Noah
Authors: Justine Elvira
Tags: #happily ever after, #love triangle, #humorous, #second chances, #alpha male, #friends to lovers, #escort agency, #beard biker bad boy, #club workplace romance, #steamy coming of age romance
Noah
A
Forbidden Desires Novel
Justine Elvira
Edited by: Eileen Proksch
Cover
by: Robin Harper
Wickedbydesigncovers.com
Published by Justine
Elvira
Smashwords Edition
©2016 Justine Elvira
All rights reserved. This book contains material
under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any
Unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part
of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without
written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may
quote brief passages for review purposes only.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to
any person, living or dead, or any events, places, businesses, or
occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines
are created from the author
’
s imagination and are used fictitiously.
Cover image used under license from
shutterstock.com
This is dedicated to all the single women in the
world who need a Noah in their life.
He's out there somewhere.
Note to my Readers
I didn't create a playlist for this book like I have
with the past few books, but there are two songs that I listened to
on repeat. The first song I listened to religiously while writing
intense scenes. The second I listened to on repeat while editing. I
want to share them with you in case you want to get in my headspace
when you're done reading Noah.
How Are Things, Love? –
Butch Walker
Fun – Coldplay
Links to both songs are on my
website
.
Welcome to Forbidden Desires,
Inc.
What's your pleasure?
Prologue
Red.
Violent streaks of red and orange cloud my
vision
,
casting a fiery
haze over everyone at the party.
Did
he
really show up to my engagement party
with some two-dollar tramp who wouldn't know classy if it bit her
in the ass?
This is my day.
My party.
He may not agree with the choice I made. He doesn't
have to agree with it, but he could at least show me the respect of
not showing up to my engagement party with another woman.
He wants to hurt me. It's the only explanation.
"Skye and I are incredibly lucky to be celebrating
our upcoming nuptials with our family and closest friends. We know
some of you have traveled from out of state to be here and your
love for us does not go unnoticed. We're truly touched you chose to
celebrate with us tonight."
Caleb's arm that is wrapped around my waist pulls me
in closer to him as his
other
hand
squeezes
my
hip
softly. Tilting my head I smile up at him encouragingly
as he continues his speech to all of the important people in our
lives. Caleb always knows just what to say.
I try to focus on his words, I really do...but it's
hard when two brown orbs attached to a face with perfect soft lips
tucked behind a coarse, sexy beard
are
staring intensely in my direction. Especially
when those lips were kissing me yesterday, and then again this
morning.
Yes, everyone in the room is staring up at Caleb and
me, but
his
eyes cut through me like no one else
’
s can. He may be mad at me, he may
want to talk to me
,
even
though I've been trying my best to ignore the infuriating man all
day, but that gives him no right to show up here with some whore
and glare at me like I've done something wrong.
As Caleb continues to speak next to me, I watch below
as the bimbo leans into
him
at their table and rests her
hand on his upper thigh, slowly inching her fingers up closer to
his groin. I'm starting to see violent streaks of red again.
Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I look away
disgusted and try to focus on the eloquent speech my fiancé is
giving.
He probably doesn't even know her name
...
God, why can't I focus?
The crowd all around us begins to clap with a few of
Caleb's buddies whistling and hollering, as they hold on tight to
their bottles of beer. Caleb's speech must be over. As great as
tonight is, I wish I had a moment alone to process all of my
thoughts.
Caleb's family approaches us first. His mother's
short blond hair is slicked back. She's in a long pastel and
sequined dress that covers most of her body. Draped over her neck
is a sparkling diamond
Cartier
necklace. I only know this
because she loves to show and tell all the wealth she has and what
she's acquired over the years.
Caleb's father stands next to her all stoic and
serious in a three-piece suit. He's looking around the room,
nodding in greeting to different people as they walk by.
"Skye, dear, I love how quaint this place is, but
it's kind of stuffy in here. You knew how many people were going to
be coming to this party, didn't you?"
"Yes, Mrs. Benton. I got each and every RSVP." She
can't even get through one night without taking a dig at me.
"Then you should have talked to the management here
and made sure they had the proper ventilation system required to
accommodate all these people. You could have avoided this mess with
just one phone call."
There is no mess to be avoided. Everyone seems to be
having a good time. Maybe it's stuffy in here because of her big
head and inflated ego.
I look up at Caleb, hoping he'll say something to
stand up for me, but of course his mouth stays wired shut. He'll
never stick up to his mother for me, no matter how horrible she
treats me. After all, he has a trust fund to think of.
Sucking up my pride I respond, "You're absolutely
right, ma'am. I'll remember that for the next party we throw."
