|
Brian and Noah’s
laughter drifted through the closed door to Brian’s
office. Deep,
rolling laughter.
Lili’s brows drew together, and she stared at the door,
scrutinizing the faux wood grain as if it held the answer to
Noah’s presence.
When she entered,
both men stood, eyes twinkling, smiles tugging at their
lips. The
lingering atmosphere of joviality cracked her fragile shell of
composure. Noah
tried to smooth his expression, but those dimples, deep and
devastating, peeked from either side of his well-trimmed
beard.
She didn't know what God
had been thinking, giving heart-skipping dimples to a man
already so sinfully adorable, but she had always
preferred the sexy distinction the mustache and partial beard
lent him. The
closely cropped hair around his mouth was more like several
days of five o’clock shadow, long enough to be soft, short
enough to be neat.
Now, she found herself irritated he’d kept it, annoyed
she’d found it sexy then and…yes, now. Her gaze dropped to
the lips framed within the surrounding bristle.
Lord, the way
that man could kiss.
The thought
constricted her chest, and she forced her gaze back at the
deep brown eyes she’d once been able to read so well.
 “Noah.”
She kept her voice smooth and cool, closing the door
at her back.
“It’s been a long time. How have you
been?”
Although it seemed absurd to
shake his hand, what else could she do? Bracing herself for
the possible shock of his touch, she held out her hand. Her empathic abilities
hadn’t appeared until after they’d parted so many years
ago. She had no
idea what to expect from him now.
When he took her
hand in both of his, a deep, throbbing warmth pulsed through
her fingertips, and flowed steadily through her arm, over her
chest. Her skin
tightened. A
viscous glow filled all the hollows and voids within,
smoothing all the hurts, assuaging the deepest pains. That in itself was
hard enough to fathom, considering Noah was the very source of
most of that suffering.
Thank God there were no sudden visions, no vivid and
slicing memories as she’d anticipated. She relaxed and met
his gaze.
“Good,” he said, nodding as
if convincing himself it were the truth. “Good, I suppose. It has been a long
time, hasn’t it?”
Sitting next to
Noah and across from Brian in the only free chair, she crossed
her legs, smoothed her skirt until it covered at least part of
her knees and sat back.
To keep her hands from shaking, she clenched them in
her lap. He
continued to meet her gaze as he took his own seat again. She looked down at her
lap for a moment, cementing a cool smile in place to hide the
pain. At least,
she hoped it did.
She glanced at Brian and had
to fight the overwhelming urge to press her eyes tight and
sigh.
Reclining
in his high-back, leather chair, he studied her as if working
a mental puzzle, figuring and placing pieces. His pretty hazel eyes
glinted like they did whenever he had an idea.
“So, you two know each
other.”
She considered lying, but
only for a split second before round-filing the idea. Brian knew her much
too well.
“Noah and I were …”
lovers.
Her words caught in her throat. The lack of control
kicked up her anger, which spurred her forward. “Noah was my boss,
once upon a time.”
There, better.
“We worked together for…a couple years.”
Two years, two
months, and fourteen days. But who’s
counting?
 Silence
descended on the room.
Lili cleared her throat to ease the deafening
quiet. The moment
seemed to stretch into hours as the wheels in Brian’s head
cranked.
Lili recalled
the year she and Noah had been emotionally woven together, the
two months they’d spent physically wrapped in each other’s
arms. She
still found herself amazed such a brief relationship could
haunt her for so many years, but Noah had touched her heart
more deeply than anyone she’d ever known.
“Well, that’s
great.” Brian
finally commented with enthusiasm, bringing Lili back to the
present with tears burning her eyes. “Since you’ve worked
together before, it should make for an easy transition, that
is, if Noah comes to work here.”
Lili blinked
hard before she glanced at Noah. He was watching
her. She sensed
stormy emotions, protective and painful, rumbling behind his
veiled eyes.
“Right?” Brian
asked.
When they both
nodded silently, Brian smiled and fell back into the interview
process as if oblivious to the palpable tension in the
room.
The men dominated most of
the conversation.
Noah’s deep, smooth voice brought bittersweet
memories—his whisper in her ear, the throaty murmur of her
name, his laugh over the phone.
They went over
Noah’s work history, his experience in different areas of
Radiology, his management style and theory. With each passing minute
another piece of her perfectly constructed wall of security
crumbled.
He was the ideal interviewee—professional but not cold,
knowledgeable but not arrogant, mature but not stuffy. His sense of humor
would fit. In
fact, if he and Charlie Evans, their lead Radiologist, got
together, the department would be incapacitated by
laughter.
She felt his
apprehension as if it were her own. Inside he was as tight
and prickly as barbed wire. Outside his demeanor
remained relaxed, casual, and easy. His quiet confidence
called to her, urged her to lean against him, let him wrap her
in his arms and take care of her. It always had.
She was more than a little
unnerved it still
did. | 
