Noah's fingers traced slow, lazy designs on the bare skin of my back. The ocean shushed at us through the open window after what I knew had been a rather loud session. I didn't care if the mainland had heard us. I was with Noah. He loved me. I loved him. Everything was how it was supposed to be.
For a moment, I let myself dream of the future. Noah loved me, and he wasn't a tourist anymore. He was staying. I hoped it was for a good long time. Or, if he had to return to his work, that he could make the island his home base. I couldn't leave because of my research. My life was on the island. Even if- I mentally knocked on wood- we weren't able to purchase the Grove, I still had work to do here.
But the idea of having Noah with me was thrilling. Even if he had to take business trips, I could live with that. I wondered if he could just do all of his work from the island and make Beth take the business trips. That was an acceptable option too.
I smiled and kissed his skin. This was the beginning of something amazing. I could feel it deep in my bones. Today was going to be the first of many perfect days together. Nothing was going to keep us apart.
Noah's phone rang and startled me. The vibration on his nightstand was surprising, not to mention the old school ring he had chosen as a ringtone being very loud. I peeled my cheek from his chest, giving him and then his phone a very pointed and unhappy look. He laughed and kissed my forehead before twisting his torso to hit the 'Silence' button.
I smiled and cuddled up against his chest again. Our bodies pressed together in the most delicious way, skin touching skin at every opportunity. I ran my hand over his chest, feeling his strong muscles. One of his nipples tightened as I came across it. I kissed the other nipple and felt him tense under me. I wanted another round. I wanted to feel him inside of me again. If I have my way, we may not leave the bed all day, I thought to myself.
Unfortunately, his phone buzzed again on the nightstand. He had turned off the sound, but not the vibration.
“Whatever it is can't be that important,” Noah grumbled, reaching for the phone to turn it off completely. He hit a button and tossed the phone back on the nightstand before grinning at me. “Now, where were we?”
I grinned up impishly at him. I had some lusciously naughty ideas of what I wanted to do next. Things that would make my mother blush if she knew I had even thought about them, let alone knew how to do them.
And then someone was banging on the front door.
“Noah?” Beth's voice called from the door. “It's Beth. I need to talk to you.”
He groaned and sunk into the bed. I pouted; he shrugged.
“Tell a girl she has the day off, and all she wants to do is work,” he mumbled. Beth's knocking was incessant. There was no way we were going to be able to ignore her and get back to what we were doing. Noah made an unhappy noise in the back of his throat and sat up, swinging his legs off the bed. He stood, giving me a fantastic view of his naked body, and picked his shorts up off the floor. I sighed as his perfect ass disappeared into the fabric. At least he didn't put on a shirt.
“I'll be right back.” He leaned over the bed and kissed me. I reached up, and made sure to show him exactly what he was coming back to. He made a low sound of masculine approval as he broke away and hurried to the front door.
“Beth, I told you,” he said, opening the door. “No business today.”
I slid out of bed, wrapping the sheet around my body and peeking out the bedroom door. I couldn't see Beth, but I had an excellent view of Noah's backside. I had plans for that backside... I wanted him out of those shorts and back in bed.
“The lawyers called, Noah. It's happening today. Now.” Beth sounded calm and professional, but I could see her words’ had a worrysome effect on Noah. He stiffened and ran a hand through his hair.
“Now?” he growled, his voice serious. I could only assume Beth nodded as he added, “I'll get dressed then.”
He closed the front door and turned to see me watching him. His eyes softened, and his shoulders dropped a little as he walked back to me. Thunder rumbled ominously in the distance. It sounded like there would be storms this afternoon.
“I'm really sorry, Izzy,” he said quietly, pushing a lock of sun-bleached hair from my cheek. “I have to take care of this. It's very important.”
I sighed and looked longingly at the bed. So much for never leaving it. I turned back to face big blue eyes. He felt terrible about this. It was written all over his face. I touched his cheek. He had to be able to run his business from here if he wanted to stay on the island. I was willing to do just about anything to make that happen. I would have swum an internet cable back to the mainland if it made it possible for him to stay with me.
“I hate saying that,” he said with a sigh and another rake of his hand through his hair. I loved that gesture. It made his muscles pop in all the right places, and he didn't even know he was doing it. “I hate saying it, because it's not more important than you.”
I smiled. “You going to tell me what you do for a living?”
He frowned, confusion tightening his brows. “I thought I wasn't supposed to tell you until I was leaving?”
“Well, if you aren't leaving, then go do your job so you don't have to tell me.” I grinned at him. His face relaxed into a gentle smile. “I'll get to see you tomorrow.”
He wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug, giving me a peck on the cheek. “And many days after that,” he whispered. A thrill went through me. I could go for many days.
When he let me go, I dropped the sheet, watching his pupils dilate as he took in the view of my body. Just because I was okay with him working didn't mean I wasn't going to show him what he was missing. His eyes followed me hungrily, the bulge in his pants telling me that he was enjoying the show. I bent over to pick up my swimsuit bottoms and wiggled my ass at him. He let out a quiet sound of pure longing.
“I'm just glad you have a job that you can do here,” I said, straightening up. His pants seemed like they were about to bust through the zipper. “I'm glad you don't have to leave.”
“Me too,” he murmured, his face awash with desire. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “If I had time, I would show you just how glad.”
With that he dropped his shorts. I gasped, feeling my body react to the sight of him hard and ready to go. He winked and shook his head in a slow 'no' before walking to his closet and pulling out a suit. I pouted as he also took out a pair of boxers. Reluctantly, I put on my o