I tightened my fingers around the book, and when I tugged on it, he let go. I quickly got to my feet, and as he slowly straightened, I tucked my hair behind my ear.
“I should go,” I said, moving around him to do just that.
I was about three steps away when I heard him call out my name, and despite everything inside me telling me to keep going, I stopped and looked back to see him walking my way.
“Have coffee with me.”
The request was so out of the blue that I didn’t even know what to say. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Noah in forever, and coffee seemed so…familiar. I made a show of looking at my watch, but before I could speak, Noah jumped in.
“Don’t say no.” He looked to the courthouse and then back to me. “I’ve had a horrible morning, and the last thing I want is to be alone to think about it. So what do you say? Want to help an old friend out?”
If he was just an old friend then I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all. But he wasn’t, and when he added that heartbreaker smile to the request, I was instantly reminded of that.
God, how was it possible that after all this time he still had the ability to make me feel like this? Heart thumping, a rose-colored haze, until all I could see was him.
Pull yourself together, Laurel—you’re an adult, for God’s sake.
“Sure. Okay,” I heard myself say, as though I had everything under control. “But not at Betty’s.”
Noah slipped his hands into his pockets and moved up beside me as we made our way down the sidewalk.
“But Betty makes the best lattes. We always used to go to Betty’s.”
“I know. Which is exactly why we’re not going there this morning. We wouldn’t even get a chance to sit down before everyone in town knew what we ordered.” We stopped at the corner where Wilson’s Market was, and I looked up at him. “Have you been away that long that you’ve forgotten the way news travels here?”
Noah chuckled, and the low sound was smooth and hypnotic. I wanted to hear it over and over again, softly by my ear.
“I guess I have. I’m not used to watching my every step anymore.”
I blinked, shaking myself out of my daydream. “Well, get used to it. You’re the biggest piece of gossip to hit Chamberlin since—” I cut myself off, not wanting to go down the rabbit hole of when he left, and, seeming to understand that, Noah let it go.
After checking both ways for cars, we crossed the road and walked in silence for a minute or two before he asked, “If we aren’t going to Betty’s, where are we going?”
I grinned to myself as I led him down one of the town’s narrow side streets. “If I tell you that, I’ll have to kill you.”
“Oh, I see. It’s a secret.”
“It’s not a secret. I just don’t advertise that I go there.”
Noah laughed. “You hide the fact that you sometimes go to a different coffee shop so you don’t hurt Betty’s feelings?”
Okay, when he said it like that, it sounded slightly ridiculous.
“That’s really…sweet.”
I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “It’s not sweet; it’s self-preservation.”
“Huh, that’s funny.”
“What is?”
“Ryan said something similar yesterday about self-preservation.”
I nodded as we reached our destination. “It’s definitely necessary for small-town living. Otherwise, you’d go insane.”
“Then why stay?”
“Because not all of us had a father who sent us off to Italy.” The words were out of my mouth before I even thought them through, and the air around us shifted from comfortable to awkward.
What was I thinking saying that to him? It wasn’t like he’d had a choice in the matter. But really, if he’d hated it so much, why had he stayed?
Before I could focus on that, however, Noah reached for the door and pulled it open.
Dave’s Coffee House had opened five years ago, and while it was never quite as busy as Betty’s Bakery, it still turned a good profit and offered a quieter, less trafficked eat-in area. Dave was a newbie by Chamberlin’s standards and wasn’t heavily involved in the local gossip. He also left his customers to their own business, which was something I appreciated very much at this moment.
We each placed our order and then took a seat at one of the back tables, and once we were settled, Noah gestured for my books. I handed them over, and he placed them on the chair beside himself, then he sat back in his seat and let his eyes wander over me.
I flushed under his intense once-over, and when he finally brought his gaze back to mine, I shook my head.
“Be a little more obvious, why don’t you?”
He grinned unrepentantly. “Should I say I’m sorry?”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Then I guess not. Would you like me to get up and do a twirl for you?”
“I wouldn’t say no.”
I smirked. “Uh huh. Still the same old Noah, I see. Always trying to push your luck.”
“Like you said, some things never change.”
As a waiter brought over our coffees, I took a moment to look at Noah the way he’d just done with me. Willa was right: there was something incredibly put together and sophisticated about him.
The last time I saw Noah, he’d been nothing but a boy. But now the fit of his suit and shirt showed off the powerful body I’d run into earlier, and the stubble lining his strong jaw line made me wonder how it would feel against the soft skin between my—
“Want me to stand up and do a twirl?”
My cheeks flamed at being caught, but when he chuckled, I shoved it aside and decided, why should I be embarrassed? He’d been checking me out—it was only natural for me to do the same, and this feeling of familiarity and unfamiliarity at the same time was a head trip for sure.
“I can see all that I need to from here, thank
