It was a Friday, and Taryn was bored. This was never a good thing, since boredom tended to make her extremely restless and bitchy. She didn't have Torin or Trevor to bug, and it seemed all of her friends were too busy for her, which heightened her irritation even further. Finally, after attempting to sunbathe out by the pool with little success thanks to the sporadic bursts of sunshine that never last that long, Taryn stomped back in the house and up to her room. She decided to get out of the house and drive somewhere. Shopping, the beach, she didn't care as long as she wasn't stuck inside anymore.
She didn't bother changing out of her red bikini, but instead tugged on a thin, white tank top and a short, frayed jean skirt that skimmed her already tanned thighs. After repinning her hair on top of her head, she grabbed her purse and slipped on her sandals before grabbing her keys to leave. Once she was actually in her car and driving into town, Taryn started giving more thought to where she wanted to go. It didn't take long before she decided to have a little bit of fun.
It was a hot day, and after parking at the marina, Taryn popped into the pub and bought a couple fresh squeezed lemonades, since she still couldn't seem to convince the bartender to sell her any booze, and she carried them down the pier toward Noah's boat. Taryn had no idea if he was home, or busy, but she was just bored enough with her day that she was willing to take a chance. As she approached, she spotted him on top of the boat's roof, clearly working on fixing it up or... something. Who the hell knew what kind of maintenance boats needed? Taryn liked sailing on them, not working on them.
Technically, what Noah was doing was preventative maintenance. The weather around here was hard on boats, especially, and he had visions of getting leaks that at best would ruin what minimal decor he had and at worst might sink his boat to the bottom of the marina. He'd been outside for quite a while going over the boat thoroughly, and he was currently on the roof. It was damned hot out here, particularly right now when the sun was out again, and he'd discarded his shirt at least an hour ago. He was sweating, wiping diligently at a spot he'd found so he could determine if it was rust or merely dirt, and as he lifted one arm to wipe his forehead and keep moisture from dripping into his eyes, he spotted Little Miss 'I Always Get What I Want' heading in his direction.
"Here comes trouble," he murmured under his breath with a resigned kind of amusement. She was an incredibly gorgeous girl, but he still had trouble believing she was as old as she'd said she was. What did she have in mind for today? He smiled and waved at her, though, not seeing any need to be stuck-up. Laid back and friendly was his usual m.o. with just about everyone.
Taryn smiled when Noah seemed to see and acknowledge her. There might have been the tiniest bit of fear that he wouldn't remember her, but that was quickly assuaged when he smiled and waved at her. Of course he would remember her. She was a Spencer, wasn't she? "Hey," Taryn called up to him, standing on the pier in front of his boat and squinting up against the sun with both drinks still in her hand. He looked really good without a shirt on. All sweaty and glistening and... shirtless. Yum. Her voice took on a flirtatious tone as she lifted one of the lemonades in her hand and continued, "You look thirsty. Luckily for you, I brought two instead of one, if you're up for taking a break."
It wasn't so much that she was a Spencer that he remembered her, because that meant nothing to Noah, but it was the fact that a man would have to be blind or maybe dead to forget a woman who looked like that. Okay, a very young-looking woman. Still, the same principle applied. "What're you doin' out this way?" he asked her with a smile, then clambered down the narrow ladder that was permanently attached to the side of his boat. He picked up his discarded shirt and used it for a towel, wiping the most obvious of the sweat away, and then ambled toward her. "I am very thirsty," he confirmed. "If you're willing to share, I can definitely take a break."
"I was just out enjoying the weather," Taryn explained, trying not to blatantly stare at his chest. Did she already mention yum? She knew Torin got on her about flirting with older guys but whatever, she had no doubt Tor would approve of this one. "And drove by here and thought maybe you would be home." Offering him one of the plastic cups of lemonade, Taryn couldn't help but smile a bit coyly. "I'm always willing to share. Besides, like I said, I brought two with the hope that you would be home. Your boat's not damaged is it?" He was on the roof, after all, and they'd had some pretty severe weather lately. That would totally suck if his roof was leaking. Yachts would never leak. It was too damn bad he didn't own one.
