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Chapter Text

Noah’s face is burning. She ducks her head and tries to watch her feet as the handsome dancer effortlessly twirls her around the dancefloor. But his movements are too quick, and she must cling to him as he leads. She feels graceless and uncoordinated, but the crowd of onlookers oohs and ahhs at them appreciatively. Dapperly dressed gentlemen and women in elegant ballgowns surround the dancefloor as Noah is put on display. 

Tonight, the villa’s expansive lawn and gardens are playing host to an elaborate gala for the National Conservatory of Music and Dance.

The conservatory students have been working the crowd expertly, dancing with various patrons. Noah had been unwittingly nabbed by one of the charming male dancers.

She can feel the heat of Nicholas’ eyes following her from somewhere in the crowd. He had only just arrived a few moments earlier. Fresh from his long day interning at his law firm. He looked devastatingly handsome, if a little mussed in his tuxedo. She had been grinning and moving toward him when the dancer had stolen her away. 

Nick’s eyes had flashed with jealousy when the other man had taken her in his arms. Noah felt the same way. She was jealous that she couldn’t be up here dancing with Nick instead. 

It’s been two years, and they were still forced to hide their feelings for each other around their parents. Her mother and his father knew it was an act and kept playing little games like this, hoping to draw them apart.

Will sent Nick off on business trips, while her mother attempted to set Noah up with the prominent sons of every rich family in town. Apparently  now they’re bribing handsome dancers to whisk her away from Nick at parties.

If they think any of their antics will drive them apart then they are sorely mistaken.

Nick’s eyes follow her partner with disdain. When his eyes land on her, he gives her such a smouldering look that her mouth goes dry, and she trips over her own feet. A smug smirk crawls across his features until he realizes that his little trick has caused her partner to hold her closer. He glowers, looking annoyed at himself. 

The song comes to an end, and Noah is blissfully free. It feels like it’s been days since she’s last been close to him. But Nick had been right next to her in her poetry class this morning.

Every Wednesday this semester Nick spent his one morning of the week off auditing her poetry class. Between her course load and his classes and internship they needed to steal time wherever they could. She loved that he would skip his chance to sleep in just so he could spend time with her. 

But he was a total nuisance to have in class. Sometimes he would sit close, his foot brushing up against hers and mutter little comments under his breath that would make her snicker.

Other days he would up the ante.

Like today when he had stolen her hand under the table and draped it over his thigh. Then he proceeded the sweet torture of dragging the edge of his thumb across her palm. And she was helpless to it. Noah sank back in her chair,  as he mapped out her palm with gentle whorls and downward strokes that made her shiver.

She could feel every nerve-ending spark to life inside her. Nick had a way of making every molecule in her body stand up and pay attention to him, when he wanted to. Before it could get too far she snatched her hand back and struggled to focus on the stuffy professor up front.

Nick however took this as a challenge and leaned in to  whisper hot little promises in her ear. She hadn’t heard a word of the lecture after that. And they had stumbled back to his dorm after. Stealing a few more minutes before he had to leave for work. 

Will appears in the middle of the dancefloor and blocks her path to Nicholas. “Another round of applause for my lovely daughter, Noah.”  The crowd indulges him with a smattering of applause. But inwardly Noah bristles at the title. She wasn't his daughter. Then the band strikes up another song, and Will holds out his arms expectantly, “Shall we?” 

Noah grits her teeth and steps into him. “Wouldn’t you rather be dancing with Mom?”

“Nonsense. I’ve sent Nicholas to attend to her. We don’t get to spend nearly enough time with you kids now that you’re both so busy with college.”

I wonder why?  Noah grumbles internally. She spies Nick dancing with her mom, and her eyes follow the way he moves appreciatively.

He dances wonderfully. Every step is sleek and controlled with a mastery only years of practice could accomplish.

When his eyes meet hers, he flashes her a smirk and playfully dips her mom. Her mom lets out a yip of laughter and pats him on the shoulder, affectionately when he pulls her upright. His eyes linger on Noah as she appreciates his prowess. He’s so competitive.

