Isla didn’t want to squirm under the heat of Mrs.V’s gaze or face the reality of her keen observations.She’d much rather exist in the heightened state of euphoria that came with Julian.
Julian.
She loved his classy, elegant name.It suited him.
“Isla.”
When she glanced at Mrs.V, she realized she’d zoned out on thoughts of the very man her friend was trying to warn her about.“I hear you, and I appreciate you.”
“I can’t bear to see you get hurt again after everything you’ve been through.You’re finally free to make a new life for yourself and the children.Please be careful not to get serious about a man who doesn’t do serious.”
“I’ll be careful.I promise.Thank you for caring about me.”
“Oh, honey, I love you so much.And I also love that dazzled look in your eyes.You so deserve a man who can love you the way you deserve, but I’m not sure he’s the guy for that job.”
“Maybe not.It’s quite possible he’ll be a lovely interlude on the way to something else down the road.”
“Which is totally fine as long as you don’t fall for a man who doesn’t do love or forever or happily ever after.”
“Don’t worry.This isn’t about any of that stuff.”
Mrs.V gave her a skeptical look.“If you ask me, you’re already halfway in love with him.”
“No, I’m not.I’m enjoying his company.I feel calmer when he’s around, and I can forget—just for a time, anyway—that Gabriel destroyed our home and then died.He actuallydied.From the thing that caused all this in the first place.Julian gives me a place where I can step away from the nightmare for a few minutes and just breathe.I’m not going to fall in love with him.I promise.”
“Don’t make promises you might not be able to keep, sweetheart.”
“I never do.Do you mind babysitting after the kids are asleep?”
“Not at all, as long as my big kid is protecting her fragile heart.”
Isla hugged her friend.“She is.He’s a very nice guy.You don’t have to worry.”
“Didn’t Goldilocks say that about the Big Bad Wolf?”
Isla laughed.“No, she never said that about him.You’re mixing up your stories.”
“Huh,” Mrs.V said as she turned to leave.“I could’ve sworn she did.”
By the timeIsla texted him at eight forty-five, Julian was on pins and needles, waiting to hear from her and hoping she wouldn’t change her mind about wanting to see him tonight.
All clear over here.
I’ll be right there.
Julian pulled into her driveway seven minutes later, intending to go to the door.
She came out before he could release his seat belt and was in the car two seconds later.Then she leaned in to meet him halfway for a devouring kiss that set him on fire in the span of an instant.
He lost all sense of space and time as her tongue tangled with his in the single-hottest kiss of his entire life.
Before her, he would’ve said nothing about women or sex could surprise him anymore.He would’ve been very, very wrong about that as she taught him something brand-new and more exhilarating than anything he’d known before.
By the time they resurfaced, in desperate need of air, the G-Wagon windows were steamed up, and he was certain the dazzled look on his face matched the one looking back at him.
Then she giggled, and he fell deeper into this thing that was taking him over like nothing else ever had.
He cracked a window to let in some cool, fresh air—and so he could see to back out of her driveway.
