As the children debated dinosaur superiority, Rachel and Isla exchanged phone numbers and addresses.
“I’ll have him back by ten tomorrow, unless you want to pick him up earlier,” Rachel said. “And don’t worry, he’ll be perfectly safe with us.”
“I know he will,” Isla said, surprised to find she meant it. There was something about this town, these people, that inspired trust she normally reserved for those she’d known for years.
After hugging Percy goodbye and watching the little group walk away, Isla stood alone on the pavement, suddenly unsure what to do with the rest of her day. She had a whole evening stretching before her, no child to care for, no restaurant reservation demanding her attention.
And only one place she wanted to be.
With Kirk.
Chapter Fourteen – Kirk
She’s here!Kirk’s bear stood up and sniffed the air.
Kirk froze, every muscle in his body suddenly alert. She was coming. His bear wasn’t mistaken. The pull in his chest felt like a string being tugged from somewhere deep inside him.
He only ever felt it with Isla, this awareness that came before any physical sign of her presence.
He heard the crunch of gravel under her tires, then the soft thud of a car door closing. A moment later, her scent reached him, carried through the partially open window on the evening breeze. But something was different. He tilted his head, analyzing what his heightened senses were telling him.
No second scent. No hint of Percy at all.
She was alone.
Kirk’s pulse pounded harder. He set down the book he’d been pretending to read for the past hour and moved toward the door. What did this mean? Why would she come here without Percy? After that kiss last night...
His bear paced restlessly beneath his skin.She’s coming to us. Alone. At night.
“I know,” Kirk murmured, running a hand through his hair. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
But he wanted to get ahead of himself. He wanted to tell her everything and then take her in his arms and never let her go. The primal need surged through him, but he pushed it down.
The sound of her footsteps approaching seemed impossibly loud in the quiet evening. They paused on his porch, and fora long moment, there was nothing. Was she hesitating? Having second thoughts?
Then came the soft knock.
Kirk took a deep breath and opened the door. Isla stood there, her blonde hair loose around her shoulders, wearing a simple blue top that made her eyes look deeper in the porch light.She looked nervous, but there was also an unmistakable certainty in her eyes.
“Hi,” she said, her voice slightly breathless.
“Hi,” he replied, suddenly aware of how different this felt. Without Percy between them as a buffer, the space between them felt sharper, more dangerous.
“Percy’s at Rachel’s,” she explained quickly. “She invited him for a sleepover with her girls. They have a treehouse, apparently.”
Kirk nodded, trying to process what this meant. “That was nice of her.”
“It was.” Isla tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, a gesture he was beginning to recognize as a sign of her nervousness. “I hope it’s okay that I came by. I probably should have called first.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Kirk said honestly. “I might have cleaned up.” He gestured to his slightly rumpled kitchen. “This way you get the authentic experience.”
That earned him a small laugh, the tension in her shoulders easing slightly.
“Would you like to come in?” he asked, stepping back from the doorway.
She nodded and moved past him, and her scent swept over him as she did. Kirk closed the door, hyperaware of how different this felt from yesterday. The easy, family-like warmthof the day was gone. Now it was just the two of them, and Kirk felt every inch of it.
“Can I get you something to eat?” he offered, moving toward the kitchen. “I could make us…”
