Learning the Ropes (8 page)

“I would have looked
way
more than twice,” he said, his voice low.

Rory shook her head and began moving towards the door. The sooner this conversation was over, the better. She hadn’t meant to reveal anything so personal. She was chalking this all up to residual lust-induced stupidity. “That’s a nice thing to say but I’m sure you were popular in high school. We wouldn’t have run with the same crowd.”

Noah followed her to the door but stopped to pin her in the doorway. “Well now that you’ve had your first make-out session in detention hall, how was it?”

Rory tilted her head and pretended to think about it.
Amazing
. “Overrated.”

“Ouch,” he laughed and, after a glance outside to make sure that they were alone, he dropped a quick kiss on her lips. “I guess I’ll have to do better next time.”

Rory stood stunned by the casual show of affection for a moment and then hastened to correct his confusion. “There’s not going to be a next time.”

Noah just started towards the parking lot and waved a hand at her in farewell. “We’ll see. I’ll be by to help you practice soon. And you know you can call and ask for me to come by first.”

Practice? Was he going to practice making out with her? Frankly, neither one of them seemed to need it. It took her a moment to realize he meant practice her lecture with her. She tried to tamp down her disappointment as she locked her classroom door and headed for home.

Chapter Five

Noah pulled up to the curb and carefully balanced the pizza and a bottle of wine as he got out of his truck. A glance around Rory’s neighborhood proved it to be just as idyllic as he remembered. In the gathering twilight, two kids slowly rode their bikes down the street in a twining pattern. The spring air was cool and fresh and smelled faintly of hamburgers being cooked on a grill somewhere. The night would have been perfect, if he had actually been an invited guest at Rory’s home.

Sadly, he wasn’t. After waiting several days for Rory to call him or to run into her at the usual haunts, he’d decided to take matters into his own hands. He wasn’t sure if she was playing hard to get or if she was afraid to get involved with him for some reason, but he knew that she wasn’t uninterested. Every time he was within shouting distance of her, the urge to touch and taste was nearly overwhelming. Her response to his kiss in the classroom was proof positive that he wasn’t the only one fighting their attraction. He regretted losing his head so quickly and in such an inappropriate place, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret kissing her.

And apparently he couldn’t bring himself to stay away from her. Even if he had to blackmail, cajole, or surprise his way into seeing her. Not that he hadn’t been curious about the quiz when he’d seen it on the refrigerator—he had. But if it had been any other woman, he would have asked a couple of times and then let the issue drop. He certainly wouldn’t have taken time off work and tracked her down. And he wouldn’t be ambushing her at home so that he could offer his helpful services.

But it hadn’t been any other woman—it had been Rory. And the dichotomy between her starched personality and her passionate responses, flirting with him and fighting with him, meant that he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He also couldn’t stop wondering if she was just as passionate with any other guy. He planned to get to the bottom of that tonight too. Just what exactly had gone on between her and his friend, Greg Francis, so long ago?

Noah locked his truck out of habit and strolled up the cracked walkway to her apartment. Not expecting company, Rory took a few moments to respond to his knock. When she answered the door, she was dressed in soft cotton shorts and a T-shirt from the high school where she taught. Possibly not wearing a bra and showing more skin than he had ever seen on her in the light of day.

He let himself take a few seconds to appreciate the sight, but when he raised his gaze to her surprised one, all he said was, “You should always look through the peephole before you let someone in.”

She stood back as he lightly shouldered his way past her. “You’re right. You never know what kind of undesirables will be in the neighborhood. Speaking of which, what are you doing here, Noah?”

Noah chuckled and placed his burden on the counter. “Undesirables? I think not. At least I hope you don’t melt all over every guy that kisses you like that.”

Rory tightened her mouth and turned to shut the door behind her. “Again, what are you doing here?”

Noah stuck his hands in his pockets and surveyed the apartment around him. It was pretty much the same as it had been a few days ago. A little neater maybe and the quiz was gone from the refrigerator door. Oh, yeah, and Rory was actually cognizant this time, which meant he could make his move.

