When Brian and Noelle stepped into the elevator, each of them stood at one side. When the doors closed, they locked eyes and before they could control themselves, Brian had Noelle pinned up against the side of the elevator locked in a passionate kiss. Brian’s hands were wrapped into Noelle’s hair; Noelle’s fingers were clenched into Brian’s strong shoulders. As the elevator stopped on the 23rd floor, Noelle pushed back against Brian. They walked down the hallway still kissing, at that moment not caring who saw them.

When Brian and Noelle finally made it to Noelle’s room, she let them in and then slammed the door shut behind them. She pushed the weight of her body against Brian’s and pressed her mouth against his again. She was magnetized toward him. After one taste, her mouth couldn’t get enough.

Brian intertwined his fingers in her long, almost-black hair. He began to walk forward as she pulled his t-shirt over his head and then unbuttoned his dark wash blue jeans. Brian grabbed the tops of her thighs and she wrapped her long legs around his waist. He unzipped her leather vest and then impatiently ripped her white shirt opened, sending the buttons flying around the room.

Noelle moved her mouth down to Brian’s neck as he laid them both down at the foot of the bed. Brian untangled himself from Noelle. He kissed the top of her chest as he quickly unsnapped her bra. He continued kissing downward as he unbuttoned her pants and slid her red high-heels off of her feet. As he kissed his way back up, she arched her back and he pulled her pants off of her, leaving them in a heap on the floor.

Brian’s fingers gently caressed her most intimate spots while she tugged at his pants and then his boxers. When they, too, were on the floor, Brian slowly pulled Noelle’s black, lace panties down her thighs. Tired of the teasing, Noelle rolled them both over and straddled Brian. She moaned as he entered her and trembled as she took in every inch of him.

Even in that moment—as intense and as erotic as it was—Brian knew that if he had ever felt this much passion running through him, it had been a long time. It was only one night, Brian understood that, but right then he never wanted to let Noelle go.

------

After their tryst, Brian and Noelle drifted off to sleep. Hours earlier, Brian had every intention of leaving and not being around in the morning for the awkwardness that was sure to follow. However, when all was said and done, he and Noelle were lying in each other’s arms, panting pleasurably. They were each holding onto the other so tightly, enjoying the after-tremors and orgasmic pulsing. Both were hoping that they could hold on for one more time, wanting their time together to last for just a moment longer.

Eventually, sleep overcame them and they drifted off, not waking again until a pounding at the door boomed along with Brian’s morning-after, liquor-induced headache.

“Noelle,” a male voice called. “Noelle, are you in there? Open up!”

Noelle sat straight up in bed and looked at Brian. She slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand.

“You have to hide,” she whispered harshly.

“What?” Brian asked, astonished. He couldn’t believe that he’d gotten himself into this mess for more than one reason. “Is that your boyfriend?”

Noelle shook her head. “No, he’s my brother.”

Brian nodded slowly as he quickly grabbed his boxers from off of the floor and slipped them on his still-naked body. “That could quite possibly be worse.”

“Noelle!” AJ yelled through the door. “I can hear you in there and I know that you’re not alone!”

“Noelle?!” Brian repeated, shocked as a realization dawned on him. He hadn’t recognized the voice at first, but now it was as clear as day. He couldn’t believe that this was happening to him. He wouldn’t believe it. “YOU are Noelle?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Noelle asked, slightly offended that he hadn’t remembered her name. “I told you what my name was last night.”

Brian shook his head. “No. Your brother is AJ fucking McLean?”

Noelle nodded slowly, confused by how he would know that. Then she closed her eyes as the realization that had hit Brian moments earlier slapped her in the face. “You are not that Brian.”

“Noelle, open up or I’m coming in!” AJ repeated as he continued to pound on the wooden door.

Noelle grabbed Brian’s hand and pulled him into the bathroom. “Stay there! We’ll sort this out later.”

She grabbed the plush, white hotel robe out of the closet and slipped it on as she ran to the door and flung it opened. “Alex? What are you doing here so early? You of all people should have heard of jet lag.”

AJ smirked and shook his head. He tried to peek around her. “So, where is he?”

“He? Who he?” Noelle stammered.

AJ rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You have sex hair. I heard voices. Who is he?”

“He’s not anybody. Just some guy that I met. What does it matter to you? Aren’t you the rock star here?” Noelle replied softly as she combed her hands through her matted hair.

“It doesn’t matter to me.” AJ tried to hold back his smile though he had to admit that he enjoyed seeing Noelle squirm. “Can I meet him?”

“Of course not!” Noelle responded. “Now go away. I’ll get dressed and meet you downstairs for breakfast, okay?”