"It's a great day," Noah said with a nod and a smile. "Gonna storm later, but right now it's perfect." Hot and blustery, with an almost electrical sense to the atmosphere. He looked forward to writing while the storm was going on. His plan was to snag some dinner to bring back here, maybe call Cordy and shoot the breeze, check in and flirt a little, then settle in to see if he could bust out an entire chapter. "Thanks," he said as she handed him a cup of lemonade. He took a swig, finding it sweet and just tart enough. "Actually I don't think it's leakin'," he said. "I'm just making sure it doesn't. The weather gets pretty crazy around here." That was something she'd know as well as he did, he felt sure.
Ugh, Taryn wasn't a huge fan of storms unless she had something to do inside. With the way her day was turning out, she feared she'd be holed up in her bedroom eating ice cream and catching up on Gossip Girl. On a Friday night! It was just unacceptable that none of her friends were around, and worse, she didn't have a date. "That's why I'm out here, actually. I figured it was best to enjoy the day while I could before I'm forced inside by the weather." She took a sip of her own lemonade through the straw she'd shoved into the lid earlier, while letting her gaze wander over him for just a brief moment. It was too hard to resist, really. It was his own fault too, for walking around shirtless. It was like he was inviting her to look. Taryn knew the deal. She did it all the time with the clothes she wore. If she didn't want boys checking her out, she'd wear a hell of a lot more layers. "Do you need help?" She smiled brightly - and innocently - before she stepped down onto the boat without invitation so she could be closer to him. "I'm great at handling tools."
"Don't like walkin' in the rain, huh?" Noah asked her. That didn't really surprise him. Admittedly, he barely knew her, but she struck him as more of an indoor girl. "Not that that's a bad thing around here, I guess." The storms in the Darkwater area could get violent quickly; he knew that as well as anyone else who actually lived on their boat in the marina. The weather here posed more chaos than it did for the average person. He drank deep from the glass of lemonade, finding it more delicious the more he drank of it. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he'd had something to drink today. He had to struggle not to react visibly when she offered to help him and told him that she was great at handling tools. It was a struggle because he wanted to bust out laughing at the blatant innuendo she was serving up, here, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Dear Penthouse Letters, he thought, highly amused. You won't believe this happened, but I swear it's true. "I'm close to being done," he replied, gesturing behind him at the deck of the boat, where there were a few rags and a tube of caulk but no actual tools. "As you can see, I don't really have any tools out for you to handle right now."
No, she didn't like walking in the rain. Unless she was swimming, or in the shower, Taryn preferred not to get wet, certainly not in her clothes. The drowned rat look did not work for her. "It's one thing to walk in the rain, and another to get caught in one of Darkwater's storms," she pointed out. Now she was wandering about the small deck of the boat, occasionally sipping her lemonade as she observed every nook and cranny, as if she might find some kind of flaw. At least it looked like he kept the thing up to code, or whatever they called it. Turning when he motioned to the rags and caulk, Taryn was mildly disappointed that he wasn't using manly tools, because she had a nice image of him shirtless, sweaty and hammering away on top of his boat. Darn. "That's okay," Taryn replied with another grin. "I can keep you company at least. I mean, it's not like I'll distract you and make you hammer your thumb or something. And I don't think I've ever heard of anyone suffering an accident from caulk."
"You've got a point," Noah said cheerfully enough to what she'd said about Darkwater's storms. They were nothing to sneeze at. He drank down the rest of his lemonade as Taryn wandered around, then put the cup down next to the sidewall so hopefully nobody would trip over it. Then he leaned down to pick up one of the rags and the caulk, figuring he might as well get back to it. He didn't have much more to go, and it didn't seem as if Taryn minded the notion of watching him work. "Sure," he said when she told him she could keep him company, waving a hand toward the canvas fold-up chair that sat near the door leading down into his boat. "Have a seat, if you want. I guess the only caulk incident I could possibly have might be gluing my fingers together." He shrugged and smiled and then turned to climb the ladder to the top of the boat again. Once he'd arrived there, he stretched out on his stomach to start going over the section of roof near the front of the boat. "What have you been up to since I saw you last?" he inquired, making conversation.
