He paused for a beat. “When it comes to your job, what do you feel like you were put on this earth to do?”
“Take care of animals,” I answered quickly. There was no question of that.
“And for me, it’s acting. It’s in my blood. It’s what I’m meant to do. So I admire you for doing what you love and having the guts to go after it.”
“I admire you for the same reason.”
“As well you should,” he said and kissed me gently on the nose. “Joe is on his way. Go get packed and bring Sunshine back with you.”
Some part of me probably should have felt bad that Joe had watched Sunshine on more than one occasion, but there was no way I was going to miss Shelby’s wedding.
Everything happened in a big flurry of excitement and activity after that—we rode in a black SUV to the airport and got on our private plane, where we were treated like royalty. Also, the flight attendant was definitely making eyes at Noah, and I found it infuriating. Another SUV was waiting for us on the tarmac at the small airport in Las Vegas, and Allan opened a bottle of champagne for us. We toasted their marriage, and I realized how glad I was that Noah was with me for this moment. Not because he was financing the entire thing, but because I wanted to share it with him.
We checked into the Waldorf Astoria, where Kyle had reserved three rooms for us. We went up to the twenty-second floor, and I realized that they weren’t actually rooms but massive suites. Ridiculous-size suites. What was I supposed to do with two bedrooms and a dining room and my own kitchen? I was about to call Shelby when I got a text from her.
I laughed and texted her back, asking if she needed help getting ready. She said she was good and told me to come over when I was done, as Allan was getting ready in Noah’s suite so that they technically wouldn’t see each other right before the wedding. And we were going to take two cars to ensure it. I thought that was sweet.
Her room was at the opposite end of the hallway, and when I knocked on her door and she opened it, I gasped. She looked stunning in her strapless ivory dress with a huge poufy princess skirt. “You’re so beautiful!”
“So are you!” she said and hugged me. “But no crying. I’m not putting my makeup on again.”
“No crying,” I agreed, even though my eyes were a little shimmery. “Are you nervous?”
“I know I should be,” she said as she led me into her massive living room. This suite was even nicer than mine. It was decorated in off-white leather, black marble, and dark wood, with red accent carpets. “And maybe I am a little nervous. But this just feels right. I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, and that’s a fantastic feeling.”
“I’m so glad. You deserve all of this and more.” I looked out at the Vegas Strip, where lights of different colors danced and twinkled through her windows. “I can’t believe you convinced Allan to say yes to all this.”
“I know he loves the way I nag him and talk him into things. He’s never actually said as much, but I can read his nonverbal subtext.”
That made me laugh, and I asked her, “Is there anything I can do for you right now?”
“Distract me. Tell me about how things are going with Noah. For real. Not the friend thing you keep telling yourself.”
She wanted me to be honest. Maybe that was something I should be doing with everyone. “We’ve never talked about us being in a relationship. We’re both really clear that this is just friends.”
“Trust me, he does not want to be just your friend.”
“No interrupting,” I told her. “I’m trying to open up here. Anyway, I don’t know what he wants or if he’s happy for things to keep being how they have been. But he makes me feel . . .” What was the best way to put it into words? “He makes me feel like a little piece of metal slowly making its way toward the overpowering magnet in the center of the room.”
“Like resistance is feudal.”
“Feudal?” I said with a laugh. “I think you mean futile. Although a feudal resistance would be pretty cool. Lots of swords and pitchforks.”
“I know the right word. Maybe I’m more nervous than I thought,” she said, putting her hand over her stomach. Her phone beeped, and she looked at it. “The boys already left and our car is here, down in the lobby.”
“Noah really thought of everything, didn’t he?”
“So did Allan. Look at this.” She pointed at the small table in front of us, and I saw a bouquet of daisies. Her favorite.
“So sweet,” I said, handing the flowers to her. “So if that’s everything, we should get going.”
“Wait!” She stood up. “That’s not everything. I need that bridal poem thing. Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.”
“Okay. Your dress is borrowed. And I’m your oldest friend, so I can be your something old.”
She smiled. “Right. And my earrings are new—Allan gave them to me as a wedding gift.”
I reached up to the clasp of my necklace. “And here’s your something blue.” I put it around her neck. “You’re ready. Let’s go get you a husband.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
While part of me had expected the ceremony to be cheesy, it was surprisingly perfect. There were no Elvis or Michael Jackson impersonators officiating. Just a nice older gentleman whose wife was playing the organ. Shelby got her walk-down-the-aisle moment, and the way Allan’s eyes lit up at seeing her—it made me feel better knowing how well she’d be loved and cared for.
