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She hugged hi his ribs
“They don’t feed you in training camp?”
He laughed “You know damn well that all I ever do is eat I think my tapeworms have tapeworms”
She glanced back to make sure they were still alone and then lowered her voice
“Are you going to hang around later or do you have to be somewhere?”
His eyes narrowed, and he lost the smile
“I don’t have to be anywhere today Why do you ask?”
“I need to talk to you about soet into it in front of everyone”
He frowned now “Is everything okay, Cece? You in some kind of trouble? Do I need to kill anyone?”
She rolled her eyes “You’re too valuable to go to prison You’d have Dalton do it anyway”
Noah smirked “The pretty boy would be popular in prison”
“You’re a sick puppy And no, nothing’s wrong Pro by you that could be beneficial to us both”
“Okay, if you’re going to be all uess I can wait until later You want to go back to your place for a while? I’d invite you to mine but the ht
You do have food, right?”
She shook her head “Yes, I have food, and yes, we can go back to my place For God’s sake, Noah, how hard is it to pick up after yourself? Or if you can’t do that, at least pick up the phone and get another maid service?”
“I’ve sort of been blackballed,” he ency where my reputation hasn’t preceded me”
“I feel so sorry for the woman you marry She’ll be in ten kinds of hell”
“You don’t have to worry because that’s not going to happen”
“Sure Okay I believe you”
They both looked up when the others spilled into the living rooht squeeze and mouthed “later”
“Food’ll be on the table in fifteen minutes,” her father announced
Her mouth watered She didn’t even knohat her dad had cooked It didn’t enius
Lunch was a rambunctious affair Her brothers bickered and joked endlessly while her father looked on indulgently She’d h she loathed the circulad to be back in the coeneration froround cavemen
After the table had been cleared, the argument started over what channel the television landed on Noah didn’t know anything but ESPN or the Food Network existed, Dalton liked anything that was mindless, particularly if explosions were involved, and Adaardening shows
Celia settled back to enjoy the sights and sounds of home Her father sat on the couch next to her and shook his head over his sons’ antics
It was the truth, she’d fled the hovering overprotectiveness of her family She’d been determined to make her mark on the world while they wanted her to stay home, where they could support her and look out for her
She wasn’t a vain woman, but she knew men found her attractive She was probably considered beautiful by most, but her looks had been the cause of a lot of problems in her life
Because of her delicate looks, her brothers and even her father thought her job was just to look pretty and let thee—she’d done all of that on her own—and they certainly hadn’t wanted her to have a career in so
She’d ignored their objections She’d gotten her degree and after graduation, she’d taken a job in New York City After a couple of years, she’d taken a position with a large, prestigious firm She was on her way up A promotion had just ce down like a bridge in an earthquake
Adahts She forced her fingers to relax and winced at the marks she’d left on her palms
“Leaving already?” she asked
Ada “Yeah I need to check on a job I’ll see you at the season opener, though”
She kissed his cheek and patted his shoulder affectionately “Of course”
She turned to Dalton “I guess you’ll be going, too, since you brought him over”
“Yep I have a date I’ve got to get ready for anyway”
No one seemed surprised by that announcement
“I’ll walk you guys out I need to run, too I have a pitch to prepare for”
Her father griruff lecture about how she worked too hard
An interesting statement since Adam worked harder than all of them, and no one ever lectured him
To her surprise, he rearded him with a raised eyebrow and wondered if he’d burst at the seams, but his lips re her and then gruffly reh rest
They all walked out together, and her father reminded them all of lunch next Sunday Celia waved to Ada his goodbyes to their father, and she drove down the driveway Noah would be along shortly and she needed to make sure her pantry would survive the assault
Celia had just done a cursory exa the fact she hadn’t been to the —when the door buzzer sounded
She strode across to the call box and mashed the button “That you, Noah?”
“Yep, buzz me in?”
A few seconds later, Noah walked in, and she smiled her welcome
“I know that smile,” he said suspiciously “That’s a smile that says you lured me here under false pretenses You don’t have any food, do you?”
“Weeeell, no But I did just order pizza”
“You’re forgiven, but I refuse to have a reasonable discussion until it gets here”
She laughed and punched him on the arm when he flopped on the sofa next to her “If I didn’t need a favor from you, I’d make you pay for it”