Taryn wanted to be able to watch him, and sitting down didn't give her the best view at all, so she stayed standing, leaning against the side of the boat as he headed back up the narrow ladder. She blatantly watched his ass as he climbed, only shifting her gaze when he was finally up there and stretching out. She had to take a quick sip of lemonade to wet her throat that had dried up. No way would she be a virgin right now if she'd been able to snag a guy who looked like him. She folded one arm under her breasts, holding her lemonade in the other as she answered his question. "Not a whole lot. Just enjoying the summer, I guess. Or trying to. I've been kind of bored lately." While she was so happy to be home, she did miss Italy. At least there was always something to do there. "What about you?"
Noah poked at a cluster of spots he'd found, unsure what they were but not wanting them to get deeper. He reached for the caulk and squeezed a tiny bit out, sealing the area with his fingers. It wasn't the most expert way to repair a boat, he felt sure, but the caulk was waterproof, designed to be used inside a pool. That'd work for a boat in a place where there was a lot of stormy weather, he felt sure. "Bored? Now, that's a shame," he said. "Do you have a summer job, or are you just chilling out?" He picked up the rag to wipe his fingers. "Me, I'm never bored," he said when she asked what he'd been doing. "I've been doing some writing, running on the beach. Went mini golfing with a friend the other night. That was kind of a kick." He chuckled. "We both sucked at it, at least."
Summer job? Work during the summer? Taryn had to literally force herself to keep from scoffing at the idea of it. It wasn't that Taryn wasn't willing to put in a few hard hours of work for a paycheck, but why bother right now? She had money, and it was summer. Given the choice between sunbathing on the beach or catering to rude customers? There was no contest. "Just chilling out," she answered after the urge to make a face at possible employment passed. "Which is probably my problem. A lot of my friends are out of town, or working, or busy." And she never knew what Torin was doing on any given day, or she'd just cling to him for company. "My brother writes constantly. Guess he wants to be a novelist or something." And it didn't sound as though Taryn really found it to be all that interesting. It still annoyed her that Trevor spent more time with his writing than he did paying attention to her. She played with the straw in her cup for a few seconds, pushing away the thought of Trevor and picturing Noah running on the beach instead. Shirtless. In slow motion. And then he'd be all sweaty and muscley... Taryn sighed softly before pulling herself from the fantasy. "Mini golfing? I thought most men liked to do the whole actual golfing thing." Mini golf reminded her of corny dates with girls who didn't know how to properly swing a club.
So her family most likely had money, then. Noah had gotten that impression from her the other time they'd talked, and her saying she didn't have a job just reinforced it. Nothing wrong with that, really, because she was young. She had her whole life to slave away at something, unless she ended up marrying a rich man who'd keep her in the style to which she'd become accustomed. "Chilling out's good," he said, scooting forward on the roof a bit to swab at the next suspicious-looking patch he found. "It's like a fever," he said when she mentioned her brother writing constantly. "Gets in your blood." He'd mentioned to Taryn that he wrote for a living, but nothing at all about what he wrote or how successful he was, if he was remembering correctly. That was fine with him. He wasn't one to brag about being the horror novelist Noah Absolom. "I used to golf occasionally with my brother," he remarked as he decided that what he was working on now was not rust but some kind of mineral deposit. No need for caulk on that one. "It's not much exercise though, so I'd rather run. Mini golfing's just fun, 'specially when you're with someone who doesn't take it any more seriously than you do."
