Eyes locked on his, she picked up his hand and softly kissed his fingers one by one, sending fresh bolts of electricity straight to his dick. “Thanks for not calling him my boss, even though he pretty much was. It didn’t matter that he didn’t deserve to be or that he wormed his way into the position by cheating.” She let out a long-suffering sigh. “As for the great Bruno Keating, he mostly ignored me. They both did. I did the work while they stood by—” Her eyes widened.
“Stood by and what, babe?” Another endearment sneaked past his filter, but she seemed too engrossed by whatever light bulbs were flaring inside her head to notice.
“Uh, they watched me go through my process. Probably trying to catch me screwing up.” The wide-eyed look transformed back into that lazy, well-fucked expression. “What was the real question you wanted to ask?”
The abrupt change threw him for a beat.
“It’s about this.” He brushed a fingertip over her lip, following with a stroke over her bruised cheekbone. “And this. And your wrist. I want to know everything that happened. Neve said you paid a hefty price for standing up to Meissner, but I couldn’t get any more out of her.”
Hesitation and a flicker of fear darkened her eyes to a shade of ultramarine.
“Sweetheart,” he persisted, “I want to know. I want to understand what you’ve been going through.”
Apparently, his filter was turned off, but right now he didn’t give a fuck. He also didn’t give a fuck that he sounded like a guy who was indeep with a woman who was occupying more and more space in his heart.
Her eyes grew glossy. “But I shut you down. Why would you care—”
He placed a finger against her lips. “Stop. Idocare. I have no idea how those mice got there, but I do know you were stuck between a rock and a hard place and you had absolutely no chips to play.”
The anger Noah had harbored against Hailey had completely fizzled. Even before he’d caged her against the door downstairs hours ago, he’d moved past pouting and sulking. The shutdown might have been bogus, but she hadn’t orchestrated it. She was incapable of that level of deceitfulness.
“I also know it had to have been bad because you quit a job you told me you’d keep forever. You gave up a lot, Hailey, and you did it on the spur of the moment. That’s not something the surfer girl who was curled up with me in my truck would do.”
Tenderness he’d never experienced before reflected in her orbs, making him feel twelve feet tall. “Not exactly the spur. I stayed up all night agonizing over the decision.”
He ran the back of his finger along her soft cheek. “So tell me what drove you to it.”
She did. And by the time she was done with her tale, his jaw ticked and his hands were balled into fists. Tearing Cliff Meissner limb from limb would let the fucker off way too easily.
Noah awoke to hisbuzzing phone and the wonderful, warm weight of naked Hailey plastered against his back. He grabbed at the stupid device, shocked at the time when he picked it up. It was almost nine in the morning.
“Mmph?” he managed when he answered Charlie’s golden retriever face.
“Noah?”
The woman’s voice sent unpleasant jolts coursing through him.Shit!He hauled himself upright, careful not to disturb his surfer girl. She rolled away from him with a sweet sigh that made him want to toss thephone, follow her under the covers, and kiss her lush mouth until he swallowed that sigh.
Hissurfer girl. What a difference a night made.
“Noah?” the voice repeated, and the electrical prods returned.
He slid out of bed, fully awake, his senses on high alert. “Yeah.” His voice was smoky and rough, sounding like he’d just emerged from a burning building.
“I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“What’s up?” He hurried down the stairs and closed himself inside the bathroom. “How did you get ahold of Charlie’s phone?”
Sandy trilled. “Well, I misplaced mine, and he was here working, so I asked if I could use his. He was sweet enough to let me.”
Charlie’s grunt came through loud and clear.
The shocks grew stronger. “You’rehere? In Fall River?”
“Not just in Fall River. I’m downstairs in this gorgeous bar of yours. I had no idea! Can I come up?”
Shit, shit, fuck!
He lowered the toilet seat and sat down before he fell over, nearly gasping when his bare ass hit the cold surface. “No, I’m not there right now,” he lied—and cursed some more under his breath.
