Cashmere and Camo

by Erin Nicholas

  But she realized that the bell was signaling the end to their break.

  “We don’t have to go back in,” she said as she felt him start to pull away. “I’ve had enough practice. With that part,” she added. She needed a lot more practice on this stuff.

  His gaze dropped to her mouth and she could see him thinking about ditching the rest of the event. But then he relaxed his hands and let her go. And stepped back. “We should go finish.”

  “But—”

  “I can’t drag you away from your other dates. No matter how much I want to. That would be a really bad habit to start.”

  So he wasn’t talking about just tonight. She nodded. “Yeah, Okay.” She couldn’t drag him away either. There were other women in there waiting to meet him too, and they deserved their four minutes.

  “Besides, I haven’t gotten my four minutes of talking with you yet,” he said with a small smile.

  And that made her swallow hard. Because she’d been looking forward to that. Of course, the way they’d just spent the last few minutes was completely fine too.

  “We can talk in the car,” she said. “On the way back to Bliss. To your house.”

  His gaze grew hotter, but his mouth curled. “Yeah. But I want to be your last date here tonight.”

  Technically, he would be if they left right now. But…she wanted it to be official too. Or something. It was silly. This didn’t really mean anything. She was going home with him either way—and that thought sent a little shiver down her back. But having him be her last four-minute date seemed symbolic somehow. Like even if all of the other dates had been fine, he was the one who could raise the bar to great. And it seemed that he intended to. Just like he was showing her how the kissing side of relationships should be, he could also show her how these dates could be.

  “Fine. Let’s go back in then.”

  He nodded, but it took him a second to actually move enough that she could squeeze out from behind the tree.

  “I’ll go in first?” she asked. They still needed to pretend like they were both available, right?

  And they were. They were both available.

  “Sure,” he agreed.

  “Okay. So…” Available or not, her body was still feeling the aftereffects of that kiss.

  He ran his thumb over his bottom lip and she completely lost her train of thought.

  “I’ll see you in a few minutes,” he said, his voice a little husky.

  Right. She needed to…turn and go…do something. She took a breath, pivoted on her heel, and headed down the hallway. She felt him watching her go. Just like the other day when she’d left the garage and he and Mitch watched her walk away.

  Except it felt nothing like that.

  6

  The other six dates were fine. As expected. There was nothing wrong with any of the guys, and she even found herself smiling and enjoying hearing about Jason’s vintage record collection and Blake’s two dogs.

  But as each date stood up, all she could think was, “It’s almost Noah’s turn.”

  It was so strange. They talked every single day. Literally. Why did this feel so different?

  Because it was a one-on-one across a table?

  It was a stupid phobia, but she supposed the people who had a fear of crossing bridges or haunted houses realized on some level it wasn’t rational. That didn’t change the fact that they’d do whatever they could to avoid those situations. That was her and dinner with just one other person.

  But maybe Noah could make her not hate it so much.

  And then it was his turn.

  He pulled the chair out with a grin that made her heart trip. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen that grin before.

  “Hi, Brynn. I’m Noah.”

  Oh, they were going to do this like this? Okay. She smiled. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Since we’ve only got four minutes, I feel like I just want to jump in here, would that be okay?” he asked propping one of his forearms on the table and leaning in.

  Brynn wet her lips and crossed her legs, also leaning in. “Of course. I appreciate the direct approach.”

  “I need to know what the worst-case scenario is, in your head, regarding a one-on-one dinner date.”

  She blinked at him. Well, this wasn’t exactly the type of conversation she’d be having with a stranger. But she had wanted four minutes of Noah’s attention and she was getting it. And it certainly wasn’t small talk.

  She took a breath. “Okay, I guess it’s that we’re sitting there, and I order my favorite dish and then, as we wait, we talk about the things we thought we had in common—people we both know, events we’ve both been to—but we quickly realize that we see those things completely differently and so we don’t really have anything in common after all and it just gets progressively more awkward and I realize that he would probably pick at least a hundred other people to take to dinner over me and by the time my food arrives, my favorite dish is ruined forever.”

  Wow. That had just spilled out. She watched Noah process all of that. Then he gave a simple nod.

  “What was your favorite dish?”

  So he’d realized that her worst-case scenario had actually happened. He probably also knew it had been with Rudy. “Cheese ravioli.”

  “Damn.” He nodded again. “That really is too bad.”

  She found herself smiling. “That restaurant had the best.”

  “After that, did you start ordering your least favorite thing on the menu?”

  Her smile grew. “Yes.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Grilled halibut.”

  He chuckled. “I love grilled halibut.”

  “Well—” She lifted a shoulder. “—it’s not cheese ravioli, you know?”

  “I get it.”

  “What’s your favorite food to order in a restaurant?” she asked, realizing there were a lot of basics she didn’t know about him.

  “Steak.”

  She should have guessed. “And least favorite?”

  He thought about that. “I really like most food,” he finally said. “If I had to pick something, I’d probably say grilled chicken or something. Kind of boring. But there’s not much I won’t eat.”

  It was the dumbest thing, but she loved knowing that.