Chilling out was okay sometimes but it got boring fast, which was what happened to her that day, and was the reason she was now on his boat watching him patch up his roof. Or whatever he said he was doing to it. Work was not a viable option for how to fill her free time, and Noah had no idea how on the mark he was when it came to Taryn's future spouse. Marrying anyone that wouldn't be able to comfortably provide for her would never, ever happen. "A fever? I guess he's been suffering from it for ages, then. He's pretty passionate about it." And yes, Taryn was jealous of that. One, because she felt he needed to pay more attention to life outside of writing, and two, Taryn wished she had something in her life she felt that passionate about. "Hard to find a guy who doesn't take sports seriously," Taryn remarked. "Plus, guys don't like it when girls beat them... at least not the guys I know."
"I hope he has success with it, then," Noah remarked of Taryn's brother the aspiring writer. "There's nothin' better than doing something you love." He pushed himself to a sitting position, eying the roof and deciding he'd done about all he could. "Look out below," he warned her, then lobbed the capped tube of caulk and the rag over the edge to fall to the deck. Not like either of those things was going to break, right? He exhaled a sigh and began the short climb down the ladder again, leaping to the deck in time to reply to her last comment. "A lot of guys're real competitive, yeah," he said with a nod. "Especially about sports. I've never been that crazy about 'em myself." The way he saw it, everyone was different, and not every man was super into sports. He had a short hose hooked to a faucet just to one side of the ladder, and he picked up the end of it, then turned it on to get a drink. Man, the sun was hot while it was out. "I don't mind gettin' beat by a girl if she'll kiss me after," he said cheekily, then turned the hose on himself to cool off. Why not? He was wearing swim trunks.
"I bet he will." Trevor was talented, and driven. Taryn had no doubts whatsoever that he'd be a famous novelist one day. And she wondered what it was that she loved. Traveling, shopping... unfortunately neither of those would really turn into a career for her. She knew she would have to get married, but that didn't mean she couldn't do something worthwhile, did it? Taryn watched the caulk and rag fall to the deck with a thump. The caulk rolled for about a second before coming to a stop. With a smile, she watched Noah climb down the ladder to the deck, pleased to hear he wasn't a fan of sports. Thank god. She'd had boyfriends in the past who did nothing but talk about sports, or play sports or watch sports. Yawn! The closest Taryn came to enjoying sports was when school was in session and she was in her cheerleading uniform. The moment Noah turned on the hose, Taryn stared, wondering if he was for real. Wasn't it guys who always pictured girls getting wet, flinging their hair back and forth while dressed in something skimpy. Bringing her hand up to her lips, she tried to hide the smile that spread across her face, but it was difficult. Since he didn't mind soaking himself down in front of her, Taryn wasn't going to be shy about checking him out while he did so either. "I bet you let a lot of girls win, then, with that consolation prize."
Noah wasn't thinking about what he was doing possibly being provocative, more that he was sweating to death and needed to cool off. And he had company now, which meant he couldn't go jump into the shower. He held the hose over his head, letting the water completely drench him including his close-cropped hair, then bent down to shut it off. Once he'd done that, he gave her a quizzical look, wondering what she was smiling about. "Sure I do. Who wouldn't?" he said cheerfully. "There's competitive, and then there's stupidly competitive. I'll let you guess which one I'm not." He sat down on the deck next to the lawn chair, leaving that for her if she wanted to sit down. He might live a bit rustically here on his boat, but he still had some manners. His mother had spent years drilling those into him and his brother. Noah stretched his legs out, figuring he'd drip-dry in no time in the hot, breezy day.
"Well, if you like getting women to kiss you, I'm going to say stupidly competitive." Taryn finally took a seat and crossed her legs, enjoying her day much more now. She wished she was smooth enough to somehow get a picture of Noah on her cell to send to Torin. Then he wouldn't be teasing her about any of the older men she had crushes on being senior citizens. She sipped her lemonade, watching him thoughtfully before she popped the straw from her mouth, which curved into an immediate smile. "When was the last time you actually conned a kiss out of a woman, anyway? I bet you do it all the time." He had mentioned having a few girls over the last time she'd seen him, and they were all idiots, or lesbians, if they didn't try to jump his bones at the first opportunity.
