Chapter 16 – Whatever This Feeling Is

Chapter 16 – Whatever This Feeling Is

Juliet Pierce

I couldn’t look back. I didn’t have the strength to face him again.

What the hell is happening to me? I’m not a teenager anymore, swooning just because a man kissed me once. I’m a grown woman. Mature. Responsible… Yeah, right. Who am I trying to fool?

Noah undoes me in ways I can’t explain, and seeing him with that woman on her knees shattered something inside me.

I asked Atlas for a few minutes because I “wasn’t feeling well.” He let me go without a single question.

I ran to the locker room, sat on the bench, hugged my knees to my chest, and tried to calm my body, my mind… and whatever was happening in my heart.

Click. The lock turned.

I looked up.

There he was, those impossible green eyes fixed on me.

“Can I help you with something, Mr. Noah?” I tried to sound steady. I failed. I always fail with him.

“Why did you run out like that?”

“My job was to deliver the accessory. I did. Then I returned to my post.”

“I thought your post was the bar.”

“I wasn’t feeling well. Mr. Atlas gave me a break.” I stood and started toward the door. “But if that bothers you, I’ll get back to work.”

The second I passed him, his arm snaked around my waist and yanked me against his chest.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he growled low. “I just want to understand why.”

I tried to pull away. He didn’t let me.

One arm stayed locked around my waist. The other came up, fingers curling firmly around my throat, forcing my eyes to his.

“Mr. Noah… I need to get back to work,” I whispered.

“You will.” He pressed me tighter against him. “When I’m done with you.”

His voice was pure command. My body answered before my brain could protest—heat, shivers, weakness in my knees.

“What… what do you need me to do?” The words came out shaky, laced with something I didn’t want to name.

He growled again, deeper this time. His eyes flashed like I’d just dared him.

“I want you to stop running from me, Juliet.” His lips brushed mine, barely there. “Tonight, when I start…” His fingers gripped my chin, hard. “Stay with me until I finish.”

Then he kissed me.

No warning. No gentleness. Just raw, starving hunger.

My hands flew to his shoulders, then slid to the back of his neck, pulling him closer. His tongue claimed my mouth like he already owned it. The world disappeared—the club, the reason I was here, even my own name.

He pushed me against the wall. My body arched into him without permission. His hands burned trails down my sides until they locked around my waist, lifting me slightly off the floor.

“You’re driving me insane,” he rasped between kisses, lips moving to my neck, teeth scraping skin like he wanted to mark me. “I don’t recognize myself since the moment I saw you.”

A helpless moan escaped me. My legs shook. If he let go, I’d collapse.

“Noah…” It sounded like begging. It probably was.

He crushed his mouth to mine again, harder, possessive. One hand returned to my throat.

This time he didn’t just hold.

He squeezed.

Not brutally. Not violently. But suddenly it wasn’t Noah anymore.

It was George. The yelling. The terror. The pain that broke me.

“Stop.” My voice was too small. He didn’t hear.

“Noah, stop!”

I shoved with everything I had.

He released me instantly, stepping back, breathing hard, confusion all over his face.

I sucked in air, trying to steady the panic. My heart was racing for an entirely different reason now.

“I…” I touched my lips, still tasting him. “I can’t do this.”

“Juliet…”

“I’m not that kind of woman. I don’t know how to be.” I took another step back. “I can’t do casual, and I definitely can’t do… whatever it is you like.”

“Juliet—”

“And I know you’re not the kind of man who does relationships. At least not the kind I’d want… or maybe need.”

Silence.

I waited. Hoped. Prayed he’d say I was wrong. That he could be what I needed.

But he said nothing. Just watched me with those unreadable green eyes.

So I filled the silence myself.

“Can we just… keep things the way they are? I’m the waitress. You’re my boss.” I let out a shaky breath. “I really need this job.”

Something dark flashed across his face, but he stayed quiet.

He stepped closer, cupped my cheek, and brushed his thumb over my swollen lips.

“I have to get back to work…” I whispered.

He only nodded.

Tears welled up. I couldn’t stop them. They rolled down my cheeks before I could blink them away.

Noah wiped them gently, then dropped his hand and moved aside.

I reached the door, paused, and looked back.

“I’m sorry.”

Then I walked out.

Outside, I leaned against the closed door. My hands shook. My chest ached.

I don’t know what I feel for Noah. I just know it’s too much.

And after seeing him with that woman… After his silence when I needed words…

One thing is crystal clear.

Whatever this feeling is, I have to bury it.