  “Do you have any phobias?” she asked. “Like my dinner thing? Scared of heights or something?”

  He gave a little frown. “I don’t think your dinner thing is a phobia.”

  “No?”

  “You have a legit reason for feeling the way you do. Phobias are irrational fears. Yours isn’t irrational.”

  She felt a warmth in her chest at that. Which was different than the heat he sent through her body so easily. “What about you?” she prodded.

  His expression tightened slightly, but he shook his head. “Not really.”

  “Nothing you’re scared of?”

  He met her eyes. “I didn’t say that. Just not anything irrational.”

  She wanted to know all of his fears, secrets, stories. That was startling. She was certain she’d never felt that about anyone but her sisters before. “Noah—”

  He glanced at his watch, then up at her and said, “You are the most beautiful woman in this room. Or any room that you’re in. And this is the best four-minute date ever.”

  She felt pleasure ripple through her and she opened her mouth to reply when the bell that signaled the end of their four minutes rang.

  For the first time all night, Brynn felt a sense of disappointment. Again, silly, considering she was going to be riding back to Bliss with him, and seeing him every day for the rest of her time in town. But she felt like this moment might be something that was hard to repeat.

  Because this was kind of dating talk. And she and Noah weren’t dating.

  * * *

  Now he wanted to make her cheese ravioli.

  And he had no idea how to do that.

  This was why he didn’t ask people what they wanted an
d needed beyond their cars and trucks.

  Noah shook hands, thanked their hostess, and even accepted numbers from three of the women he’d met tonight. They weren’t supposed to do that. Each person was supposed to mark anyone they were interested in seeing again down on their info sheet, and if the other person felt the same way, the company that hosted the event would give out contact info. But he slid the cards into his pocket anyway. He wasn’t going to call anyone from the evening, but Brynn’s plea for him to be kind to the women still rang in his ears.

  He and Brynn left the building separately. Noah actually went out to the truck before she did, so that it would be unlocked and she could get right in. But he kind of hated leaving her in that room with all of those guys. He was sure a few of them would be trying to slip her their numbers as well.

  But she emerged only minutes after he’d started the truck. She climbed up and gave him a big smile. “Two down, four to go.”

  He eased the truck out of the parking spot and into traffic. “Yep. Only four to go.”

  Damn, four more dates seemed like a lot. Too many.

  Then again that was four more opportunities to show her how good dates should end. He could only blame that thought on the kiss earlier. He hadn’t meant to do that. He hadn’t meant to back her up against the wall at all. He hadn’t even really intended to touch her. But he’d figured she needed a breather and so he’d found a dark corner.

  He, Brynn, her intoxicating body spray, the skirt she was wearing, and a dark corner were not a good combination.

  Or they were an amazing combination, depending on how he looked at it.

  That kiss. He’d been thinking about it nearly nonstop but had been able to force his mind onto other things while at the dating event. Now though, in the truck, alone with her, he couldn’t think of anything else. But that kiss meant that he’d already kissed her tonight. Should he kiss her goodnight too back in Bliss?

  He wanted to show her different kinds of dates, and he also wanted to give her a chance to experience the progression of a physical relationship. A slow progression. With plenty of build-up and her totally comfortable at every step. He wanted her to know that she was calling the shots. Because that’s how it should go in the future with any real boyfriends. Slow. Very, very slow. Like maybe never actually getting to the sex stage until she met The Guy. Noah gripped the steering wheel tightly. He fucking hated The Guy.

  “So, what’s next?” she asked, tucking one foot under her butt on the truck seat.

  He glanced over. “I don’t know. Are you hungry?”

  She shook her head. “No, I mean with the kissing.”

  Noah felt the wheel jerk and he forced his attention back on the road. “What?”

  “You finally really kissed me. So what’s next?”

  Finally? Finally? Did that sound like she’d been thinking about it? Wanting it?

  And what was next? How about you against the wall again but with that little skirt bunched at your waist this time and you moaning my name.

  Noah ran a hand over his face. He needed to get a grip. And not a grip on Brynn. Up against the wall and thrusting deep was not the next step here. Probably.

  “Well,” he said, proud of how composed he sounded. “I did say that I’d be the one kissing you after each date. But we kind of already did that tonight, right?”

  She pivoted quickly on her seat. “But that kiss was totally spontaneous. And surely people kiss more than once on a date sometimes.”

  Noah almost smiled. That naïve thing was pretty good. Very cute. But it was an act. Brynn Carmichael was brilliant. And she was twenty-nine. And she had two sisters who were not strangers to men, dating, and kissing. Just because she wasn’t kissing many—or any—men, didn’t mean she didn’t know how this worked. She was messing with him. And maybe making sure he was prepared. He glanced at her. Maybe she had some expectations here. The kiss behind the plant had been spontaneous. And hot. But she was now making sure she was going to get more.

  Brynn wanting him, no matter what it was for, made a shockingly powerful need rise up in him. The need to be there and give her anything and everything she wanted.

  And he had a suspicion she knew that.

  If she did, he was in trouble.