"Got it in one," Noah said, crossing his ankles and leaning his shoulder against the wall of the boat, getting more comfortable. "I knew you looked like a smart girl." Really, what straight man wouldn't like for women to kiss him? He gazed out at the hazy line of the horizon beyond the edge of the marina as the boat rocked beneath them, smiling a little. What an excellent day. It was days like this that he couldn't imagine being anywhere else or doing anything else with his life. He glanced back at Taryn when she asked him when the last time he'd conned a kiss out of a woman was. "Wednesday," he said nonchalantly, although he really didn't consider that he'd had to use con artist skills. Well, unless showing Cordy his tattoos counted as conning, and he didn't think so. It had been more like an intriguing game that they'd both enjoyed after several dates. "I bet you con kisses out of boys all the time, don't you?" He couldn't imagine that she didn't with the way she flirted.
"I'm smarter than I look," Taryn said dryly. She sipped her lemonade absently, letting her gaze wander over the boats and landscape in front of her. This wasn't so bad. Maybe she could imagine herself living on a boat, alone. A big boat though. Not this tiny little thing. She'd get claustrophobic if she had to live in this kind of boat. Plus, no room to have parties, or more than a couple people over. Besides, she'd miss her family too much. So maybe it wasn't the best idea ever. It was nice to visit occasionally though. When Noah answered her question, she turned to look at him again, unsure of why she felt surprised. Wednesday was only like, two days ago! He got around, she supposed. She didn't feel jealousy, just annoyance that she was still trying to think of a way to get him to kiss her. Then she would feel accomplished, in some sense of the word. "Wednesday, huh? That's not so bad. Lucky girl." Taryn grinned and shook her head. "I don't, actually. It's not that easy for me. I think I must have some male repellent on, because I've been going through a really long dry patch when it comes to kissing guys." She shrugged casually, as if it didn't bother her.
Noah hadn't been implying that she was dumb, more joking around as he tended to do more often than not, but he didn't comment on that. A lot of pretty girls weren't very bright, true, but then a lot of them were. Look at Cordy. She was gorgeous and intelligent, and he figured this girl probably was, too. She was definitely quick with the comebacks, anyway. Hmm, technically it had been Thursday, considering that he and Cordy'd had quite an excellent time after they'd awakened that morning, but he didn't feel the need to get into his sex life. That'd be skeevy. "Lucky me," he corrected her with a grin. He leaned his head against the side of the boat, as well, and gazed at her as she started talking about her dry spell when it came to kissing. "That's a little bit hard to believe," he said. Maybe she was looking for a compliment, although she had to know that she was beautiful. It was in the way she smiled and flirted, the way she carried herself. "'Course, it's understandable that you wouldn't wanna kiss just anyone."
Taryn definitely knew she was attractive. She came from an attractive family, and she was confident, for the most part, in her appearance. But in this particular instance, she wasn't fishing for compliments. She was being honest, in a way, because it had been awhile since she got a boy to make out with her. Her last attempt with Cian Andersen had failed in a fairly embarrassing way, and admittedly when she was rejected, it knocked her ego a little. It didn't help that she was unable to find a guy she deemed interesting enough to even date. Worse that no one was asking for a date since she'd been home. "Maybe I'm too picky," Taryn said. "There's a lot of jerks out there. Maybe I just need to cave and play mini golf with a guy who will let me win." Taryn didn't necessarily mean Noah, although she was being a little flirty about it. She didn't so much care that he'd kissed some other girl, since he hadn't mentioned her being a girlfriend. And any guy without a girlfriend was fair game.
"There's nothin' wrong with being picky," Noah told her. "I'm a little bit picky, myself." It just so happened that he was a sucker for pretty girls, and the girls he'd actually gotten busy with here lately had both been very attractive. That was evidently how he defined picky. On one hand, he would've thought that guys from her school would have been knocking down her door wanting dates... but on the other, sometimes boys were intimidated by girls who looked like her. It seemed like an eternity since he'd been in high school or college, but that was how he remembered it, anyway. He grinned at her. "The thing about mini golf is you don't even have to be good at it. You can call it a draw and still get kissed." That was what he and Cordelia had done, anyway.
