Disclaimer: Hey Guys, I know I promised this over a week ago, but I was very busy in the lab and then some cat and her buddies broke into my potions cabinet, and I had to help thaw out frozen puppies...wellyou've been around.

This is the sequel to "Noah's Phone Call" and is a continuation of the story of how Noah and I got from Esther giving one of Micah's bodyguards (Noah) my phone number to where we are at the stag party.

Please forgive any typos or anything that doesn't make sense. I didn't get it beta'd and just wanted to get it off my desk top before the weekend. :)

Oh, sorry for the length. I think I got a little wordy but couldn't bear to cut anything.

HUGS! Maggie

I don't own anyone, not even me, I think. If you recognize any characters (Just Noah in this one), they belong to LKH. I'm not making any money off of this. It's for my and hopefully your amusement.

Rating...Umm??? Maybe PG to PG-13. Not much bad in it.

 The next morning I woke up early to get dressed. I had spent half the night laying awake, trying to decide what to wear. Pulling on a short-sleeved royal blue polo shirt and a pair of jeans, I put my hair up in a ponytail and headed over to the park around 11. I wasn't scheduled to meet Noah until 1pm but I hated feeling rushed. I wanted to scope out the area anyway, to try to find a good place to wait and watch for him.

We had planned on meeting in the grassy area near the fountains at the center of the park. It was a beautiful day. It wasn't as hot as it had been earlier that week. A cold front had passed through the area the night before but the sun was warm as it shone down on my face. The city recreations department must have been out working that morning because I could smell fresh cut grass in the air. Everything seemed clean and fresh. It was the perfect setting for a new beginning. I found a nice shady tree to lay the blankets under and got comfortable. People watching seemed like a good way to pass some time.

Apparently, I got a little too comfortable leaning against the tree and drifted off. Sensing someone watching me, I woke up to the greenest eyes I've seen. They were an amazing emerald green with specks of brown and gold. His eyes seemed to twinkle as he watched my reaction. As my gaze focused, I started to take in more. The next thing I noticed was this guy had a great smile, with honest to god dimples. His hair was a rich dark brown that reminded me of semi-sweet chocolate. It was fairly short. Dressed in blue jeans and a green t-shirt, he was lean, but looked like his muscles were chiseled from stone. Stone that had planted itself down on my blanket about a foot away from me. He exuded power and I had to remind myself to breathe.

Abruptly looking back to his face, I realized I had been staring. "Oh god," I thought, "please tell me I wasn't just drooling or anything." Then it occurred to me. If this was Noah, he could probably smell my desire already. Deciding there was no time to get frightened, I put on my best fake smile, raised my right hand and wiggled my fingers in a little hello. I didn't trust my voice yet.

"Hi, I'm Noah. Please tell me you're Maggie" he pleaded with a disarming little boy smile.

Then, it hit me. He was quite possibly as taken with me, as I was with him. That's why he had sat to down to watch my nap. The realization gave me a boost of confidence I didn't think I could possess and my smile relaxed into a much more natural one.

"Hi Noah, it's great to meet you. I hope you didn't have any trouble finding me."

"No, actually I've been here for a little while. The place I ordered our lunch from was a lot less crowed than I expected so I headed over early. You just looked so sweet sleeping there, I didn't want to wake you."

Fighting a growing blush, I looked past him to the overflowing picnic basket sitting partially behind him. "You came well prepared, or are you expecting more company?" I giggled.

With a stern face, Noah arched his eyebrows at me. "It's really your fault. I had no idea what you liked, so I had to bring a little of everything." Unable to maintain the stern expression in the face of my giggles, he dissolved into a smile. "It's really no problem. I'll take whatever we don't eat over to Anita's later. I'm sure they'd appreciate some real food over there for a change." Knowing Anita's reputation, I could hardly disagree.

I moved closer, and started to help him unpack the basket. There was indeed a wide variety of foods, fresh roasted turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce on homemade bread, roast beef sandwiches with horseradish sauce, a green salad with gorgonzola cheese and roasted sweetened pecans in a raspberry vinaigrette, homemade potato chips, fresh slices tomatoes and cucumbers in a red wine vinaigrette, fresh fruit salad, angel food cake and my favorite, fresh strawberries dipped in dark chocolate.

Noah pulled a bottle and two wine glasses out of a side compartment in the basket and poured. "I realize this meal would go great with champagne, but I have guard duty tonight." Handing me a glass he continued, "I hope you don't mind sparkling apple juice instead."

Taking the glass, I replied, "No, actually I'm not a big drinker. I really like juice." I smiled up at him. He knew I wasn't lying and seemed genuinely surprised.

