Emma felt like an absolute idiot as she left Tea for Two and headed back to her place—which was just three blocks down in one of the newer apartment buildings downtown.

No matter how much she tried to remember her Man-Fast and be reasonable, she kept getting little hopes where Noah was concerned.

That look in his eyes sometimes… warm, admiring, almost like longing.

It must just be his way, however. He probably flirted with everyone like Ryan did, and he was treating her like any other girl.

He clearly wasn’t serious about her.

Pudge.

The damned man wouldn’t stop calling her Pudge.

She knew he’d never intended the nickname as a way of making fun of her weight, but every time he used it now, it was like a slap in the face or a hard shove, bringing her back to reality with a jarring thud.

She’d left shortly after Noah. She’d felt kind of bad about it—since things were still going strong at Tea for Two—but she’d stayed for more than three hours. Surely that was long enough to show support for Ginny and Carol and still go home and sulk a little.

Her mood had taken a real nosedive after her conversation with Noah.

She wished she was stronger. Maybe some women could just brush it off.

But Noah was obviously still important to her, and it was going to take some time for her reason and maturity to convince her to let go of this crush.

That was all it was, after all.

A crush.

Certainly nothing life-changing.

She wasn’t going to fall for another asshole who would end up breaking her heart, even if he happened to be her brother’s best friend.

She wasn’t that stupid.

Her heart gave a silly little skip when she saw Nan’s old Cadillac, which Noah was still driving. He’d snagged one of the few places in the public parking lot off the street, of course.

He was down a ways from her, standing next to the car, tapping something out on his phone.

Probably lining up a date for later in the evening.

Or maybe just dealing with something from work.

He didn’t look up as she passed his line of sight, and she didn’t call out a greeting.

What would she say after the conversation they’d just had?

Downtown Blacksburg was about ten blocks, and it was always well-lit and full of people at this time on a weekend night. She had no concerns about walking home alone.

So she was surprised when she heard a wolf-whistle. Glancing around automatically, she spotted a group of four guys. They looked college-aged and kind of rough—or at least, they were pretending to be rough.

And the whistle had clearly been directed at her because they were all staring.

She looked ahead again and kept walking, studiously ignoring them even as they called out a few rude comments.

It was no big deal. She knew it wasn’t. It happened all the time to women. But she still felt embarrassed, uncomfortable. She didn’t live in a big city. She wasn’t used to this like other women must be.

“Did you have something to say to her?” The voice came from behind her, and it was loud and authoritative and not at all happy.

Noah.

She turned and saw Noah had come down the sidewalk to confront the rude guys.

Her cheeks flushed even hotter, but she also felt a little thrill of satisfaction—that he would stand up for her that way.

“Noah, don’t worry—” she began.

“It sounded like they had something to say to you.” She could tell he was used to being in control in board rooms and offices. He was barely even raising his voice, but he had complete control of the situation. “Maybe they’d like to say it in front of me.”

“No, no,” one of them said. “Sorry, man.” They all turned around and hurried away with almost laughable speed.

They were just kids really, and even as a group they were no match for Noah.

Emma shifted from foot to foot, darting a look up at him. “Thanks for that,” she said. “But it was really no big deal.”

“They don’t get to talk to you that way.”

She shivered in pleasure again. There was no way she could talk herself out of it. He looked so defensive, so strong, so possessive.

“Well, thanks.” She wasn’t sure what to say.

“Your place is nearby, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Just a couple of blocks up here.”

She waited to see if he’d complain about her walking home alone at night, but he didn’t. He just said, “I’ll walk with you.”

She started to object—automatically but for no particular reason—but she stopped the words from coming out. There was no reason he couldn’t walk a couple of blocks with her. He would probably insist on it, even if she tried to object.

“Okay,” she said. “Thanks.”

They didn’t speak as they walked down the sidewalk and crossed the street to her building. But she was intensely aware of Noah’s presence beside her. It felt so strong, so masculine, so… man.

Why the hell did she always want him so much?

She should know better by now.

She was feeling strangely shy when they reached the front entrance to her building, and she turned to face him, dropping her eyes. “Thanks again.”

“No problem.” There was that husky note in his voice, the one she really liked.

She didn’t dare to look up at him. “I could have made it on my own, you know.”

“I know that.” God, just the sound of his voice sent shivers up and down her spine.