She rolls her eyes at him, and he winks and twirls her mother away.

Will huffs at their antics, and Noah sighs as she continues her monotonous dance with her mother’s husband.

It’s not always this much of a chore to support Will at his events. The man cherishes her mother in a way that all children wish for their mother to be loved.

He’s treated Noah with a fondness and respect from the moment they first met and has always tried to bond with her.

 She cannot help loving him in her own way because he makes her mother smile. But she will never consider him her stepfather.

Part of it was because she was practically an adult when her mom married him. Another part of it was that it was too weird to see him in that light because she was hopelessly in love with his son.

But she knew the real reason she resented him and would always hold him at arms length was because of the way he treated Nicholas. 

Before she started college last year, Will had given her an ultimatum. Break things off with Nicholas, or he would disinherit his own son.

Noah had been torn up in knots about it. She loved Nick. She loved him too much for him to lose another parent because of her. His mom had abandoned him, and Nick wouldn’t survive being disowned by his father. For years, he played the perfect son because he craved his father’s approval. So, she broke Nick’s heart. 

Nick moved out of the house soon after returning to his college dorm. But avoiding each other wasn’t an option for them.

Noah was too proud to accept Will’s money, no matter what he or her mother said. She could only afford university, thanks to her volleyball scholarship. Unfortunately, her scholarship was to the same college where Nick studied law.

They were forced to pass each other in the halls. To watch each other from across the room at the same parties. To bump into each other in the stairwells and to sit across from each other in the library.

Watching the hurt pass over his face whenever he saw her was a particular brand of torture. To see the dullness in his eyes when he talked with his friends. To see the girls hanging off him at the parties. It didn’t even make her jealous to see them. Only heartsick. He never gave them his real smile. He flirted with them, danced with them, touched them, and probably even brought them home. But they were just props.

They didn’t get the real Nick. Her Nick. 

If she was jealous, it was only because they got to be so close while she had to keep her distance. They got to breathe in his cologne, stand in the circle of his arms, and steal sips from his drink.

Physically they might get to be close to him. But Nick had his walls back up. None of them ever really touched him.

It went on like that for months. They didn’t speak. They just watched each other.

They never pretended like the other didn’t exist. And they were fully aware that most of the time, they were pretty transparent. Just watching each other, watch the other.

Even when they were forced to have family dinners. Where their parents tried to pretend like it wasn’t agony for the pair of them. Like they weren’t suffering while their parents thrived in their relationship.

They were civil, but they couldn’t pretend that what they had didn’t matter. That it wasn’t worth agonizing over. 

They each coped in their own ways. Noah threw herself into schoolwork. Tucked her feelings for Nick away. Writing stupid love poems for him and stuffing them in her drawer. Nick flung himself back into his old life.

Every time she saw him smoking, it made her angry. He had quit because of her. And he knew it drove her nuts. He would raise his eyebrow in a challenge every time he caught her glaring as if to say You don’t like it? Then why don’t you come over here and do something about it? 

Then one night on her way back from practice she heard a girl scream. Some creep was trying to force himself on her.

Noah had hit the speed dial for the campus police on her phone and promptly launched herself on the guy’s back. She had punched, kicked, and wrestled the guy down so the girl could escape. The asshole had got a few good shots in, elbowing Noah in the eye at one point. But she had utilized every bit of her self-defence training, hitting him in all the pressure points she could reach and immobilizing him until the cops arrived. 

The next day no matter how much makeup she caked on, her face was obviously swollen and bruised. Her jaw and her head throbbed. But mild concussion or not, she couldn’t afford to miss class. 

She will never forget the look on Nick’s face when he saw her the next day.

*flashback*

Nick was coming towards her in the hall. By look of it he was half asleep and most likely hung-over.

But the moment he saw her, he sobered immediately. He stopped in the middle of the hallway forcing everyone to move around him as he took in her appearance.

