Finding Isadora(101)

He nodded slowly. “That’s true. But I’m his father. I’m supposed to protect him.”

That, too, was true, and unarguable. “You can’t protect him from everything,” I pointed out. “He’s a grownup. He has to face the world by himself.”

Beside my hand, his erection was wilting. “I’ve betrayed his trust too many times.”

And that was unanswerable.

Except… “You didn’t promise him anything this time. It’s not like when you said you’d come to his graduation and then didn’t show up.”

“Oh, Isadora, I really want to let you win this point. But I have to say, surely there’s an implied trust. That I’m not going to”—he paused, then said, deliberately—”f*ck his ex-fiancée.”

He was trying to shock me, to reduce whatever we had to its crudest terms. A week ago, maybe even a couple of nights ago, it would have worked. But I didn’t for a moment believe that if we had sex, it would be just f*cking, for either of us.

I wanted to say that a person can’t help who he falls in love with. But I knew Gabriel wasn’t ready to admit to love. Would he ever be?

“If it had been Richard who broke up with me, rather than the other way around, would it make a difference?”

He frowned, started to say something, but I cut him off. “What if he and I had been sweethearts in high school and had been broken up for ten years?”

One corner of his mouth tilted. “An interesting argument, counselor.” Then he frowned in puzzlement. “Are you really trying to talk me into bed?”

“Isn’t it inevitable we’re going to end up there? I need us to find a way of living with it.”

His mouth fell open. “Well, damn,” he said slowly. “How do you always manage to surprise me?”

Beside my hand, his erection swelled again. I wanted to curl my fingers around him and speed the process. Was there any reason not to?

Before I could make my move, he sprang to his feet and jerked me up. “Now, Isadora. If it’s inevitable, then let’s damn well do it now.” He glanced out at the beach and yelled, “Pogo, come here!”

“N-now?” Oh goddess, what had I done? It wasn’t that I didn’t want him, but I was wearing plain cotton underwear, hadn’t shaved my legs for a few days, and… “I haven’t washed the dinner dishes.”

Gabriel bent to clip Pogo’s leash to his collar. “Believe me, I don’t give a damn about your dirty dishes.”





Chapter 15


He grabbed my hand and, with me trailing him on one side and Pogo on the other, took off toward the sidewalk. I had to break into a jog to keep up.

Neither of us said a word until we were inside my apartment, kicking off our shoes. Gabriel released Pogo then turned to me. “Animals fed?”

I’d barely started to nod when he said, “Anything else you have to do? And if you say dishes, I’ll—”

“The couch—”

“Pulls out into a bed. I know.”

He strode into the living room and yanked the couch open, while I followed behind, clicking off the light in the hall, then the one in the kitchen. I really wanted to wash those dishes.

Instead, I took the duvet and pillows from the wicker hamper and tossed them on the bed. What had I gotten myself into? Gabriel was so experienced and I’d had only two lovers in my life. Maybe it was my fault the sex hadn’t been hot. Perhaps Gabriel would be disappointed and—

His hands gripped my upper arms. “You’re sure?”

I couldn’t look at him so I studied our feet, mine bare, his in black socks. I’d talked a good game back on the beach, but now I wasn’t sure of anything.

He hooked a finger under my chin and tilted my head up. I forced myself to meet his eyes, where I read his passion and his sincerity. If I said stop, he’d do it. He smiled and his whole face warmed. Yes, I loved Gabriel, and he was well on his way to loving me.

“What do you want, Isadora?”

I slipped my arms around his waist. “You. I want you.”

His arms came around me. “You’ve had me from the first moment I saw you.”

Remembering that moment, I grinned. “I thought you were a panther. Or a Greek tycoon.”

He chuckled. “I thought you were a model.”

“A model?” I couldn’t have heard him right.

We held each other loosely, resting in each other’s arms. Somehow it felt right to be reminiscing about the beginning of our relationship before we took the next, irrevocable step.

“Yeah, you were so slim and beautiful and classy. That perfect black dress, the elegant bone structure, artfully tousled hair.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Artfully tousled?”

“Hey, that’s how it came across at the time. Now I know it’s because you’re always running your fingers through it.”

Was I? “A model, eh?” Not that I particularly admired models, but I was flattered. “Here I thought I was such a plain Jane in that fancy crowd.”

He shook his head. “Never that. You’d stand out anywhere you went.”

The amazing and truly sweet thing was, I could see he believed it. And that made me more confident. So did the fact that, despite the civilized conversation we were conducting, Gabriel’s erection had returned, full force.