Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 18: A New Guy

    Tuesday morning, Noah and I woke up early to really talk things through before I had to go to work. I feel like we finally got a lot of things out in the open and that we both understand each other a little bit more. I still feel like Noah senses that I am holding back a little and honestly, I am, but I can't really do anything about that right now. I just need to keep my dad's secret for a few more months and keep Noah happy until I can officially walk away with from it all. After our talk though, I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders and we are slowly getting back into a better place. Before I left late Tuesday morning for work, I did get Noah to agree to go on the double date with Sophia and her new guy, Eddie. When I got to work and told Sophia, she was overly excited, which of course had me cracking up laughing. Thankfully it's finally the weekend, so we can go to this dinner and maybe she'll hush up about it afterwards.

    I've worked every day this week at both the cafe and for my dad and I've never been more exhausted in my life. Between working open to close at the cafe 3 of my 5 scheduled days and then running errands for my dad on my lunch breaks and short days, I'm not sure I've even stopped to catch my breath. Only good thing is, most of my dad's errands have been pretty simple and not super important, so I had a little more leniency with each, which was really nice considering how much work I had. I did meet this younger guy on one of the errands though and it was really odd. Typically, every person I meet with is at least 40 and older and this guy was definitely more my age, which was weird. He was friendly and handled things very professionally, but it's not normal to see a young, attractive, and really smart guy like him, tangled up in my dad's line of work. I didn't let it bother me too much though, not my business to care what strangers get into.

    Coming in late most nights though is really starting to get to Noah, whether he will admit it or not. At least I hope that is what the issue is, because he is still acting pretty weird and I can't really pinpoint what the main cause is, so I'm assuming it's my late nights. This morning things seemed pretty okay and we plan to just sit home all day, relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Amber and Liam are going to be out for most of the day, so I'm hoping all the quiet alone time will do us good. It's currently about 11 in the morning and I just finished cleaning up from our breakfast and I am starting a load of clothes washing before I go join Noah on the couch.

    "Hey babe, want anything from the kitchen before I come in there? I'm finishing up laundry really quick." I holler through the house at Noah.

    "Popcorn and a soda please!" I hear him holler back at me. I get the washer started and go to the kitchen to pop a bag of popcorn and grab a bag of chips for myself. When the popcorn finishes, I grab us both a soda and head into the living room, our snacks and drinks in hand, and plop down on the couch beside Noah. He flips through a few different movies before he finally lands on an old comedy. I snuggle in close to him, tucking myself under his arm and laying my head on his chest, the sound of his heart beat, relaxing every inch of me. Every few minutes I shake as he laughs at a scene in the movie and each time I smile to myself and commit the angelic sound of his sweet laughter to memory. This moment here with him makes me feel like there is a dark cloud looming in the distance; far enough away that I can't see just how dark, but close enough that it worries me. Just the thought of impending doom makes my heart start to race and I try calming myself by snuggling closer into Noah's side. Taking a deep breath, I inhale his deep woodsy scent, tasting the sweet honeysuckle nectar of the earth on my tongue, committing every bit of it to memory with his laughter. I've never figured out what he uses to smell as good as he does, but I remember when I was little my dad used to always tell me that you'll know you found the person you are meant to love forever because they will have the voice of an angel and their aroma will light a fire in your belly that will never go out. From the first day I met Noah, he set me on fire and everyday since the flames have just grown. No matter what happens in our future, I will always know in my heart that he is my person. All these thoughts racing through my mind and I let out a deep sigh, my fingers tracing a pattern on Noah's chest.

    "What ya thinkin' about my love?" Noah asks, taking my face in his hand and tilting it up towards him. My eyes lock with his and I can feel the tears welling up, threatening to fall.

    "Will you promise that you will always love me? No matter what happens, you will never stop loving me?" a single tear escapes my eye and Noah catches it with his thumb before it can trail all the way down my cheek.

    "Is that what's bothering you, Em?" he sits me up and readjusts us on the couch, lifting me up in his lap to where I am straddling him. "You stole my heart woman and I don't want it back. I love you with all that I am and I always will. You are my forever. I'm sorry if I don't tell you that enough and if the last few days have made you question my feelings towards to; that is the last thing that I want. I love you Emma Lynn and I always will. I promise."

