Page 19 of Just My Type (The Boston Hearts #3)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

HANNAH

“ W hat the fuck, Noah! Take it off,” I hiss as the elevator doors slide closed, and I stab the button for the lobby.

Noah smirks at me and runs a hand over my ponytail, sweeping his gaze down my body and back up again. “You want to get naked in the elevator, Han? I’m not usually one for exhibitionism, but for my wife, I can absolutely make an exception.”

I swear, I can actually feel the steam come out of my ears. “Your ring, asshole. Take off the damn ring. And don’t call me your wife! Jesus.”

He looks down at the ring and then back up at me, hesitation written all over his face, and what the fuck is that all about? “I like wearing it.”

“You like…” I trail off, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, reminding myself that murder is wrong.

“Noah,” I say slowly, opening my eyes and gripping the railing on the elevator wall for dear life.

“We’re on our way down to meet everyone we know for lunch.

Your brothers. My sisters. Amelia. All of Jordan’s friends who I have known forever because they’re my older sister’s friends, too, and one of them is my damn brother-in-law.

It’s weird enough that we’re showing up together.

You can’t wear a wedding ring because we’re not telling anyone we got married. What part of that is tripping you up?”

Noah grins at me and leans over, kissing my cheek and tugging off his ring at the same time.

He tucks the ring into the pocket of his shorts, and I try to keep my face from turning bright red at the feel of his lips on my skin.

“I know, Gorgeous. I just like it when you swipe at me. And it’s not weird that we’re showing up together.

Our hotel rooms are on the same floor. How’s that for a coincidence? ”

I close my eyes again and wonder if maybe this is all some kind of psychotic fever dream. Maybe I’m about to wake up in my bed in Boston and realize that none of this is real. A girl can hope, right?

Except then Noah puts his hands on my shoulders, turning me to face him.

When I open my eyes, he’s right there and very real, with his messy hair and his stubbled jaw and his woodsy scent, and I have the overwhelming urge to burrow right into him and let him fix everything.

It’s so messed up that the person who is my sidekick in the most fucked up situation of my life is also the person who makes me feel calmer than anyone else in the world.

I have no idea what to do with that, and since apparently I can’t keep anything a secret from this man, I come right out with it.

“I don’t know what to do right now,” I admit, my eyes on Noah’s.

He smiles, pushing a piece of hair behind my ear, letting his hand linger on my cheek. “We’re going to have lunch with all our people, and we’ll do whatever it is Jordan has planned for the rest of the day and tomorrow. Then, we’re going to fly back to Boston and do whatever comes next.”

I shake my head at his calm nonchalance. Like getting accidentally drunk married in Vegas is just another day. “Just like that?”

He strokes his thumb over my jaw. “Just like that, Han. I said everything was going to be okay, and I meant it. Stick with me, Gorgeous. We’ll figure all of this out.”

I blow out a breath, amazed to find that I actually do feel better. Marginally. “Okay,” I say as the elevator dings and the doors slide open.

“Hannah!” I whip my head around at the very familiar voice. Noah’s hand drops from my face, but it’s too little, too late because there, right outside the elevator, is my older sister Hallie and her husband Ben, both of them grinning madly, eyes bouncing between Noah and me.

“Hallie!” I rush out of the elevator and throw myself at my sister, clinging to her in a hug that may or may not be just a touch desperate.

She wraps her arms around me, squeezing tight. “Noah Wyles?” she says into my ear. “We’re going to talk about what that was just now, right?” Her voice is amused with the undercurrent of concern both my sisters get whenever they talk to me these days. I really, really hate that concern.

“It’s nothing,” I mutter.

Hallie pulls back to study me, her hands on my shoulders. “I’ll let you get away with that for now because I’m just happy to see your face.”

“Same,” Ben says, wrapping me in a hug. “You’ve been gone for too long, Hans.”

I pull back and smile at both of them. “It’s not like I don’t talk to you both, like, every day.”

Ben grins, swinging an arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, but when you call, you just want to talk to the babies. We never hear anything about you.”

I smile at that because Ben and Hallie’s twins are really the loves of my life. And I hate talking about myself these days. “I’m not that interesting. ”

“Beg to differ,” Noah says from behind me.

I jolt a little at the sound of his voice. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Hallie smirk at me, and I swear she says “Nothing, my ass” under her breath.

“Noah Wyles,” Ben says, shaking his hand. “It’s been too long.”

Noah grins at him. “Well, if we’re going to catch up anywhere, Vegas is the best place to do it.”

“Yeah it is,” Hallie says, glancing around the hotel lobby. “So, tell me everything. What have you been up to since you got here yesterday? Anyone do anything crazy yet?”

I choke on nothing, coughing and sputtering like I’m drowning, while Hallie looks at me like I have ten heads, and Noah looks like he’s biting his cheek to keep from laughing.