AJ shrugged. “That’s cold, Noelle. You’re just going to kick the poor guy out?”

Noelle narrowed her eyes at her brother and shook her head. “Alex, go.”

She pushed her laughing brother out into the hallway and waved him away. AJ could hardly contain his chuckles as Noelle slammed the door in his face. Part of him wanted to wait around the corner to get a peek at his sister’s conquest from the night before and maybe even play the part of the tough, tattooed, protective brother. Eventually, though, he decided against it. Everyone deserved their privacy and he assumed that he had embarrassed Noelle enough for one morning.

From where he was locked inside of the bathroom, Brian stared at his cheating reflection. He and Leighanne were separated. Kind of. The papers were signed, they just needed to be finalized and Leighanne went out on a date last night. He wasn’t a cheater, he reasoned with himself.

Brian sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the cold, porcelain bathtub. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his head in his hands. He groaned as he ran his hands through his curly hair. It was getting longer, now falling at his ears. Leighanne hated it that way, but Brian suddenly loved it. He loved the way that Noelle had been able to run her hands through it. He loved the way that her fingers had wrapped around his curls and how her grip had tightened when she had gone over the edge.

Brian had to shake his head to clear the thoughts. Noelle was AJ’s sister. Noelle. Noelle Mclean. He had slept with AJ’s sister. AJ would kill him.

Brian knew that if Noelle really had ended up to be a fleeting moment in his life, he never would have forgotten her. Now, she was going to be around. A lot. And for months. Brian didn’t know how to wrap his mind around the sudden change of circumstances. Admittedly, he wasn’t good at one-night stands to begin with.

Brian looked up as Noelle walked into the bathroom.

“Well?” Brian asked as he lifted his head and folded his hands between his knees.

Noelle shook her head slowly and sighed. She, too, couldn’t believe that she had let this happen. “You need to go.”

Brian stood up and walked over to Noelle slowly. “Don’t you think that we need to talk about what this means?”

Noelle shook her head and bit her bottom lip nervously. “It means the same thing that it did last night. Nothing.”

Brian nodded. “Okay, fine, but we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next few months. I don’t know about you, but—well, I think last night is going to be kind of hard to forget.”

“It’s only going to be hard to forget if you make an effort to remember,” Noelle responded. She tried to stare at Brian coldly, but she couldn’t manage to stare into his blue eyes for more than a second. The crystalline pools of blue pierced right through her.

Of course he had to be sitting at the bar last night. Of course he’s gorgeous, Noelle thought to herself. Of course he’s one of my fucking brother’s best friends.

Brian released a shaky breath. He wanted to be able to walk away. He tried to take a step back, but his legs wouldn’t move around her. Instead, he took a step forward and brushed the hair out of her eyes. He then leaned down and kissed her forehead softly.

Goosebumps raised on Noelle’s arms. Before she was able to stop herself, her hands were running slowly down Brian’s sides. Starting at his chest and ending on hips, Noelle traced the outline of his torso with her palms. Brian placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up until her lips met his.

He pulled away before they could allow themselves to go any further. “I should go.”

Noelle sighed and licked his taste off of her lips. “Yeah.”

Reluctantly, Brian stepped around her and reached for the door. Noelle jammed her hands deep into the pockets of her robe to keep herself from reaching out for him. She bounced on her toes impatiently and gazed up at the ceiling. Everything inside of her was yearning for more. Rather than admitting that she wanted Brian, Noelle chalked it up to the fact that it had just been too long since she’d felt anything that good—the intense rush of physical human contact. Sex.

Brian clenched the bathroom doorknob tightly in his hand. As he turned the cold brass knob, he turned around. At the same time, Noelle peeked at him over her shoulder. Brian couldn’t help but to smile at the smirk that was growing on her lips.

Noelle shrugged one shoulder as she began to untie her robe. “So, technically, if Alex hadn’t woken us up this morning, I wouldn’t know that the two of you knew each other yet.”

Brian chuckled softly and nodded his head. “Yeah.”

“So,” Noelle continued as she slipped the robe slowly down her shoulders. “Technically, if you and I wanted to have one more go before we seemingly walked out of each other’s lives forever, then that would have been okay. It wouldn’t have broken any rules.”

Brian turned all the way around so that he was inches away from Noelle’s still turned body. “No, the rules would have been respectfully maintained.”

Noelle let the robe drop completely down to the floor as she turned to face Brian. “So, what harm could a half an hour possibly do?”

Noelle giggled as Brian picked her up into his arms just as he had the night before. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he set her down onto the marble vanity. She moaned as she took in every inch of Brian for one last time.