I couldn’t get out of the church fast enough. I didn’t pay attention to see if anyone was around before I pushed through the back door and hurried around the side of the building and across the street, straight to the shop. With a distracted wave to Chris and Genesis, who’d arrived in the time I’d been gone, I escaped into my office, shut the door, and collapsed into my chair.
Holy shit, what had just happened? I mean… Holy. Shit. Had Noah actually just fingered me in the same building he gave the Sunday sermon? Had I actually let him?
For months, we’d been circling each other—me teasing him until he’d snap and storm off, leaving me utterly pleased with myself, then we’d rinse and repeat. We had a good thing going. Easy. Predictable. Except this time, he’d turned that predictability on its head. This time, he hadn’t stalked off. This time…he’d teased back.
Hadn’t been much teasing in what he’d done, though.
I closed my eyes, transporting myself back to that darkened office, stale with nonuse. He’d been firm and hard against me, and if I hadn’t had the wall against my back, I wasn’t so sure I’d have been able to support myself. Not when his words had met my ear. Not when he’d groaned low and deep as he’d touched my pussy for the first time. And jesusfuck had he touched it. I’d just had the hottest orgasm of my entire life—and I’d had the privilege of having some spectacular orgasms in my years—by a man who I’d assumed was a caged lion.
Turned out he wasn’t so caged, after all.
And not only was he not caged, he was apparently ready and willing to do dirty, dirty things to me.
I sucked in a breath, my exhale shuddering through my lips as I dropped my head into my hands. That was fine, right? No big deal. It wasn’t like Noah was any different from any other guy I’d been with, barring the major exception—that he spent his days in a church instead of an office.
No big deal.
Weird, turned out repeating it over and over to yourself didn’t actually make it a reality. I was afraid no big deal was actually a very big deal.
What I needed right now was definitely not to be alone. I needed someone who could give it to me straight. Someone who would tell me how fucking crazy this was and tell me to get my mind out of the land of amazing orgasms and forget about a hookup with the pastor.
A hookup. With the pastor.
Well, at least Grandma would be happy because I’d definitely come closer to Jesus.
Once I made it out into the front section of the store, Chris had already gone home for the day, and Gen was busy straightening a new display of glass dildos.
“My God, these look fantastic, don’t they? I’m definitely buying one of these bad boys tonight. Brandon will flip when I bring it—” She straightened as soon as she looked at me over her shoulder. “What’s with the face?”
“I just did something I probably shouldn’t have.”
She looked me up and down, a smirk drawing her lips to the side. “Well, if that something was get laid—because you definitely have that Just Got Laid glow about you—then I say, lies. You should. Always.”
“Not laid. Not exactly.”
With a grin, Gen left the display to settle into a chair at the front and gestured for me to take the seat across from her. Fitting, really, that I’d discuss this, even vaguely, while sitting on the furniture left from my grandmother.
“I can work with ‘not exactly.’” Gen clasped her hands together and leaned toward me once I sat down. “Tell me everything.”
Everything? No, I definitely couldn’t do that. It wasn’t every day someone got fingered by the pastor, and I was sure Noah would want a little discretion. He’d said he was going to take me to dinner this week, but I assumed that was code for swing by my place after dark, slip in and slip out without anyone the wiser. He had his career to worry about—his whole life, really. Being a pastor wasn’t like being an accountant. It wasn’t just a job. It was a lifestyle…a commitment. That was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. I could barely commit to a hairstylist.
Besides his life, this situation wouldn’t exactly bode well for my already meager reputation. Not if I was caught sullying Temperance Falls’ favorite pastor.
“I did something,” I said.
“Yeah, I figured that much.” Gen rolled her eyes. “Get to the part with the orgasms.”
So grateful for a moment of levity after all these confusing emotions swarming around in my head, I laughed. “I will, but I need to talk this out first.”
“Here for it. Now spill.”
“There’s this guy. We’ve sort of been…circling each other. For months.”
“Months, huh? That’s some serious foreplay.”
That was the damn truth. Explosive foreplay. Could that have been why the orgasm had been so powerful? That and the fact that it was so…forbidden? I’d gotten off in some pretty risqué places, but never a church. That was taboo even for me.
I nodded. “I’ve always assumed he was sort of off-limits, so it was like playing without any of the consequences, you know?”
“Is he married?” Gen held up her hands before I could respond. “No judging from me, just trying to get a feel for the sitch.”
“No, no, nothing like that. His…job wouldn’t really take kindly to him being with me.”
“Because of Sin? Well, that’s some bullshit.”
Sin was what it was, all right. And it had nothing to do with my shop.
“Anyway, today he proved something between us wasn’t quite as off-limits as I thought it was. I pushed his buttons like always, but this time…”
Gen leaned closer to me, her eyes bright. “Yeah?”
“It was like he snapped. He took me into the place he worked and gave me the most intense orgasm of my life.”
“Holy shit…he fucked you at his work even with the whole”—she waved a hand around—“situation?”
“Not fucked, no. Fingered.”