We got more comfortable on the blanket and began to eat to lunch. It was time to get to know one another. Talk of general interests eventually turned to talking about our selves. Noah came from a big family, but they didn't live around here. After he became infected, he left his hometown. He was afraid of hurting those he loved. He eventually joined Micah's pard. Noah had been an expert in self-defense. He was interested in the military and special ops when he was a teen. Becoming a were had changed his career plans but not his interests. With his knowledge and new strength as an alpha, bodyguard to the Nimir-Raj was a natural fit. It wasn't just a job though. Noah seemed to have an honest affection for his leader and his pard.

Despite my reluctance to trust anyone with the specifics of my history, Noah managed to get me to talk about myself. I tried to get away with the basic outline. I'm an only child. I work in a research lab, studying the genetic basis of mental illness, schizophrenia in particular. That's all I usually tell. But somehow, with him, I found myself daring to trust, to tell more. I shared the alternatingly abused and neglected childhood I experienced growing up with alcoholic, unstable parents. I told him how I took care of my parents until their deaths so they wouldn't be left somewhere alone. I loved them and didn't want to feel as abandoned and unwanted as I had often felt. My dad died when I was a teenager, my mom a few years ago. I suddenly realized all I was sharing with this handsome man that I had barely met, and I was shocked. I looked around to find that somewhere during our talk we had moved much closer and were now curled up on the blanket. I was in Noah's arms with my head on his chest. I fearfully waited for him to say it was nice meeting me, but he didn't think it would work out. I gathered my courage and looked up into his face, knowing this might be goodbye.

Tears were pooling in his eyes and he gazed down at me with real affection and warmth. "You are amazing, Maggie." Sensing my confusion, he continued. "I don't think there are that many humans that could come through your background and pulled themselves up like you have. You put yourself through school without parents to guide you. You've built a life on your own, with no one to lean on. Despite your fears of rejection, you had the courage to meet me hear today and put your trust in me. I promise to try to never misuse that trust. I can't say I'll never hurt you, but I promise it will never be by design. You are truly a remarkable beautiful woman. I am so glad I found you."

He leaned down and pulled me toward him. As his lips lightly grazed mine, I felt a tingle that seemed to start at the center of my body and move outwards. Noah sensed my response and the light graze became more insistent. Having inherited a bit of psychic talent, I could feel the energy roll over me as Noah's beast became more excited. His velvet soft lips moved over mine. His tongue started to tease my lips, demanding entrance. I quickly succumbed. His tongue moved over my teeth, exploring the contours of my mouth. He coaxed my own tongue into responding to his advances. I lost all sense of anything around us. I was completely lost in the moment. I had no idea how long we laid there, bodies entwined.

I felt Noah tense suddenly and it brought me back to earth. We had turned our bodies more fully into each other. Noah's hand was on my breast and firm evidence that he was as affected as I was pressed against me. I looked up over Noah's shoulder. A group of teenagers were walking through the fountain area. Noah must have heard their approach. Turning a bright shade of red, I buried my face in the hollow of Noah's neck. I heard one of the teenage girls holler as they passed through, "Rent a room you two!"

We dissolved into a fit a giggles. Still wrapped in each other's arms, Noah gave me a sly smile. Before I knew what was happening he rolled over on top of me, pinning me to the ground. "Some bodyguard I am. I think I better be on my toes with you around. You are quite the enchanting distraction."

Smiling up at Noah, I recalled our pre-kiss discussion. I took a more serious tone. "Noah, about what you said." I paused trying to find the words for what I needed to say. "Thank you. Thank you for listening, for caring, and for seeing the best in me. I lose sight of it sometimes. But, really, you make it sound like I'm some super woman. I'm not. I had some bad times in the past, but I survived. I moved on. It's what you do. I don't want to be pitied or put on a pedestal."

Noah smiled back at me, "I don't pity you. I admire you and I'm very attracted to you. That kiss was not about pity and I think you can feel the truth in that statement without were abilities. As for putting you on a pedestal, the thoughts I'm having about you right now would not be very comfortable on a pedestal. Well, unless it was really big one, with a mattress and lots of pillows."

"NOAH!" I said, blushing furiously and hoping he wouldn't sense that the same thoughts had crossed my mind more than once.

Looking up into his emerald green eyes that now had more flecks of gold than brown in them, I sighed. "I really don't know why I trusted you with so much of myself, so soon. It's not something that comes easily for me. But it felt like we were connected from your first hello."

"Don't you think I felt the same?" Noah asked as he brushed a few hairs that had come out of my ponytail from my face. Putting his stern, serious bodyguard face on again, "I can assure you, I don't usually make out in a public park with a woman on a first date. Even is she is the cutest person to ever crossed my path. I know you. Even my beast purred from the moment it saw you. I think we were meant to find each other."

Exhausted and emotionally spent, we curled up on the blanket to take an afternoon nap.

As I slowly made circles on his chest with my fingers, I asked, "Do you believe in love at first sight, Noah?"

He didn't say anything for a while. I thought maybe he had already fallen asleep. As I drifted off, I heard him say, "Not until I met you, Maggie."