Noah looked away, unable to bear the tender concern in his eyes. She tried to walk past him, but he caught her arm in a gentle but insistent hold.

His cologne filled her head, and the warmth of his body was too great a pull to ignore. She didn’t resist him as he led her into the back of the library and into one of the empty study rooms.

Noah wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back against the wall. She tried to steel herself against the temptation that being alone with him would bring.

The ache she felt for him was in full force today. After the attack she had been practically shaking all night.

Nick seemed to be fighting the same battle. He leaned his hands against the wall, hemming her in. He wasn’t crowding her so much as he was braced against the wall around her. As if he was physically holding himself back from touching her.     

He stared past her shoulder at the wall, the muscles of his forearms tensing, as he rasped, “Who did this?” He was positively vibrating with rage.

Nick recoiled at the sound of own tone and quickly corrected himself. He was always careful to never be the thing she was afraid of. 

Nick’s tone turned thick and buttery soft, “Who did this?”

Their eyes met for the first time since the hallway, and his big brown eyes were shimmered with angry tears. “Who hurt you, baby?” 

Noah was undone by that look. She grabbed onto his elbow if only to anchor him to her.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she soothed 

His hands slid down the wall at her touch, and he leaned closer as if powerless to stop himself. He drew the back of his finger, featherlight down her cheek, skimming the unbruised portion of her face with reverence. 

Nick’s touch dropped away, and he looked down with a shake of his head. His hands clenched against the wall again. “It’s not okay,” he rasps. 

Noah settles her palm on his chest, over his heart. “You’re right. It’s not. But I’m alright.” 

Nick stares down at her bruised and cut up knuckles. He hisses as he lifts her hand to examine them. His thumb stroking tenderly over her broken skin.

If it were possible, she would melt into a puddle at his feet, at that simple caress. It feels so good. So right to be touched by him. 

“Please tell me what happened,” he entreats in that low, raspy whisper that works embarrassingly well on her.

Squeezing his fingers, Noah recounts all the events as succinctly as possible. He goes stiff about halfway through. When she’s finished, Nick only has one question. “So, he’s in jail now? They’ve booked him.”  

“Yeah. Until he makes bail.”  

His whole body goes rigid again. “That’s not gonna happen,” Nick snaps with a ruthless edge to his voice. She could tell he was picturing beating the man to a bloody pulp.

Nick turns away and claws both hands through his hair in frustration. He walks around the table and grips the back of the chair as if to hold himself in check. But he can’t mask his frustration with her. 

Noah flashes her eyes at him defiantly. Does he really think she doesn’t already know she screwed up? She put herself in a dangerous situation and is incredibly lucky she didn’t get herself killed.

Discontent bubbles up inside her. How dare he drag her in here and make her feel all these complicated things. Make her feel safe again after a terrible night and a splitting headache stole her sleep, only for him to pull away and stand there seething. How dare he be this handsome. This tempting. This close and not touching her! 

“Go on. Say it. I know you’re dying to.” 

“What?” Nick shrugs his shoulders and snaps. “That I’m in love with a reckless fool?”

Noah melts back against the wall and just stares at him. A surge of longing climbs from her ribcage into her throat. She’d been preparing for a fight.She wasn’t ready for his surrender. For the tenderness in his eyes. He stares back at her, his posture softening with a sigh, “I’m pretty sure you already know that. There’s no point rubbing it in.” 

Noah crosses her arms and looks down at her feet. “I’m just as in love with my fool. But he’s twice as reckless as me.” 

When her eyes dart back to his face Nick flashes her that devastating smile of his. His real one. The one she hasn’t seen in so long. He lets go of the chair and prowls closer.

“Well, I have better taste. My fool may be reckless. But she’s also a hero.” Warmth and pride fill his eyes. “She saved a girl yesterday.” 

Unable to resist, Noah grabs a fistful of his shirt and tugs him closer, until their noses are brushing. 

“My fool has his moments,” she whispers, nuzzling his nose.

