Page 18 of Isolated
In a move I hadn’t expected, Iris lifted her opposite hand and curled her fingers around my wrist. The touch sent jolts of electricity shooting down my arm. “Do we have to walk on the treadmill?”
Ignoring how much I like the feel of her fingers against my skin like they were, I shook my head. “No. In fact, I’d recommend the elliptical. You’ll avoid the pounding and shock that your joints will absorb on the treadmill.”
“Alright, well, I guess it’s time to get started, if I don’t want to be late for work today, too.”
I bent at the waist, picked up her bag, and waved my hand out, palm up, in the direction of the cardio equipment. “Lead the way.”
Iris took the bag from me and moved in that direction.
Twenty-five minutes later, following some looks that lingered longer than usual as we exercised side by side, Iris and I finished on the ellipticals and did some light stretching. Then we dove into our usual Tuesday routine. While I continued to encourage her as I always did, I didn’t go overboard like I had yesterday.
Far too quickly, our time together was up. It always seemed to happen long before I was ready for it.
“So, how are you feeling now? Are the legs any better?”
Grinning broadly, Iris all but bounced on her toes as she answered, “Much better. I don’t suspect it’ll last all day, but having some heat in them has loosened things up, for sure. They just aren’t back to being perfect yet.”
That was debatable.
Her legs might have felt sore, but they looked phenomenal. Ever since she’d mentioned being my girl if I had another wedding to attend, I thought about those very legs being wrapped around my waist or thrown over my shoulders. And those thoughts easily led to more about what a woman like her would sound like in the throes of passion.
This was not the time to be thinking about her like this.
Shaking off the unsavory thoughts, I said, “Just remember to drink a lot of water. That’s going to be the best thing you can do to help with the recovery.”
“I’ll try to stay on top of that. Thanks for being willing to switch things up with me today. It certainly made things much easier to get through.”
One half of my mouth quirked. “Anytime, Iris. I’m glad it helped. More than that, I’m just relieved to know your luck hasn’t turned.”
Her head tipped back as laughter spilled out of her. “Oh, I guess you’re right. Fingers crossed it stays that way.”
Her laughter was infectious, and had I not been so captivated by the sight of her like that, I might have joined in. Then again, that was nothing new for me. I felt like I was constantly fighting against what I was really feeling when it came to her, if only for fear that I’d lose it all.
I didn’t know why. Even if I’d taken that risk, going out on a limb to ask her on a date, and she declined, Iris didn’t seem like the kind of woman who could hold a grudge. She was so sweet and happy all the time. But I was too worried that, at the very least, I’d make things awkward. And if that happened, I’d regret losing this part of her.
“I’m sure you’ve got nothing to worry about. So, I’ll see you here on Thursday morning, then?”
“You will. Have a good day today, Landen.”
I loved hearing her say my name. “You, too, Iris.”
With that, we stepped off the curb and walked in opposite directions through the parking lot. I didn’t makeit obvious, but I always watched to make sure she got to her car safely and pulled out ahead of me.
Today was no different.
Only this time, I sat there wondering about the possibilities.
If only I knew for sure how Iris would respond, then maybe I could have done what I really wanted to do to show her that her lucky streak was just beginning.
SEVEN
Iris
My luck ran out.
I was the kind of person who always tried to look on the bright side, to find the silver lining, but even that was exceedingly difficult to do in this situation.
Theonlything I could manage to be grateful for at this point was that it was Saturday and I’d have time over the next two days to fix some of the mistakes I made and try to clean up the mess from the second half of my work week.
