Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
At his declaration, Marie took a step back from him. Isaac’s arm dropped to his side, and he wanted to reach out and pull her tight against him. But he didn’t. It was clear she wanted space, and he would give it to her.
“You can’t be serious. You hardly know me.
” Marie grabbed another wrapped item from her box, her movements jerky as she tried to rip the tape off it.
“Until you ran into me, you haven’t seen me for months.
” She stopped her attempt to loosen the tape, and Isaac readied himself for what she was about to say.
“How did you know I was going to be leaving the building right then? Who’s to say you aren’t involved with all of this. ”
Isaac took her accusation on the chin. He couldn’t deny it was convenient that he happened to be going into the building at the same time as she was leaving.
“I was coming back from my own lunch break. Was it a coincidence that I was there when shit went down? Yes, it was. But…” He crossed the room so that he was back in her personal space.
He waited for her to meet his gaze. It took a few seconds, but she did, although he was sure she was looking at something over his shoulder.
It didn’t matter, at least she wasn’t looking at what she had in her hands.
“If you think I haven’t thought about our brief encounter in San Carlion, then you’d be wrong.
There hasn’t been a day gone by that I haven’t thought about you. ”
“You left though.” Her tortured whisper pierced his gut, and he gently took the wrapped item from her hand and laid it back into the box before he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her loosely.
Isaac waited a couple of seconds to see if she would pull herself out of his hold, but she didn’t. He let go of the breath he was holding. “I did, and I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to, but I thought it was what you wanted.”
He would never forget the finality in her voice as she said goodbye after giving him that light kiss.
Had he read the situation wrong though? Had she wanted him to stay? He couldn’t have even if he’d wanted to.
Marie placed her hand on his chest, right over his heart. Could she feel the way it was beating faster than normal? That this was what he wanted from her?
“I thought that was what I wanted. I’d just had a breakdown in front of you.
You held me and made me feel safe, but I knew there was so much more that needed to be done.
My focus had to be on the people who required my help.
But when you didn’t turn up the next day, I knew I’d been wrong in saying goodbye in that way.
” She stopped, chewing on her bottom lip.
He brushed his thumb against the soft flesh, releasing it from the grip of her teeth.
Hearing those words lightened his heart, but he also knew that if he hadn’t interpreted her words the way he had, he would’ve had to walk away anyway. “It was probably for the best that you did what you did,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I wasn’t who I am. I was Samuel Rodrigo. A person with no past and no future. I was a drifter who happened to land in San Carlion. I didn’t know how much longer I could stay there.”
Her eyes softened, being a lighter blue as they filled with compassion. “Was it hard? To live like that? To not be able to get close to people?”
Isaac shrugged, not wanting to delve too deep into the shallowness that had been his life for over a decade.
The way he’d kept people at arm’s length.
The way he still tended to do. Although, he was learning to lower those unconscious barriers he’d erected the moment he’d entered the Ramirez Cartel.
Or maybe long before that when he’d handed over a little girl to the CIA and put her through a torturous situation that would’ve broken other people.
The urge to pull out of Marie’s hold so that all his past sins didn’t taint her soul was huge, but he resisted, because letting go of her didn’t feel right. “It’s better not to, then you won’t lose sight of what the end goal is.”
Damn, how callous and uncaring did he sound? He wouldn’t be at all surprised if she was the one who pulled herself away from him and told him to leave.
Shock sailed through him when Marie did none of that, but instead, laid her head on his chest and hugged him. His eyelids drifted down, and a full body sigh rippled through him at the contact. A genuine contact that he hadn’t felt for a long time.
He didn’t count the hugs that Cass persisted in giving him.
This hug from Marie was different. Was it because he was attracted to Marie?
Or was it because, even after all this time and Cass’s assurances that the past was in the past, that he had tremendous guilt about how his actions all those years ago put Cass in the clutches of a sinister side to the CIA.
A side he knew existed. He had been a DEA Agent, and was well aware of the lengths government agencies would go to achieve what they wanted.
Feelings and people didn’t matter to them.