Shithead.

“You okay, Hans?” Hallie asks.

“Totally fine,” I croak, coughing one more time. “All good.”

“You sure?” Ben studies me. “You look a little pale.”

“She’s probably still recovering from last night,” Noah says, tossing an arm around my shoulders.

“Turns out, our Hannah is a fellow night owl, so I convinced her to take a midnight walk on the Strip with me, and then we played slots until, like, three in the morning. We bonded over being the only single ones in a sea of couples after they all left us to do couple things.”

I breathe a small sigh of relief at the very believable lie, and when I glance up at Noah, he gives me a wink that has my insides turning to liquid.

I really need to get a grip.

“What about Cooper?” Ben asks.

Noah shrugs casually. “He might as well be part of a couple. He’s married to his job and is in a very committed relationship with his laptop.

Lawyers are a weird breed.” He pauses, looking at Hallie, and I can see the exact second he realizes that she’s also a lawyer.

“Sorry—not you, Hallie. Definitely not you.”

Hallie laughs, waving that away. “There’s a reason my friends and I left BigLaw all those years ago to go out on our own. BigLaw lawyers are a weird breed.”

“You were never a weird breed, Hal,” Ben says, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing a kiss to her hair.

She chuckles. “I was, but you’ve always been too obsessed with me to realize it.”

“Got that right.” The love in Ben’s eyes when he looks at my sister is so intense that it has my chest clenching with an emotion I can’t quite name but don’t have time to figure out because a shriek comes from across the lobby, and we’ve barely even turned around before Jo is hurling herself at us, so we’re in a tight, three way hug.

When she lets go, she leaves one arm around me and one around Hallie, keeping us linked together.

“Gah, I love this day so much. Evans sisters reunited!” Jo bounces on her toes a little, glancing at both of us with a broad smile on her face, and then looking over at Jordan, who walks up at a regular pace, hugging Ben and then kissing Hallie on the cheek.

“Missed you guys,” Jordan says, tugging Jo back to him and wrapping an arm around her, as if he can’t bear not to be touching her. “Thanks for making the trip.”

“You’re getting fucking married, dude.” Ben slaps Jordan on the shoulder. “To my sister-in-law. There’s nowhere else we’d be. Besides, we couldn’t leave you alone in Vegas with your brothers. Who knows what kind of fuckery they’d come up with?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Noah says. “There will still be plenty of fuckery. Wyles brothers always find a way.” He smirks at me, and I want to throttle him, but I also have the sudden urge to kiss him. Riddle me that.

“Fuck yes, we do!” Cooper comes sauntering up to us, Elliot and Amelia trailing behind him. The guys fall into conversation, and Amelia makes a beeline for us.

“Why is Noah looking at you like he wants to devour you whole?” Amelia asks, sly smile on her face .

“He’s not,” I say immediately, glancing over to find that actually, yes, he’s looking at me exactly like that. I narrow my eyes at him, resisting the urge to yell at him to cut it the fuck out.

“He is,” Hallie and Jo say together.

“He likes you, Hans,” Amelia says, grinning. “I told you so.”

“Okay, I think someone needs to fill me in, like, immediately,” Hallie says, looking between Amelia and me. “I’m not sure I like you being in Boston. I don’t like to be the odd one out.”

“Noah is obsessed with Hannah.” Jo leans her head against mine. “Like, totally, completely obsessed. She won’t admit it.”

“He’s a really good guy, Hans,” Hallie says. “All the Wyles brothers are.”

“I know,” I mumble, thinking of the way he offered to help me find my writing again. And the way he took this morning in stride even though I’m freaking the fuck out. I think Noah Wyles may be the best guy.

I’m saved from having to say anything when Cooper speaks up. “Can we go to lunch? I’m fucking starving.”

Everyone agrees and starts to move across the lobby to the hotel restaurant. I trail behind, trying to avoid any more questions I’m not ready to answer, and people in general, except there’s one person I just can’t seem to get away from.

“You okay, Gorgeous?” Noah murmurs, sidling up next to me and slowing his pace to match mine as everyone else walks ahead.

“I suck at subterfuge,” I mutter. “And I’m a shit liar.”

He brushes his hand against mine and links our pinkies together briefly. I like it a little too much. “We could just tell everyone we accidentally got married. No subterfuge necessary.”

“Never going to happen,” I say flatly.

Noah chuckles. “You’re the boss, Han. Come on, wife. Let’s go have lunch.”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t call me that.”

“Would you prefer wifey? ”

I actually cringe. “Ew, gross.”

This time he lets out a full-blown laugh and presses a kiss to my hair just like Ben did to Hallie before. My stupid chest fills with warmth. “Wife it is, then.” Noah flashes me a grin and pulls me across the lobby to catch up with everyone.