Chapter 15

Rose tried to hide the flustered look on her face as she looked from Noah to the door. She certainly couldn’t answer the door when she knew it was Bronx outside, but she couldn’t get Noah out of her apartment without answering the door.

Bronx wasn’t about to just go away if Rose didn’t answer it. She knew he would stay out there and wait for her, and she would never be able to get Noah out of her apartment. She briefly pondered telling Noah the truth, or some form of it, but then decided she wasn’t ready for him to know that she was sleeping with Bronx. Instead, she had to think of some other way to get one of them out of the picture.

“How about I wait in the other room so you can get rid of whoever is there?” Noah offered.

He didn’t wait for Rose to respond and instead strode down the hallway to her bedroom where he went in and closed the door. It was a relief that Noah was so willing to go hide without asking her questions about who was calling. Rose opened her front door and saw Bronx as he stood there ready to pounce. Her plans for a quiet evening at home were totally ruined by the two men in her life, yet she wasn’t going to get the orgasm she desired at all.

It was funny how she had two men at her house yet was going to end up going to bed sexually frustrated. The man she wanted to have in her bed was going to be sent away, and the man she couldn’t have in her bed was sitting in her room at that moment.

“Not tonight,” Rose said as she started to shut the door on Bronx.

“Wait, really? You have someone else here already?” Bronx asked.

His tough face looked hurt by the realization that Rose really didn’t care about him like he cared about her. Only a day after setting up their little arrangement, Rose already had a man in her bed that wasn’t Bronx. She hated the feeling she had when she looked into his eyes and saw the disappointment in them. But it wasn’t Rose’s fault that Noah had stopped by; she wasn’t sleeping with him, but it would certainly seem that way if Bronx saw Noah coming out of her apartment at that hour. Bronx was just going to have to put up with some hurt feelings.

“We said we weren’t exclusive,” Rose protested.

“Yeah, but come on. One day, you couldn’t wait more than one day to bring someone home?”

“It’s not like that, and you’ll just have to trust me about this. If we are going to do this, you’ll have to be able to trust me. Can we talk tomorrow?”

Rose looked back toward her bedroom to ensure that Noah was still tucked away in there. She wasn’t going to sleep with him and would much rather have Bronx in there, but unfortunately, there was no way to make that happen for the night.

“Yeah, we can talk tomorrow,” Bronx said as he turned to leave.

But before he left, Bronx grabbed Rose and pulled her out into the hallway. His muscular arms pressed her up against the wall, and he leaned his body tight against hers as his lips took hers in. Quickly he pulled her T-shirt down and exposed her breast before he wrapped his lips around her nipple and drew it in hard until she moaned out.

Rose closed her eyes, her breathing heavy, and let Bronx play with her. Nothing else mattered but the feeling of pleasure that he was giving her. She didn’t care that Noah was in the other room, Rose just needed a release from the tension she felt all over. Bronx was so good at getting her to relax, she couldn’t deny him a little fun if that’s what he wanted.

Bronx slipped his fingers into her panties and moved them feverishly as her body started to react to him. Rose felt her knees getting weak as she held onto Bronx for support. She grabbed his head and pulled his lips back up to meet hers as his fingers continued to work. Faster and faster, he thrust them into her, and she was just about to release when he withdrew.

“Keep going,” Rose whispered.

“Like you said, we can talk tomorrow,” Bronx said as he gave her one last kiss and walked away.

“Oh, you’re horrible,” Rose hollered after him, smiling.

He was absolutely atrocious to leave her all worked up like that without anyone around to play with. But it served her right for not being available for him after they had made their arrangement. She hoped he wouldn’t be too upset with her for pushing him away that night, but there really was no other option.

Rose made her way back into her apartment and shut the door. She checked her hair and made sure everything was covered up before yelling at Noah to come out.

“You can come out now.” Rose laughed as Noah poked his head out of her bedroom.

“Is your boyfriend gone?” he joked.

“Oh, you know me, not a boyfriend. Just an admirer.”

“I’m an admirer,” Noah said, walking straight from the bedroom to Rose.

For a minute, she thought that he was going to kiss her, but instead, he stood close to her, much closer than he normally did at the office, and again she felt the sexual surge of desire pounding through her body. It didn’t help that Bronx had just gotten her all worked up and in desperate need of some sort of release. But it was different with Noah, there was a long-standing history between them, and the more Noah pushed for a relationship with her, the more Rose pushed away from him.

“You and I would never work, and you know it,” Rose said as she took a step back and found herself flush with the front door.

“How do you know if you don’t give us a try?”

The sincerity in Noah’s remark drove right down to her gut. She should give Noah a chance, and she knew it. He was a good man who knew almost everything about her. Noah knew her before she got married, throughout her marriage, and he knew the terrible mood she had been in since losing her husband. But Noah was one of Rose’s only true friends and now her boss too; there wasn’t room to ruin that relationship. And all Rose did with men was ruin the relationships.

“Noah, you know me well enough to know that I’m not the right one for you,” Rose said as her hands rested on his forearms.

