Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
After Julian left, Isla went into the bathroom attached to her bedroom to splash cold water on her heated cheeks. When she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, the rosy cheeks and kiss-swollen lips were almost startling. How long had it been since she’d had kiss-swollen lips?
Years…
The last time she’d had sex with Gabriel, she’d conceived Mila, and that’d been a moment of weakness after months of upheaval.
He’d come home full of tearful apologies and promises that he’d get help and that everything would be different.
Only because she’d been so lonely and scared had she given in, knowing his promises would most likely turn out to be empty.
In a matter of days, he’d been gone again.
She hadn’t seen him for six weeks that time, and by then, she knew she was pregnant.
At first, she’d been furious with herself for allowing that to happen, but as Mila grew inside her, she’d fallen deeply in love with the little being who would turn out to be her baby girl.
Thankfully, wherever he’d gone, Gabriel hadn’t cut off the money she needed to survive.
Isla had no regrets when it came to Theo and Mila. They were the best things to ever happen to her, even if everything else in their lives was a mess. She’d done her best to keep them insulated from Gabriel’s demons.
As she ran a brush through hair that’d been mussed by Julian’s fingers while he kissed her, she couldn’t wait to see him again.
Julian…
Quite simply the kindest, sweetest, handsomest, sexiest, smartest man she’d ever met in her life, and she was completely smitten with him, even if she had no business being smitten by anyone when her entire existence was in an uproar.
Somehow, some way, he’d become the calm in the storm for her, even if she felt anything but calm when he was around.
She’d never had the kind of physical reaction to a man that she’d had to him, almost from the second they first met in his office when he’d been so kind to her and the kids.
Right away, she’d felt safe with him in a way that she never had with Gabriel.
It was as if she could finally exhale and allow someone else to pick up part of the load she’d been carrying on her own for so long.
Not that she needed a man to come swooping in and fix everything for her and the kids.
Only she could do that. But there was no reason she couldn’t enjoy something special that was all hers—and his—while she figured out the rest. At some point, when he was a little older, Isla would explain to Theo what’d happened to his daddy.
How in the world would she ever make sense of it for him when she was still processing it herself?
Mrs. V cleared her throat.
Isla spun around to find her friend standing in the doorway. “Oh, hey. I thought you were lying down.”
“I lied. You know I don’t nap.”
She said naps were for babies and old people—and that seventy-two didn’t count as old.
“Sorry my arrival was poorly timed just now.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Now you’re the one who’s lying.” Mrs. V smiled as she leaned against the doorframe. “That man sure is handsome.”
“Is he? I haven’t noticed.”
Mrs. V snorted with laughter. “Sure you haven’t. I hope you’re being careful with your heart with that handsome man.”
“I’m not being careful at all. I lose all perspective and sensibility when he’s around.”
“I wanted to know more about him, so I poked around a bit online.”
“Wh-what did you find out?”
“By all accounts, he’s a brilliant attorney who cares tremendously about his clients and helping them get the best-possible settlements. He’s also a strong advocate for mediation over costly litigation that mostly benefits the lawyers, which makes him better than most in that regard.”
“That’s nice to hear.”
“It’s his personal life that concerns me.”
“How so?”
“He doesn’t seem to have one. There were photos of him at various fancy events, always with a gorgeous woman on his arm, but there’s never a second photo with the same woman.”
“There’s a reason for that.” Isla immediately felt the need to defend him. “His parents dragged him and his siblings through an ugly custody battle for ten years, not to mention what he deals with every day at work. He’s reluctant to get himself into things he can’t get out of.”
“Interesting.”
“How so?”
“Well, on paper, he seems like a great guy. But is someone who avoids commitment like the plague the right guy for you, especially in light of recent events?”
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 actually died. 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 time Isla 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.
When they were on the way up the hill to his place, he reached for her hand and held on tight.
She put her free hand on top of their joined hands, trapping him in her silken web.
He’d never been so happy to be trapped.
Everything about her did it for him, from the scent that made him want to bury his face in her neck to get closer to it, to her soft lips, her sweetness, the beautiful way she mothered her kids, her resilience and the fortitude that was guiding her through one of the hardest times in her life.
He wanted to make everything easier for her going forward but already understood that she didn’t need a man to do that for her. She’d be fine on her own, which only made him want to do everything he could to help her.
It was a strange state of being for a man who’d never wanted any of the things that came with her, but the thought of letting her get away now that he knew she existed was unthinkable.
When they walked into his kitchen, she dropped her coat and purse on the floor and turned to him just as he reached for her.
This kiss made the one in the car look like child’s play.
Holy. Shit.
His better judgment had him briefly thinking they should maybe slow this down a bit, but then her hands wandered under his sweater, and the heat of her skin against his pushed every thought out of his head except one.
He wanted her. Right now.
Without breaking the kiss, he wrapped an arm around her waist, lifted her and headed for the stairs.
She wrapped her arms and legs around him and held on tight for the ride upstairs.
They came down on Julian’s king-sized bed, wrapped up in each other and not losing a beat in the kiss to end all kisses.
He’d spent a lifetime trying to avoid the very trap he was now walking into, fully aware that she was changing his life with every stroke of her tongue and caress of his face. Her touch sent shivers down his spine and filled him with a craving for more of her sweet sexiness.
“Isla,” he whispered against her neck.
He wanted to drown in the scent of her hair and skin.