He knew that if he walked into her bedroom he wouldn’t be leaving. He tossed her phone and charger on her bed, then crossed his arms so he wouldn’t reach for her.
The same question nagged at him again. What the hell had happened to him? This time he knew the answer. Isabel had happened. His discipline and control vanished whenever he was around her.
All he wanted to think about was touching her, and how messed up was that? She was all wrong for him, and he was definitely all wrong for her. Isabel was young and unaware of the treachery in the world; he was hardened by what he had seen and done and very familiar with treachery. His cynicism
would wear her down and eventually destroy the goodness and joy inside her. Being together would end in disaster.
Michael knew she couldn’t handle a casual affair. And with Isabel, neither could he. She was so different from all the other women he’d known. She looked at the world the way he wanted to, and maybe that was yet another reason he was drawn to her.
There was also another deterrent, the fact that she was Dylan’s sister-in-law. Michael knew he’d never hear the end of it if he got involved with her. And yet he was in the mood to ignore all of his reasons to leave her alone.
Isabel couldn’t imagine what was going on in his mind. He looked angry and perplexed at the same time. “Michael? What are you thinking about? You look so serious.”
He didn’t hesitate answering her. “I think you’re probably the sexiest woman I’ve ever known.”
Astounded, she whispered, “Oh.” Then, “But you’ve never even kissed me.” Frowning now, she walked over to stand in front of him. “I think you should.”
Michael loved that she was blushing. Damn, she was sweet. “Yeah?” he said.
She slowly nodded. “Then you’d know.”
Smiling, he said, “Yeah, then I’d know.”
Staring into his eyes, she slowly put her arms around his neck. He didn’t seem to be in any hurry, but she was suddenly impatient. She pulled on his hair so he would tilt his head toward her. She kissed the pulse at the base of his neck, using her tongue to tickle his skin, then kissed his chin, and with a sigh she tugged on his earlobe with her teeth.
Michael’s heart felt as though it were slamming against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against him as his open mouth came down on hers. Her mouth was so warm; her lips were incredibly soft, and her tongue rubbing against his drove him crazy. He couldn’t seem to get enough of her as his mouth slanted over hers. No other woman had ever affected him like this. He kept trying to bring her closer. His hands cupped her backside, lifting her up until her pelvis was pressed against him, and he growled low in his throat when she moved.
The kiss went on and on and kept getting hotter.
Michael knew he was losing control and abruptly drew back. “We’ve got to stop this,” he said, and then he kissed her again, longer, harder, until both of them were shaking.
He came to his senses before she did. His hands had moved under her pajama top, and he was stroking the sides of her breasts. If he didn’t stop, he would rip her clothes off and take her right then and there. It took all his strength to pull away from her. He saw the passion in her beautiful eyes and knew he’d rattled her, but then she’d done the same to him.
“I like kissing you.” She whispered her confession and waited to see what he would do.
He didn’t say a word. He simply stepped back into the hallway and pulled the door closed behind him.
Isabel stared at the door for a while, then walked to the window and gazed out at the night ocean.
The moon cast a silver light on the water. It was churned up tonight, and the whitecaps looked like fat marshmallows. She smiled over the silly comparison.
Her mind wouldn’t settle. She didn’t know how long she stood there while she tried to make sense of what was happening to her, but she knew she couldn’t avoid the truth any longer. She was actually beginning to like Dumbass.
God help her now.
TEN
THE FOLLOWING MORNING MICHAEL BROKE UP WITH HER, WHICH SHE THOUGHT WAS
extremely odd since they hadn’t even been dating. Honest to Pete, he took her aside right after breakfast to tell her they needed to go their separate ways.
Her reaction wasn’t what Michael expected. She told him she thought he was out of his ever-loving mind. Then she laughed, which he didn’t appreciate.
They went for a walk—his suggestion, not hers—so they could have some privacy for the scene he was sure she was going to make. But, as it turned out, he was the one who made the scene, not her.
They strolled along the shoreline in silence for a few minutes, and then he stopped to face her.
“I need to stay away from you,” he said, his declaration sounding more like a reprimand.
“Then stay away,” she said. “And the problem is solved.”
When she smiled up at him with those big beautiful eyes, Michael clasped his hands behind his back to keep from taking her into his arms. He didn’t dare look at her sweet mouth, or he’d lose the battle he’d been fighting since he’d kissed her last night.
“And you need to stay away from me.”
“Okay.”
“Isabel, I’m serious.”
She didn’t argue. She simply shrugged nonchalantly and said, “I know you are.”
He felt he should explain his reasons, but at the moment, standing so close to her, he couldn’t come up with any. Damn, she smelled good.
“This is lust between us, not love, and I worry you won’t be able to tell the difference. I don’t want you to get hurt.” He pulled his gaze away from her face, looking past her shoulder at the waves hitting the rocks. “It would never work.”
Isabel was reeling from his lust-not-love comment. Did he think she was an idiot? That she wouldn’t know the difference between love and lust? Fortunately, she wasn’t afflicted with either.
Still, she wasn’t a robot. She had feelings, and it hurt knowing he didn’t want to have anything to do with her.
“I want you to understand—” he began.
She interrupted. “Are you going to list all the reasons we should go our separate ways, or would you like me to?” she asked.
“Go ahead.”