“Oh. My. Holy sexy, bad boy alert,” Moira says, standing next to me.

My head spins around to see who she’s looking at. Fuck. My. Life. He’s here. Noah Fucking Nolan.

“Who is that? I need an introduction asap. He needs to be the father of my future children,” she continues.

I bite on my bottom lip, uncomfortably shifting my weight from side to side. “Um...I ah...that’s Noah.”

Moira’s eyes go wide when they meet mine. “Wow, that’s No-No? He grew up nicely.”

Pressing my lips together, I nod, but don’t reply.

“How can you be around him daily without jumping him?”

“It’s not that difficult. I’ve pretty much hated his guts for four years now. Kind of hard to just write off what he did to me.”

“Forgive and forget, Reagan.”

“Sure. It’s a lot easier to say that from where you stand. Don’t you remember how devastated I was when he broke up with me? You should. You’re the one who helped me through it all.”

“I remember, but it’s been so long since,” she says. Her blue eyes get comically wide, before she grabs my hand. “Oh my god,” she squeaks out, bouncing up and down on her toes. “I have a genius idea.” She claps her hands together excitedly. “What if you use him to end your sex drought and then cast him aside when he least expects it?”

I stare at her as if she has two heads, shaking my head no.

She stares at me, a smile on her lips, nodding her head up and down. “Yes, Reagan. You should do this. This is your chance to get revenge.”

“I don’t care about getting back at him. I just want to forget he even exists.”

“And how’s that working out for you? Hmm?”

“I haven’t forgotten about him. But, what makes you think sleeping with him is going to help me do that? Wouldn’t it just make me miss him more?”

“No, because you’re just going to have meaningless sex with him. It can’t be anything more and you can’t try to twist it into something it’s not meant to be. Protect your heart from him. Your body is a vessel he can plunder whenever he wants, but your heart is off limits.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Plunder? That’s not sexy.”

Moira scoffs. “Puh-lease. No-No plundering you would be hot. You’d be screaming yes-yes.” She winks.

“Shh,” I caution. “I don’t need him knowing we’re discussing him. He’ll think we have nothing better to talk about.”

She snorts. “We don’t. Besides, what could be more interesting than seeing No-No in all his naked glory? If you think of something let me know because whatever it is, it’s going to be added to my bucket list.”

“What if he doesn’t want to have sex with me? Did you ever think he might not be attracted to me anymore?”

Moira looks at me skeptically. “Are you kidding me? Have you looked at yourself lately? You’re hot and there’s no way he hasn’t noticed.”

My eyes sweep around the room for any sign of him. Thankfully, I don’t see him. “I’m going to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” I tell her, before I head down the hallway. There’s only one door open and I correctly assume it’s the one I’m looking for. I close myself inside, locking the door and breathing a sigh of relief. I needed a moment to myself. Moira means well, but all the talk about Noah makes me an anxious mess. Staying far away from him is the best thing I can do.

Pushing my hair back, I fan my face with my hands. I’m feeling flushed and I’m certain it’s the direct result of talking about Noah. I wash my hands to kill some time. I needed a break from the conversation Moira and I were having. I can only take hearing about Noah so much. Add to it, seeing him at work all the time and it feels like I’m drowning in a sea of Noah Nolan.

One quick glance in the mirror above the sink to smooth a hand over my hair and I’m ready to return to the party. Opening the door, I gasp in surprise when I find Noah standing directly in front of me. My hand goes to my chest, in an automatic reflex. “You scared me,” I say, emitting a quick laugh.

He doesn’t say anything or visibly react. Standing stoically, his eyes slowly roam over me. If I thought I felt flushed before, it was nothing compared to the burning fire traveling through every inch of me and settling in my core. Damn it. One glance from those cool, green eyes and I’m wet. Why does he have this effect on me? He’s the same asshole who broke my heart without a second thought. My brain knows this so why can’t my traitorous body and heart catch up?

Before I have a chance to exit through the bathroom doorway, Noah steps forward. I react by stepping backward. He inches toward me, moving closer. His eyes gleam from the bright bathroom light. I momentarily get lost staring into them, before I snap myself out of it. And now he’s standing way too close to me. He grips my upper arms with his large hands, holding me in place as he kicks the door shut behind him. The resounding bang it makes reverberates, making me hyper aware we’re confined in a small, enclosed space. Alone.

He stares into my eyes as if he’s searching for all the secrets of the years we’ve been apart. I’ll tell him anything he wants to know. I just don’t want him to see that I still love him. He can never know. I refuse to give him power over me.

My throat’s impossibly tight and I wonder if I’ll ever inhale fully again. Each breath becomes a shallow, quick pant as his hands slide up my bare arms sensually caressing over the top of my shoulders. They continue up my neck, giving a gentle squeeze. I can barely swallow past the lump in my throat as his palms cup my cheeks. Our eyes never stray and I couldn’t look away if I wanted. But, I don’t want to. I never want to look away from his compelling eyes.

Not even as his head lowers.

Not even when he slowly sweeps the tip of his nose back and forth over mine.

It’s not until I feel the heat of his breath flair over my lips and the first gentle brush of his mouth that my lids finally close. I lose myself in the smooth way he explores every part of my lips before his tongue glides inside my mouth to dance with mine. We both moan as our tongues become reacquainted for the first time. Our kiss turns into a battle as each of us hungrily devours the other. My nails sink into the top of his shoulders - hard. He grunts in reaction and slides a hand up into my hair, yanking my head back. His other hand slides down over the curve of my hip landing on my ass. Squeezing my cheek, he presses, urging me forward. He groans, grinding his hard cock against me. I moan when he rubs against my clit, lost in everything he makes me feel.

It’s funny how much you can miss something without even knowing. How the hell have I survived without his kisses? How have I lived without this burning desire for him? This feral passion his kisses inspire? This excruciating need to have him buried inside me?

He tears his mouth from mine, his eyes wild with desire and drops his hands like he can’t bear to have them on me any longer.

“Fuck,” he barks out, running a hand through his hair. I take a step back in defense of his angry tone. “I’m sorry, Ray. This never should have happened.” He shakes his head, his eyes filled with remorse. His mouth opens then closes as he struggles to find the words. “I’m...I’m just sorry.” He shrugs at a loss for what more to say.

I nod my head. He doesn’t need to say more. His reaction says it all. He regrets kissing me. No more than I regret letting him. “You are sorry. Stay away from me, Noah,” I say, brushing past him to exit the bathroom.

I find Moira by the table with all the food.

“Hey, have something to eat so we can drink more,” she says, before biting into a tortilla chip.

“I’ll do it,” I blurt out.

“Do what? Eat?”

“No. I’ll have sex with Noah and break it off when he least expects it.”