The good of the project was all they focused on.
“I don’t know if I could do that,” Marie said leaning back to look up at him.
“That’s because you’re a compassionate person. Even in the midst of all the chaos and aftershocks from the earthquake in San Carlion, you treated everyone with care and empathy—even when you knew there was nothing you could do but keep them comfortable until they succumbed to their injuries.”
The only time he’d seen her lose it was when Alfredo had gotten in her face. Anyone would’ve done that.
“That can be to my detriment. You saw the outcome of that first-hand.” She grimaced, but she wasn’t trying to get away from him.
His attention drifted to her mouth. To the plumpness and pinkness of her lips, tempting him to sample them. The memory of her lips touching him all those months ago, and a few minutes ago on the couch, echoed through him.
“Isaac.” She said his name like a whispered plea. After so long since that first connection between them, he couldn’t ignore it any longer.
He lowered his head, stopping a mere millimeter away. “Is this what you want?” he murmured, needing to hear the words, even though he knew this was what she wanted.
“Yes.”
A second later their mouths met, and all the tension that had been living inside of Isaac momentarily disappeared. He knew he wasn’t cured with one kiss from Marie, but he would take this reprieve.
As he remembered, her lips were soft and sweet, and he wanted more. His tongue teased her bottom lip, and she opened on a moan for him. A hint of peppermint still lingered from the one he’d seen her pop into her month when they’d started unpacking.
Her hands clutched at his back, and he tightened his hold on her waist. Desire flared to life inside of him, and he wanted to explore her more. To learn her curves. Feel the fullness of her breasts against his palms.
His body stirred to life, clearly liking the idea very much, and the way Marie pressed closer to him, she was on the same page.
The idea of taking her to her bedroom was tempting, but he didn’t want to rush this.
He wasn’t in his mid-twenties anymore. He didn’t need to slake his desire with a willing body.
What he wanted with Marie was deeper than that.
He wanted something he hadn’t had before—that soul deep connection with a person.
The one where they knew what each other were thinking and could speak without actually talking.
Reluctantly, he broke their kiss, pressing his lips against hers one last time before he loosened his hold on her, and Marie did the same. They didn’t separate, but they could fit a book between them whereas before it would’ve been impossible to slide a piece of tissue paper between their bodies.
They were both breathing heavily, but Isaac felt lighter than he had in years. “You good,” he asked.
Marie’s kiss swollen lips stretched into a wide grin. “Never better.” She ducked her head and played with the buttons on his shirt.
The display of nervousness and shyness confused him, especially after what they’d just shared together. Not to mention she just told him she was never better, but she was acting the complete opposite. A trickle of coldness began to infiltrate the warmth their kiss had generated. “Are you sure?”
She sighed, straightened her shoulders and lifted her head, as if she’d come to a decision. He braced himself for whatever that decision was. “Would you like to stay for dinner?”
For a moment he didn’t say anything, because her question and the way she was acting didn’t add up. “You were nervous about asking me to dinner?”
Marie lifted one shoulder. “Dumb huh, considering we just kissed.”
Laughter bubbled inside of him, and he couldn’t contain it. “Kind of,” he managed to get out.
Fortunately, Marie joined in, and the connection he felt with her from the kiss tightened. A tightness he welcomed.
Isaac tossed his screwed-up napkin into the empty pizza box. “I still can’t believe you forced me to eat pizza that had pineapple on it.”
“And was I wrong that it added flavor to it?” She quirked an eyebrow, and he tamped down the need to reach across and haul her into his arms.
“It was okay,” he said, eyeing the pizza that remained in the box in front of Marie.
“Admit it, you want more.”
He threw his hands up in mock surrender. “I cannot confirm or deny your supposition.”
Marie tossed her own napkin at him which he deftly caught with one hand. “You’re not fooling me, Warner.”
There was nothing he wanted more than to keep this banter going, but what happened earlier still lay between them. Both of them had made a conscious effort not to discuss it after Marie’s accusation of him being involved in her attempted kidnapping.