Nick sighs, and his warm breath washes over her. He presses his face into the curve of her neck and nuzzles his favourite spot behind her ear. When his lips find her tattoo she sags back against the wall. She wraps one arm around his torso while her other hand climbs his neck. Desperate to keep him close. 

He groans into her skin. “You make it impossible to stay away from you, Freckles.” 

“Then why do it?” 

Nick pulls back to look at her. His eyes filled with sadness. “You asked me to.” 

Noah threads her fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck and gently urges him closer. 

“I think we’ve established that I’m a fool,” she says stroking the back of his neck with her thumb. 

Nick smirks, “No.” He reaches out to gently cradle her jaw. “You’re my girl.” His lips brush hers in the tenderest of kisses, and it sears her all the way down to her toes.

He tastes like bitter tobacco, and she doesn’t even care. She wants to grab him and devour him. But as she rises on her toes to kiss him properly, a twinge of pain rocks through her whole upper body.

Nick catches her and holds her through it. Noah blinks back the pain. Nick’s lips settle on her forehead, where he kisses a row of apologies into her skin. 

“You should be resting,” he grumbles. “Why are you going to class?” 

“Scholarship student. Remember? I can’t afford to miss my classes.” 

Nick looks irritated momentarily, then he blows out a breath and steals her bookbag from her shoulder. “What are you…?” 

“You have Literature, Poli-Sci, and Calculus today, right?”

Noah nods confusedly as he reaches into his pocket and produces a set of keys. “I’ll sit in and take notes for you. But first, I’m walking you to my dorm. You need some sleep. And I have icepacks in my minifridge freezer.” 

She gives him a fond look. “Nick, you don’t have to—” 

He smirks. “We both know you’ll sleep better in my bed.” He takes her hand and toys with her fingers. “And knowing you’re there and safe will make me feel better. So, I don’t do something stupid like beating a man to death in his jail cell.” 

She lets him walk her to his dorm and wrap her up in her favourite soft sweater. He gives her an ice pack and lectures her about keeping it on for twenty minutes.

Then he tucks her in, and seeing that his sweater has slipped off her shoulder, he a presses a hot lingering kiss there. Honestly, given her condition it was entirely rude to light a match like that and then just leave her in his bed. 

He snickers when she shoves him away, “Get out of here. You’re already twenty minutes late to my literature class!” 

He spins around and pauses at the door. “And when I get back. We’ll talk about whatever my father said to you that made you pull away from me.”  

Noah sits up in bed and arches an eyebrow at him. She starts to ask him how he could possibly know about that when he lifts his finger to forestall her. “Go to sleep, Freckles.” He smirks as he steps out the door. “Dream about me.”  

*end of flashback*

The song ends, and the dancefloor clears as the National Conservatory dancers take their place at the center of the floor.

Noah slips away from Will in the crowd. She ducks behind a tall man and his companion and scans the crowd for Nick.

The twangy plucking of a classical guitar echoes through the courtyard as the flamenco dance performance begins. The dancers start a rhythmic stomping followed by a series of claps.

The primal beat of the music thrums in time with Noah’s heart as she weaves her way through the crowds. Until a warm, familiar hand settles on her hip.

Noah spins, grasps him by the lapels of his tuxedo jacket, and beams up at him. 

Nick grins down at her and pulls her in close. Taking her hand, he begins to lead her in a slow waltz behind the cover of the crowd.

Noah shakes her head up at him. “It wasn’t my fault your father sprung him on me, okay.” 

Nick twirls her until her back is pressed to his chest and leans in to whisper.“My eyes being on you all night is entirely your fault,” he presses a kiss to cheek.“You’re beautiful.” 

“Oh,” Noah sputters as he spins her back to face him with a fancy bit of footwork. He was showing off. “Thank you.” 

“But feel free to tell me I’m better than him in every way.” 

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous of your dad now,” she teases. 

“Very funny, smartass. I’m talking about the first guy. You know, chiseled jaw. Wandering  eyes. Adequate box-step.”

Noah grins and reaches out to adjust his bowtie. “Who?” 

