The Scarred Wife's Racing Five

Chapter Ten

POV Noah

She clapped her hands in front of her and took a deep breath. “You know what, fine. No use getting all defensive with my landlord. Especially when he is paying the bill. I’ll go along with this, but we better get some awesome deals.” She added before a mega-watt smile replaced the apprehension I saw not even five minutes ago.

What shocked me more than anything was what happened next. My mouth twisted into yet another smile as a chuckle rolled from my chest. “Come on, Holly. Let’s get going.” I huffed and she blushed once again as she climbed out of the car.

One shop after another, the truck started to fill as she continued to find more and more things to renovate the studio apartment. Once we negotiated down the new stove she finally looked at her list scribbled on a sheet of paper and smiled. “I think that’s everything. What we cannot get today will be shipped over the weekend. I hope that is still okay?”

I looked at the shop owner hastily writing up a shipping order for her and nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

She smirked, waved to the owner and headed out. As we walked back to the car she pushed into my side and I turned to raise a brow. “So what happened to the smiley Noah?”

“Smiley?”

She rolled her eyes as I opened the door for her for what seemed like the tenth time today and, for the first time, she didn’t blush. She just hopped right in. I climbed into the driver’s side and she leaned her head against the headrest. “You know, when you were telling me to trust you and all.” She clarified using a slightly deeper tone.

“Was that your way of mimicking me?” I asked as we pulled out of the parking lot.

“Was it that accurate?” She asked right back.

I rolled my eyes and leaned back as one hand rested on the gear shift and the other on the steering wheel. “Sure.”

She giggled lightly and took a deep breath. “I’ll take that response.” She hummed and once again I could hear something off about her. But, it didn’t take us long to make it back to the house this time. It was a nice drive to listen to her talking about all of the little things she added to her ideal remodel. When we made it to the side parking lot, I shoved my hands in my pocket and leaned on the back of the truck.

“Alright. Let me know where you want everything to go.”

She spun around with shock and shook her head quickly. “No way. I’ve already taken enough of your time today. I can do the rest.”

Without thinking, my hand grazed her chin and a breath caught in her throat. “Who said I’m done?”

POV Holly

Without saying another word, I quickly pulled away from him. He smirked and started with the lighter items, pulling them from the truck bed with ease. I grabbed the smaller items that I knew wouldn’t flare up any of the injuries Ryan left as a parting gift.

Noah had made it into the apartment and started placing the items in the kitchen. “We can leave stuff here for now. I'll go down for more.”

I spun around to stop him but he was already on his way. This was his process for the next two hours while I desperately tried to keep up. After a while, I just decided to act as the pointer for where everything should go. Once the truck was fully unloaded, the pair of us headed down to his flat and scrounged up a couple of steaks for dinner.

“So what are you going to tackle tomorrow?” Noah asked after a long silence between us.

“Cleaning comes first then I'll start with prepping for paint.” Tossing another bite in my mouth, I groaned at the delicious flavor.

Noah froze mid bite and it seemed like his brain was reloading before he closed his eyes and finished taking another bite. “Good.”

Silence continued and I leaned back in my chair. “There you go again.”

“With?”

“Those one word answers. I thought we were past this.” I pressed half jokingly.

He straightened up and grabbed a napkin from the middle of the table. “I'm okay with efficiency.”

I snorted as another laugh fell from my lips. It's…really been quite a long time since I've felt this way and I'm not hating it. “Okay. I guess we will have to roll with that.”

“What will you need my help with?”

I feigned shock and he scoffed at my reaction. “Mr. Efficiency wants to help out more.”

“Ha. Ha. I'm not going to just let you suffer up there alone. You decided to stay up there and it's my home. I can at least lend a hand when I'm not working.”

I smiled as my cheeks warmed. “Thank you.”

He turned and grinned back. “You're welcome.”

Slowly the weekend went on and the pair of us seemed to be getting closer. At least that was what I was hoping for. We even had a little bit of a paint fight when we were finishing the last wall of the bedroom.

Then, after a long day of work, we would relax in his living room and binge watch some action movies or talk about the cars he was working on. What made everything better was the relief of finally feeling at peace. Safe. Just never thought that would happen with a stranger.

“I'm starting to think getting in your car was the smartest thing I've done in a while.” I said out loud without even thinking. My eyes grew to saucers as he turned to look at me. “I’m sorry! I did not mean to-”

He raised his hand, cutting me off mid-sentence. “I’m glad I picked you up.”

I knew my cheeks were red at this point. I couldn’t think of anything else to do but quickly stand to my feet. “I’ll see you in the morning before you head to work. I just need your help with one more thing then I promise not to bother you until you’re available.” I rushed out before racing into his guest room and slamming the door behind me.

I don’t know what that was, but I’m sure it was something I should stay away from.

When the next morning arrived, I was silent as we moved through the studio, grabbing snacks as we worked to get the living room finished. After an hour, Noah leaned back on the new couch, as he gulped down a bottle of water he took from the fridge. I held mine in my grip tightly as I watched his muscles contract through his light blue t-shirt. With the lovely show, I couldn’t help but remember the embarrassing conversation from yesterday. I was grateful for all the help and, even with the extra glances his way, he didn’t seem to notice me drooling. Once we had finished our water break in silence, he stood to his feet and turned to me. “If you need anything else today, let me know. I don’t have too many appointments scheduled. Since the paint’s dry now, I’ll bring the bed up once there is more space.”

I furrowed my brow. “Why wait? We already did all the heavy lifting this weekend. What’s one more item?”

He raised his brow and pursed his lips. No added remarks, just a face I’m starting to get used to, staring at me like I’ve asked him to bring down the sun. “Holly….” He warned and I gasped at his alluring way of taking charge.

I gulped and stood to my feet. “If that’s the way you want to play it, fine.” I mumbled.

“Holly!” Noah shouted before my body was held tightly in his arms. I don’t even remember falling, but apparently he was more aware of me than I thought.

This would have been an amazing experience if the pain from my bruised ribs didn’t ring through my body like white molten lava. I thought I was doing better, but I guess that wasn’t the case. I gasped as a whimper escaped my mouth. He froze for a moment and I tried my best to pretend nothing happened, but he heard me. I know he did. “Are you alright?” He asked, glancing over my body to see if I was hurt.

Lucky for him, I was.

“I…I’m fine.” My breathing hitched as he slowly brought the pair of us back to our feet. I tucked some hair behind my ears and tried to step back, but he moved in sync with me, slowly suffocating the air around us. “Noah, what are you doing?” I pressed, but it came out as more of a breathless whisper.

“Why did you wince earlier? I heard you.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I continued to deny and he continued to approach until my swollen ankle made contact with the side of the bed frame. I yelped out clearly this time and crumpled to the floor. There was no way around this. I was hiding the pain all this time and even forced myself not to limp. My ankle was on fire and the rest of me wasn't doing much better.

I guess the truth is out.