“He fingered you to your most intense orgasm? Whoa. Those are some magic fingers.”
“I know, right? If you’re not fingering with your tongue, you’re doing it wrong. But holy shit did this guy do it right.” I shifted in my seat, remembering his words, the feel of his fingers stretching me, his thumb insistent on my clit as he worked me up and pushed me right over the edge without hesitation.
And then to watch him suck my come right off those fingers? Holy shit.
“Well, it’s obvious you need to fuck him. Immediately.”
I laughed, propping an elbow on the table and resting my chin in my hand. “But what about everything else?”
Gen shrugged. “Who cares? If he’s not worried about his job—and since he fingered you in his office or wherever, I’m guessing he gives zero fucks about it—then you shouldn’t be either.”
I didn’t say this out loud, but that was only one part of my worries. I’d spent my life on Temperance Falls being called every name in the book. Hussy. Slut. Whore. Easy. Loose. They were titles I’d been born into, thanks to my mom who had me at the ripe old age of fifteen. From that day on, we’d both had a scarlet letter branded on us. My grandmother had done everything she could to steer us both toward the straight and narrow. But my mother was as free with her love as my grandma was frugal. And I’d never really had any interest in living my life for anyone but myself.
So then, why did what the townspeople thought of Noah and me bother me so much?
“This convo is gonna have to wait,” Gen said. “The blue-hairs must’ve been bitching to Pastor No again, because he’s on his way over here now.”
“He’s what?” I snapped my head to look out the window, and sure enough, there he was, strolling across the street like he had no cares in the world. In fact, there was a…smile on his face. And those two buttons I’d undone still sat open, giving the world a first-time glimpse of his chest. A chest I definitely wanted to see in all its glory.
“What the hell got into him? He’s smiling.” Gen pressed her face closer to the window as she peered outside. “He never smiles when he comes over here. And what the fuck is going on with his shirt? Pastor No has chest hair!”
I didn’t have time to tell her I’d been just as surprised as she was because suddenly the front door opened, the bell ringing softly to announce his arrival, and there he stood. In Sin, looking, well, sinful. Somehow his eyes found me almost immediately. And then…then his smile grew.
“Oh my God,” Gen whispered. “Pastor No?”
“Good afternoon, Miss McKay.” He nodded at her, then looked to me, his eyes darkening, his smile turning a bit devious. God, I hoped I was the only one who noticed. “Harper.”
“You let Pastor No finger you?” Gen hissed at me.
So much for that hope.
Figuring my best course of action was to ignore her entirely, I stood from the chair and smoothed my skirt. “Pastor Noah. What can we help you with? Something not up to standard for the old biddies?”
“No, nothing like that. In fact, I’m free from church responsibilities until Tuesday morning’s silent reflection hour.” His smile dimmed as he ran his hand down the buttons on his shirt and straightened his shoulders, almost as if he was psyching himself up for something. “I was coming to see if you’d care to join me for dinner tomorrow, Harper. I mentioned it earlier, but I wasn’t sure if you remembered.”
I blinked. Swallowed. Blinked again. “Say what now?”
“Dinner. With me. I’d like to take you on a date.”
I whipped my head around to Gen, who had her chin resting in her hand, obviously enjoying every second of this, then back to Noah. “But…I thought…” I shook my head, because none of this was making any sense. Why was he here? Was he really asking me out on a date? And was he seriously doing it in front of an audience? “Dinner…like, out? At a restaurant?”
“That’s usually what a date entails, yes.”
“You do know Gen can hear you, right?”
He furrowed his brow. “Is there a reason she shouldn’t hear this?”
Um, yeah. Like the fact that she could tell just about anyone what was going on. Or maybe that his whole career was at stake here. What in the actual fuck was going on?
“I just…didn’t anticipate you being so open about this. When you said dinner, I assumed you meant…” I trailed off with a shrug.
He went brows up and gave me a flirty smile. “Netflix and chill?”
Gen snorted at the same time a surprised laugh flew from my mouth. “Pretty much.”
“While I would never turn down such an invitation, my intentions for tomorrow evening were a little more…public. Like dinner at Nonno Pino’s and conversation.”
Dinner and conversation. What the hell? I glanced at Gen, who was absolutely no help. She fluttered her fingers at me, before waggling her eyebrows and giving me a thumbs-up. Yeah, super subtle, Gen. Awesome job.
I glanced back at Noah, who was staring intently at me. He was just a guy asking for a date. I’d been out on plenty of dates, and they hadn’t meant anything. This was the same. The only reason it had to be different from past situations was if I made it so. And I didn’t have to make it so, right? No big deal. I nearly cringed because there was that phrase again. Instead, I swallowed and decided what the hell.
“Dinner. Out.” I offered a smile. “What time?”
“I made a reservation for seven. I’ll pick you up.” Noah leaned in, his fingers brushing against the back of my arm as he pressed a small kiss on my cheek, the innocent touch making my nipples go tight. Then he moved his lips to my ear, his voice dropping low. “Feel free to leave the panties off again.”