Learning the Ropes (11 page)

Rory’s eyes were big as she looked around the field. Several kids played in a cleared-out space in front of the screen and large signs proclaimed “Show time after dusk,” asking patrons to make sure they only took up one parking space. On the edge of the field was a squat brick building that had a line forming in front of it. One whiff of the breeze coming from that direction told Rory that the corndog smell had originated there. Her mouth started to water.

She turned to Noah and blushed to see him watching her with an indulgent smile on his face. “So, do you like it?”

She grinned and leaned over to give him a small peck. “I love it.”

Noah pulled her back in for a more thorough kiss. “That’s the beauty of the truck: once your seatbelt is off you can get right up close to me.”

Rory closed her eyes as heat flashed through her. Even after a week of making love with him, she still wanted him like it was the first time. She opened her eyes and forced herself to keep the mood light. “Hmm, I believe the sign says the show doesn’t start until dusk.”

Noah threw his head back and laughed. “Fair enough. So what do you want to do until then? I brought a radio and a blanket if you want to sit in front of the truck on the grass.”

“A radio?”

Noah handed her the card he had received when they entered. “Yeah, you tune in to the radio station on the card and the soundtrack plays. Apparently they used to have speakers you clipped on the window but they got some new technology,” Noah gestured to the empty pole to the right of their parking spot.

Rory giggled. “Cutting edge for the drive-in movie I guess.” She looked out at the field, which was quickly filling up with cars, and decided that there wasn’t much time before dusk. “What would you prefer? Inside or out?”

Noah’s gaze heated. “I prefer inside. Much more private.”

Rory had to clear her throat before answering. “Inside it is then. On one condition: you have to feed me. I wasn’t hungry until I smelled the popcorn, but now I’m starving!”

The line for the snack bar was long, but it moved quickly and it seemed that they had just missed the last-minute rush. Rory bounced on her tiptoes to see the menu board and debated the merits of a corndog versus a regular hotdog. Noah was absolutely no help, as he advocated getting both.

After they placed their orders—Rory compromising by getting a corndog with a side of popcorn—they stood to the side and waited for their food to be ready. Noah reached out and casually took her hand in his as they both quietly surveyed the scene in front of them. Somehow, despite all the carnal things they had done over the past several days, him holding her hand in front of the crowd seemed the most personal, the most terrifying. She didn’t understand him or his motives. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the idea that he really wanted her and—more than that—wanted to claim her in front of all these people.

She almost felt relieved when he had to pull away from her to pick up their food from the window. After a quick second to get her heartbeat under control and wipe off her sweaty palms, she took her half of the food and they made their way back to the car, just in time for the previews to start.

A loud cheer went up from the field and Rory laughed. “It looks like the movie’s so much more interactive here than in the theaters.”

Noah held her food while she took her seat in the car. They both took a few minutes to complete the fast-food dance. Straws in cups, condiments on their corndogs, bucket of popcorn on the seat between them to share. Rory smiled as the opening credits for a fairly new kids’ movie started rolling.

“I know it’s a little childish—but this is just the first movie,” Noah said apologetically.

“It’s a double-feature?” Rory asked, surprised.

“Yeah, apparently they do a kids’ movie first and then a classic movie second for the adults. I thought about just timing it so we could be here for the second one, but I wasn’t sure I could find the place.” Noah took a big bite of his corndog.

“So you’ve never been here before?” Rory took a bite of her own corndog, silently willing him to answer the real question she wanted to ask:
Have you ever brought a date here before?

He shook his head as he swallowed. “Nope, I was just looking for something cool to do out of town. You know, as per our deal.”

Rory ignored the jibe and let herself bask in the little bubble of joy that slid through her. He had really worked hard on their date. Had put some real effort into figuring out where to go and what to do. She shouldn’t be surprised really—the rumor was that Noah could be a real ladies’ man when he put his mind to it. She was just seeing that side of him now. But the thought that she wasn’t just on some generic dinner-and-movie date that he had perfected with tons of other women made her happy. And a little bit adventurous.