"You're attractive enough to get away with being picky," Taryn pointed out. So was she, but that was beside the point. "But maybe I'll give it a try. Although it seems like a lot of work to put into just trying to get a boy to kiss you." Uncrossing her legs, she stretched them out under the sun, hoping for a little bit more color. Her toenails looked pretty though, newly pedicured with the shimmery pink polish she'd put on the night before. It reminded her that she needed to go get a manicure too. Returning her focus on Noah, Taryn wondered if he was trying to be gentlemanly because he felt she was too young? There was no way he wasn't attracted to her. Sure, that sounded egotistical, but it was true. "How picky are you, anyway?"
"So're you," Noah said, smiling at her when she told him he was attractive enough that he could be picky. He shifted around to sit Indian-style, brushing at the legs of his trunks to see if they seemed to be drying any. It was warm enough out here that he was already less soggy than he'd been. He chuckled at her assertion that mini golf was a lot of work merely to get a kiss. "No, no, see, don't look at it like that. Look at it as somethin' fun and silly to do, and if you get a kiss out of it, that's just a bonus." He knew his advice might be going in one ear and out the other; people in her age bracket were usually more prone to seeing kissing and sex as vital necessities. He rubbed one hand over his close-cropped hair as he pondered her question. "How picky am I," he repeated. "Depends on the context. If I was lookin' to get married, I'd probably be extremely picky, 'cause that's a rest-of-your-life decision." For him it would be, anyway.
Smiling at the compliment, Taryn let her feet sway back and forth lazily. She knew she was pretty, but it was nice to hear him actually say it. "Fun and silly... I think I could probably do that sometime." It was hard being silly around a cute boy, though. Taryn was supposed to act a certain way, after all. What would a guy think if she acted goofy around him? He'd likely think she was stupid or something. Taryn listened to Noah's response before laughing softly. "I don't mean it in a get married kind of way. Obviously that's not something either one of us has to think about for awhile. I mean, specifically in kissing a girl. Does she just have to be pretty? Blonde? Does she have to have an impressive chest?" Taryn brought her straw to her smiling lips. "What kind of specifics do you zone in on?"
"You should try it sometime," Noah said of doing something fun and silly. He wondered if she was one of those girls who was acutely aware of what she said and how she acted at all times. It was fairly clear that she put a lot of time into her appearance. Hair, makeup, clothing, pedicures. Not that there was anything wrong with that, certainly. "Pretty's kinda subjective," he said when she got started asking about specifics. "What I think is pretty, other guys might not." He shrugged a shoulder. "Hair color doesn't matter, having an impressive chest doesn't matter." He didn't personally care for the 'my implants, let me show you them' look, himself, but he knew a lot of men were into that. "Do you zone in on specifics when you want to kiss a guy?" Might as well turn the conversation to her rather than dwell on why she was asking him these kinds of questions.
"That doesn't really tell me what you're so picky about," Taryn pointed out. She wasn't asking about what other guys liked, she wanted to know what Noah liked. "Or what you find to be pretty either. I don't really zone in on specifics when I want to kiss someone. If I find them attractive, and they're not total assholes. I like a guy with pretty eyes, and something that resembles a sense of humor. Someone with some maturity." That was hard to come by with boys at her high school. They were either total jerks, jock heads, or both. "Hair color isn't that important to me." She paused briefly. "Though I do tend to gravitate toward brunettes."
