“Not yet.It’s not even midnight.”
“Don’t you have to work tomorrow?”
“I do, but I’ll be fine.Stay for a little longer.Please?”
“I need to get some sleep so I’m not a zombie tomorrow.Dealing with little kids while in zombie status is no fun.”
“Ten more minutes.”After raising himself up on an elbow, he moved in for a kiss that quickly turned ten minutes into sixty.
“I really have to go,” she said when she’d caught the breath he’d stolen from her lungs—again.
“I know.I’ve got to sleep, too, before I get myself fired.”
“You can get fired from a family firm?”
“Well, technically, as a partner, I’m also an owner, but the last thing I want is my dad, the senior partner, up in my grill asking me what the hell is wrong with me lately when nothing is wrong.Everything is just right.”
“You really think so?”
“I really know so.As long as you’re in the picture, everything is perfect.”
“I hope you still think so when you see my kids freaking out or sick or?—”
He kissed her as sweetly as anyone ever had.“It’ll be fine.I’m sure of it.”
Isla wanted to take his reassurances to the bank and make a deposit on a future that looked awfully sweet all of a sudden, but she’d learned to be cynical.Even the best sex of her life couldn’t erase the self-preservation instinct that was telling her to proceed with utmost caution.
She got up, found her discarded clothing and got dressed while he did the same on the other side of the bed.After a quick trip to the bathroom, she followed him downstairs, where she’d left her coat on the floor.
He picked it up, held it for her and then put his arms around her and kissed her neck.“Thanks for tonight.I had the best time.”
“Me, too.”
“Don’t worry about anything, okay?”
“I’ll try not to.”
They drove to her house in silence, hands clasped as usual, but she couldn’t deny that everything had changed between them during the unforgettable hours they’d spent in his bed.This was no longer just a heated flirtation that’d taken them both by surprise with its intensity.Now it was something else altogether, something serious and full of potential and possible pitfalls.
If she hadn’t been so close to it, she might’ve laughed at the sheer absurdity of finally deciding to leave her husband, only to fall for her divorce attorney days before her husband died.
Like…what?
It wasn’t like she didn’t already know how arbitrary and strange life could be, but by anyone’s standards, this last week had been exceptional.
Julian pulled into her driveway and let the engine idle while he turned to her.“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“It’s a lot.I know it is.But it feels so good to feel this way…”
“Yes, it does.”
“Let’s stay focused on that, okay?The rest will sort itself out how it’s meant to.”
“Do you really believe that?”she asked.
“I never used to, but I’m starting to see how there’s some truth in that.”
