Page 85 of Isolated
After releasing her hold on me, she swiped at her cheeks. “I’m probably a big mess.”
“You’re beautiful. But why don’t you run upstairs, get yourself cleaned up, and comfortable? I’ll take care of dinner tonight.”
She touched her lips to mine in a chaste kiss before she took off.
And after we ate dinner, the two of us cuddled up on the couch together. All I wanted to do was give Iris the comfort she needed to relax for the night. Apparently, I’d done it well enough, because she fell asleep in my arms.
For a long while, I stayed like that with her,watching her sleep peacefully as I attempted to come up with solutions to each of the situations weighing so heavily on her heart.
When it got late, I lifted her in my arms and carried her upstairs. I’d never been before, but I didn’t have the heart to wake her, nor would I just leave her on the couch. I located her bedroom, eased her onto the mattress, and pulled back the blankets. Just as I pulled them over her, she woke and reached out to me. “What… What are you doing?”
I sat on the edge of the bed. “You fell asleep downstairs. I was going to get you tucked in and lock up when I leave.”
Her fingers squeezed my hand as her eyes drifted shut. Everything was so still, so silent, for several beats, I figured she’d fallen back asleep. But right as I was about to stand to leave, she looked at me again with such longing in her gaze. “Will you stay with me?”
“What?”
“For tonight. Just tonight. I don’t want to be alone. I have a spare toothbrush, if that’ll convince you.”
Amused, my mouth curved into a smile. Such a dark day for her, and she still found a way to make me smile. Toothbrush or not, it was in that moment I knew there wasn’t anything Iris could ask of me that I wouldn’t go out of my way to give her. “Let me go downstairs and lock up the house. I’ll be right back.”
Her lips parted with relief. “Okay. Please hurry.”
So that’s what I did, unable to ignore how good it felt to know that Iris trusted me enough to take care of her when things got tough.
TWENTY-FOUR
Iris
I’d had thoughts about what it’d feel like to be wrapped up in Landen’s arms all night long. The fantasies had played out in my mind for months. But once things changed between us, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering.
Now, I knew what it was like.
Now, I knew there was nothing else that could provide me with the kind of comfort that Landen’s embrace gave me.
Warm.
God, so warm.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt something so strong yet gentle all at the same time.
And to know he’d given it to me without hesitation meant the world.
The way I felt now made it just a bit difficult to believe that, mere hours ago, I’d been such a mess. Ihad no idea what I would have done yesterday without him. I’d been feeling on edge for a while, and each day just seemed to get worse and worse.
I hated it.
Why, when I felt like I was finally getting the one thing in my life that had been missing—a real shot at a romantic relationship with a great guy—did everything else have to start falling apart?
My eyes fluttered open, and I glanced down to where his arm was draped over my body, his hand holding me possessively. I relished the sight of it, in the feel of having him here in my bed.
It wasn’t lost on me that I’d taken advantage of his need to care for me last night, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about it now. I didn’t want to be alone, and I was so grateful he had been willing to stay with me.
Perhaps I needed to find a way to make it up to him, to show my gratitude. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that immediately, because my bladder was screaming at me.
In an effort not to wake him, I slipped out of Landen’s hold as carefully as I could and made my way to the bathroom. Believing I’d find myself feeling the overwhelming urge to kiss him this morning, I decided to take care of brushing my teeth while I was in there.
When I emerged from the bathroom and stepped back into the bedroom, my eyes met Landen’s. He was awake, looking at me with a lazy smile on his face. Like he’d just had the best night of his life.