Hopefully it'll be her funeral. "If you'll excuse me, the stuffy
air is getting to me, too. I'm going to step outside for a
moment."
Squeezing past Caleb and his parents
,
I put my head down and walk
briskly towards the side exit of the restaurant, wanting to avoid
being stopped by any of the party's attendees. I also don't want to
see
him
again.
Reaching the side door that leads out to the patio, I
push down on the metal bar and the solid black door opens for me.
The cool night air hits my face and I immediately take in a deep
breath, before exhaling out in relief. I am so glad to be away from
everyone and out of that room.
I walk over to the railing and look out at the miles
and miles of open green. When I booked this golf club it was
because the Italian restaurant inside served the best Eggplant
Parmesan I've ever tasted, and I wanted to impress Caleb's mother.
She only tolerates the best and I thought this place was the best.
I should have known nothing I booked would ever impress her.
My back is to the door so when I hear it open,
hitting the outside of the building, I turn to see if I'll be
forced to make small talk with someone. Noah walks out in black
dress slacks and a black button down dress shirt. I can't even
remember the last time I'd seen him so dressed up. He looks...good.
I hate that he looks good.
His date to my engagement party is hanging all over
him as he walks towards me across the dimly lit patio. I want to
yell at his date to pull her dress down because it's too short, but
that would only create a new problem and I'd have to find a way for
her to cover the two water balloons trying to topple out of the top
of her dress.
One of her hands is hidden somewhere inside the
collar of his shirt, while her other hand plays with the buttons on
the outside. This can't be a comfortable way to walk, which is
obvious by the way she's stumbling in her heels trying to match
every step he takes.
I bring my focus back on the man who really should
not be here. "Noah," I say
,
glaring at him. Hopefully he's smart enough to
realize I'm about to blow up at him if one wrong word slips by his
tongue and out
between
those perfect lips.
"Skye," he greets me. His arm wrapped around his date
tightens to bring her in closer to his firm body. "I didn't realize
you were out here."
He so knew I was out here. His eyes have been on me
all night, ignoring the bimbo next to him unless I
was
watching.
His arm-candy smiles at me, as if she's just noticed
for the first time someone is out here with them. "Hi.
Congratulations on your engagement. You look so pretty tonight and
I love what you did with all the hanging lights in there," she
says, releasing Noah's shirt to point back at the building. "It
really adds to the ambiance. Hopefully one day I'll be able to have
an engagement party as beautiful as this." She giggles and looks up
at Noah, sending him a flirtatious wink.
This chick thinks she's going to be engaged to Noah
one day?
I think I'm going to be sick.
Trying to look indifferent I chime in. "Last I
checked Club Desire doesn't do engagement parties."
I'm just stating the obvious.
Noah's demeanor instantly changes. He stands taller,
loosening his grip around his date as his eyes narrow on me. "What
is your problem?"
"I don’
t
have a problem. I just want to make sure your date knows that your
club isn
’
t the type to
hold fancy celebrations...but I'm sure she assumed that already
since she probably works for you." It would explain her
inappropriate outfit.
Noah's eyes narrow further and his cheeks flush in
anger, something that I've always found irresistible. His brown
eyes never leave mine as he directs his next words to his date.
"Xaria, why don't you go inside and get something to drink, while I
finish talking to Skye. I'll meet you in a few minutes."
The way he viciously spits out my name makes me cower
a little in fear. Maybe I went too far with that last dig.
Xaria watches us both with a puzzled look on her
face, but she doesn
’
t
question Noah. Instead she turns around and walks back inside the
same way she came out.
Once we're alone, Noah takes a step towards me. I
quickly thrust my hands in front of me with my palms out. "Can we
not do this tonight. It's my engagement party for God's sake."
He ignores my request and takes another step, and
another step, until there are no more steps to take and he's
standing right in front of me. I inhale his scent and I'm
immediately dizzy with all the memories I have associated with that
smell. I shouldn
’
t be
out here with him. It's not right...it isn't fair. But as his hand
comes up to cup my cheek in a familiar act of tenderness, and his
fingers grip my chin to bring my eyes up to meet his, I'm
immediately reminded of why we work...and why it's so hard for me
to see him here tonight.
"No, Skye. Today is your unbirthday party. You just
want to tarnish the day with the celebration of your
engagement.
”
Chapter One
Two months earlier
"Do you like that, baby?" he whispers against the
sensitive spot below my ear. His mouth travels lower to kiss the
back of my neck. My answer is a soft sigh as his body pushes me
closer and closer to a sweet release with every deep, penetrating
thrust.