“No matter what you think, I’m not a little girl anymore.”

She had no idea why she was saying this. She was just rambling, too nervous to think through the words that were coming out of her mouth. And she was seriously having to hold herself back from reaching out toward him, taking hold of his shirt and pulling him closer.

He smelled so incredibly good. Not anything as strong as aftershave, but something warm and expensive.

She wanted to smell him even more.

She wanted to feel him.

She wanted to taste him.

She wanted to…

He reached out and tilted up her face so she was looking at him. “I know you’re not a little girl, Emma.”

Emma.

He’d called her Emma.

“You do?” she whispered, the world shuddering in front of her eyes.

“Damn it, Emma,” he rasped thickly, raising his other arm so he was holding her face in both hands. “Surely you know I’m seeing you as anything but a little girl.”

She was trembling now, and there was absolutely no way she could hold herself back. He was holding her face like she was precious, and the look in his eyes…

So filled with heat and hunger. She’d never seen anything like it.

She grabbed onto his shirt like she’d always wanted to and drew him even nearer, and then he was finally, finally kissing her.

Naturally, she was kissing him back.

His mouth was hard, hungry, seeking, and he slid one of his hands down her back until it was cupped around her bottom, pressing her more snugly against him.

Part of her mind registered that he was already hard, and the knowledge whirled dizzily in her mind—the knowledge that she could have this kind of effect on his body.

Noah Hart’s body.

He stepped her backward until she was trapped between him and the railing of the front steps. They were on a public street. In front of her building. Anyone could see them. But the knowledge just made the whole thing even hotter, even more exciting.

She clutched at him eagerly, arching against him as his tongue delved deeper into her mouth, claiming her completely. The fingers of one hand were fisted in her hair now, and it felt possessive, thrillingly dominant.

She’d imagined herself in this position many times, but her dreams had never been like this. They’d been adolescent, foolishly romantic. Not hungry and carnal like this.

Raw.

Primitive.

As if only each other could slake their desperate thirst.

She’d thought feelings like this were only the stuff of shows on premium cable and sexy books.

She’d never imagined she could feel this way herself.

Her body throbbed as Noah’s big hand curled around her bottom even farther, until he was nudging between the back of her legs. She groaned helplessly into his mouth.

“Fuck, Emma,” he muttered, finally tearing his lips away so he could gaze down at her face. “You’re everything I want.”

He was saying that to her. To her. Emma.

He was even calling her by her name.

She could barely catch her breath.

She’d been excited by men before. She’d been aroused. But she’d never, ever felt like this.

For some reason, the realization sent a sliver of fear into her lust-clouded mind.

All the other times with men, she’d been totally wrong about them. She’d thought they’d really wanted her, but they hadn’t.

At least not in the way she wanted them.

No matter how right this felt with Noah, she might be wrong about him too.

She was always wrong about men.

If she knew anything, she knew she couldn’t trust her own feelings.

Noah was grabbing her again, leaning down to kiss her, and she knew if he did, they wouldn’t stop.

She would let him have her all the way. She would want to give herself to him.

And who knew if her heart would ever survive it.

She tried to pull away from him but was trapped by the railing, so she put her hands out to hold him off.

He blinked down at her, flushed and hot and disoriented. He’d been totally into the kiss, as into it as she’d been.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“We better stop,” she said, pushing her hair back behind her ears since it was sticking to her hot face.

“Okay.” She couldn’t read on his face what he was thinking, but that hunger in his eyes hadn’t gone away.

“This isn’t a good idea.”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and took a step back. He moved stiffly, and it was obvious why. He was really turned on. She could see the hard evidence at the front of his pants. “Yeah.”

“Sorry,” she managed to say. “I shouldn’t have let it go so far.”

“Yeah.” Then he gave his head a hard shake. “No, it was my fault. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay.” She stared up at him, but he just stood where he was, breathing heavily.

Then she realized he was going to wait until she got inside before he left.

He really was a gentleman, no matter how cool and heartless he pretended to be.

The knowledge made her chest ache as she walked slowly up her front steps.

She turned back and gave him a little wave before she closed the door to the street.

She stood in the entryway for a minute, staring at the row of six mailboxes for the apartments in this building.

It was silent and sterile under the florescent lights.

Just a minute ago, she’d been feeling more than she’d ever felt in her life.

And she’d walked away from it.

