Noah's Journey (Sawyer Brothers #3) by C. A. Harms Page B

toward the back door, feeling just a little lighter now that Alena understood the real reason Stacey and her parents were here. It was for Austin, not me. I had to make this as easy as possible on him, and if his mother and I could be civil to one another for short periods of time, we would. But it would never go any further than that.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Fifteen
     
     
    Alena
     
    “Well, darling, you look pretty damn good up on that horse,” Noah said as he squinted against the sun, looking up at me.
    I shifted to the right just enough to block the brightness and raised an eyebrow at him in question. “Are you making fun of me?”
    “Never.” He smirked, and I glared at him. My reaction only made him chuckle as he took a step closer and placed his hand on my thigh.
    “Baby, I’m sorta envious of Stella right now.” I could see the gleam in his eye as he slid his hand up farther and squeezed my hip. “You have one hell of a grip on her. Makes me wanna feel these thighs wrapped around my waist,” he said, lowering his voice so no one around us would hear. “It’s reminding me of our night together and making it real hard not to get excited at the idea of a repeat.”
    “Who says we can’t have a repeat?” I shrugged as I bit down on my lower lip. The idea of being naked beneath Noah was causing heat to rise in my neck and face. “I’d love to relive that night again,” I added, and his tongue shot out to trace his lower lip.
    “Me too,” he confessed. “Austin is staying tonight, and I really want to make his first night here special, but what would you say to spending tomorrow night at my place? We’ll make dinner, and then you can be my dessert.”
    I was slightly disappointed that I would have to wait another day, but I understood. Austin spending the night with his father was a big deal.
    Stacey and her parents had been gone now for well over an hour. True to Noah’s word, they didn’t stay around long. I did my best to make the time they were here with us tolerable, but it was tense. Now that they’d gone, I’d relaxed and was enjoying the day.
    “It’s a date.” I assured Noah with a wink, and he smiled widely.
     
    ***
     
    I stood at the side of Noah’s truck as he gripped my waist securely. Austin had fallen asleep in his seat on the passenger side with his head resting back against it. As I looked between them, comparing their similarities, I wondered how anyone could not know that Austin was his son. They shared the same gorgeous, captivating eyes and the same smile, with a sweet dimple in the left cheek. They were both so breathtaking.
    I began to wonder what our children would look like as they ran around smiling and laughing.
    “What are you thinking about?”
    I jumped at the sound of his voice. I had been so wrapped up in fantasizing about the future, I had forgotten where I was.
    “I, um.” I smiled and cleared my thoughts. “I was just comparing the two of you. He’s a little mini Noah.”
    The pride in Noah’s eyes as he looked over at Austin made my chest ache.
    An ugly, scary thought hit me then.
    I had fantasized about Noah for months, wishing for something more from him, and now I was terrified something would take him from me. Yes, even after his persistence and reassurances, I still feared him changing his mind. Living such an unstable and unpredictable life gave me so many doubts. It was just hard to believe I could be enough for any man.
    A need to feel wanted was something Amber, Bailey, and I shared. When we were growing up, our parents were always so busy worrying about everything around them that they barely noticed us. My mother, for example, slept with every man within a five mile radius because she was so desperate for the affection my father wasn’t giving her. Normally, when a man finds out his wife is sleeping around, he divorces her. But not my father. He actually looked at it as an opportunity. It meant he no longer had to refuse