What else are you offering me, Noelle? Or was that sugar all I get from you?
She forced herself to smile. “I would love to. And thanks for making dinner. I appreciate it. I have a lot to tell you.”
When he handed her the braces, she took them and he fell into step beside her with the ease of a man used to measuring his gait, to adapting to the people around him.
Could he adapt to her?
He moved ahead to get the door for her, and she wondered if being friends with Hutch wouldn’t be even worse for her heart than being nothing at all.
Chapter Nine
Hours later, Hutch set the glass of wine in front of Noelle and looked to Cara, who had shown up shortly after dinner and who might be the damn reason he didn’t get cookies tonight. “You two need anything else?”
Cara was sitting across from Noelle on the couch and shook her head. “No, just some privacy, please.”
She did not like him. Noelle looked his way, though, her cheeks a bit flushed.
“Sorry.”
He leaned over and laid a kiss on her forehead. “It’s not a problem. I’m going to take that bottle of Scotch I bought and sit out on the balcony with my brother. He had a big day.”
That flush on her face had deepened, likely going from being embarrassed to a little aroused. He should be pissed that Cara had shown up, but it gave him a chance to kiss her. He’d had to pull back when the three of them were alone, had to play the nice guy instead of the ruthless Dom who’d found his sub and meant to make her his.
She nodded his way. “Thanks for dinner. It was delicious, and I’ll get those cookies going as soon as possible.”
He winked. “I look forward to some more of your sugar, baby.”
Yep, it was definitely one of the two—arousal or embarrassment—because the blush rushed down her neck, spreading almost to the tops of her breasts. “You’re a terrible man.”
Arousal won. She’d said the words with the sweetest smile that let him know she wasn’t thinking about cookies.
Nope. Tag had been right. This was far from over. Their chemistry was off the charts and still quite alive, despite Noelle’s trepidation. She didn’t think she could trust this crazy first-sight thing, so he was going to give her a whole lot more time to make the right decision. This war wouldn’t be won by him retreating.
Not that Cara looked like she was willing to come down on the side of quickie commitment. That woman was still staring a hole through him as he grabbed the Scotch and two glasses and walked to the balcony.
“He should be careful out there. I heard someone is now throwing clothes off their balcony,” Cara huffed. “There was a pair of underwear in the oak tree. What is this place coming to?”
He managed to not snort as he heard Noelle sputter. He quickly slid the balcony door closed and joined Kyle, who was leaning against the balcony railing.
“Hey, I have good news and bad news.” Hutch set the bottle on the table.
“Oh, I always want the bad news first.” Kyle stared down at the street before.
It did not surprise Hutch in the least that Kyle was a bad-news-first kind of guy. “Cara apparently hates the two of us, me in particular.”
“That’s not bad news.”
Hutch had more. “And our downstairs detective is probably working undercover with the feds.”
That got Kyle to turn around. “Are you serious? Shouldn’t that have been the lead, man? You’ve had hours to tell me that and you spent it cooking and seducing a woman you’ve already been to bed with?”
Well, he had to seduce her if he wanted to get back into bed with her. There was a logical reason he hadn’t mentioned what Tag had uncovered to Noelle. “Taylor’s investigating someone, and I can’t be sure it’s not Noelle.”
Kyle’s arms crossed his chest. “If that woman is…” He sighed and shook his head. “No. I’m not going to say that. She could be bad. Anyone can be. She could simply be excellent at covering and a good actress. I’m impressed with you, Hutch. I would have thought you would be that guy who told her because you have feelings for her. I didn’t suspect you would know how to play the game so well.”
Oh, he knew how to play the game, and he knew when someone had no idea any games were being played at all. “Noelle is innocent. I didn’t tell her because I don’t want her to worry about some federal investigation that might or might not be real. Now don’t you want the good news?”
Kyle huffed, a predatory sound. “The Scotch, I assume.”
Hutch poured out two fingers each. He’d started as a beer guy, but his appreciation for a 12-year single malt, as many things in his life, had been taught to him by Big Tag. He’d choked it down the first time and had only tried it again because Tag had seemed so pleased to share it with him.