With a gasp, she whirled around and hurried back down the steps.

She could see Noah’s back on the sidewalk, far down the block. He’d almost reached Nan’s big old Cadillac.

He would drive away, and that would be it.

No more chance of anything with him.

She wasn’t going to miss out on her chance. She ran after him, as fast as she could in her very high heels.

When she was close enough, she called out, “Noah.”

He’d been about to walk around the car to the driver’s side, but he stopped at the sound of her voice. He turned around, a question on his face.

She’d pulled to an abrupt stop as she reached him, and the jerk made her nearly lose her balance. She grabbed onto him for support.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, settling his hands on her hips in what was probably an instinctive gesture.

She opened her mouth to say something, to explain, to tell him that she wanted to keep kissing him after all, that she wanted to do even more.

She couldn’t get any words out, but she evidently didn’t need to. His expression changed as he stared down at her. It transformed with a wave of need and yearning and possessiveness the likes of which she’d never seen before.

She gasped as he sank into another hard kiss, and she wrapped her arms around him eagerly.

They weren’t quite on the street. They were in the little parking lot, and it wasn’t as well-lit as the sidewalk. But they were still in public, and she should really be conscious of that fact.

She couldn’t care less.

She wrapped one of her legs around his, hiking up her skirt in the process. She needed to feel his hardness against where she was so hot and wet and aching. She needed it.

“Oh fuck, Emma,” Noah rasped, lifting her slightly so she could get in the position she wanted. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. Yes, please!” A little sliver of her mind wondered if she should retain some dignity and not be quite so shameless. But the rest of her just didn’t care.

She wanted him to know how much she wanted, needed this. She wanted everyone to know.

If they didn’t stop soon, everyone would know because they’d be screwing like animals against this car in downtown Blacksburg. That thought was about to prompt her to action when Noah fumbled behind her and managed to find the handle to the back door of the car.

He yanked it open and they tumbled into the backseat.

She scooted herself farther into the car and he pulled the door closed behind him. Then he was on top of her, big and heavy and warm and sexy and those green eyes like flames as he gazed down at her.

“Thank God for tinted windows,” she said, feeling the oddest urge to giggle, even as she was pushing up her skirt to free her legs.

“We used to call this the pimp-mobile,” Noah admitted dryly, reaching around to unzip her dress.

“You did not!”

“Yes, we…did!” The last word was a burst of sound as Emma’s seeking hands had found the bulge of his erection in his pants.

She was about to say something—who knew what?—when he lowered his face to kiss her hard. With him on top of her like this, she could wrap both legs around him, and she rocked up into him, her arousal grinding against his.

“Damn, baby.” He’d pulled out of the kiss, but his mouth was brushing down the skin of her throat. “Damn, you’re so eager. Hot and eager and… and…” He panted as she squeezed around him tightly with her legs.

“And what?” she gasped, as excited by the fact that she was making Noah respond this way as she was by the sensations in her own body.

“And delicious,” he said hoarsely, nipping at the pulse in her throat. “Fuck, I’ve never had anyone like you before.”

It was exactly what she wanted to hear. It matched her own feelings exactly. She arched up into him with a breathless exclamation of pleasure.

“Oh fuck,” he muttered fumbling with her dress until he’d pulled it down to reveal her little lacy bra. He cupped her breasts possessively. “You’re so incredibly gorgeous.”

She cried out again as he fondled her breasts. Her arousal was so intense now that she was trying to ride him from below.

“Slow down, baby,” he murmured, leaning down to take one of her breasts in his mouth,  teasing her nipple with his tongue through the fabric of her bra. “Let’s make this last a little longer.”

“I can’t,” she huffed, trying to yank his shirt out of his pants so she could get her hands underneath. “I need this… so much.”

He groaned as she squeezed around him again, and he said, “Fuck it. I can’t wait either.” In proof of his words, his attempt at control vanished. He slid his hands under her bunched-up skirt until he’d curled his fingers around the sides of her underwear. He pulled them down her legs and then off completely.

She was already fumbling to undo his trousers. “Do you have a condom?”

“Yeah.”

He had one in his back pocket, and she didn’t bother to wonder how often he needed to use one on the spur of the moment. Right now, she was just glad he had one with him.

They had a few moments of awkwardness as they got into position and he rolled the condom on. The backseat of this Cadillac was huge, but it was still the back of a car. But he was finally settled between her legs, and she groaned shamelessly as he started to push himself inside her.

