“Quit your worrying, Alana,” Alicia said with impatience. She looked at Alana’s outfit for her date with Noah. “You’re too young to have permanent worry lines.”
Alana sat on the edge of the bed with her shoulders slumped. “This is a bad idea. My stomach is tied up in knots. I’m not ready for this. Go down there and tell Noah to forget it. Tell him I have the flu or something.”
“You look great, Alana. You are going to act like the brave, strong woman I admire,” Alicia stated firmly. At first Alicia wasn’t too thrilled with Alana’s news, but she grudgingly gave in.
“I did your makeup. Your dress covers every square inch of you. I’m sure even Papa will approve your dress,” she stated disgustedly, making Alana laugh. Alicia had picked out a sexy red dress, but Alana felt too self-conscious to wear it. She didn’t even know where they were going.
Alana looked down at her dark-purple dress. It reached her knees and was a little loose. The neckline was high and showed nothing. The sleeves were short at least. Her hair was loose. She took a deep breath and stood up.
“I can do this. I know Noah. He would never rush me into anything.” She knew she sounded like she was trying to convince herself. Maybe she was. “I told him I needed slow, and he agreed.”
“I may not like him, but he is different this time. More serious. Ray would never allow you to date someone dangerous,” Alicia said, sounding frustrated. “I made a date with Bobby Monroe. Ray went behind my back and threatened him with all kinds of things. Bobby wasted no time in canceling on me. What a wimp.”
Alana laughed at that picture. She had heard plenty of rumors about Bobby and his friends. They drank a lot and often got in trouble for starting fights. He had even been banned from the bar.
“Bobby has a wild rep, Alicia.”
“I know, but what if I like bad boys?”
“Do you?” Alana wanted to know. Alicia was young and pretty. She was outgoing and bubbly but also soft inside. She did her best to hide it from the world. Alana didn’t want to see her sister get hurt. Getting your heart broken sucked.
Alicia threw her hands up in the air. She gave her sister a frustrated look. “I don’t know. Ray won’t give me the chance to find out. I might have to look into online dating.”
“Don’t do that. You might meet a weirdo.” Alana laughed, hugging her sister.
“Okay, let’s go downstairs and face the family.” Alana led her out to the hallway and down the stairs.
Noah was already there talking to her father. He looked so handsome in a dark suit and white shirt. He kissed her knuckles when she reached the bottom step.
“You look beautiful, Alana.”
“Perfect,” her dad added proudly, and Alicia silently mouthed, “I told you so.”
Alana smiled and held on to Noah’s arm. They said their good-byes, and she followed him outside. Noah opened the passenger door and helped her in. She loved his manners and the way he always made her feel special. Problem was he probably made every woman feel that. He was a ladies’ man.
The drive to the next town took twenty minutes, but Morehouse was larger and had more to offer in the entertaining department. They even had a large nightclub, but she hoped they weren’t going there. She went with Alicia just before the robbery, but she had felt like a squished sardine in a can.
“I hope you like steak,” Noah said as he drove. He sounded a little tense and nervous. His shoulders were straight and tight. “Jack’s Outback has the best steak ever.”
“I do,” she answered. This was Noah, the man she had known for years. There was no need to be nervous. She forced herself to relax by taking a deep breath.
She told him the scene with Alicia in her bedroom. Soon she had Noah relaxing and laughing out loud.
“I feel sorry for any man your sister gets involved with. She is a firecracker for sure.” Noah laughed. “I walked around the charity ball with a red-stained shirt, listening to Cora whine and demand I buy her a new dress. Every corner I tried to hide in, I ran into Alicia or Cora. I got such a headache I left. If I had not been obligated to go, I would rather have stayed home.”
Alana laughed imagining snobby Cora with wine all over her. She owed her sister for that one.
“I know you went out with her because she has big boobs, but geez, they are so fake, Noah. Don’t men have any standards when it comes to women?”
He thought about it. “Not much, I guess. And I only went out with her twice, and that was enough. When she started flirting with me and making suggestive remarks, I felt nothing, but when I was with you, I became possessive, jealous, and I hated saying good-bye to you. That scared the shit out of me. I am not proud of what I did. I made a date with Cora, and that was wrong of me. Even as I was doing it, my stomach was tense. I had no idea she would flaunt it to you like that. Adam and Liam tore into me. Ray punched me, and I took it because I knew I deserved it. I had too much pride to beg you to forgive me.”
She tried to see things from his point of view. It was safer and easier to focus only on her hurt feelings, but she had to try to see how scared Noah had been. He was a dominant, strong man. For him to admit he had acted out of fear must be hard for him to do. He was willing to admit it out loud so she could understand he knew he did wrong and he had paid for it dearly. She could cling to her fear of getting her heart broken again, or she could reach out and take a chance.
“You did hurt me, Noah. Cora humiliated me. I couldn’t take it, so I got stuck in my own little bubble, letting my family deal with keeping you away from me. That was not a mature way to handle things. I just couldn’t face seeing you two together as a couple.” Confessing her feelings was hard, but they had to be honest if they wanted this to work out. “Despite all that, you never left my heart, Noah. I dated a few guys, but no one could make me forget you. I want another chance, too. It’s scary, though.”
He reached across the seat and grabbed her hand. She scooted closer to him. She breathed in his musky cologne and felt his body heat. She had missed him.
“I’m sorry, Alana. I couldn’t forget you either. When Drake told me you were hurt, my heart stopped beating for a second. In that moment I knew I was a fool for letting you go just because I was scared. Now we have a second chance, and I promise not to fuck that up again.”