He narrowed his eyes. “Izzy, knock it off. Obviously, I wasn’t planning on looking.” He shoved his arms into his coat, acting perturbed. “But it’s not like it’s stuff I haven’t already seen,” he muttered.
Isabella licked the malty liquid off her lips after taking another swig from the bottle. “Like I said, I’m sure I’ve changed. It’s been a long time.”
“It has, and I’m sure you have.” Taking the bottle from her, he took a long drink, gulping it down.
She watched his Adam’s apple bob, and it created a simmer in her depths. “C’mon, aren’t you the least bit curious?” She bantered, unable to help herself.
He choked on the whiskey, dragging the bottle from his lips and wiping the back of his glove against his mouth.
“I mean, you were already looking,” she said suggestively.
“Curious? Maybe. Stupid? No.”
Isabella snorted a laugh. “Leo, chill. I’m only teasing.”
“Yeah? Well, it’s mean.” He handed her the bottle like he was mad. But his expression revealed otherwise. His face was open and his cheeks pink, reminding her of the boy he once was. The boy she’d loved more than life itself. The one she would’ve done anything for. Except, keep her promise of returning home after college.
“Besides,” he continued after a long beat, “aren’t you seeing someone? Some douche that drinks wine and cuffs his jeans at the ankles?”
She gasped. “He doesn’t cuff his jeans at the ankles. Well, not anymore.”
“And don’t you two live together?”
The question threw her for a moment. Not only did it remind her of the heartache she’d been trying to forget, but she was surprised Norah hadn’t told him. She assumed Leo knew everything about her life. Because she knew everything about his. Most importantly, how he’d dealt with his mom’s death. And how he’d recovered after his divorce from Talia.
“Not anymore.”
“No?” He raised a brow at her. It asked so much more than his words did.
“We’re sort of…taking a break. One where we don’t live together anymore.”
“Wow.” He tipped his head back, taking another swig from the bottle.
“Yeah.” Isabella reached for her long underwear.
“Does your family know?”
“Nope.” She unbuttoned her pants. “And I’d like to be the one to tell them. So if you could keep your mouth shut about it, that would be great. Now, look away.”
Leo rolled his eyes but adjusted himself in the seat so that he faced the driver’s window. “But you plan on telling them?”
She wriggled out of her pants, constantly checking to make sure Leo wasn’t looking. She hurried and wrestled with the long underwear. It had been years since she’d worn them. Growing up in Colorado meant that, for a few months out of the year, they were like a second skin. “Yes, I’m going to tell them. I just figured they had enough going on with the wedding and Christmas traditions. Besides, my mom has been hassling me and Harrison to get married. Reminding me that we’re already living together so we should just get it over with.”
“Except, you’re not.”
“Right.” She caught him staring at her reflection in the window as she yanked her pants back on, which was no easy feat. “You can look now. But you already knew that since you were watching me in the window.”
He turned back around. “Reflex.” He shrugged.
“Uh-huh. Sure.” She eyed him skeptically, but the idea of knowing he couldn’t help himself from checking her out caused a rush of heat throughout her body.
“You warm enough now?”
Oh, things were definitely warming up.
She bit the inside of her cheek. “I guess.”
“I can turn the heater on once in a while.”