Noah’s hands were pressed against the door, holding himself only a few inches away from Rose. The desire in his eyes vibrated throughout her body, and she took in a deep breath of longing. She couldn’t deny that she wanted Noah, especially when he was that close to her. But she had to resist him. Rose didn’t date men, she fucked them, and that would certainly not work for Noah. He wanted the real deal. He wanted all of Rose, and she just wasn’t ready to give her heart to any man yet, not even Noah.

“That’s where I think you’re wrong. I think you are exactly the right one for me,” Noah said as he leaned in and gently let his lips touch the side of her cheek. “But if you think we shouldn’t take this any further, I’ll honor your request.”

Noah leaned to the other side of Rose’s face and gently kissed that cheek. Her breath was heavy as she closed her eyes and tried to resist the force that was drawing her in to Noah. Her hands continued to stay clenched on his forearms as Noah moved back to the other side of her face and kissed down her neck.

“Noah …”Rose said softly as his kisses moved from her ear to her collarbone.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.

Rose didn’t answer him. She kept her eyes closed as the touch of his lips sent pleasure signals to every nerve in her body. When Noah finished kissing down one side of her neck, he moved to the other side and started to deliver kisses there.

With his hands still pressed against the door, Rose felt herself wishing for more from Noah. She wanted to pull his body to hers, to rip each other’s clothing off and feel him as he thrust his body on top of hers. But she knew that was just her primal need to feel an orgasm and relief; it wouldn’t be what Noah wanted. He wanted a woman to date, to hang out with, to talk about life with. Noah wanted a woman who would be honest with him, love him, and eventually marry him, and Rose knew she couldn’t be that person for Noah.

“Stop,” she finally whispered.

Noah didn’t hesitate and pulled his lips away from her neck as his blue eyes looked into hers. She knew he could see the longing she had for him. There was no hiding it; she didn’t dare to try at that moment. But Rose couldn’t go any further with Noah. She could barely manage her life as it was at that moment and knew she couldn’t handle the emotions of a relationship.

That was why what was going on with her and Bronx worked so well. There weren’t emotions involved. It was just sex. She needed sex, but she didn’t need the commitment of a real relationship.

“You don’t want me?” Noah asked gently.

“I don’t want to ruin the relationship we have. You know me—I’m a disaster.”

“You’re not a disaster.”

“I’m not saying no forever. I’m saying it for right now. Give me a few months. Let me get my feet on the ground. Can you give me that?”

Noah seemed relieved that Rose wasn’t saying no to him forever. She was the woman he wanted, that he had always wanted, and waiting a few months seemed easy compared to never having her at all.

“A few months is possible,” Noah said as his hand moved up and traced the side of her cheek.

“Damn, don’t do that,” she said, closing her eyes and enjoying his touch.

“We could have tonight and then wait a few months,” Noah suggested as he held onto her chin and looked like he was going to kiss her.

For a moment, she contemplated giving in to his request. Her body was primed and longed to feel the release that sex would give her. But there was too much at stake if she slept with Noah, and she knew she would have to deny him.

“No.” She breathed in his scent and opened her eyes. “No, that’s a bad idea.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea.” Noah smiled.

“Give me six months; let’s just keep things the way they are for that long. I’ll concentrate on work. We can see where we are then.”

Noah rolled his eyes at her proposition of six months. A few months wasn’t six months, at least, in his eyes. But he had Rose there in front of him, which was more than he had been able to do in the last few years; he wasn’t going to give that up.

“Six months to the day,” he smiled.

“Okay, deal.”

“So I can’t kiss you?” he asked as his fingertip gently traced her lips.

“We better not.”

“You’re killing me you know. I’m going to think of this moment for months and wish I had kissed you.”

Rose knew Noah well enough to know that he would do exactly as he had said, but she also knew that he wouldn’t lean in and take the kiss he wanted. Noah just wasn’t that kind of guy. He wasn’t at all like Bronx, who had just taken his kiss and played with Rose without any sort of permission. Noah was going to need permission before he moved forward with Rose.

“I better get some sleep now,” Rose said as she pressed her arms against his chest to move Noah away.

His body was stronger than she had thought, and Rose realized Noah was in pretty damn good shape too. She moved to the side of the door and opened it before leaning up and kissing Noah on the cheek. It was all she felt she could give him at the moment.

“I’ll see you at work then.”

“Yes, Noah; I’m so excited to be working with you. I can’t wait to see how the next six months turn out.”

As Noah left her apartment, he turned around one last time and leaned toward her. His damn blue eyes looked into her, and she could have sworn he was going to kiss her.

“I’m really glad you’re working with me too.”

She smiled at the realization they both enjoyed working together. It was certainly a new stage in her life, and Rose looked forward to making everyone see just how good a lawyer she could be. Although she definitely didn’t have the confidence or the skill yet, she was dedicated to making every effort to be better than all the other first years. Hell, she wanted to be better than the second and third-year lawyers too.