CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
They were still intertwined, Noah still inside Cat, when the knob of the front door jiggled. It had the same effect on his heart rate as an unexpected gun shot.
Noah jumped up, desperately searching for his pants as they both heard Sara calling from the front porch. “Dad! Are you there? I forgot my history book!”
He yanked his t-shirt over his head and dragged Cat up off the couch.
“You need to hide,” he hissed.
She blinked those cool hazel eyes. “What? Excuse me?”
“I haven’t told her that we’re… whatever. I don’t want her to get the wrong impression.” He pushed the naked Cat toward the kitchen, picking up articles of clothing as they went.
“Dad?” Sara called from the front door, ringing the bell and knocking.
“Where exactly am I supposed to hide?” Cat demanded. Her body was flush with marks from his mouth, his hands.
“It’s a big house. Pick a spot,” Noah shoved her down the hallway, and when he was sure she was out of sight, opened the door as casually as possible.
Mellody took one look at him and clapped a hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. He didn’t feel an ounce of amusement at her coughing fit.
“Geez, Dad. You never lock the door. Why’s your shirt on backwards?” Sara asked, as she brushed past him. “I forgot my history book, and I’ve got this essay due on Monday.” She took the stairs two at a time.
He looked at his ex-wife and opened his mouth. But there were no words.
“Looks like we caught you at a bad time,” Mellody said, amused.
“Maybe try texting next time,” Noah suggested spinning his shirt around. It was on straight now but inside out.
“Please tell me it’s Cat,” Mellody demanded.
“What makes you think—”
There was a thud from the kitchen followed by some colorful swearing.
“Sure sounds like her,” Mellody observed, wandering into the living room and picking up a size seven work boot.
“I don’t know what the etiquette is for this,” Noah admitted. “I don’t want Sara to think…”
Mellody waved away his concerns. “Noah. You’re an adult. A good one. Relax. It’ll be fine.”
“I don’t want her to think casual sex is the right answer to—”
Sara thundered down the stairs, textbook triumphantly aloft. “Found it!”
“Great. Now let’s go write an essay about Patrick Henry,” Mellody said with feigned enthusiasm.
“You okay, Dad? You look kinda sweaty,” Sara observed.
“All good. Everything’s fine. I’m fine,” Noah choked out.
“Are you sure?” Sara gave him the suspicious eye.
He felt like a teenager caught trying to sneak in after curfew.
“Hey, whose jeans are those?” Sara asked, pointing at the couch.
Mellody clamped a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Come on babe, your dad looks like he could use some rest,” Mellody announced, pushing Sara toward the door.
“Bye, Dad!” Sara called over her shoulder as she was hustled out of the house.
“Bye, Noah.” Mellody gave him an exaggerated wink as she closed the door behind her.
“Bye,” Noah said to no one.
He laid a hand over his pounding heart and took a moment to breathe. Nearly busted by a 12-year-old. That was something new and horrific for him.
He didn’t want Sara to get the impression that casual sex was a good, safe option. He’d prefer if she stuck with abstinence until around thirty. People tended to make better choices after thirty. Himself for instance. He’d just hooked up with Catalina King, the sexiest woman on the planet… who, judging from the noise, was hiding in his pantry.
He pulled the door open, and Cat hid behind an outstretched t-shirt.
“It’s me,” he said, wondering if the situation was actually funny or if he was just hysterical.
Cat glared at him. “Are they gone?” she asked. Her underwear was on backwards. Her thermal shirt gave enough away for Noah to notice she hadn’t found her bra in the living room, and he counted his lucky stars that Sara hadn’t spotted it. Her hair was a wild mess of finger combed snarls.
“They’re gone.”
She pushed past him muttering about pants and boots.
“Cat, where are you going?”
She whirled on him in the hallway. “I don’t hide, Noah. I’m not something to be ashamed of.”
She yanked her jeans off the sofa and pulled them on with violence.
“Hang on!”
She grabbed a boot and Noah wrestled it out of her grip. She couldn’t very well leave the house with no shoes.
“Gimmie the boot, Noah,” she ordered.
“Sit your ass down first and talk,” he countered.
“You want to talk? Okay. I get that you’re not ready to discuss this with Sara, I do. But you made me feel cheap. Like I was something to be ashamed of. I am neither of those things. Now give me the fucking boot.”
She reached for it, off balance, and Noah pushed her onto the couch. With no other options, he lay on top of her, pinning her.
“Noah! I swear to God—”
He clamped a hand over her mouth. “Shut up a second, will you? Christ, Cat. How could you think for a second that I think you’re something to be ashamed of?”
“You made me hide in the pantry.” She said it as if he were half deaf and a whole lot stupid.
“Sara is twelve years old. She’s never met anyone that I’ve… dated.” He was at a loss to describe just exactly what he and Cat were doing. “I haven’t done much… dating. So, I don’t know what’s acceptable to expose a child to. And you know me. I always err on the side of caution.”
Cat went still beneath him, and tentatively, Noah removed his hand. “Fine,” she said coolly.
The strength she possessed in that long, lean body always surprised him as it did now when she managed to shove him off of her and onto the floor. She pulled on her jeans with temper and snatched her bra out from under the coffee table.
“I didn’t realize you had such issues with casual sex,” she snapped out.
She wasn’t fighting fair when she shucked off her shirt and dragged on her sports bra.
Frustrated, Noah shoved his hands in his hair. “Just because I don’t want Sara to think that it’s okay. That’s what upsets you?”
She gave him a long look. This one wasn’t cool. There was fire behind those eyes.
She shoved a foot into a boot. “What are we doing here, Noah?” she asked reaching for the laces.
“Having mind boggling sex. Enjoying each other.”
“Having mind boggling casual sex,” she pointed out, lacing the boot and searching for its mate.
“I’m new at the whole casual sex thing.”
“That’s the point. You’re not a casual sex kinda guy, and I’m not a serious relationship kind of girl.”
“I’m trying—”
“Maybe we shouldn’t be trying. You obviously have some kind of judgment about the way I choose to live my life. And it’s not like I’m going to be here much longer.”
Noah was at a loss. He didn’t understand how he could go from feeling sated and whole to panicked. It slid through his gut like ice. “I don’t want you to go.” He wasn’t just talking about tonight.
“And I don’t want to be in a relationship. I’m not going to make room for something like that right now. So, I guess we’re at an impasse.”
She made it to the door before he gathered his wits. He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. And when she wouldn’t stop struggling against him, he pressed her to the door and did the only thing that came naturally. He kissed her.
She went stock still beneath him, and then her mouth came to life. She ravaged him. She reached into his body and grabbed on to his soul, and he let her. Their tongues tangled, teeth dragging, breath sighing.
He was hard again and oh so desperate for what only Cat could give him.
And then she was pushing him back a step. He let her this time. He needed the space, the air.
“I’m not going to let you make me feel bad about how I live my life. I choose what sexual relationships I want to have. And five minutes ago you were at the top of that list. But there’s no room on that list for someone who doesn’t respect me,” Cat said quietly.
“Cat just because I don’t want Sara to—”
Cat cut him off. “I have to go.”
And just like that, she slipped out the door leaving Noah alone in his big, empty house.