Nick’s eyes flash with heat. “That is the right answer, Freckles.” 

Noah leans in close and rests her chin upon his shoulder. Nick’s arm glides along her back, pulling her flush to his chest and cradling her there. 

Noah sighs contentedly as he rocks them softly side to side. Drinking in the warmth of his body and the tantalizing traces of his cologne. After a moment Noah lifts her chin and nuzzles his ear, “The only guy I was looking at was you.” 

Nick’s eyes melt and he dips his head to nuzzles her nose. Without taking his eyes off her, Nick beings waltzing them away from the oblivious crowd and closer to the garden.  

Noah lifts her head and looks around. Then squints her eyes at him. “What are you doing?” 

“Finally putting my dancing lessons to good use. Wanna get out of here?” he asks as he steers them toward the hedge maze. 

Noah steals a quick kiss. “You are so much better than the box-step guy. In every way.” 

“Told you,” Nick says with a chuckle as she drags him into the hedge maze by the front of his shirt. 

Chapter Text

It’s like shuttering out the world when they step into the maze. It’s so quiet that she can hear the crickets and the soft crashing of the waves. On the stone bench at the mouth of the maze, there are half a dozen blazing lanterns.

 Nick takes one by the handle and reaches for her hand, “C’mon.” 

Noah chuckles as he tugs her playfully along with him down the path. “How do you even know where you’re going?” 

“Manuel, our gardener, taught me the trick to never getting in lost here.” 

“Are you gonna share with the rest of the class?” 

She doesn’t like the look of the darkened path up ahead. 

Nick leans into her and whispers hotly in her ear, “C’mon, Freckles, where’s your sense of adventure?” 

Just the way he says it makes her stomach swoop. Noah gives in and shuffles closer, hugging his arm with one hand and squeezing his hand with the other. Resting her head against his shoulder, she mutters, “You better not get me lost.” 

Nick stops in his tracks, picking up on the traces of fear slipping into her tone. He kisses the back of her hand, “Want to turn back?” 

Noah shakes her head against his shoulder, “I’m fine.” 

Lifting the lantern up so he can see her eyes, Nick arches an eyebrow skeptically at her. Noah shoves him affectionately, “Just don’t let that candle burn out.” 

Nick winks at her. “Never.” 

Noah leans on his arm as he leads them on, quietly drinking in his warmth and solidness. A balmy ocean breeze sifts through the trees; it toys with Noah’s hair and ripples across her flowy dress. The salt sea air tosses about the garden’s tender blooms, kicking up the sweet, earthy fragrance of jasmine and lilies. Noah’s eyes flutter closed as she savors the wind’s tender touch and breathes in the heady scent of the garden. 

Nick’s lips skim across her temple, “Look,” he whispers. 

Noah opens her eyes, and Nick lifts the lantern, pointing toward the path ahead. Swirling in the darkness were beads of flickering light. 

Her heart leaps, and she feels giddy like a child, “Fireflies!” She’s always loved them since she was little. She squeezes his arm and stares at them in wonder. She turns to him and gives him the biggest grin. 

Nick hooks a knuckle under her chin and tilts her head up. 

“See,” he preens, “I know what my girl likes.” 

Noah swats him on the chest, but he smugly leans in to kiss her teasingly slow, and Noah melts. Damn him and that smug smirk. It’s one thing for him to know he was irresistible, but did he have to brag? 

Of their own volition, her hands glide up his chest and catch his face. She tilts his jaw, deepening the kiss. Nick’s big hand skims across the planes of exposed skin on her back, raising goosebumps in his wake. Noah sighs breathily and rakes her fingers through his hair. She playfully drags her teeth along his lower lip, and Nick hums in the back of his throat. His grip on her growing tighter, more possessive. Grinning into his mouth, she tugs lightly on his hair and slips her tongue into his mouth. Nick groans and squeezes her close. He nearly envelops her in his other arm but catches himself before the lantern can burn her. 