She balled up the wax paper her food had come in and started to clear the front seat of their trash. “Hmm, I was hoping that you were going to introduce me to a little drive-in movie hanky-panky. You know, as per our deal.”

Noah turned so that he faced her fully, before reaching over to the driver’s-side button panel to move their bench seat back. He lifted the steering wheel up so that it pointed at the sky and smiled at her. “I’m not going to say that the thought didn’t cross my mind. Only in a purely scientific way, you understand. To broaden your horizons and further the education you should have gotten in high school when you were too much of a good girl.”

Rory tossed her hair in mock anger. “There’s no such thing as being ‘too much of a good girl.’”

Noah reached a long arm out and curled it around her waist, pulling her snugly into his side. “When you were a good girl, did you ever do this?” He leaned down and nibbled on her earlobe, swirling his tongue around the delicate shell and moving down to take soft love bites of her neck.

Rory tilted her head to the side to allow him more access to the sensitive skin there and tried to formulate a response. “You mean did I ever come to a drive-in movie? I thought we’d already established that neither one of us had.”

“No, I mean did you ever go parking? Just you and some guy in the front seat, fogging up the windows, him trying to coax you out of your panties.”

She gasped and bit her lip, a flood of wetness drenching said panties. “Of course not.”

“Well you are now, baby.” Noah brought a hand up to the top button of her shirt and started playing with it, sliding his big fingers beneath the placket to stroke the skin underneath. “And right now I want to peel this shirt off you so that I can see you.”

Rory felt the first flash of foreboding and glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Their windows were in fact a little fogged-up already, as the cartoon characters in the movie bounced around the screen in front of them. There were no cars immediately next to them, although there was a compact car a couple of spaces to the right.

Noah noticed her concerns and smiled at her reassuringly. “I won’t let anybody see you, except for me.” He slowly unbuttoned the first few buttons while both of their harsh breaths filled the space between them. “I know you’re a good girl, so we won’t go all the way tonight.”

She pried her eyes open and found him watching her, his smile total “male on the make.” Rory shivered and realized that he was giving her time to tell him no. She wasn’t about to, though. This was an experience she’d never had and she wanted it, with him. She smiled back at him and ran her hand through his hair to bring him closer to her before taking his mouth in a deep, wet kiss.

They spent long minutes simply letting their mouths fuse and their tongues mate together until the heat was too much too bear. Noah pulled away first and struggled to get his breathing under control. His hands softly stroked the skin of her torso that he had bared as he slowly pulled the cups of her bra away from her breasts. She had been so caught up in their kiss she hadn’t even realized that he had unbuttoned her shirt completely and undone the clasp of her bra.

The light from the giant screen allowed her to see the look of complete concentration on his face as he slid two fingers to capture her nipple and squeeze it slowly. She bit her lip to keep from crying out from the exquisite pressure.

Noah noticed and smiled. With a practiced hand, he made quick work of her jeans and slipped a hand up her thigh and into her panties. When he encountered the wetness there, he gave a little hum in the back of his throat. “A
very
good girl indeed.”

Rory used her free hand to slap his chest but couldn’t stop the moans from escaping her mouth. At first he touched her softly, letting her get used to the light brushes of his fingers on her over-sensitized nerves, but he slowly began to use a firmer touch, letting his thumb drag around and over her clit. She arched into him as much as she was able in the crowded confines of the front seat, reaching out to slide her hands under his polo shirt and trying to get it off.

“No, this is for you right now. I can’t take it if you start undressing me.” Rory paid little attention to his protestations though; she ached to feel his skin against hers. But Noah truly was the more experienced of the two of them and, with one strong tug of his lips on her nipple, she forgot everything but the burning-hot feel of his mouth.

He removed his hands and mouth from her for a moment and Rory let out a mewl of displeasure.