"I know what I don't find pretty," Noah said. "Stripper types, girls with over-processed hair and two-inch nails, cigarette breath, loads of makeup. Makes you wonder what they're tryin' to hide." He didn't mind makeup on women, not at all, but he found too much of it to be a major turnoff. Her list sounded fairly sensible, he thought as he listened to what she was saying. "Personality's a big thing, I think. If a girl's gorgeous but like a plastic doll--" He almost said blow-up doll but changed his wording at the last second. "--I don't find that interesting. Most people like pretty eyes." He definitely did. "Pretty lips, nice skin. I'm kinda basic with what I like, I guess." He smiled.
Taryn got what Noah was saying. Girls who hid behind makeup and showed off every inch of their bodies were a turn off. Thankfully Taryn felt she had enough natural beauty to get away with not caking on the makeup she had in her bedroom. And while she liked to show off her body, she didn't overdo it. At least she didn't think so. There was a difference between sexy and skanky. Taryn really felt like she fit all those attributes, and she almost wanted to ask what was keeping him from kissing her, but that would have been way too forward, and maybe uncomfortable. It wasn't like he had a girlfriend, and technically she was of age too. Nineteen wasn't that young, was it? She didn't think so. Or maybe he was just being too nice, or he was totally oblivious. "So if a girl who met that particular description asked you out, it's feasible than that you would say yes?" Taryn kept her tone full of innocent curiosity, as she focused on finishing off the rest of her lemonade.
Noah might have been a touch oblivious, but he tended to think that Taryn was just messing around. She was cute and very flirty, but if she was actually nineteen, he was nearly seven years older than she was. That was a lot more of an age difference than he was used to. Plus, he wasn't necessarily looking for anyone else to date. He wasn't ready to get serious with anyone, mostly because of his work and relative youth, but he also wasn't inclined to run around and hit on all the hotties he saw, either. He stretched his legs out again, enjoying the feel of the sun on them. There were clouds encroaching on the horizon, but for the moment, they were in the clear. "I might, if I didn't have too much work going," he replied to her question. Work meaning a hot streak with his writing. A lot of women wouldn't ask a man out, which also explained why he sometimes didn't date much. He stayed holed up in his boat and didn't get out to ask anybody. Noah tipped his face up to soak in the sun, wishing he had his shades. They were down in the living area of his boat, though.
She tried not to frown, or scowl, since he really didn't seem to be taking the hint. Seriously, what was with her luck lately? Or lack of, for that matter. She was doing her best to flirt with Noah, and he just wasn't biting. It was driving her nuts, since it both amused and annoyed the hell out of her. "Even workaholics need to get out and fun every once in awhile, right?" Taryn shrugged a shoulder and straightened in the chair she sat in, her empty cup resting on her knee. "I mean, even with a cup of coffee or something, at least then you're socializing." Taryn wasn't shy about asking a guy out, if she really wanted to do it. Sure, she preferred it when they made the first move, but even that got boring after awhile.
"Sure," Noah agreed when she said that even workaholics needed to go have some fun sometimes. He had his eyes closed against the sudden brightness of the sun, and there was a faint smile on his lips. Damn, if he didn't have company, he'd be tempted to just lie down and take a nap right here. He'd worked for quite a while, and he'd gone running before that. "I like gettin' out some. Dinner, drinks, coffee, whatever. Who doesn't?" He thought he'd done a decent job of being social just lately. A couple of dinners with Allie, drinks with Holden, several dates with Cordy. Oh, and Jessalyn visiting his boat. That counted, too. And now here was Taryn, who'd brought him lemonade. Sweet of her.
Were all men this totally dense? Since Noah's eyes were closed, Taryn rolled hers and then took a breath as not to let her frustration show. "We should get coffee sometime. Together." In case he took that as to mean enjoying coffee separately, which Taryn wouldn't have put it past him to think at this point. She was trying to be obvious without being too obvious. "There's a lot of great cafes around here, or even on the island." She wasn't specifically asking him out on a date, but it was close enough. Taryn had a feeling if she waited for him to make a move, she'd be old and gross before he ever got it through his head that he should.
