Page 86 of Isolated
I smiled in return and made my way back to bed, where I pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, sunshine. Are you feeling okay this morning?”
Nodding, I answered, “I am.”
He inclined his head with understanding. “Good. Hang tight for two minutes while I use the bathroom.”
“Okay.”
Landen tossed the blanket back and swung his legs out of the bed. I watched as he crossed the room and made his way into the bathroom, doing it wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs. I certainly hadn’t expected that the first time I saw him nearly naked would be after I had a complete breakdown. If only the circumstances had been different last night.
Once he closed the door, I wasn’t ashamed to admit I scooted closer to his side of the bed, buried my face in his pillow, and inhaled. Even the scent of him could comfort me. If I had my way, I would have spent the next two days in this bed with him.
By the time Landen returned to the bedroom, I no longer had my face shoved into his pillow, but I was still resting my head there. My eyes drifted over his body from top to toe, appreciating the view.
He seemed to be amused by my actions. “Enjoying yourself.”
I nodded against the pillow before scooting back enough to allow him to slip beneath the covers beside me. He slid in on his back and held his arm out, urging me to curl myself into his body.
As soon as I was settled comfortably beside his warm skin, I tipped my chin up and asked, “Did you sleep alright?”
His smile turned into a full-fledged grin. “Best night of sleep in my life.”
Something told me he was embellishing. “Thank youfor spending the night with me. You didn’t have to stay here, but it means a lot to me that you did.”
Keeping his arm wrapped around my back, holding me close, Landen brought his hand to rest just beneath my jaw as he lifted his head from the pillow and touched his lips lightly to mine.
His breath was minty fresh. A thrill moved through me at the thought that he must have had the same idea as I did. Apparently, Landen intended to kiss me this morning, too.
“Well, you did entice me with that toothbrush.” Another kiss. “There is nowhere else I would have wanted to be than precisely where I was last night. Are you sure you’re doing okay this morning?”
I pressed my cheek to his chest once more and traced my fingertips over the smooth skin there. “If I allow myself to think about everything, it makes me sad. I feel like I always know what to do, but in this situation, I’m completely lost. I have no idea how to fix any of this.”
“We’ll figure it out together,” he assured me. “I promise we’ll work through all of it.”
Keeping my head resting against him, I angled it to look up at him. My fingers continued to glide lightly over his skin. “I hope you know how much I appreciate you, how much you mean to me. And I pray that what happened last night didn’t scare you away. I swear, I’m usually not so emotional.”
He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I hate seeing you upset, but what happened last night would never lead to me walking away from you. I’ve got feelings in this too, Iris.”
“You’re close to being all that I have right now.”
His hand moved up and down my arm encouragingly. “That’s not true.”
“But it is. My relationship with one sister is non-existent, which is making the relationship I have with the other sister severely strained. My neighbor doesn’t like me anymore, and my friends and colleagues at work all seem to hate me.”
“Like I said, we’re going to work through all that one step at a time. But you should know that you’ve got other people around for you, too.”
I lifted my head from his chest as my body went taut. “What? Who?”
Driving his fingers through my hair, he revealed, “I told my best friend about you. His name is Hart, and we work together. He told me that whenever you and I are ready for it, he and his girl, Reagan, would like to get together for dinner. Reagan works as a real estate agent, but she doesn’t have any family, so she’s looking for friends. And while she’s made some recently, Hart said she’d love another.”
Tears filled my eyes. I didn’t know why I was getting so emotional about the news. Maybe it was that I’d been here in Steel Ridge for two years, and the only friends I’d made were the ones I found at work or living next door to me. And while I adored those friendships and wanted to do everything I could to hold on to them, I wouldn’t turn down a few more. Perhaps being with Landen would open up opportunities not only for the romantic relationship I wanted with him but meaningful friendships with his friends that I didn’t know I needed.
“I can’t wait to meet them.”
He grinned at me. “I had a feeling you’d be excited. They aren’t the only ones that want to meet you, either.”
“There’re more people?”
