“Are you afraid that the emotional toll of seeing Gabriel decline and helping to care for him would make that too difficult?”
“I don’t know.I’ve never been in a situation like this before.Well, except when I lost my parents, but that was a little different because it was an accident, not a slow decline.”
“But the emotional toll was probably similar, right?”
Isla tried to never think too hard about that time in her life, but she let her mind wander to the immediate aftermath of calamity.She was shocked by how easily she conjured up feelings of utter despair.
Julian pulled his hands free and moved around the island to put his arms around her.“Breathe, Isla.Just breathe.”
As she leaned her head on his chest, she did as he instructed, focusing on getting air to her lungs and then doing it again.“I’m okay.”
“Take another minute.”He ran his hand over her back, making her want to purr from the way he cared for her as if she were precious to him.
Stop, Isla.He’s already told you that you’ll never be precious to him because he doesn’t want that with you or anyone.Self-preservation had her pulling back from him when that was the last thing she wanted to do.
What was it about this man that had her head spinning?It’d been so long since she’d felt anything resembling desire for Gabriel that the sharp sting of need nearly took her breath away.What would Julian say if she asked him to take her to bed and make everything better?The thought was so shocking, and the need so overwhelming, she had to bite her tongue so she wouldn’t say something that could never be unsaid.
He kept a hand on her shoulder while he watched over her, seeing her in a way she could’ve only dreamed of being seen in her marriage.So often, she felt like she was invisible to Gabriel, which had led her to expect nothing from him so she wouldn’t be constantly disappointed.
“What’re you thinking?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not?”
She glanced up to find him gazing down at her and noticed once again how stunningly handsome he was.“Because it’s wildly inappropriate.”
ChapterNineteen
Was it possible to die from an overload of desire?Julian never would’ve thought so before right now, when she looked up at him with those bottomless brown eyes and said her thoughts were wildly inappropriate.
He recognized he was in big trouble with this woman because he would’ve given everything he owned and every dime he had to hear those wildly inappropriate thoughts.
“Julian.”
“Hmm?”
“Are you all right?You’re, um, staring at me.”
He blinked.“Sorry, it’s just the words ‘wildly inappropriate’ have my imagination doing handsprings.”
A giggle exploded out of her, and the joyful sound only made everything worse—and better at the same time.How was that even possible?
She covered her mouth to contain the laughter that soon led to more tears.“It feels so wrong to be laughing and joking when Gabriel is going todie.He’s actually going to die.It’s unbelievable.”
Julian used a napkin to dry her eyes.
Her gaze connected with his like a punch to the chest.
“I, um…” He intended to back away.The last thing he’d ever do was take advantage of her when she was hurting.
But she reached for him, fisted his dress shirt in both hands and pulled him back to her with a force that couldn’t be resisted.Not that he tried very hard to resist as his lips connected with hers, sending lightning streaking down his spine in a blast of desire that made anything he’d felt before seem trivial and insignificant.
Holy.Shit.
She curled her arms around his neck and rubbed her tongue against his, making him delirious with the need for more of her incredible sweetness.
He put his arms around her and lifted her right off the barstool to carry her into the living room to the sofa.As he came down on top of her without breaking the hottest kiss of his entire life, a brief moment of sanity had him thinking he should put a stop to this while he still could.But then she put her hand on his face and moaned as she arched into him, and all thoughts of stopping were lost in a frenzy of need.
