was telling her that her destination was on the right. The only thing on her right was a huge oak tree, thank you very much. Unless Mallory lived in it with her fiancé Carter Anderson and a few elves, this GPS didn't know what the hell it was talking about.
Now what do I do?
She could turn around and head back to the gas station where she'd filled up but that was about an hour away, or she could continue down this road. Surely, she would come upon a house or a human eventually? But first...
Liz pulled over to the side of the road and checked her cell phone. No messages, but she still had two bars of service, which was a surprise. There might not be any people but there had to be a cell phone tower somewhere hidden behind some trees or maybe a mountain.
Before she dialed, she ran her hand over the oversized bag in the passenger seat, reassuring herself that she could handle the unexpected. She could feel the outline of the bottle of pepper spray and her handgun - a Ruger 9mm. If anything - or anyone - unexpected happened, she was ready. She'd packed knowing she would be traveling alone and in sparsely inhabited areas.
"I'm lost," she said when Mallory answered the phone a moment later. "Completely and utterly lost. The GPS says I'm in front of your house but there's no way that I am."
"I'm looking out the front window and I don't see you, so I agree," Mallory laughed. "I know this sounds like a dumb question but can you tell me how you got to where you are? If Carter was home I'd just hand the phone to him. He knows every inch of the ranch and Tremont like the back of his hand, but he ran into town to grab all of us some dinner."
Liz was starving but if she wanted to eat, she had to get herself out of this mess. Slowly she recounted her drive from the gas station to her present location, hoping she didn't leave anything out.
"Uh, wow...You were there over an hour ago? It should be about thirty minutes from that station. Your GPS must have sent you the long way. But I do think that you're on the ranch. Does that huge oak tree have a heart on it with the initials 'EA + DF', by any chance?"
"I have no idea. I suppose you want me to go out and check?"
"It would help."
"I guess I don't have a choice," Liz sighed wearily. It had been a long day in the car and all she wanted to do was get to her destination before dark. "Hold on and I'll take a look."
Locking the car behind her and keeping her keys tightly in her hand, Liz threw her handbag over her shoulder and trudged over to the massive tree, its branches a canopy almost blocking out the sky. She didn't have to look too hard, though. There carved into the trunk was what she sought. A cheesy yet romantic gesture that no man had ever even considered doing for her.
Hallelujah. I must be close.
"I see it. Now what?"
Mallory quickly relayed the remaining directions and Liz ended the call and climbed back into the car. When she came to the fork in the road that Mallory had described she took the one going left and was delighted to see a charming two-story house at the end of the road only a few minutes later. There was a truck parked in the open garage and a light on in the front window that shone like a beacon in the waning light. Relief flooded her veins and for the first time all day, Liz felt her muscles relax. She hadn't realized just how tense she was until now.
Success. I made it.
Hoisting her purse over her shoulder, she left her suitcase in the car for the time being. From what Mallory had said, they wouldn't be staying here this week. Her weary legs climbed the front porch steps and she stabbed the doorbell once, surprised Mallory wasn't standing in the doorway or peering out the window watching for her.
The door flew open and a man stood there, his brows pinched together for a moment and then a look of shock grew on his far too-handsome face. It had been a long time but she hadn't ever forgotten that one night in Chicago, even when her life had fallen apart mere hours later.
It was a face she'd never thought to see again, although at times she'd questioned whether she'd met him at all. Perhaps their time together had simply been a figment of her imagination and she'd conjured him up out of thin air. So many times, she'd questioned her own sanity but now here he was. Standing in front of her.
The world tilted and spun and she had to grab onto the doorframe for support. She simply wasn't prepared for this and any words that she had on her tongue died an agonizing death. She couldn't speak and she wasn't sure that her heart was actually still beating in her chest. Her feet were glued to the wooden porch and she was shocked that she hadn't fainted dead away. It was a miracle she was standing upright.
"Libby?"
He was real. Not just her imagination.
If she stretched out her hand she could touch him.
He remembered her, and of course she remembered him, but that didn't mean that he'd thought about her even once all this time.
I've thought about him. Too many times.
"Libby?" he repeated, taking a step forward. Her instincts kicked in and she immediately took a step back. She didn't like people in her personal space. Not at all. "Is it really you?"
She reminded herself that he was shocked, too. Neither of them had any idea of what fate had in store for them today and he had to be as off balance as she was.
Is he happy to see me? I can't tell.
It had been two years. She wasn't the same person that she'd been and a hell of a lot had happened in her life. She had to assume that it was the same for him. She tried to recall if Mallory had mentioned his name in the conversations they'd had about the wedding. Her friend had talked about the family she was marrying into but Liz couldn't remember her talking about Noah specifically. She had talked about Carter having twin brothers.
Noah was a twin. She remembered him telling stories about his brother Easton.
Two years. He'd probably met the woman of his dreams and settled down, maybe even had a kid by now.
And Liz? Not even close. She'd dated some but it always seemed like the men in her life were more about them than her. Mallory simply said that she had high standards, and Liz didn't disagree. She'd rather be alone than with the wrong guy.
Honestly, after Noah no one else had been able to capture her interest...or her heart.
He was staring at her and she realized that he was waiting for her to speak. How long had she been standing here like a statue?
"Yes," she managed to choke out over the lump that had taken up residence in her throat. She had so many emotions ricocheting through her body that she couldn't begin to make sense of them. "It's Libby. I mean...Liz. Most people call me Liz."
When she'd met Noah she'd told him the name that her family, friends, and colleagues called her, but in college when she'd met Mallory she'd been dubbed Liz for some unknown reason. It had stuck and later...after...she'd wanted to reinvent herself. She'd started using Liz with everyone.
"Liz." His brow was furrowed as if he was wondering if she was telling the truth. "Okay...Liz. I almost can't believe it's you."
Say something halfway intelligent.
"I'm here for the wedding."
It wasn't great but it was better than nothing. At least it was an entire sentence and actually made some sense.
Dancing With Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 10) Page 3