Chapter 230

Less than a week after Andrew’s press conference, Noah’s injuries—both external and internal—were fully healed. He seemed to be in high spirits. Despite all the work that he had to catch up on, he took an extra day off to celebrate with me.

It was sweet, actually.

We saw an early movie, a comedy that we had both been dying to see. We shared popcorn and a soda, and Noah managed to steal several kisses throughout the film—a very bold move for someone as shy as he is. I did not initiate anything, but I returned whatever pecks I received.

We then went to Miranda’s Brew for lunch. While I had a small bowl of tomato soup, he munched down on a cold turkey sandwich. It was very reminiscent of the meetings we used to have while trying to put Bob away, the meetings that Andrew used to despise.

Andrew.

I knew that I shouldn’t be thinking about him while on a date with Noah, but the universe had made it hard not to.

I could feel Jeffrey’s eyes on me, even with him trying to remain in the shadows and out of our eyesight (Noah had made it clear that he was not comfortable with my ex’s guard still tailing me). He was a constant reminder of what had once been…and what could never be again.

Then there were the notifications blaring on my phone. I tried to ignore them, but the screen glared at me until I gave them some acknowledgement. They were all the same: tabloid headlines and news articles about Andrew and Princess Aurora’s latest date at the Lexington Hotel and Howler Park.

Of course, it had to be Howler Park.

As I scrolled through these notifications, Noah tapped his coffee cup on the table. I glanced up at him, barely taking my attention off my phone.

“Yes?” I asked.

“I was asking what you wanted to do after lunch,” he said, slight annoyance creeping into his tone.

“Oh.” I blushed slightly and pushed my phone to the side. “Whatever you want to do.”

Noah eyed my phone suspiciously before returning his gaze to me.

“Well, I was thinking that we could take a walk in the park.”

I cringed.

“Which park?”

“Well, Howler Park is closest…”

I scrunched my nose and shook my head.

“If you don’t mind, I would rather avoid that particular park.”

Noah seemed about to argue, maybe to tell me that I couldn’t run away from the memory of Andrew forever, but another look at my face and he couldn’t seem to do it. Instead, he nodded and sipped at his coffee.

“Which park would you prefer?”

I took a long drink of my now lukewarm coffee.

“How about Omega Park?”

Noah groaned.

“That’s all the way on the other side of town.”

I batted my eyes at him.

“Please?”

My phone buzzed as another headline about Andrew and Princess Aurora’s relationship popped up. Noah glanced at it, then a steely determination crossed his face that I had never seen on him before.

“All right. Omega Park, it is.”

Omega Park wasn’t as big or as extravagant as Howler Park, but it had its charm. Its narrow cobblestone paths encouraged intimacy among its pedestrians, especially potential lovers. Noah and I were among them that day as we walked side-by-side, me clinging to his arm.

Noah had a surprisingly vast knowledge of the local flora and fauna. He pointed out different types of trees, flowers, bushes, birds, squirrels, and even insects as we strolled.

His voice hummed in my ear as my mind drifted. As thoughts of the headlines spun through my head, I wondered what Andrew was doing right at that moment.

Normally, I would think that he would be at his office, plugging away at his work. With Princess Aurora in the picture, though, I had no idea if he would shirk his other responsibilities in favor of courting such a high-ranking diplomat. Maybe he was working from home, Princess Aurora sitting on his lap or massaging his shoulders as I had so often done…

My nails dug into Noah’s arm. He looked down at me questioningly. I smiled apologetically and loosened my grip, to which he merely shrugged and returned to his lecture.

I couldn’t stand the image of Princess Aurora in such an intimate position with Andrew, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. I tried to go back to imagining Andrew working alone in his official office, but my mind was persistent. All I could see was Princess Aurora pawing at him, leaning in for a kiss…

Noah came to a sudden stop as we approached a bunch of ocean-blue, white-tipped flowers. Bending over, he pulled out one of these long flowers by the root and presented it to me ceremoniously.

“Sky lupine,” he said, “incredibly beautiful but toxic if ingested. Handle with care.”

He winked as he handed the plant to me.

I smiled slightly and grasped the flower by the stem. I opened my mouth to thank him, but I stopped as I felt my phone vibrate through my purse. Before I could stop it, my eye twitched, and my hand flexed as I resisted the urge to look at my phone.

Noah looked at my purse and frowned.

“You’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“No, Noah. You have all my attention.”

Noah sighed. He grabbed me by the hand and took me to the nearest bench. As we sat down, Noah refused to look at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I should be asking you that,” he retorted. “You’ve been thinking about Andrew all day.”

I stared ahead at the field of sky lupine stretching before us.

“No, I haven’t.”

His hands curled into fists on his lap.

“Can you please just be honest with me? If this relationship is going to work, we’re going to need to be honest with each other, no matter how much it might hurt the other person.”

I rubbed my hands over my face.

“I know.” I took a deep breath. “Yes, I’ve been thinking about Andrew.”

Noah stretched out his jaw in his attempt to not lose control of his emotions.

“Why? Am I not enough for you?”

I reached over and grabbed Noah’s hand in both of mine.

“Of course, you are. This is just a hard time for me, that’s all. It doesn’t help that every tabloid and news station seem to be covering his and Princess Aurora’s new relationship.”

“Or that his guard is still following you around,” Noah said bitterly.

“I can’t help that Andrew still wants to protect me—”

“From what, though? Bob’s on trial right now, and there’s no way that he’s going to worm his way out of murder charges.”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know, but I trust that he knows about these kinds of threats better than anyone else.”

Noah side-eyed me.

“Are you sure that this isn’t just his way of keeping an eye on you?”

I didn’t have a good answer for that. I knew that Andrew wasn’t like that, but I also knew that there was no way that I could convince Noah of that.

Stroking his cheek, I leaned over and kissed Noah lightly on the lips.

“I promise, I will not think about Andrew for the rest of our day together,” I said as I pulled away from him.

Noah looked into my eyes, then put his hand behind my head and brought my lips back to his. He kissed me passionately, and I hesitantly returned it.

“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate that.”

Holding my hand, he stood up and pulled me to my feet.

“Come,” he continued, “we have an entire park to explore.”

I leaned my head on his shoulder as we walked away. My stomach churned with guilt.

I was already breaking my promise to him.