Come Together by Marie Force

Chapter Eleven

“No matter how bad your heart is broken,

the world doesn’t stop for your grief.”

—Faraaz Kazi

The mudroom door opened, and his mother came in with Ray, making Noah doubly glad he hadn’t kissed Brianna.

“Heard there’s pizza here,” Hannah said.

Noah withdrew his hand from Brianna’s and stood to greet his mom and Ray after they’d hung their coats and kicked off their boots. “That was the plan until Brianna came with her amazing lasagna. Brianna, this is my mom, Hannah Coleman, and her, um, friend, Ray Mulvaney.”

“I’m her boyfriend.” Ray grinned at Noah as he shook hands with Brianna. “So nice to meet you.”

“You, too. I should, um, get out of your hair so you can visit with your family.”

“Please don’t leave on our account, Brianna,” Hannah said over her shoulder as she fixed plates for herself and Ray. “This looks delicious. Thank you so much.”

“It was no problem.”

Hannah turned to face Brianna. “Yes, it was, and it was nice of you.”

“I wanted to do something to help out.”

“You did. We appreciate it.”

“How’s Izzy, Mom?” Noah asked, noting the sweet flush in Brianna’s cheeks. He wanted more than anything to have a few minutes alone with her.

“She’s doing a little better. She insisted I come home and get some sleep so I wouldn’t end up in a hospital bed myself.”

“That’s good,” Noah said. “I’m glad she’s better and that she talked you into coming home.”

“If she didn’t, I was gonna,” Ray said with a meaningful look for Hannah. “Your mom is running on fumes.”

“His mother is in the room and can speak for herself, thank you very much,” Hannah retorted with a good-natured grin for Ray.

“Oh, damn, Ray,” Noah said. “Watch out for Hannah when she’s overtired. It’s not pretty.”

“She’s always pretty,” Ray said as he joined them at the table.

“And she is in the room.” Hannah took a bite of lasagna. “Wow, that’s delicious, Brianna.”

“Thanks. All the credit goes to my grandmother.”

“I need the recipe.”

“I’ll get it for you.”

This was not at all how Noah had predicted this evening unfolding, with Brianna sitting at a table with his mom and Ray, as if that was no big deal. It wasn’t a big deal. Of course it wasn’t. They weren’t dating or anything. They’d gone out once, had a great time and ended up in bed together. That didn’t equal a relationship.

But it’d been nice of her to cook up a storm for his whole family. She must’ve gone right from work to the store and then home to cook for hours. And she’d gone to the trouble of asking Mrs. H where he lived.

Noah held back a groan as he wondered what Mrs. H would do with that information. She was friends with Mrs. Andersen, the biggest gossip in town. Those two would have him engaged to Brianna in no time. Shit.

Brianna tipped her head, giving him a curious look. “Are you okay?”

When was the last time anyone had asked him that? Well, other than his mother, but she had to ask. It’d been a long time since anyone outside his family had cared whether he was okay. “I’m good.”

“Tell me if I’m outstaying my welcome.”

“You’re not.”

“How do you guys know each other?” Hannah asked.

The question seemed innocent, but Noah knew his mother well enough to surmise that she was picking up on a story, or she never would’ve asked. She’d always been good about not prying into their personal lives. She would say Elmer and Linc did enough of that for everyone.

Brianna looked to him, and he gestured for her to fill in the blanks for his mother. “We’re working together on the inn.”

“Oh.” Hannah took another bite of lasagna, and then her eyes went wide. “Wait, are you the architect from Boston?”

“I am.”

“Oh.” Hannah glanced at Noah and then back at her plate. “Have you ever been to the Pig’s Belly, Brianna?”

Noah held back a laugh at his mother’s shameless question.

“I have! We had the best time there the other night, well, until we found out the accident that stranded us there was Noah’s sister.”

“I love the food there,” Ray said, innocent to the major scoop his mother had just scored.

Maybe she wasn’t above prying after all.

“It’s a very interesting place,” Brianna said, her face flushing again.

Damn, he loved when that happened. That slight blush took her from pretty to stunning, and he couldn’t say why. It just did it for him. And so did she if he was honest with himself. He’d give anything to be able to clear his family out of the house so he could invite her to stay awhile.

But that wasn’t going to happen tonight.

He hoped it happened again soon.

* * *

Noah was acting strange,but that was nothing new for him. He was always a little odd, but that made him attractive to Brianna. When she got the big idea to make dinner for him and his huge family, she hadn’t expected to sit at a table with his mother and her boyfriend. Meeting the parents usually signified a significant step forward in a relationship.

That wasn’t what this was. They’d had one fun night that’d led to stranded-in-the-snow sex. That never would’ve happened if they hadn’t gotten stuck at the Pig’s Belly.

Or would it?

No, definitely not. Noah would’ve driven her home after dinner, and that would’ve been that. They would’ve returned to work the next day and probably gone right back to the nonstop bickering that had led Mrs. H to intervene in the first place.

She’d missed him at work today. It’d been weirdly dull without him around to spar with.

Speaking of work… “I, um, I ought to get going home.”

Noah seemed reluctant to let her leave, or was she imagining that?

Quit being a simpering girl, hoping the boy you suddenly have a massive crush on wants you to stay. Haven’t you learned anything about where being silly over a man can lead you? But Noah is different. He’s not like Rem. Look at what he said about being so sorry about last night. Just stop, Brianna. Stop it right now.

“Brianna?”

She realized Noah had been speaking to her while she was off arguing with herself. “I’m sorry. What?”

