“You were missed last night.” She smiled teasingly. “What kept you? Or should I say who kept you?”

Abel smirked but otherwise didn’t seem to know anything. Hector wasn’t even paying attention. He was too busy talking to Gio’s sisters. Noah glanced at Gio, whose expression gave nothing away but Noah knew there was no way Gio would tell anyone his business. “I just had other plans this year, but I’m here now to make up for it.”

“Ooh sounds promising,” she said, walking up to his bike. “I got a car this year—the Honda out front. Did you see it?”

Noah hadn’t noticed anything as he drove in. His mind had been so muddled the whole way there, all he could think of was Roni and Derek. “No, I didn’t see it.” He stepped off his bike hanging his helmet on the bike’s handlebars.

Rita’s hand was immediately in his. She’d never made a secret of her attraction to him and she had no qualms about everyone knowing about their understanding. “C’mon I’ll show it to you. It’s why I’m still here. I’m leaving later today but maybe we can go for a drive first.”

She smiled and the continued gleam in her eyes was very telling about what she had in mind. Something that Noah would normally jump at the chance for and could actually use the way he’d been feeling lately. Somehow, that morning’s exchange took the excitement out of even this for him. He couldn’t believe how worked up he still felt. Turning back to the guys, he saw Abel smirking and he rolled his eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

Rita turned back to them as well, lifting an eyebrow. “Maybe not right back.”

“Two minutes?” Abel asked laughing.

Noah didn’t bother responding but a chuckle escaped him. For once since seeing the pictures in Roni’s dark room, he felt his tension dissipate ever so slightly.

Rita clicked the keychain she held and the chirp of her car went off as they walked out to the front of Gio’s house. It was an older model Honda Accord but still in very good shape. “I love the color,” she said as they approached the silver sedan.

Once in it, Noah had just closed his door when she leaned in and planted a deep wet kiss on him, leaving very little to anticipate. Her tongue was in his mouth, eagerly roaming every inch. She moaned against his lips, sucking on his bottom one. “God, I love your lips,” she said breathlessly. “Let’s get out of here.”

She sat back licking her lips and turned on the car. As they sped off she updated him on everything she’d done since she’d last seen him. Noah didn’t know why but his head spun trying to come up with a reason why they shouldn’t do what he knew she had in mind.

They reached a secluded parking garage not far from Gio’s house. It was a place they’d frequented in the past for the very same reason. Rita wasted no time. Her lips were on his the moment she pulled the keys from the ignition.

Something had changed since the last time he’d been with Rita. Noah couldn’t put his finger on it but he didn’t feel the same carnal excitement he normally felt when he was with her or any other girl. Maybe it was the fact that he still couldn’t get Roni and those damn pictures out of his mind. Somehow, he didn’t think anything would get his mind off them now.

Rita’s hands fumbled with his zipper pulling it down then reaching into his briefs. She wrapped her hands around his instant erection then smiled at him. Wasting no time, she pulled a condom out of the glove compartment with her other hand and it seconds had it on him. Then with a move so fast a ninja would envy her she was on his lap, her skirt pulled up to her thighs and she slipped right on to him.

Noah’s head fell back accepting the incredible pleasure of it, holding her by the waist. He lifted his hips in rhythm with hers pushing in as deep as possible. Her moans only intensified his arousal. Okay maybe nothing could alleviate the annoyance he felt over the pictures but closing his eyes, imagining this was Roni, making him thrust even harder, definitely helped.

CHAPTER 10

Noah’s injured shoulder had healed nicely and he was training in the ring once again. With his client list growing, he was busier than ever. He spent entire days in the gym now. Training others in the morning, then working on his own training throughout the afternoon.

Since Abel (who was as good a promoter as he was a fighter) had already lined up a fight for Noah before the end of the year, Noah’s training was in high gear. After working out with the bags for a couple of hours he did sparring with either Abel who was a monster compared to him or Gio who was more at his weight level and on occasion Hector who was still a feather weight.

At that point of the day is when he’d become a bit distracted looking out for Roni who arrived for her workout in the evening. In the past weeks of living with her, his feelings for her while he tried to play down even to himself were beyond just physical attraction. He looked forward to talking to her now—telling her about his workouts and the new clients he’d picked up. She was as excited about his first fight as he was though she admitted to being a little nervous about watching him fight. But she promised she’d be there ringside even if she had to cover her eyes.

Not only that, he loved hearing her talk about the photos she’d taken and she had even shown him how she developed them and the process of getting them printed. She’d since removed the offending photos from her lab. Noah hadn’t asked why. He was just happy to see them gone.

Her excitement about photography finally got her interested in his phone. He showed her some of the many apps available for photo enhancement. The equipment she had in her dark room looked pretty expensive to him but she admitted there was a lot she could do on his phone. He had her email him some pictures she’d taken and she regularly sat on the sofa now playing with his phone amazed at the things she could do to some of her photographs. He loved how into it she got because half the time she didn’t notice how he’d sit there and just stare at her the whole time. And the times she had caught him he’d easily play it off as if he were trying to check out what she was doing. Little did he know when he bought his phone that he could use it as a means of getting closer to her. It was a little alarming now how much he looked forward to their moments alone.