He pulls away, panting against her lips. Noah feels a primal sort of feminine pride as she takes in his mussed hair, flushed face, and hungry eyes. She props herself against his shoulder and lightly trails her nails up and down his shirt, under his suit jacket. She noses along his neck until she finds his pulse point and starts to suck and lave at it. His head lolls to the side, and he breathes out her name. With a grin, she rakes her nails along his abdomen, and Nick shudders. He catches her offending hand and steps out of her reach. 

His eyes flash with fire, but there’s a glint of amusement in them, “Oh, you’re trouble tonight.” 

“What’s the matter, tough guy?” she teases as she steps into him again and starts mouthing at his jaw, “I thought you liked my sort of trouble?” 

Nick leans into her touch and groans softly, “You know I do.” Her fingers unravel his bowtie and flick open the first few buttons of his shirt. But when her lips travel dangerously close to his ear, he jolts away before she can distract him further. 

Noah licks her lips, smiling up at him deviously. Nick tears his eyes away from her mouth and plants his hand on the small of her back, urging her forward. “Let’s go, trouble. Eyes on the road.” 

Noah laughs, long and silvery. “Where are you taking me?”                                                           

Nick shoots her a smile, “You’ll see.” 

Her shoulder bumps into him fondly, and he nudges her right back. Noah feels light and bubbly, like a kid on vacation. Nick had a way of making her forget about everything else that she was constantly juggling in her head, like work and school. 

Being with Nick had its challenges. They needed to sneak around for their parent’s sake and to keep themselves out of the tabloids. Though thrilling and sexy as it was sometimes, it also made spending time together difficult. Between work, his internship, and their courses, there never seemed to be enough hours in the day. And if that wasn’t bad enough, her mother insisted that she live at home while she went to college. So, unless she makes up excuses, spending the night at Nick’s was few and far between. 

But Nick never complained. He just put his energy into finding creative ways to steal time with her, like auditing her poetry class or swinging by the sailing club on her break. Sometimes he would jog way out of his way just so he could pass the house and steal a kiss and a few minutes with her. 

On their first Valentine’s day, he rented out a racetrack for the night and told her the fastest time got to pick where they went for dinner, and the loser had to pay. It had been a close race, but in the end, Nick had to shell out for her burger and fries. 

He took her sailing for the day on her nineteenth birthday on his dad’s boat. When she lamented about having to return and attend the stuffy party her mother, and Will had planned, Nick conveniently stalled the boat so that it could be just the two of them. It had been a perfect day lazing in the sun and swimming, trading kisses. For supper, they caught fish, and she sat on the counter in the galley as Nick expertly pan-seared their catch. They watched the sunset while they ate and stayed up all night under the stars. 

Will’s face had turned purple the next day when he had reamed Nick out. But Nick let him yell. When he was finished, Nick explained that he knew all about his threat of disowning him, and he called his bluff, telling him to ‘do it already’ because he wasn’t giving Noah up. Then he took her hand and walked off. Nick and his father haven’t spoken much since then. The pair of them are civil but cold with each other. Nick was freezing him out. But Noah couldn’t exactly blame him.

She reaches behind her and takes hold of Nick’s hand, giving it a squeeze. She hates that being with her has hurt him in any way. 

Nick gives her a soft look and nearly walks them into a wall of hedges. He stops short, lifting the lantern to inspect the dead end, and mutters something under his breath. 

Noah snorts, “Are we lost? Because I had only two rules for this adventure. And not getting lost was the first one.”

Nick rolls his eyes, “We’re not lost. You’re just distracting,” he says as he gently leads her back the way they came. 

Noah barks a laugh, “What? How is this my fault? I was holding your hand completely innocently.” 

“Uh-huh, sure. Let’s go, saboteur,” he says, giving her a gentle shove. 

Noah can’t hold back her laughter. She turns to face him and walks backward, snickering, “This is not my fault.” 

Nick flashes her a sexy grin, “Just keep telling yourself that.” 

