Learning the Ropes (12 page)

But she had thus far been unable to believe that he might actually want her for more than sex. After all, how long could his tutoring her really be of interest to him? Soon enough he would grow tired of her boring shut-in lifestyle and the fact that any tricks she knew in bed he had taught her. And then he would leave and she would be heartbroken.

Rory brought her hand to her temple where a headache throbbed.
Not heartbroken
, she told herself,
disappointed that a friend with benefits had moved on
. Lying to herself was another new talent she was rapidly learning.

At that moment, Noah walked in the door, cool and confident in a business suit that made her want to rip his tie off. And grinning from ear to ear. She motioned him over to the corner booth she had chosen and he waved to let the hostess know he was fine before heading in Rory’s direction. His pace quickened as he approached her though.

“Hey beautiful, you feeling all right?”

Rory realized that her hand was still massaging her temple and lowered it with a smile. “My head hurts a little, that’s all.”

He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss on her lips before sitting down across from her. “Do you want to just get something to go and head home?”

She squelched the joy that bubbled up when he asked about home, knowing that he meant her apartment and that he included himself in that. Sharing a home with him would be a heady thing. “No, no. It’s not that bad. Besides, from the look on your face, I think you have good news about the Keal account.”

Noah’s grin widened and he grabbed her hand and leaned closer. “I got it.”

She squealed and tried to throw her arms around him from the other side of the booth. She changed tactics to a sweet kiss that quickly got out of control. Before she knew it, their waiter was standing at their tableside, staring at them. Rory had already decided what she wanted while she was waiting for him and Noah seemed to order the first item on the menu so the waiter would go away. She used the few moments to cool herself down, never an easy thing to do for her where Noah was concerned.

Noah had been working on his advertising pitch for a chain of local drugstores for a while now. Almost every night he had two or three different concepts or slogans he wanted to run by her. She had never realized how much work marketing actually was. Today had been the big pitch, with the owners of the chain hearing from a couple of agencies about a new advertising and promotion plan. It had been Noah’s first time as the lead on a project of this magnitude and he had been worried about not being able to deliver for his company. The second he had told Rory his ideas, she had known he was going to wow them.

She had been very impressed by the quality of the work he had done as he had rehearsed his presentation with her the night before. She had announced it “A+” work. As they ate, he rehashed the entire pitch and his subsequent meeting with his bosses to congratulate him—or rather, as
he
ate
his chicken parmesan and she pushed her salad around her plate. She just wasn’t hungry. A fact he noticed as the waiter took their plates and left the check.

“Was your salad not good?” he asked as he snagged the bill out from under her hand.

“It was all right—I’m just not very hungry tonight.” She gestured for the check back from him. “Give me that! We’re celebrating your big win tonight. You don’t pay when it’s your night.”

Noah ignored her and stuffed a couple of bills in the pocket. “There are other ways to congratulate me you know.” He waggled his eyebrows at her while she blushed hot. In fact, it was extremely hot in the room and she tugged her blouse open a little. “And since I plan to tire you out celebrating my victory, I think we should stop on the way back and get you some ice cream or something so you have energy. The food here wasn’t very good.”

Rory snorted. You couldn’t prove that judging by the plate he had cleared. “The food here was fine.”

He crossed his arms and leaned closer to her over the table. “You know I would much rather have taken you to Serafino’s. It’s much more conducive to celebrating. It’s got candles and wine and actual tablecloths.” He rustled the paper placemat for effect.

“You know we can’t go to Serafino’s,” she said softly.

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you explain it to me?”

“Everyone and their mother go to Serafino’s. It’s the only decent Italian food for miles. What would people think if they saw us together there having a romantic dinner?”

Noah’s face tightened and his hands clenched on the table. “That we were a couple. Which would apparently be the end of your entire world.”

Rory searched for what to say as Noah breathed deep. “How long is this going to go on, Rory? What do I have to say so that we can eat dinner within the city limits, for God’s sake?”

