“Evan—”
“You are not going anywhere.”
Isadora’s pulse quickened at the authority in his voice.
“I am fine,” she reiterated though there was little conviction behind the words. “Let me go.”
Evan did not listen. Instead, he pulled her closer to his chest. One of his arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her. For a long, stretched moment, they did not move. He was far too close now, so much that she could hear the sounds of his frantic breathing. Her own breath quickened, her hands pressing lightly against his chest, but she made no effort to push him away. Evan’s gaze dropped to her lips.
“Isadora.” Evan’s gaze did not leave her lips. “I…”
She did not know who it was that closed the distance between them. Perhaps they had acted in unison. All she knew was that a moment later, they were kissing one another.
His hold tightened around her waist, pulling her up to him to make up for the difference in their height. His lips moved softly against her own, and Isadora felt the world fall away around her.
This.This was even better than the first time they had kissed. She wondered why anyone would want to doanythingelse when such a luxury was available.
God help her.She kissed him back, just as tenderly.
When they pulled apart, both of them were out of breath but staring into each other’s eyes. It was an intimacy so far removed from the limits of their agreement.
“What is this thing between us?” Isadora blurted out. She could not stop herself at that moment—the vulnerability of themoment had seeped into all other aspects of her being. “This… this push and pull. One moment you’re here with me like this, and then you pull away and are nowhere to be found.”
Evan blinked, surprised by the question. “We do not need to ruin the moment, sweetheart.”
“Yes,we do,” she insisted, not letting him weasel his way out without giving her a straight answer. “And then you ask why it is that I find you so confusing. You kiss me as though I mean something to you, and you get angry when other men try and speak to me. Was it not jealousy that you felt when that lord spoke to me at dinner the other evening?”
Evan opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
“And you cannot even admit it to me.” Isadora felt her frustration growing. The tenderness of the moment had now long passed. “Is it that you’re only playing with my feelings? Is this a game to you?”
“Thisis not a game,” he corrected her, grabbing hold of her wrists again.
“Then what is it? What is it that we are doing here? Because I do not remember signing up forthis.You’ve broken the rules?—”
“I’ve broken the rules because you have left me with no choice.” He let go of her wrists but only so that he could frame her face with his hands, tilting her chin upward. “I was jealous that day.It does not make me happy to suddenly have these feelings over which I have no control. I hated that you smiled at him. I hated that, for even a second, he had your focus, and I did not.”
Isadora stared at him, wide-eyed, unable to breathe.
“Isadora.” He looked straight into her eyes, and all she found staring back at her was sincerity. “I have spent my life never wanting. But you entered my life, and all I do now iswant.”
Evan leaned closer, his lips mere inches from hers. Her heart shuddered in her chest. Never once had she imagined him saying these words to her.
“I want you in ways I cannot even begin to name,” he murmured, his voice like velvet. “So,no,this is not a game for me.”
A part of her was flying high in the air at the confession alone, but she knew that it was not enough. Tomorrow, he could easily deny it.
“Evan,” she whispered, desperate for more than just half-formed truths, “what does that mean? What doImean to you?”
His hands slid down, curling lightly around her arms. “I did not want this, but I have… grown fond of you in ways that I never have for anyone else. You have acquired a place in my heart, all without ever even asking for my permission.”
There it was. The words that Isadora did not know how badly she had needed to hear before this moment.
“Evan.” Her own voice was hoarse, as though she was on the brink of bursting into tears but not ones of sadness. “You are not alone in feeling this. I… I feel for you, too. I do all these things around the house only to receive your approval. Only so that you want me enough not to seek out another woman.”
“There was never another woman,” he corrected her. “I would be a foolish man if I was to look at another woman when you are in my life.”
“Do you mean that?”
