One Perfect Night (5 page)

"Don’t run again, Colbie." He smiled down at her. "I’m not sure Rafe would be up for helping us a second time."

As her hesitation gave way to a smile, his breath caught in his throat.
Beautiful
didn’t even begin to describe the woman standing before him.
Stunning
didn’t cut it, either.

She was
perfect
.

"Finding you again like this proves what I’ve known since the moment I saw you." He caressed her cheek again, pausing with his hand just cupping her chin, loving the anticipation in her gaze, the way she was all but begging him to kiss her with that hungry look in her eyes.

"What did you know?" she asked, barely above a whisper.

"That we were a perfect fit." He leaned in close, close enough that he could have kissed her. Instead he said, "And that we belong together."

He could almost taste the sweetness of her lips, was about to pull her soft curves against him, when a flicker of doubt flashed in her eyes at the very last second and she pulled away from him.

Just as she had on the ski slopes right before she’d left him.

He watched her force a laugh, as if he’d been kidding about being soul mates. "I’ve never heard a pickup line quite like
that
one before. Does it usually work?"

She was clearly pushing for a reaction, trying to see if she could get
him
to walk away this time. But he wasn’t going anywhere.

"I don’t know," he said softly. "I’ve never said it to anyone before."

He heard her breath catch, watched as her cheeks flushed an even deeper rose. "But we hardly know each other."

Noah wanted to find out who had put that wariness into her eyes. Not only was he going to kill the sorry bastard, he was also going to spend the rest of his life making sure no one ever hurt her again.

"What if I can prove to you that it’s true?"

Interest sparked at his challenging words, but too quickly the wariness came back. "How could you possibly do that?"

"You gave me one perfect day in Lake Tahoe. Now I want one night." He moved closer again and took one of her trembling hands in his. "One night with you." He entwined his fingers with hers and she stopped shaking as he held her tight. "One night to love you the way you’ve always wanted to be loved." He dipped his head down so that he could whisper in her ear. "One perfect night to make all of your secret desires and dreams come true."

When he pulled back slightly to take in her reaction, he could see the pulse point at the base of her neck moving wildly beneath her creamy, smooth skin. She shook her head, desire now warring with wariness in her beautiful blue eyes.

"You could do all that in one night?"

Noah had always followed his instincts, whether with family or friends or business. And right now, his instincts were telling him to stop thinking, stop talking, stop trying to convince Colbie of his intentions…and just
do
.

Gently cupping her face with his free hand, her skin so soft beneath his palm, the heat from her skin searing him, he tilted her face up to his and whispered, "Yes," right before taking her mouth with his.

Chapter Six

Noah kissed her the way she’d always wanted to be kissed. With passion. With decadent, sinful purpose.

And more sweet emotion than she’d even known was possible.

Even though it was their first kiss, he wasn’t afraid to sweep his tongue between her teeth, and his boldness gave her the courage to take what she wanted.

Him.

Their tongues danced, mating so beautifully that she heated up as much behind her breastbone as she did everywhere else. It was blissful being with a man who wasn’t worried about moving too fast or too slow, only with making love to her mouth.

He led their dance, and although she was more than glad to follow wherever he took her, she was tasting him, too. Learning the corners where his lips came together with the tip of her tongue, gently biting his lower lip between her teeth and sucking it into her mouth.

A groan of pleasure vibrated from his chest to hers and she was powerless against the urge to press her breasts against his hard chest. His groan turned into a growl of desire and then his hand moved from her face to thread through her hair as he tilted her head back so that he could have better access to her mouth.

Noah didn’t ask her to tell him what she wanted. He didn’t stop to ask if what he was doing was okay, if it felt good. He simply gave her pleasure, knowing exactly what she wanted without her having to spell it out for him.

And the truth was that standing in a crowded bar while a gorgeous man kissed her senseless was every fantasy she’d ever had come true.

"Come home with me, Colbie."

Missing his kiss already, instead of answering his request, she put her hands on either side of his face and pulled his mouth back down to hers. This time, she was the one kissing him as if her life depended on it.

When they finally drew back from one another, he asked, "Is that a yes?"

She’d never wanted to say yes to any question more. But hurt—and the fear of being hurt again—was a tricky thing, she was learning. Tricky enough that even Noah’s kisses couldn’t completely eradicate it.

"You’re so sure," she said, "so certain. But what if one night ends up being a mistake?"

Another man might have gotten frustrated, might have tried to rush her from the bar to his house so that they could get out of their clothes and get down to business. Noah simply stroked her gently with his hands still in her hair and asked, "Do you remember what I said to you up on the ski slopes?"

Of course she did. She hadn’t been able to forget any part of the wonderful day they’d shared in Lake Tahoe.

When she nodded, he said, "Tell me, sweetheart."

The endearment, so pure and sweet, warmed her in places that had been cold for so long. At the same time, his eyes were dark with desire.

It was a combination that turned her knees to mush and made her head spin. This was it. The moment of truth. Was she going to be brave or was she going to be tormented by sinfully sexy dreams that never went far enough? For the rest of her life was she going to regret leaving Noah here in this cocktail bar, just because there were no guarantees that everything would work out and that they’d end up together forever? Especially when the dangerously wicked look in Noah’s eyes made her feel more alive than anything else ever had?

"You told me all I needed to do was listen to my body. And that you were going to show me how." She licked her lips and his gaze followed the path of her tongue, making her lips tingle as if he’d kissed them instead. "And then you asked me to take your hands, to close my eyes...and to trust you."

He’d asked her for a night together in Lake Tahoe, but she’d been too afraid of what she was feeling to dare accept. Now, as he took a step back, then reached his hands out for her just as he had on the ski slope, she made her choice with her eyes wide open…and slipped her hands into his.

