Page 59 of Isolated
As Landen backed out of the driveway, he asked, “What caused him to run off?”
“Gertie and Rachel.”
“I thought your sisters were Eleni and Flora.”
I laughed. “Yes. But Gertie was Walter’s wife, and Rachel is his daughter…”
For the remainder of the drive to the restaurant, I talked to Landen about Walter’s reaction last weekend and the things I knew about his personal life that had him responding to me the way he had. Of course, I didn’t hesitate to reveal a bit more with him about the ways in which I tried to cheer Walter up ever since I’d moved in. Like when I’d shared some of my birthday cake with him before heading home to Grouse to celebrate with my family.
Before I knew it, we arrived at The Ridge. I might not have been on any dates since before moving to Steel Ridge, but I’d heard about The Ridge. If there was an easy way for a guy to communicate how serious he was about a girl, taking her to The Ridge would have been it. Though I didn’t want to seem too presumptuous, I couldn’t ignore how much I liked knowing that Landen chose to bring me here.
Once he parked, he reached over and placed his hand on my forearm, sending shivers along my spine. “Wait there while I come around to open your door for you.”
Feeling the flush creep over my skin, I tucked my chin toward my chest and offered a small smile. “Okay.”
The man was handsome and a gentleman. It seemed far too soon for me to fall in love.
But as Landen got out of the car and rounded the hood, I watched him and felt another thrill move through me.
This night was something I’d been waiting to have with him for so long. And now that it was here, I was going to savor every single minute. I was looking forward to whatever the next few hours with him would bring, excited to learn more about the man who’d caught my eye.
Maybe we’d really hit it off. And if I was truly lucky, Landen might kiss me before the night was over.
EIGHTEEN
Landen
My thoughts were all over the place.
Feeling like there was a drum beating in my chest, a tingling warmth spread throughout my body.
Iris and I had only just sat down for dinner, but I was already thrilled with how this night was going. I was happy and undeniably grateful to finally have the chance to take this gorgeous woman with her sunny disposition out on a date.
And as I sat across from her at the table, I asked myself how good it could possibly get. If it was already this good, I could only assume or, perhaps, hope that the night was only going to get better from here.
On some level, I was terrified to speak. I’d waited so long to have this with Iris that I didn’t want to say or do anything that might prematurely end this.
Confident as ever, Iris broke the silence. “This feels strange.”
Not exactly the words I’d hoped to hear. “Strange?”
She nodded. “Don’t you think so? I mean, we’re here doing this after all this time. And we’re at The Ridge, of all places.”
“You don’t like The Ridge?”
Shaking her head, Iris replied, “I don’t know. This is my first time here. I just… Well, it’s no secret this place is rather upscale. I’m surprised you’d want to bring me here for our first date.”
First date.
That seemed like such an impossibility when I already felt a strong sense of connection to this woman. Months and months of friendship and mornings working out together had led to a state of closeness with her that I hadn’t ever experienced with anyone else I’d ever taken out on a first date.
Any worries I had about screwing this up had to be put on the back burner, though. Whatever was going to happen would happen, because I refused to do anything that didn’t involve putting my full effort into this evening with her. And that meant being transparent with her about everything.
“I think I’ve made it clear that I’ve wanted to be able to do this for such a long time with you,” I told her.
A smile played at her lips. “You have.”
“So, then you can understand why I intended to do things right.”