Noah didn't change his relaxed posture in the slightest, didn't open his eyes or turn his face toward her, but his brow furrowed ever so slightly as he realized that technically, she'd just asked him out. What was the big deal about getting some coffee, though? None that he could see, so he saw no reason to decline. "I think Juicy Java's my favorite," he said, one foot twitching idly. "Super Smooth's okay too, but Java puts more effort into their coffee lines, I think." Plus they had wireless internet, although he didn't suppose he'd be taking his laptop if he went for coffee with Taryn there. He had the feeling she'd take a dim view of anything that diverted someone's attention from her. "Sure, I'll take you for coffee sometime if you want."
Taryn felt all of her annoyance fade away into satisfied pleasure when Noah agreed to coffee. She smiled broadly, feeling victorious, in a way. Had she really expected him to say no? Maybe, a little bit. But mostly because of her age. That was generally the only thing that stood in her way from getting what she wanted. But Noah had said yes, indirectly, so Taryn was going to enjoy it. "I do want," she said, clearly pleased. "That would be great, actually. Maybe early next week?" Taryn wasn't a huge fan of their coffee, but she enjoyed their vanilla latte okay, so she would make do. "I know writing doesn't follow a set schedule, so whenever you think you could pull away for a couple hours?"
It might be a bad idea, he didn't know, but Noah didn't have it in him to outright reject her. She was pretty, difficult to say no to, and who couldn't use more friends, right? Until he knew otherwise, he was going to assume she was just being flirty and friendly. "Early next week sounds good," he said, sitting up slightly and opening his eyes. The sun was making him sleepy today for some reason. "Monday, Tuesday." And who knew, she might forget all about it by then, or get busy with shopping or her girlfriends or something. "I like to take breaks at least a couple times a day. Keeps me from lookin' like the kind of guy who sits on the couch all the time." Mostly he went running when he did that, but he could take a coffee break instead one of those days.
There was absolutely no way Taryn was going to forget about her coffee 'date' with Noah. Any of her girlfriends who called with plans would just have to wait. "Then it looks like you take a lot of breaks, because you definitely don't look like the guy who sits on the couch all the time." He was way too cut and in shape for that. Pretty impressive for someone who wrote for a living. "I'll come by sometime Monday evening, how about that?" Making it an evening get together was more date-like than getting coffee in the afternoon. Taryn popped up from the chair, deciding to head home before Noah could think of some reason to change his mind. "I should go, since I'm hogging your time... I'm sure you've got some writing to do."
"Well, thanks," Noah said to her compliment. He had a thing for being in shape; he'd always been that way even before he started a career that involved sitting still for long periods of time. It was a balance, like everything in life. His brows lifted just a touch when she said she'd come by on Monday evening. He would have preferred earlier in the day, for the same reasons he would have found some reason not to agree to a weekend night for their getting coffee plans. Too date-like, really. He didn't argue, though. "Sure," he said, hauling himself to his feet once she'd gotten up. "I'll be around." He was about ready to make himself something for lunch from the very sparse collection of food in his pantry and mini-fridge, shower and then, yes, write.
"Good." Taryn flashed him a smile before she turned to climb off the boat onto the pier. Even if Noah didn't see it as a date-date, Taryn did, and she was going to treat it as such. Once she was on the pier, Taryn turned and lifted her hand in a small wave - and to drink in the image of Noah shirtless one more time. The mental picture would come in handy when she was fantasizing about him later. "See you Monday, then. Thanks for the company today." She would have been so completely bored if she hadn't come by to see Noah, and now Taryn felt as if she'd gotten something accomplished.
"Bye, Taryn," Noah called after her, waving back with a flick of his fingers. "Take it easy." He had about the same opinion of her as he had before she'd come to visit him this time: she was gorgeous, and she was trouble. Trouble he could handle, though, he felt sure. What harm could going for coffee do? Sometimes he let his imagination get away from him; it was one of the minor pitfalls of being a writer. With a sigh, he leaned over to pick up the rag and the caulk he'd dropped on the deck of the boat and then headed downstairs to have lunch, clean up and then get on with his day.