She ached at the frustration she heard in his voice. She knew that he hated feeling like her secret, but the thought of people knowing about them scared her. She wasn’t enough to hold his attention and he would eventually leave. She feared that it would be devastating. How much more terrible would it be if everyone they knew was wondering how she thought she could keep him? Or, worse, pitying her for being so deluded.

Her hand came back up to her temple and she began to rub. “I’m sorry, but can we not do this tonight, Noah? It’s your big night and I don’t want to ruin it.”

She could tell that he wanted to say more. It was there in the tightening of his lips and the flashing of his eyes, but he kept silent. She knew he wouldn’t always play along with her. One day he would get tired of the games and move on. With a heavy sigh he slid out of the booth and helped her out of her side.

They walked out to their cars side by side, their arms barely brushing and the silence heavy between them. She could almost feel the waves of frustration emanating from him. Fear gathered in her throat, choking her. The urge to keep him close, to bind him to her become unreasonable. When he walked her to her car door and gestured for her keys, she just stared at him.

“Rory?” he leaned down to try to see her eyes, his tone worried.

She couldn’t wait another second. Rory threw her arms around him and pulled him close for a scalding kiss, communicating all of the things she couldn’t bring herself to say. Letting the thrust of her tongue say, “I want you.” The clasp of her arms say, “I need you.” The clench of her hands in his hair say, “Don’t leave me.”

He responded with the fierce passion she needed. It seemed that no matter her mood, he always sensed it and responded to it. When she needed compassion, he was gentle and coaxing. And, like now, when she needed reassurance that he wanted her, he gave it in spades. His hands had slid down her back and he was clenching her ass tightly, drawing her pelvis in line with his. She pressed her aching breasts tighter to his chest and couldn’t help letting out a moan.

After several moments that weren’t nearly long enough, Noah regained enough sanity to pull back. Rory pressed her face to his chest and tried to breathe normally. Even from their secluded hiding place between her car and his truck, she could hear laughter and chatter from other patrons in the busy strip mall. How did he always make her forget her surroundings?

She pulled back so she could lift a hand to his face. “That’s just a preview of your private celebration. Follow me home for your official ‘Atta boy!’”

Noah broke out in his trademark bad-boy grin. “That’s a hell of a worker incentive plan.”

She laughed up at him as he helped her into her car and made his way to his own. Rory briefly felt dizzy and had to put her head down on the steering wheel for a second. Served her right for coming so close to the edge of reason in a crowded parking lot!

Rory carefully followed Noah back to her apartment, trying to plan what kind of private celebration she was going to give him. It was hard to concentrate though. Every few minutes she had cold and hot flashes and kept having to change the temperature to be comfortable. Her headache certainly wasn’t helped by the headlights of oncoming cars, either.

By the time they had reached her home she needed Noah’s help to get out of the car. Her head seemed too heavy on her neck, like a bowling ball balanced on a Popsicle stick. Every time she swallowed, it felt like she had been chewing on glass.

“Rory!” Noah’s voice came from far away as her knees collapsed from under her. His tone was worried and urgent, “I’m taking you to the hospital.”

“No, please don’t. I just have a headache. Please take me upstairs.” She lay her head gratefully on his shoulder as he picked her up and carried her up the two flights of stairs to her apartment. She was very little help as he brought her to her bed and began to undress her. The small bedside lamp was too bright for her sensitive eyes.

Noah murmured endearments like, “Poor baby” to her while he helped her strip down and pull on a nightshirt. He disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a glass of water and aspirin, which she downed appreciatively. He tried to tuck her in and leave her to get some sleep but she wouldn’t let go of his hand. She clutched it as if it were a lifeline, the only thing giving her comfort in her pained state.

He reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. “Shh, Rory. Go to sleep. I’ll be right here.”

She fell into a fitful sleep but began to shiver. He added another blanket to her bed and then crawled in beside her, wrapping her tightly in his warmth. Eventually she stopped shivering, but her face and neck were now blazing hot. Noah held her close as she whimpered in her sleep.