Then I saw Noah, and even though I’d seen him in a tux twice before, him in his suit still hit me like a frying pan to the head. He was so handsome that I had to remind myself to stop stealing peeks at him and pay attention to the wedding.
But during the ceremony, while they were promising to love and honor one another, I couldn’t help but glance over at Noah again. Who was looking directly at me with the expression Shelby had described—there was so much softness and tenderness in his eyes that it made my heart stutter, and I had to look away.
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.
“It wouldn’t be the worst way to spend the evening.” He wasn’t wrong.
“It is late,” I reminded him. “And we’ve all got work tomorrow. Some more than others.”
He stopped swaying but didn’t let me go. His fingers pressed against my back, slightly digging into the skin there. “Don’t go back to your room. Stay with me.”
That made my pulse skip and my legs feel a little weak. Was he asking what it sounded like he was asking? “What?”
“I hate when you go. It’s the worst part of my day.”
I pushed against his shoulders and backed up so that he wouldn’t keep wooing me with his masculine wiles. I crossed my arms. “That doesn’t sound very friendish.”
“You sleep in the same place as Shelby and she’s your friend.”
“Not in the same bed.”
“We don’t have to sleep in the same bed. I’ll sleep on the floor,” he said as he approached me cautiously, reaching out for my hands and kissing the backs of them gently. “There’s another bedroom. And several couches,” I said as I willed myself not to respond to his soft, firm mouth on my heated skin.
“That would miss the point. I want to be with you. I don’t want tonight to end.”
I still hesitated. We’d been doing some pretty serious making out over the last few weeks, and my anxiety attacks had practically become a thing of the past. In this moment, though, it felt like one might return. I didn’t think I was ready for things to move to the next level.
“There are no expectations here. Nothing’s going to happen unless you want it to happen,” he promised. “But then I’ll have to think about whether or not I’m up for it.”
That made me laugh and broke some of the tension I was feeling. Thing was, I didn’t want to go, either. Leaving him every night was easily the worst part of my day, too.
“Plus,” he added, “we can eat cake for breakfast.”
“You had me at cake,” I said, smiling shyly at him, my mind made up.
He grinned and stepped back, pulling me toward him as he walked backward to his room. When we walked in, he let go of my hands to walk around and turn off the lights, leaving on a single lamp on the nightstand. He grabbed a blanket and a couple of pillows from the bed and made himself a makeshift bed on the floor.
I’d thought he was kidding about the sleeping on the floor thing, but apparently he wasn’t. “That can’t be comfortable.”
“Ever sleep in a cot? This is about the same,” he said.
He came over and pulled me in close. “I’m going to kiss you now.”
“I know,” I said and let him make all the rest of my anxiety disappear.
When things started to get heated, he stopped the kiss, shaking his head ruefully
. He stepped back and lay down on the floor.
I climbed into the very soft and very comfortable bed and immediately felt guilty. He was paying so much money for me and my best friend and her new husband to sleep in these amazing rooms, and he was going to sleep on the floor. He was willing to forsake his own comfort just to be close to me.
It says something about how he feels about you, an inner voice whispered, and I didn’t know whether to trust it. I’d spent so much time ignoring the voices in my head that discouraged and disheartened me that I wasn’t sure what to do with one that told me there might be something more here.
I pulled the leftover blanket up over my shoulders and tugged at the corners. I hated when they were all tucked in. I needed my feet to hang out. I turned onto my side to face him and felt my phone in my pocket. I took it out and placed it on the bed next to me. Then I reached over and turned out the last lamp.
“Try not to snore too loudly,” he teased as the darkness descended, and I threw one of the pillows at him, which he easily caught while laughing.
He put the pillow under his head and said, “Good night, Juliet.”
“Good night, Noah.”
“I’m glad you stayed.”
“Me too.”
I watched him, the way his chest expanded in and out, how his breathing started to slow, and I wanted to reach out and touch him. To have his warmth envelop me and spend the night in his arms.
I realized that I needed more than to just be in the same room with him. I had to see if that voice of mine was right.
“Noah.”
“Hmm?” He sounded like he was on the edge of sleep.
“Come here.”
I scooted over, pushing back the blanket. He turned his head toward me. “Are you sure?”
“Just to sleep,” I said. “You shouldn’t be on the floor.”
“Is that the only reason?”
I hesitated and felt the weight of the word I was about to say. “No.”
He got up, leaving his bedding behind. He paused next to the bed, staring down at me. He put his hand over his chest, and I didn’t recognize the emotion on his face, but he almost looked . . . pained. Maybe even a little overwhelmed. But his expression was gone before I could understand it. Then I felt the mattress sink under his weight as he climbed into bed next to me and the covers being lifted up as he pulled them over his body.
The Seat Filler: A Novel Page 23