“Will do, man.Take it easy.”
“You do the same,” Julian said as he guided Isla out of the store and to the passenger seat of the G-Wagon, making sure she was settled before he shut the door, stashed the bag in the back seat and got into the driver’s side.When he glanced over at her, she was staring straight ahead, so he reached over her for the seat belt and secured it for her.
“Thank you,” she said with a small smile.“I’m such a mess.”
“No, you’re not.You’re upset, and with good reason.”
“I should just go home.The last thing you need to be dealing with is a weepy, heartbroken, unpredictable woman.”
“I promised you a burrito, and I’d like to deliver on that, if you’ll let me.”
“Are you sure you don’t have better things to do?”
“I’m very sure.”Though he’d found himself with a rare free night, he would’ve canceled anything and everything to have this time with her.Even when she was weepy, heartbroken and unpredictable, she stirred him in a way only one other woman ever had.And while that should’ve terrified him, strangely enough, it didn’t.Rather, it left him feeling exhilarated, even though he knew she was in no condition for anything like exhilaration from him.Tonight was about food and comfort and nothing else.
If he was thrilled to be with her, she didn’t need to know that.
Not now, anyway.
Isla textedMrs.V to tell her she’d connected with a friend and was going to have dinner with him if everything was under control at home.
We’re doing just fine.Take all the time you need with your friend.
Thank you.Give the kids kisses for me and tell them I’ll tuck them in when I get home.
Will do.
Isla sent heart emojis.
She couldn’t believe she was in Julian Remington’s fancy SUV on the way to his house.Could this day get any stranger?When she’d looked up in the store to realize he was the one she’d crashed into, the profound feeling of relief had made her legs feel wobbly.
She’d had one thought and one thought only:He would make everything all right.
How and why she’d known that, she couldn’t say, but every instinct she had was telling her the evidence was irrefutable.
Julian was beautiful and brilliant and kind and talented.He was the real deal, and he was taking her home with him to feed and comfort her when he certainly had better things he could and should be doing.
After the past few weeks, months,yearsof turmoil, she would give herself this moment with him, carved out of the changing landscape of her life, and simply be with him for as long as he’d have her.She would draw comfort from his rock-solid presence and then go home better for having known him.
During this moment of respite, she’d not think about Gabriel or the past or what the immediate future might look like.For right now, for tonight, it was the two of them and a couple of burritos, and, strangely enough, that was all she needed.
They went up into the hills, so high her ears popped before he brought the SUV to a stop in front of a smoked-glass double garage.He pressed a button on the dash, and the door went up to reveal a small black sports car parked on the other side.
He pulled into the garage, cut the engine and shut the door, sealing them off from the outside world.
Isla released her seat belt and got out of the car, following him inside into a gorgeous kitchen.“Oh wow.This is so nice.”
“Thanks.I did it mostly myself.Took almost two years.”
“Why’d you do that?”
He waggled his brows.“So someday I could tell a beautiful woman that I did it myself and impress her.”
“I hope that goes well for you when you get the chance to do it.”
Over his shoulder, he flashed a grin.“I just did, and I feel like it went pretty well.”
Isla couldn’t stop the gurgle of laughter or the tearful response that followed.