“Well you didn’t call, didn’t email. There were no letters, smoke signals, or pages from you so I figured I’d stop by and see if you needed a research partner.”

Rory narrowed her eyes at him. “A research partner for what?”

“For your lecture,” he said.

“And you brought pizza.” Her gaze grew warmer and more interested as she drifted closer to the box on her kitchen counter. Good. He had hoped she hadn’t eaten yet and would be vulnerable to the smell of Giovanni’s pizza, the best pseudo-Italian place in town.

“In case there’s nothing better to do with my mouth.” Noah sent a grin her way and was gratified when her cheeks flushed a bright pink. He wasn’t usually one for dirty talk but he loved the way she got so flustered.

“What—” Rory stopped and cleared her throat before changing tactics. “I might have had plans. Did you ever think of that?”

Noah shook his head. “Not really. Your car is here, it’s a school night. Worst case scenario, you did have someone here and I took a pizza home to eat by myself. Not exactly a tragedy and what I usually do anyway.” He moved to the counter and opened the pizza box so that the scent of fresh bread and melted cheese wafted out. “Got any plates?”

Rory sighed and moved into the kitchenette to open cabinets and pull out everything they needed for dinner. Noah let out a breath. He’d been banking on the hope that, once he was in her apartment, she wouldn’t send him away.

He grabbed the stuff she’d placed on the counter and set the small table in the corner of her apartment, trying to remember the last time he’d actually bothered to eat someplace other than in front of the television. It all just seemed like too much trouble for one person and especially for the fast food and microwave fare that he lived on. But he had fond memories of eating with his family at the dinner table and hoped to do the same with his own family one day.

Not that he was actively planning on it yet. That was part of the insanity that Rory inspired in him though. She was a home and hearth kind of woman when he had always gone for a fun for the weekend type of girl. Maybe he’d have been able to put her out of his mind if the chemistry between them wasn’t so overwhelming.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and smiled engagingly at her as she rounded the bar to sit at the table across from him. If he was going to convince Rory to let him help with her sex education lectures in a more hands-on way, he needed to be level-headed and focused.

He waited until she had taken her first bite to jump in. “So how have things been at work since the last time I saw you?”

“You mean since I almost had a nervous breakdown over talking about sex with teenagers? Oh, just peachy.” Noah took a big bite of his own slice to keep his mouth full. Rory sighed and concentrated on pulling the pepperoni off her pizza. “Actually the school board decided that giving a few teachers free rein with such a touchy subject was a bad idea. So they’ve got a group working on a specific curriculum that they’re going to test this summer. I’ll have predesigned lesson plans and power point presentations for a couple of weeks. They’re doing everything from tests to in-class materials. All I have to do is get up there and read it pretty basically.”

“I take it you’re on board with that plan?”

Rory shrugged and took a sip of her drink. “It’s certainly not my favorite way to teach, but it’s school board mandated. I couldn’t do anything differently if I wanted to. And I have to admit that it’s a load off my mind not to have to worry about it.”

“You don’t think you’ll still be embarrassed talking about it in front of the students?”

“Probably. But some of my irrational fear is gone now.” Rory paused and made a project out of selecting her next piece of pizza to keep her eyes focused on something else. “And I have you to thank for some of that. You really helped me out when I was losing it the other day.”

Noah couldn’t help puffing up a little at her gratitude. He’d never wanted to be the guy a woman came to when she needed comfort, but he was glad he’d been there for Rory that day. As grateful as she was now however, he knew that they still had a long way to go before she would get over their past and begin to lean on him more. They had to sort out what had happened between them.

Noah cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair to look her fully in the eyes. “It was my pleasure. I know your ‘losing it’ only comes from your desire to do the best for your students. How could I not like that about you?”

Rory opened and closed her mouth a few times but no sound came out. “I’ve always liked you,” he continued.

“Well that is just not true. We fight all of the time,” Rory pointed out.