Noah shakes her head at him and dissolves into a fit of laughter. Her stomach quakes, and her knees feel loose and wobbly. Nick’s grin widens, crinkling his eyes, and he shakes his head at her before snickering along.   

“H-h-how? H-how?”  she sputters at him as she drops her hand to hold her stomach. Her heel catches on an uneven stone on the path, and with her shaky legs, she almost falls over. But Nick grabs her hand and yanks her into him before she does. Noah is suddenly plastered up against Nick’s chest. She reaches out to pet his cheek fondly. The last vestiges of her laughter bubble up her throat as she asks him, “How was it my f-fault? W-what did I d-do?” 

Laughter still tickles in the back of her throat, but the air around them is very quickly charged with a different energy. She can feel his heartbeat through his shirt, thrumming at full speed.

Nick stares at her through hooded eyes, his mouth slack. His hot, heavy breathing rushes in the space between them, mingling with hers until it’s all she can hear. There is a soft thunk from behind her that she dully registers as the lantern hitting the grass. Then both his hands are on her, yanking her deliciously close. 

“What you always do,” he rasps against the crook of her neck. Nick nuzzles her pulse point. “You.” He drags his bottom lip up her throat. “Drive.” Delivers a sharp little nip to her ear. “Me.” He lingers in front of her lips, making her sweat for it. “Crazy.”  

His eyes flick back to hers, and they both move at the same time. They collide, and it’s electric. A current buzzes across Noah’s lips and flickers down her spine. Nick clasps her face in his hands as his mouth slants hotly against hers. Noah clings to his shoulder with one hand and grasps his hair with the other. They stumble backward blindly until Noah finds herself pushed up against something cold and solid. Nick feels her stiffen and pulls away.

 “What’s wrong?”

“There’s a statue or something digging into my back.” 

“Oh,” Nick grunts, then reaches behind her, skimming over it with his fingers. Nick pulls away from her with a grin. 

Noah shakes her head at him and reaches for him. “Nuh-uh. Get back here.” 

Snickering, he dodges her grabby hands and reaches inside his jacket pocket. 

He pulls out a thin oval-shaped object and says, “I told you we weren’t lost.” 

Noah hears a soft click, and then suddenly, delicate threads of light wrap around objects, illuminating them. Her mouth drops open as she stands in what seems to be a courtyard at the center of the maze.

Lit up at the heart of the square is a grand fountain with gleaming brass figurines spitting rushing water. Two stone benches are arranged on either side of it.

Brass and stone sculptures are positioned throughout the space. At the far end of the courtyard, there is a magnificent oak, positively gleaming with lights. Hanging from one of its arms was a gorgeous wooden bench swing. Her head whips around to look at Nick. 

He looks utterly smug. “Do you like it?” 

She struggles to form words, and he looks all the smugger. Taking her hand, he tows her past the magnificent fountain and through the sculpture garden’s gilded ladies, prancing horses, knights, and mermaids and brings her to the foot of the tree. 

Over a year ago, sitting on his dad’s boat under the stars, they had played twenty questions. What do you miss most about home? He had asked. She had told him about the bench swing in her grandmother’s backyard in Toronto. She would sit there for hours with her grandma or by herself with a book and just swing. How it was her safe place.

Nick walks past her and sits down on the swing. He stretches his arm out and settles it across the back of it. He traced over an engraving with his thumb. Looking closer, Noah sees that he is stroking a figure-eight knot. 

Noah just stares at him. He had done all this for her. The lights, the bench, the engraving.

He had brought her safe place to her. 

Noah’s mind works slowly, and her lips flutter, but no words come out. 

Looking rather inviting, Nick leans back on the bench and flashes his eyebrows at her, “Okay, now you can feel free to seduce me.” 

Noah leaps onto the swing and throws her arms around him. Nick laughs as the swing careens violently to one side, then dips them backward. Noah hovers over him, feeling like her heart is overflowing, like there was a wave forming in her chest that she couldn’t possibly contain. So, she presses her mouth to his and lets it crash over him.