  He nodded, as if he was taking her naiveté seriously. “Yes, sometimes people kiss more than once on a date. But you don’t want to rush these things.”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her arch a brow. “Right. Rushing. Wouldn’t want that.” She gave a soft snort.

  “That’s funny?”

  “If that bell hadn’t rung and interrupted us, I have a feeling I would have gotten way more than a kiss behind that plant.”

  Heat jabbed him in the gut, then slid lower. He cleared his throat. And said honestly, “You’re right.” She was very right. “You should probably avoid plants in dark hallways with other guys.”

  He knew she was smiling now even without looking.

  “No way would I get behind a plant with anyone else.”

  Damn right. “Good,” he said sincerely. And there was no way he wasn’t kissing her again tonight. “But yeah, even if you’re going nice and slow—” He emphasized those words carefully. “—you might find yourself kissed more than once on a date.”

  Unless she was dating dumbasses. Which he kind of hoped she would be. But not really.

  This was making him nuts.

  “Great.” She sounded pretty damned enthusiastic about the idea of multiple kisses.

  He frowned. “You might not want to be kissed again, you know.”

  “No, I definitely want to be.”

  He glanced over. “You don’t know that. You need to really want to kiss the guy. You don’t have to do it just because he took you out.” And they were absolutely talking about when she went back to New York, not while she was in Bliss. Because she wasn’t kissing anybody but him while she was in Bliss.

  She met his eyes. “Oh, I thought you were talking about you. Yeah, I know I won’t want to kiss every guy after every date.”

  The heat hit him hard again. Her wanting to kiss him, wanting him to kiss her, was nearly overwhelming. He could not push her up against the side of his truck and take her right there tonight. That was not going slow. And even though he felt as if he’d been freaking waiting—and waiting and waiting—for her, he couldn’t keep her. He had to show her how all of this should go with The Guy.

  The Guy who he really fucking hated.

  “Okay,” he said, focusing on this one night, this one lesson, and nothing more. Like when the lessons would be over. “So this is technically date two?”

  “I guess so,” she said. “If Sean was one and the kiss in front of my house was how a first date kiss goes, then this is number two.” She nodded. “Yeah, this is two.”

  “Got it.” Date two kissing. Okay. He could do this. Brynn deserved to have the best experiences with all of this. And he would be her best.

  Did he kind of want to set the bar so damned high that she might never find someone else to ever satisfy her?

  Yep.

  But, as with all of this, he felt torn right down the middle. He did want that. He wanted her first experiences to be amazing. He wanted her to know how it should be, what she should be expecting from every guy. And no one would ever take care of her, care about her, and want to blow her mind as much as he did.

  At the same time, he didn’t want her to never find that again. He wanted her happy and fulfilled and taken care of for the rest of her life.

  By someone else of course. Preferably far from Bliss so he wouldn’t have to see it.

  “So you have a plan then?” she asked.

  Noah pulled in a breath. He had a plan alright. She was talking about the kiss he was going to lay on her later—and he was going to do that—but he couldn’t forget his overall plan behind all of this: check off Rudy’s list and send her back to New York happier and more confident. It was solid. It was good for them both.
/>   He could get Brynn through all of this. Even with the wrench of being crazy about her while helping her date other guys. He had to remember that the dating stuff was easy. It was going out and having fun and enjoying the chemistry. The decisions were where to eat and what to get her for Valentine’s Day and how to find out if she was into role playing without coming off creepy. The first six dates? Piece of cake. Even if it had been just him and her and not actually six first dates with six different guys. Six first dates were nothing.

  But he was going to be around for her six dates. And he was involved, like it or not. He had wondered, more than once, if Rudy had somehow known that Noah started getting antsy after only five dates with the same woman and that he rarely—okay never—made it to date six. But there was no way the six-date stipulation for Brynn could have had anything to do with Noah. Right?

  Rudy’s intention was for Brynn to meet various guys and just “test drive” dating for when she got back to New York. It had nothing to do with Noah. Or the fact that he had an unspoken, mostly subconscious five date limit. After five, things started to get into more serious territory. The part that came with more promises and expectations.

  That’s when he was out.

  Even with Brynn.

  Especially with Brynn.

  Of course, these six dates weren’t between him and her.

  Fuck.

  He reached for the volume knob and turned Dierks Bentley up. The rest of the way to Bliss, the only sounds were the road and the radio.

  In spite of the emotions twisting his gut, Noah felt the anticipation winding the muscles in his neck tighter and tighter. Brynn was fidgeting on her seat and he assumed it was for the same reason. He wanted to reach over and pull her up against his side. To reassure her. And because her wiggling was making him think about how her hips moved. Which was doing nothing good for his self-control and not-up-against-the-truck-tonight pledge to himself.

  Finally, after what felt like a year, he pulled into the driveway of her house. Elvira was tucked into the garage and the porch light was on. No other vehicles were parked in the drive or by the curb. So Parker and Evan weren’t here. Brynn wouldn’t have to face the gang and recount the details of speed dating. But he wondered if her sisters were home. Not that it mattered. He was not going inside. Not tonight anyway.