“I know, baby, I know. But I need to get you in a better position.” Noah pulled her into his lap crosswise, so that her back rested against the driver’s-side door. She gave absolutely no thought to how she might look to anyone brave enough to peer through their fogged-up windows. Jeans gone, panties halfway down her legs, shirt and bra open, she was the picture of hedonism. And she couldn’t wait for him to put his hands back on her.

Noah bent his head back down to take her mouth in a slow kiss that was a parody of what they both wanted to be doing. His fingers echoed the thrusting down below, slow thrusts of his fingers stirring the creamy wetness and causing her to tighten. She couldn’t say how long he fingered her. It felt like forever and no time at all until she was coming, tight around his fingers and moaning into his mouth. She struggled to keep herself from making too much noise as fireworks went off in her head and sparks exploded behind her eyes.

She didn’t open her eyes again until she felt Noah shifting her back to her seat. Magically, all of her clothing was back where it was supposed to be on her body. Rory felt his eyes on her and turned to face him.

His face was tight and his hand was clenched on the bench seat next to him. One look at the fly of his jeans told the story. He was gloriously aroused and Rory felt herself smiling in anticipation. Noah laughed, recognizing the look.

“Easy, tiger. The movie is over; we can’t really start anything up right now. As much as I’d like to.” Noah grimaced and cupped a hand over his erection to get more comfortable.

Surprised, Rory used her sleeve to clear a place on the windshield, revealing credits rolling on the screen and a few cars making their way towards the exit. “So is this intermission or something?”

“I guess. It shouldn’t be too long until the next movie starts.”

Rory licked her lips and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “Can we skip it?”

Noah laughed. “We could, but it’s one I thought you would specifically like.”

“What is it?”

“
Top Hat
with Fred Astaire—”

“And Ginger Rogers!” Rory cut him off excitedly. “It’s one of my favorite Fred and Ginger movies!”

“I saw that you had several in your DVD collection the other day, so I figured it was a pretty safe bet.”

Rory’s heart melted. He really had put so much effort into their date it felt almost real. Like they were together for more than just adventure.

He continued, “But we can leave if you want to.”

Rory smiled and turned to tune the radio to the correct channel just in time for the opening credits to start. Another cheer went up from the assembled cars. “Let’s stay. We have all night, right?”

Noah’s gaze heated and he grasped her wrist to pull her close for a scalding kiss. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

Rory took a deep breath before leaning her head on his shoulder to enjoy the movie. That was one promise she was going to have no trouble making good on.

Chapter Eight

Rory drummed her fingers on the table in front of her and resisted checking her phone again. She knew she hadn’t missed any messages so there was no point really. She was waiting for Noah at another out-of-the-way restaurant. A place she was starting to think was a little
too
out of the way if he was taking so long to arrive.

She knew that Noah was tiring of their little game. He hated having to drive so far out of the city just to meet her for dinner or a movie, and to tell the truth she was growing tired of it as well. The pattern they had fallen into was a dangerous one, at least to her mind. Almost every weekday evening he met her, either at her apartment or at one of these back-road places where no one knew them. Almost every weekday night they slept together. There had been a few evenings where she’d alleged that too much grading had piled up and had successfully managed to keep herself from calling him as the night went on. But those instances were few and far between.

On the weekends they were almost constantly together. Just last weekend he had invited her over to his apartment for the first time. It was an empty box. Little more than a sofa, bed, and television surrounded by bare white walls. But, sparse as it was, there were signs that he had made an effort for her. There was no dirty laundry or dishes and the thin carpet showed the marks of fresh vacuuming. They had spent the stormy weekend happily holed-up on the couch watching movies and in his bed making love.

Never had cold pizza tasted so good as when she’d sat on a blanket in Noah’s apartment and eaten it with him. She was beginning to think that anything she did with him would be wonderful. Weeks after their first adventure, the sex was still great—and, worse, she was actually finding that she liked him a lot as a person. He had led her through an amazing growth period where she had learned to be daring and take sexual risks and acknowledge that he actually wanted her.