    "That's all I needed to know." I slam my mouth into his, capturing his lips in the most passionate kiss we have ever shared and before I know it, we are both naked on the living room floor and Noah is slamming into me as I scream out his name, my body shaking with pleasure. After 2 toe-curling orgasms from both of us, Noah finally crashes on the floor beside me, both of us struggling to catch our breath with a big smile plastered on each of our faces. We lay like that for sometime, side by side on the floor, just staring into each others eyes, studying every little feature of the person across from us. Eventually we are pulled from our own little world by the sound of my phone vibrating like crazy. We slowly get up from the floor and dress ourselves and I go over to where I left my phone on the kitchen counter and see that I have a bunch of missed calls from Sophia. I quickly call her back and she was just wanting to confirm our dinner plans since she hadn't heard from me all day. I let her know, yes Noah and I are coming and after hanging up the phone I realize that we only have about an hour to get ready and leave.

    "Oh s**t! Noah we've got to hurry. Dinner is in an hour and we desperately need to shower and get ready." I throw my phone on the couch and hurry past him to the bedroom.

    "Let's shower together, and I do mean just shower, and then we'll hurry and get ready and we should make it on time like that." Noah goes into the bathroom and gets the shower going. We both step in at the same time and rush to shower off our afternoon delight. Once showered and dressed, I send Amber a quick text to let her know where we will be, since her and Liam are no home yet, and Noah and I head out to dinner. 

    "Why are we meeting at such a fancy restaurant? I thought this was just a get to know you dinner?" Noah looks around at the outside of the building, taking in the over the top architecture; it looks like it belongs in a big high dollar city somewhere up north.

    "This place definitely sticks out like a sore thumb around these parts, but apparently the guy is well-off or something like that and he's not from around here; he has a taste for the finer things in life." 

    "Could you imagine you dad in a place like this?" Noah tries to keep a serious face, but burst into a fit of laughter with just the image of my very southern, very homely dad trying to eat at a place like this.

    "It would for sure be a pretty weird sight to see." I join in Noah's laughter before we both recompose ourselves. "But hey, let's give it a try. It's still relatively new, so it should be good; at least I hope it's good because after our afternoon, I'm starving." I nudge Noah in the side slightly. At just that moment, Sophia and her new guy friend, Eddie walk up behind us.

    "If you two wouldn't mind keeping your extra curricular activities to yourself so we can get to dinner, that would be great." Sophia says, jabbing me in the arm to get my attention.

    "Hey now! Dinner hasn't started yet, so I'm going to talk about and brag about what we do all I want." I turn to face her and Eddie and jab Sophia back and we both immediately burst out laughing. She wraps her arms around me in a quick hug, that I of course return and after we pull away, she introduces Eddie to Noah and I. As she does so, we move a little closer into the outdoor lighting and I get a better look at Eddie and realize instantly that he is the young guy I met earlier this week on one of my dad's errands. About the same time I recognize him, realization of who I am hits him as well. We both quickly hide our looks of shock before anyone notices and act like complete strangers. With introductions over with, we make our way into the restaurant and just as we get to the table, I excuse myself to the restroom, knowing I need a minute to pull myself together and put on a good act, because if I don't my dad will be exposed and I can't have that. In the restroom, I get myself calmed and force all my fears and anxiety as far down as I can and head back out to the table. Before I can make it though, I am stopped, just out of Noah and Sophia's sight, by Eddie.

    "Look, I know you know me from the other day, but I promise I'm not into anything bad; I do the same things you do, obviously. All I ask, is that no matter what, you don't tell Sophia. Right now all she know's is that I inherited my money and currently work for a law firm. None of that is a lie, it's just not the complete truth. I just need you to keep my secret. How much will it cost me?" small beads of sweat are forming right at Eddie's hairline as he begs for my silence and I know I need to ease his fears and cover my own butt at the same time, but I'm now very worried for Soph to be with this guy.

    "You've got a deal Eddie, but on one condition. I don't want your money, all I want is your silence as well. I keep your secret, if you keep mine. All anyone needs to know is that I am a waitress at the cafe with Sophia and my daddy is crazy rich. No other information will be given or else ALL your secrets will be exposed. Do we have a deal?" I give Eddie the sternest look I can muster up and put my hand out for him to shake.

    "You've got a deal. Thank you." he says as he grasps my hand in his for a firm handshake. With a small nod, I walk on past him and to our table, taking my seat next to Noah; my fears for myself gone, but replaced with new fears for Sophia. My dad is definitely going to need to know about this one.