* * *

Colbie had no idea what parts of Seattle they passed on the way to Noah’s house. She couldn’t focus on anything but the hand he’d placed on her skirt across her upper thigh. Even though he wasn’t touching bare skin, wasn’t kissing her, wasn’t even saying any sinfully sweet things to her at the moment, her hormones were racing around as if he were doing all of those things at once.

While he carefully watched the wet and slippery road through the windshield wipers, she took the opportunity to drink him in. The faint stubble across his chin. The small scar above his right eyebrow. The dark hair that brushed just past his collar. Everything about him was pure male perfection. And she couldn’t believe she was going to get to kiss and touch every inch of him soon.

"Keep looking at me like that and we may not make it all the way to my house, after all."

Pleasure lit through her veins. She used to dream of someone wanting her like this…until she’d nearly stopped dreaming altogether.

But as he pulled into his garage, the weight in her stomach that had lifted when she was in his arms fell part of the way back into place. She turned her face from him, not wanting him to see her wavering again. Especially since she could guess that Noah was a man who made a decision and stuck by it, regardless of the risks.

"Colbie?"

Only a coward would continue to stare out the window. She’d been a coward in Lake Tahoe and where had it gotten her? Wracked with desperate dreams of the man she’d thought she would never find again.

She turned her face back to his just as he said, "I would never do anything to hurt you. Do you believe me?"

Just a few weeks ago, Colbie had vowed never to trust another man as long as she lived. Not with her body. And definitely not with her heart. Which was why she had to be honest with Noah, regardless of how much she wanted him...and even though she’d already promised him the night.

"I don’t know you. And since it turns out I shouldn’t have trusted a man I thought I knew so well, I have to ask myself—how can I trust you now?"

Noah responded to her honesty by picking up her hand and placing it over her heart, covering it with his. "Right here." Now he moved their hands to his chest, pressing her palm over his breastbone. "And here." He paused, letting her feel the strong, steady beat of his heart. "That’s what we’re going to listen to tonight."

She thought he would kiss her again to really make his point, but he didn’t. He simply brushed his other hand across her cheek and said, "Come inside so that we can get to know each other better—" His gaze darkened again, heating the car up at least ten degrees. "—before I strip your clothes off and make love to you."

She was supposed to be able to get out of the car after he said something like that?

Fortunately, he came around to take her hand, so it didn’t matter if her legs were less steady than ever in her heels. When, she wondered, was the last time a man had done something even as simple as that? An everyday courtesy that meant so much.

Moments later, he was leading her inside his stunning house, complete with a wraparound view of Puget Sound.

"Noah, your house is incredible."

Despite the huge windows, it was warm and welcoming, rather than just a big fancy box built to maximize the view rather than comfort. She could easily see herself living in this house, making dinner in the large kitchen, curling up under a blanket to read on the couch.

"I told my architect I wanted a place I could raise a family in."

Although she had only a vague idea of how much a waterfront house like this cost in Seattle, it had to be a heck of a lot more zeros than she’d ever seen.

Slowly, she turned to him and asked, "Should I know who you are?"

He drew her to him as his heated laughter filled up all of her empty spaces. "My sister would tell you not to do my ego any favors."

Oh, how Colbie loved hearing him laugh. There was such warmth in his joy. Such pleasure, too. Already, she found herself wanting more than one night. She wanted to hear him laugh while they were riding bicycles around the lake...or while they were rolling around together on a bed, tickling and teasing each other.

She already wanted him, but though the week she’d already waited for him had been too long, now she wanted to
know
him, too. Even if it meant having to wait a little while longer for another kiss.

"Tell me about your family, Noah."

He moved into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of cabernet. It was what she’d been drinking at the bar, and she wondered how he’d even had a chance to notice what was in her glass.

Then again, he noticed everything, didn’t he?

He poured two glasses and brought them over to where she was still standing by the floor-to-ceiling window. She took the glass from him as they sat on the couch.

"My parents are great. They’ve been married thirty-five years and still live in San Francisco, where I grew up. My sister Barbara lives there, too. She’s two years older than me and used to beat the hell out of me when we were kids."

Noah was at least six foot two, his shoulders were broad and his arms were obviously muscular even beneath his dress shirt. "I can’t picture anyone being able to beat you up," Colbie said.

"When you meet my sister and see that she’s barely five feet tall, you’ll think I was kidding," he said with a very disarming grin, "but I used to call her Killer when we were kids."

He was doing it again, talking to her as though what they were doing wasn’t just a one-night thing. Not
if
you meet my sister.
When.

Hope flared in her chest, and even though she knew it would be smarter to keep her guard up to protect herself, she didn’t want to force herself to push it away this time. And even though she was going into
one night
with her eyes wide open, she wanted simply to close them and fall into Noah’s waiting arms.

As he’d asked her to do on the mountain in Lake Tahoe, she wanted to close them and just
feel.

"What else do you want to know?" he asked, and she didn’t even need to think before answering, "Everything."

"I want to know everything about you, too," he agreed, "but first I want this."

His mouth was on hers before she could take her next breath, forcing her to take it from him instead. Every kiss he gave her pushed out more of the darkness her ex had left her with and filled it instead with sparkles as bright as the stars outside his living room window, until she felt as if she were shimmering as beautifully as the moonlit Sound. And then she was lost to anything but the way his lips sipped at hers, his tongue slowly tasting her lips from corner to corner, before he plundered the depths of her mouth again.

When he finally pulled back and started to speak again, it took several seconds for her synapses to fire. "Wait," she said as she brushed the tips of her fingers across her tingling lips, "I just missed all of that. Can you start over?" On a laugh, he bent his head to kiss her again, but she said, "If you keep doing that, I’m never going to be able to focus on what you’re telling me about yourself and we’ll be here on your couch all night."