“Yeah, because fighting and sniping with you seemed to be the only way to get you to talk to me.”

Rory threw her hands up. “If you will recall,
you’re
the one who gave me the cold shoulder after we hooked up the first time. I was ready to—” She stopped herself and took several deep breaths.

He really wished he knew what she’d been about to say.

“I thought we went over this the other day. I barely knew you when we had our little grope-fest.” He ignored her outraged gasp and continued on, “My good friend said that he was dating you and I had no reason not to believe him.”

“You should have talked to me about it. Instead of treating me like some sort of mistake that you were embarrassed by.”

Noah shook his head. “God, baby, I never considered you a mistake and I’m sorry if you thought that for one second. But imagine if the situation was reversed. You hook up with some guy and then the next day your girlfriend innocently tells you that she’s dating that guy. Do you follow up with him or just assume that he’s a hound dog?”

Rory stayed silent for a few moments before giving in and nodding. “Okay, I see your point. But you couldn’t have thought I was dating Greg that whole time! I never even saw him for a second date after he was all over me at the door during the first one.”

Noah clenched his fist under the table and wished that his ex-friend were there so he could teach him a little respect. Despite his own checkered past with Rory, he had never intentionally pushed her too far. “At that point I was still under the impression that you were making out with me while dating another guy. I’m a lot of things, but not a cheater. By the time I got over my pride, you hated me. What was I supposed to do?”

“I never hated you.” Rory sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, seeming to decide whether she should continue or not. “In fact, even though I tried really hard, I couldn’t even seem to stay mad at you for very long. I just didn’t want to be hurt again.”

“I’m sorry. For everything.” Noah reached across the table and took her hand in his. She was so soft and fragile compared to him, and he hated that he had caused her even a second of sadness, however inadvertently. “Can we start over?”

Rory shook her head and pulled away from him. “I don’t know, Noah. I’m not exactly ready to jump into all of this with you again.”

Noah shrugged. He had time and patience and he would wear her down. “So we’ll start slow. I’ll help you make a better score on your next illicit sex quiz.” He used his most innocent voice and gave her his best smile.

She laughed at him in disbelief. “So your idea of starting slow is to jump into bed together?”

Noah smiled confidently. He was out of his depth with all of the comforting and honesty and feelings-sharing, but this part he was very familiar with. Rory wanted him. He just had to get her to admit it to him and to herself. “I was thinking I’d lay you down on the bed and take my time tonight—but if you want to jump into it instead, I’m flexible.”

Rory blushed. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Noah leaned across the table and lowered his voice. “I want you, Rory.”

“I—I feel the same way, Noah.” Noah’s hopes soared and he began to smile. “But as far as I was concerned, you hated me up until a couple of days ago.” She held up her hand to silence his protestations to that. “No matter how much I want you, I don’t think I could get into a relationship that quickly.”

“But you could someday?” Noah held his breath.

Rory just slowly shrugged with her hands up. She stood and began to clear the dishes they had used for dinner. Noah moved to put the pizza in her refrigerator. They both worked quietly for a few moments before Rory broke the silence. “But you’re right—I do want you. And that quiz and my friends were right, too. I do need to stop playing it so safe and have some adventures.”

Noah moved closer to her and used his body to press her up against the counter. “Are you saying that being with me would qualify as an adventure for you?”

Rory smiled up at him in a manner he had never seen from her before. Taunting and flirtatious. “Being with you in a more carnal sense, yes. I’m sure if you put your mind to it you could certainly teach me a few things that would help me do better on my next ‘illicit sex quiz,’ as you say.”

“In a carnal sense, hmm?” Noah raised his eyebrows as he pretended to think about it. Being with Rory in any way was a no-brainer for him. He would use whatever she was willing to give him as a stepping-stone to more. And if he was wrong about what was between them, maybe they could at least get all of the sexual tension out of their systems and be friends in the long run. “So let me get this straight. You want to have a no-strings affair with me to make your life more adventurous?”