“You know,” Lily started.
Noah held his breath. Was she about to give him an out? Tell him that they had to go through with it, lest housekeeping rat them out?
“Charlotte would be laughing her butt off if she saw this right now. She told me you were going to make a pass at me. She said you couldn’t help yourself. This whole thing with the candles and the flowers and the champagne seems like they’re practically daring you to do it.”
And there he had his answer. Charlotte expected him to do that because he’d always done that, and their father had always done it, as well. He wanted no more assumptions made about him. His thirst for Lily only felt so potent because he’d been tortured for two years. What was another night or two? “My sister thinks she knows me, but she doesn’t. You said it yourself that I’m not the guy in that video. I am not only capable of being a gentleman, it is my full intention to be exactly that.”
Lily walked over to the head of the bed and lifted a corner of the duvet. “Fine. But we still have to make it look like you aren’t.” She grabbed the edge of the duvet and with a dramatic flick of her wrists, the orchid blossoms popped into the air, most of which fluttered to the floor. “I’m going to wash my face and brush my teeth. It’s been a long day and I’m tired.” She sauntered into the bathroom, leaving Noah to wonder how this all got even more messed up than it had seemed in New York.
He flopped back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Lily was going to be back soon. To sleep in the same bed with him. And he had to make sure absolutely nothing happened. Even if it killed him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lily made it through the night. She made it through waking up next to Noah, and having breakfast with him. She’d lived through an entire morning and part of the afternoon together, ignoring his good looks and the lack of passes made. She’d taken it all in stride, but now that she was dressed for the wedding, in the royal blue dress that Noah probably wouldn’t even notice, she needed to take the edge off. She simply had too much baggage when it came to “I do.”
There were three bottles of champagne in their fridge—one from yesterday, one from last night after the rehearsal dinner and a third that had shown up with that morning’s room service alongside a beautiful tropical fruit platter and some omelets. They hadn’t ordered the bubbly, but Marcy and Lyle had sent it anyway. They were apparently highly invested in Noah and Lily’s engagement. At least someone was. Noah had shown no interest in at least enjoying their odd predicament in paradise.
And Lily was sick of it.
Pop. She waited until the wispy mist had trailed out of the bottle before pouring herself a glass of glorious golden bubbles.
“Oh. You decided to open one,” Noah said, walking into the room all dressed for the wedding. He looked perfect, of course. Whomever had designed the modern-day men’s suit had clearly had Noah in mind when they’d come up with the idea. He was straight out of the pages of a magazine.
“Can’t let all this champagne go to waste.”
“We could pour it out before we leave.”
Lily took a sip. The effervescent sweetness was delightful on her lips and tongue. It was quite frankly the first blip of pleasure she’d had in the last several hours. Being around Noah was killing her. “We are not pouring this out. It’s way too good. In fact, I’m pouring you a glass right now.” She didn’t bother to wait for his response. Maybe it would loosen him up a little bit.
“Fair enough.” He took a sip and nodded. “Okay. You’re right. It’s delicious. We should drink every drop.”
“That’s the spirit.” Lily felt so much better. This was the Noah she adored. If he was going to make her crazy, at least he could be a little more fun about it. Still, his strange attitude yesterday and that morning was eating at her. “Can I ask you a question? Did I do something to make you mad? You haven’t been yourself at all since we got here. We’re in paradise, but you don’t seem like you’re having any fun.”
He took another sip and stared down at his shoes, his hair slumping forward. “I’m stressed about the Hannafort deal. I feel like so much of it rests on our shoulders and it doesn’t really seem fair. It also doesn’t seem right. He wants to do business with us because he thinks I’m the sort of guy who wants to get married. How messed up is that?”
“It’s very messed up, but it’s his call. So we go with it. But the part I don’t understand is that you said we were in this together. It doesn’t feel like that anymore. You’re avoiding me and it’s really starting to hurt my feelings.” It felt so much better to get that off her chest. Even if Noah told her she was overreacting, at least she’d said her piece. “If there’s something else going on, please tell me.”