He was big and full and hard and perfect, and her aroused body yielded easily to the penetration.

“Fuck, oh fuck,” he was muttering low in his throat as her body softened and clung to him inside her.

It was all so good, so much, that Emma couldn’t stop making silly little moans and whimpers. In other circumstances, she might have been afraid of sounding embarrassingly unrestrained, but it didn’t seem to matter at the moment.

Noah appeared just as out of control as she was. Almost.

He did have enough control to hold himself still until she started squirming beneath him, begging him to take her hard.

He let out a long, low sound as his stiff expression finally broke and he let himself go. He moved inside her with short, hard thrusts, bouncing both of their bodies. Each move sent jolts of pleasure all the way through her, and she tried to match his motion with little bucks of her own.

Both of them were panting loudly now, and Emma was holding onto him with her arms and her legs, squeezing around him with her inner muscles. She was hot and flushed and breathless and slightly uncomfortable, and nothing had ever felt so good in all her life.

Noah Hart, taking her in the backseat of the car like this—raw and hungry and slightly clumsy and totally out of control.

Her whimpers turned into little sobs as the pleasure coalesced. “Oh God!” she gasped. “I’m close. I’m almost there.”

“Yeah, baby. Yeah, fuck, yeah. I want you to come.” He was grunting like an animal now, his skin glinting with perspiration. He’d braced himself on the seat with his arms so he could have better leverage to thrust.

They must have been rocking the car a little. And they might be in a dark parking lot, but they were still in public.

Someone could walk by.

Someone could see Noah taking her this way.

Her whole body clamped down with pleasure at the thought, and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from screaming.

“Fuck, you’re the best thing. Ever. Ever. Ever.” He thrust hard with the repetition of each word.

She came hard on the last word, the deep sensations making her moan and clench and shake.

Then he was coming too, the release shuddering through his body and transforming his face with a wash of visible pleasure.

Emma was still clinging to him as she tried to catch her breath.

She couldn’t believe she’d just done that.

She couldn’t believe he’d done that. With her.

“Damn,” Noah gasped, barely holding his weight off her as he relaxed. “Damn, that was so good.”

“Yeah.” She could barely make her throat work, she was so completely overwhelmed with the aftermath of her orgasm. “Yeah, it was.”

“You’re amazing, Emma.” He’d lowered his face and was pressing little kisses against her mouth, her skin.

It was the sweetest thing she’d ever felt, and now her heart was reacting as helplessly as her body had before.

“You… you… too.” It was all she was capable of saying.

Gradually, his breathing slowed down, and so did hers. She was starting to realize how uncomfortable she was and was going to suggest he get off her and take care of the condom when a phone rang in the car.

It wasn’t her ringtone, so it must be his.

He blinked a few times and then reached down to the floor of the backseat, where his phone must have fallen. He stared at the screen for a moment. “It’s Nan.”

“Oh. What could she want?”

“Nothing at this time of night.” His expression changed. “Something must be wrong.”

“Well, answer it.”

He connected the call, and Emma waited breathlessly as she tried to tell what was happening from his side of the conversation. It couldn’t be good from the sound of his voice and the way he hauled himself into a sitting position.

“I’ll be right there,” he said at last before he disconnected the call.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nan fell down in the bathroom.”

“Oh no! Is she all right?”

“I think so. She sounded okay. She just said she needed help.”

“Is she still on the floor?”

“I don’t know. She wouldn’t say. But I better get over there.”

“Yes. Right away.” Emma pushed herself up, pulled down her dress, and reached for her panties.

“I’m sorry about… about leaving so soon.” Noah looked adorably rumpled—worried and yet still hot and relaxed.

“Don’t be silly. You need to get over there right away.”

“I’ll drop you back at your place.”

“No need to take the time. Actually, I’ll come with you, in case you need more help.”

“You don’t need to—”

“I’m coming. Stop arguing and start driving.” She stuck out her chin to prove how stubborn she was going to be.

He gave a little smile as he buttoned his trousers. “Got it.”

They both climbed out of the backseat and into the front seats. Noah pulled into the street without wasting any time, and Emma said as he started off, “But do tuck in your shirt before you go into the house. I don’t want Nan to know what we’ve just been doing in the back of her car.”