I lifted the lid of the box and stared down at a little silver flower.
“It’s a calla lily, otherwise known as the Easter lily in your country,” Noah explained. “I didn’t know what you’d like so I got something I liked and put it on a necklace. I love flowers, and I didn’t want to get you something as common as a shamrock or a four-leaf clover, so instead I picked a calla lily. I read it’s used in Ireland as a symbol of remembrance for those who died in the 1916 Risings.”
I brushed my finger over the small pendant.
“You hate it,” Noah murmured. “I’m sorry, it was stupid—”
“I love it.” I looked up at her. “I absolutely love it. Me great-great-granda almost died in the Risings. He passed away long before I was born, but when me granda was alive, he told me stories about his granda . . . I think of the man I knew through those tales when I look at this. Thank you, sasanach.”
Noah ducked her head, but I saw her smile.
“Put it on me.”
I took the necklace from the box and handed it to her before she could say no. I turned my back to her and waited. Over the laughter and shouting of our friends, I heard Noah’s breathing shift as she moved closer to me. I clenched my hands to keep myself still when I felt her hot breath on the back of my neck. She placed the chain around me and carefully secured it with the clasp.
“There.”
Her voice was barely a whisper. I turned to face her and found we were face-to-face. I looked down at the lips I wanted to kiss so badly before looking up into the eyes I was coming to adore. I had never felt such an attraction to a girl before, but it wasn’t just physical – I liked how quiet she was, how she looked away and smiled when she received a compliment, and I definitely liked that she put so much thought into giving me a gift that had meaning.
“Noah—”
“What does sasanach mean?”
I hadn’t realised I had called her it.
“It means ‘English’ in Gaeilge. When someone addressed an English person with sasanach in the old days, it was usually said with disgust.”
Noah raised an eyebrow. “When you call me it, what do you say it with?”
“Fondness,” I answered instantly. “Me little sasanach.”
She exhaled a breath that fanned my face. I smelled mint in the air and I wanted to taste it.
“You’re beautiful.”
Noah’s lips parted.
“You’re so beautiful that I can’t stop thinkin’ about ye. I like how reserved ye are, how thoughtful and at peace ye always seem to be. I love your smile. Ye remind me of a still ocean, calm and collected but underneath there is so much more to you.”
“Elliot,” she whispered.
I lifted my hand to her cheek and gently ran my thumb over her soft, glowing skin.
“Noah,” I murmured. “Can I kiss ye? Please?”
She was trembling. “Yes.”
The word had barely passed her lips before I covered them with my own. Noah’s sharp intake of breath gave me the chance to explore further. I slid my tongue inside her mouth and almost groaned when hers gently moved against mine. Her lips were soft to the touch; I wanted to spend the rest of my days kissing them.
I reached out and gripped her waist and tugged her closer to me. Her hands went to my shoulders before she slowly slid them up my neck and into my hair as she gave up complete control of our kiss to me. I felt her trust in me and I knew that this kiss was going to be one of many. We parted when cheers and whoops sounded. I heard AJ’s voice over everyone’s, and I silently swore to bash him later for ending the moment I had craved.
“Oh my God.”
I pressed my forehead to Noah’s, feeling the heat of her skin and basking in it.
“Ignore them,” I told her. “I am.”
“How? They’re all looking at us.”
“I only see you.”
Noah’s eyes shifted to mine. “Elliot . . . I like you so much. I didn’t think . . . I had no idea you liked me back.”
“Green eyes, I was in the same position. I thought ye didn’t know I existed.”
“Me?” she blinked. “Elliot, I wasn’t sure if you knew I was a girl or not. You were always so chill around me.”
“I was playin’ it cool.”
“Cool?” Noah repeated. “More like bloody freezing.”
I laughed and so did she. I felt her body relax under my touch as she got used to being close to me while also having an audience. She was still nervous and unsure of herself and the situation, so she lifted her hand to my necklace and played with it. I liked that it seemed to calm her just like she calmed me.
“I had no idea how blue your eyes were,” she murmured, more to herself than to me. “Blue like the ocean.”
The look on her face as she searched mine made me tense.
“I want another kiss,” I almost groaned. “It is me birthday, y’know?”
Noah’s eyes darted back to mine as laughter and cheering sounded around us. A smile teased the corners of her lips, and with her eyes gleaming, she said, “You can kiss me any time you want, paddy. I could use the luck of the Irish.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
NOAH
Present day . . .
All eyes were on me. I felt the stares of everyone in the room burning a hole in me, but I was only focused on one person. This man who stood before me was a stranger, one I had never laid eyes on in the entirety of my life.
“My husband?” I could hear the disbelief in my voice as I spoke the words. “You’re not my husband – I’ve never been married.”
He stared at