“My mom was asking if you’d like to come to dinner some night soon,” Noah said.

Brianna wasn’t sure if he’d want her to accept, but she couldn’t be rude. “I’d love to. Thank you, Mrs. Coleman.”

“Call me Hannah. Everyone does.”

“Thank you, Hannah.”

Ally came into the kitchen and stopped short at the sight of her mom and Ray sitting at the table. “I didn’t think you were coming home tonight.”

“Izzy kicked her out,” Noah said.

“That sounds about right,” Ally said, smiling. She got herself a glass of water. “You need anything, Mom?”

“I’m good after this delicious meal that Brianna made for us.” Hannah cleared her plate and Ray’s, rinsed them and put them in the dishwasher, which was almost full for the first time in longer than Noah could remember. “Now, I’m going home to crash until sometime tomorrow.”

“Take some brownies with you.” Brianna jumped up to cut some for them. She wrapped them in paper towels that she handed to Hannah.

“Thank you again for feeding us.”

“My pleasure.”

“See you all tomorrow,” Hannah said, heading for the mudroom with Ray.

“Dinner was great, Brianna,” Ray said. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

While Noah walked them out, Brianna started doing the dishes that hadn’t made it into the dishwasher. She was wiping down the countertop when he came back in, bringing a blast of cold air with him.

He surprised her when he came right over to her, put his hands on her face and tipped it up to receive a kiss that was so fast, it was over before it started. “You’re the best. We all appreciated the meal more than you’ll ever know.”

“I’m glad there was something I could do to help.”

“It was a big help. And there’s enough left over for tomorrow, too.”

“That was the plan.”

“Incredibly thoughtful of you.”

“I wish there was more I could do.”

“I wish we could hang out by ourselves tonight,” he said in a suggestive tone that indicated what hanging out might’ve entailed.

“There’s always tomorrow.”

He smiled, and she melted. That smile was rare but potent, and when he unleashed it on her, she was almost powerless to resist him.

“I should, um, be heading home, I guess.” She gathered up the serving spoons she’d brought in case he didn’t have them. “Are you working tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there in the morning to get the guys started before I head to the hospital. Did everything go okay today?”

“Yes, it was fine.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t even ask before now.”

“You have other things on your mind.”

“I have a lot of things on my mind,” he said, again in that meaningful way that sent shivers down her spine.

He wasn’t even trying to hide that he wanted her and made her forget her worries about getting sucked into another “situation” with a man who had the power to hurt her. Noah made it easy to forget about what’d happened in the past and to be hopeful that not all men were capable of the kind of wreckage Rem had left in her life.

“Are you okay?” Noah asked, his brows furrowed with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. I’ll see you in the morning?”

“I’ll walk you out.”

“You don’t have to do that. It’s freezing out there.”

“I want to.” He followed her into the mudroom, where they both donned coats and boots before heading into the frigid night.

“I’ve never been colder in my entire life than I am here,” she said as she burrowed deeper into her coat.

“You get used to it after a while.”

“How long of a while? Several months in, and I’m not used to it.”

“Might take a year or two.”

“I’d never make it.”

“If you had someone to keep you warm, you might get used to it quicker.”

“I should look into that.”

He pinched her ass, making her startle and then laugh.

“Oh, were you volunteering for the job?”

“I was, in fact, and you hurt my feelings.”

Brianna laughed at the indignant retort. “My heartfelt apologies.”

“You’re not even kinda sorry.”

She couldn’t stop laughing until he angled her, pressing her against the car so he could kiss her far more intently than he had inside. Her bag dropped to the ground with a clatter, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, opening her mouth to his tongue. She wondered if they were visible from inside the house until his hands landed on her ass, drawing her in tight against his erection. At that point, she couldn’t bring herself to care if his siblings were watching them.

“Wanted to do that for two hours,” he whispered against her lips before going back for more.

It couldn’t be more than ten degrees, but every part of her was on fire for him.

“Wish we could pick up where we left off the other day.”

“Your sisters are probably watching us.”

He glanced toward the house. “I don’t think so. The blinds are closed.”

“I should go before we freeze to death.”

“I’m not even slightly cold.”

Her laughter formed a cloud of breath that disappeared in the icy cold. “I’d invite you to my place, but I have a feeling you’d take some heat from your houseguests if you left.”

“You’d be correct about that, and normally, I wouldn’t care, but I don’t need them all up in my grill about you.”

“They’ll probably be on you, anyway, wanting to know who this woman is who brought you dinner.”

“She’s a friend. A very good friend.” He pushed his erection against her belly, and even with multiple layers of clothing between them, the shocking burst of desire took her breath away. “With benefits they don’t need to know about.”

Brianna realized she had his coat fisted in both hands. She released him slowly. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“You want me to bring you coffee and breakfast from the diner?”

“Sure, that sounds good.”

“Least I can do after you cooked for my entire family.”

“Hope you can get some sleep.”

He held the door and waited for her to get settled before leaning in for one more kiss. Then he pulled away but stared at her for a long moment, making her wonder what he was thinking. “Drive carefully and watch out for moose in the road.”

She swallowed hard at the thought of crashing into a moose. “I will.”

Noah stood upright and closed the car door. He waved as she drove off.

Brianna drove slowly through town, watching for moose as she went, nervous about the icy roads as much as the possibility of crashing into a massive animal. If she lived here forever, she’d probably never get used to the bone-deep cold, the moose or the other hazards of mountain life.

But she sure as hell could get used to being kissed by Noah Coleman.