Page 34 of Isolated
She beamed at me. “Deal.”
As though on cue, a timer went off in the kitchen, indicating that dinner was ready.
Iris sat back and pulled her hands away from me. “Time to eat. I hope you’re hungry.”
I was starving, but the longer I sat here with her, the clearer it became that my hunger had nothing to do with food. There was little I wouldn’t give to get my mouth on hers. “It’s been a while since we had lunch, and I haven’t had anything since then, so I’m starved.”
Iris rose from her seat. “Perfect. I just need a couple of minutes to get it plated.”
I stood. “Can I help?”
She took me in, her eyes roaming over my face before dipping briefly toward my shoulders and chest and back again. “If you want to grab some drinks and utensils, that would be great.”
Following her into the kitchen, I allowed my own gaze to wander over her figure. I clenched my jaw and balled my hands into fists as thoughts flitted through my mind of how good it’d feel to hold her hips in my hands. This was easily the best kind of torture.
I grabbed some drinks from the refrigerator while Iris went about plating the food. After picking up some utensils, I joined her back at the table for dinner. She’d made baked honey mustard chicken with rice and broccoli. I wasn’t terrible in the kitchen, but with just one bite, I could admit my skills didn’t compare.
“Is there anything you’re not good at?” I asked after I’d taken a second bite.
“Pardon?”
I shook my head, swallowed that bite, and used the fork to indicate the food. “This is delicious.”
“Yeah? You like it?”
“I do. And I guess I’m wondering what it is that you can’t do, because from where I’m standing, it doesn’t seem as though there’s much you aren’t skilled at.”
Though her lips twitched with amusement, Iris squinted. “Are you just attempting to cheer me up tonight?”
That hadn’t been my goal at all. “No. But if I can accomplish two things at once, I’ll take it. Is that what’s happening?”
Her eyes sparkled in a way I hadn’t seen for the past two days with all that had been weighing on her. “If I’m honest, you’ve always cheered me up.”
My body stilled, my fork coming to a stop in front of my mouth. “Really?”
“I’ll admit that it’s not very often I’m feeling down in the dumps, but even on a good day, I find myself smiling just a bit more when I have a workout session with you,” she revealed.
My heart rate kicked up a notch, but I remained still to hide how her words were impacting me. “That’s probably just the result of the endorphins.”
Another giggle filled the air, the sound like music to my ears. “No, I don’t think that’s it at all. There have been very few instances when you weren’t at the gym when I was, but those days did not feel anywhere close to being the same.”
She was joking. Either that, or I was dreaming.
This couldn’t be real. Was it a dream come true? Was she saying what I’d been wanting her to say for months?
Too stunned to speak, I simply continued to stare ather. And that inaction led to Iris getting the wrong impression.
The sparkle in her eyes that I’d just gotten back had vanished, and a flush crept over her cheeks. “Gosh, I’m so sorry, Landen. I… I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what came over me.”
Finding my voice, needing her to know that there wasn’t anything to be upset about, I insisted, “It’s okay.”
Iris shook her head. “No. No, I’m sorry. You’ll likely never want to work out with me ever again.”
“What would make you think that?”
Her shoulders fell, and she set her fork down. “I think Robert was right. Maybe I am losing my mind.”
“Iris, you don’t?—”
