“Yeah, well, it’s a good song. It makes me want to—”
“Jump?” He snickered.
I bit my lip, then couldn’t help but laugh along with him.
He held his hands up and offered a snide grin. “No judgment. I swear.”
“I’m glad I could add some humor to your life,” I said. “Clearly, based on your unreasonable reaction to my being in your room the other day, it’s much needed.”
His light expression faded as he looked at me with daggers in his eyes. “I came out of the shower half-naked to find a teenage girl standing there. What other reaction would have been appropriate?”
Teenage girl?
Oh, hell no.
“I’m not a teenager, so you’re wrong there. And the answer is any other reaction besides the one you gave me. It was a misunderstanding, and your snapping at me was unwarranted.” Still miffed, I let out a breath, looking over at the lake and then back at him. “I’m Heather, by the way. We never formally met.”
After a pause, he offered, “Noah.”
Even the way his name rolled off his tongue sounded sexy.
“I know your name…from your reservation. In fact, I ran an entire background check on you, but that didn’t cover personality problems, unfortunately. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Right. Not a murderer, just a prick who overreacts, apparently. They don’t have filters for that.”
I took a few steps forward. “I’m truly sorry about what happened just now. Thank you for coming to save me. If I had really been drowning, that would have been heroic.”
“What choice did I have? From where I was standing, you looked like you were waving your arms for help. I’d have to be a real dick not to do anything.” He turned away from me.
“Speaking of you being a dick…”
That got his attention back.
“I thought you were gone the other day. That was the only reason I went into your space to clean. Your truck wasn’t there.”
Noah blew out some smoke. “My truck needed a new tire. Didn’t feel like waiting the hour at the shop, so I walked a mile back here and decided to take a relaxing shower. We all know how that went.”
Our eyes locked for a moment before his mouth curved into a slight smile. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you,” he finally said. “I actually regretted it after. I was just taken aback.”
“It’s okay.” I fidgeted, not knowing what to do with my body. Being around him made me very antsy. “I’m twenty, by the way. So, again, not a teenager. How old are you?”
“Too old to be hanging out with a twenty-year-old whose tits are falling out.”
I looked down at myself. Shit. He was right. My tits were practically out of my bikini. I was so into him I hadn’t even noticed. I covered my breasts with my arms. It wasn’t like I’d planned this whole thing, but nevertheless, that was indecent. Instead of feeling shy, though, the fact that he’d pointed it out filled me with heat. On some level he was noticing me in a sexual way. And I liked it—too much, maybe. An excitement I hadn’t felt in forever ran through me.
“Why do you do all the work around here? It seems to be just you manning everything. Why?”
No one had ever asked me that before.
“It’s my responsibility. Why is that so strange?”
“At your age, shouldn’t you be in college or something? Why are you cleaning and shit?”
His question offended me a little, but it made me happy that someone had taken notice.
“It’s not exactly my preference. My mother isn’t doing well…mentally. So, I’ve taken on most of the duties around the house and with the rental. I work over at Jack Foley’s Pub when I’m not tending to things here.”
“You don’t need to clean my room anymore.”
“But I have to. It’s part of the—”
“No more cleaning the boathouse while I’m here,” he barked. “I don’t like people invading my space anyway. And I’m sure you have better things to do than clean up a grown man’s mess.”
“Well, if you don’t want me to, I won’t.”
“I don’t.”
God, he’s so grumpy.
And sexy.
“Okay.” I shivered.
It was getting cool out, but I wasn’t ready to leave. This porch was probably the last place I belonged, but it was where I wanted to be. This was the most invigorated I had felt in a long time.
My teeth chattered. “What brought you to Lake Winnipesaukee for the summer?”
Rather than answer me, Noah got up and walked into the house. The door slammed behind him.
No, he didn’t.
Did he really just do that?
I guess I can’t ask him personal questions.
Just as I was about to turn around and head home, the creak of the door startled me. He returned to the porch holding a buffalo plaid flannel shirt.
He threw it at me, not so gently. “Put that on. Cover yourself.”