Page 72 of Accidentally Amy

She looked so incredible that I’d had to force myself to stop looking at her after every sentence we exchanged. If I didn’tmake a conscious effort, I might never stop staring, and I’d never want her to think Date Izzy was any better than every other version.

Because Iz was the sexiest person I’d ever met—all the time. In her messy ponytails and smudged glasses, in her skirts and heels at work; I was painfully attracted to her, no matter what.

But it had way more to do with her brain and her heart than her appearance.

She was smart and funny, warm and sweet.

Every day—hell, everyconversation—exposed me to more of the inner workings of her brain, and I was constantly blown away. She had her own brand of generosity that was all about kindness and acceptance, and I was starting to wonder how I was lucky enough to evenknowher, much less take her out to dinner.

But tonight—holy shit. Her long hair, that lipstick, those legs in that skirt; all of it together would tempt anyone with eyeballs. But combine it with the punch of her quiet perfume and the fact that she’d gotten dressed to go out withme, and I was fucking on edge.

“Okay,” she said, leaning forward to turn up the volume on the radio. “As soon as we order, it is on.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Izzy

“Obviously you’re close with your brothers. Is it like that with the rest of your family?” I asked, breaking my roll in half. “I’m picturing an entire clan full of bearded Jasons.”

“That is a terrifying thought,” he said, picking up his lowball glass. “And Jason and AJ are the exceptions in my family, actually. I don’t talk to my dad, and my mother passed last year. I’m pretty close with my grandparents on my mom’s side but only talk to my dad’s parents on holidays.”

“So you are an American family,” I said, picturing Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in a bookstore.

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you seriously just throw aYou’ve Got Mailquote at me?”

“Did you seriously just recognize it?” I said around a laugh. “That is crazy impressive, Phillips.”

“Not in the slightest,” he said, and he took a drink of his Scotch.

“I’m sorry about your mom, by the way,” I added, hating the thought of him ever being sad.

He shrugged. “Cancer sucks. Next question.”

I was glad his face was soft, because if it wasn’t, that answer would’ve made me feel like a prying ass.

“Okay, next question,” I repeated, trying to come up with a good one. “Um, have you ever been in love?”

He set down his glass. “No.”

That surprised me. “Really?”

He gave his head a little shake. “I was engaged not that long ago, but after the fact, I was able to see that it wasn’t the real thing.”

“Really?” I grabbed my wineglass, fascinated by the thought of Blake with a ring. “What happened after the fact?”

He stared at me for a long minute, like he was weighing his thoughts, and then he said, “I realized that I had stronger feelings for one of my friends than I ever had for her.”

“Oh.” I stared back at him, my heart beating in my throat as I tried to sound calm. “Is that right?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Interesting,” I managed, feeling so flustered I didn’t even know how to string words together. It felt like he was saying something huge, but what if that was just my brain shorting out from being in such close proximity to him? What if I was absolutely inserting myself into his conversation because I was drunk on his face? I cleared my throat and said, “Well, you must’ve thought you were at the time.”

“I did.” He looked directly at me, not evading my gazewhatsoever, and laid it all out there. “Skye and I got along great and it felt right, but then things changed. I don’t want to get into the details of a past relationship, but I guess you could just say we had different values in the end.”

“Values,” I said, nodding. “Like, she was super into NASCAR and you’re an F1 guy?”

He smiled and leaned a little closer. “Like, she was super into lying a lot and I was not.”

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