joy. She couldn’t think of anything to say that would come close to answering what she’d heard from him. So she just whispered, “I love you, Aaron.” It must have been the right thing to say. He looked downward in his characteristic way, and when he lifted his head, he was smiling—pure and absolute. “Good. Because I love you too.” They lay in each other’s arms for a minute, not needing to say anything. He was warm and strong and tense with emotion. He was hers. She felt a brief flicker in her happiness as she started to reflect on how he must have felt all this time, with her constantly treating him as if he wasn’t worthy of being desired this way. She was about to get upset about it when he said curtly, “Stop it.” “What?” She blinked at him in confusion. “Stop it. Stop brooding. You’re not allowed to beat yourself up about it.” “But—” “No ‘buts’. Just stop it.” His grumpy objection actually made her feel better, but she frowned at him anyway. “Wow. Give a man a little sex, and he turns immediately from a nice guy into a bossy jackass.” He chuckled warmly. “Just think how bossy I’ll be after we’ve had a couple of decades of sex.” “I think I can probably handle it. I’m good at managing bossy jackasses.” “Good,” he murmured against her lips, “Because I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.” They kissed more deeply. Then the embrace became even deeper. A few minutes later, when she was crying out on a taken breath as he pleasured her with his mouth, her eyes happened to land on the clock next to her bed. It wasn’t even eight o’clock in the morning yet. It might have been a miracle or just the normal workings of an inexplicable universe, but her world had completely reshaped itself. All in one night.
About the Author
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she teaches English, reads any book she can get her hands on, and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel. She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances. For more information, please check out her website: noelle-adams.com