***

Noah paced nervously in the small examination room. Four steps to the right, pivot, four steps back to the left. He glanced over at Rory but she was still lying on the examination table with her eyes closed. To tell the truth, he hadn’t seen her eyes open much since last night. After dinner she had deteriorated rapidly, although her fever had held steady at one hundred and one.

He cursed himself for not bringing her in earlier. He should have insisted that she go to the hospital. He could have spared her at least a few hours of sickness. Both of them had slept fitfully the night before. She had been plagued by aches and pains and he had awakened with every little movement or sound she made. When her alarm had gone off, she had barely even stirred. Noah had declared that she would be going to the doctor, and—more worrying than anything that had happened before—she hadn’t said a word about his high-handedness.

It had only taken him a few minutes to get both of them dressed, but it had taken precious time to locate Rory’s address book. She had insisted that he call the school to let them know she needed a substitute. He had called in sick to his work from the car and didn’t feel guilty about it at all. Over the past couple of weeks he had put in ample overtime on his winning pitch and was probably due a little down time anyway.

They’d signed in at the urgent-care facility, and although the place seemed pretty quiet in the early morning hours, their wait felt interminable. The only thing that kept Noah from repeatedly questioning the admissions desk about when their turn would come was the fact that Rory was sleeping on his shoulder. When they had finally been called and shown to a room, the doctor had been kind, if not a little hurried, as he examined Rory.

Noah had been left to provide much of the particulars about timing and most of her symptoms, although Rory roused to describe a headache that sounded debilitating. The verdict wasn’t good at all. The doctor was sending the nurse in to take x-rays of Rory’s chest after announcing that he was pretty sure she had ‘flu but that the sound of Rory’s cough troubled him. He was having x-rays performed just to be sure that her chest congestion wasn’t bronchitis. Either way, the doctor was prescribing bed rest, fluids, and antibiotics for a few days to clear everything up.

Noah was already mentally readjusting his schedule and figuring out how to work from Rory’s apartment when the nurse walked into the little room. She consulted her clipboard and then smiled reassuringly at Noah. “So Rory here needs a chest x-ray, right?” Noah nodded. “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her and get her back up and running in no time.”

She turned to Rory and helped her to sit up on the exam table. “Before we take you into the x-ray booth, I just need to know if you could be pregnant.”

When Rory didn’t immediately answer in the negative, Noah’s heart began to pound. She looked lost for a few seconds before focusing on the nurse. “I don’t think so. I mean, we’ve taken precautions but nothing’s one hundred percent, is it? But I can’t possibly be…”

The nurse didn’t even bat an eye. She just patted Rory’s hand soothingly. “I understand, dear. Why don’t you just come with me? We’ll let you take a quick test and then we’ll know for sure.”

Rory nodded and stood up on unsteady legs to follow her. Noah tried to catch her attention before she left, but she wouldn’t even look at him. She studiously kept her eyes on the floor until the door closed behind her. Without even thinking about it, he resumed his pacing. Four steps to the right, pivot, four steps back to the left.

Rory might be pregnant. He supposed that since the first time they’d made love, pregnancy could be a possibility. She had been right and they had used precautions every time, but there was no use in chancing it. Surprisingly, although his heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest, he wasn’t dreading the verdict. Oh, he knew that the timing wasn’t great, especially since she wasn’t even ready to tell her friends and family that they were together, but the thought of a pudgy baby with her blue eyes and his blond hair didn’t terrify him like it normally would.

He wasn’t sure if that was a sign of his maturity or just that she was the right woman.

He whirled around when the door creaked open. Rory slipped inside and then slowly closed the door behind her. Clutched in one hand was a pregnancy test and the other held a kitchen timer that was slowly ticking.

“Well?” Noah asked, breath bated.

“Someone else needed the bathroom so I came in here to wait the three minutes.” Rory leaned back against the door tiredly.