“Um, the sex wasn’t a deterrent, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said softly. “It just makes me want to wine and dine you even more.”
“I don’t want to ruin our friendship,” she whispered.
“Why would it?” I reached out a hand, waiting for her to put hers in it. “We already agreed we would spend the summer dating, right? Or at least until the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“And did us making love make you like me less?”
“Not hardly.” She glanced over at me with a faint smile playing on her lips.
“Do you want to do it again?”
“Yes.”
“Then who cares what your grandfather or anyone else thinks? This is about what we want.” I squeezed her hand. “You said you’ve been thinking about me, about us as a couple, for a long time, and so have I. Let’s just enjoy the summer, see where it goes. It’s no one’s business but ours.”
Her eyes burned into mine. “Are you sure that’s what you want? Because I threw this at you and now I feel like I’ve essentially thrown myself at you with everything, including the sex.”
“Oh, baby, you have no idea how much I wanted to get you naked,” I murmured, stroking the skin of her hand with my thumb. “We’d be in bed right now if we could be.”
“As long as you’re sure. I suddenly felt very unsure at dinner, when they started talking about moving, changing careers, all that. It was a bit overwhelming.”
“That’s why we’re taking the summer to figure out if that’s where this is headed.” I got up and moved closer to her, leaning over her chair so I could press my lips to hers. “Stop thinking so much and just enjoy.”
“Deal.”
“So, do you want to go out tonight?” I asked, her hand warm on the side of my face.
“Would you believe I’d like to stay right here with you and not do anything but hold hands?”
“I’d like that too. Unfortunately, it looks like another storm is coming and the skies are about to open up again.”
“Aye.” She sat up reluctantly, looking up at the sky.
“And we can’t really…cuddle here.”
“We can cuddle,” she said softly. “We just can’t do anything else.”
“Then let’s go inside and maybe we can do something spectacularly normal like watch a movie together.”
She got to her feet and slowly wrapped her arms around my neck. “That sounds lovely.”
We agreed we’d each pick a movie to watch. First up was my choice, a hockey-themed movie called Mystery, Alaska, which she’d never seen, followed by one of her all-time favorite movies, something called The Full Monty, which I’d never even heard of. We put in a third movie, the original Star Wars, a movie we both loved, and promptly fell asleep. The next thing I knew, Merrie was shaking us awake.
“It’s five in the morning,” she was whispering loudly. “Off to your own beds with you before the duke wanders down and has a coronary episode! Go on then.”
Isla and I got to our feet wearily.
“Come on.” I slid an arm around her shoulders and walked her to her room. “I’ll see you in a few hours,” I whispered outside her door.
“Breakfast at nine?” she whispered, tipping her head up for a kiss.
I pressed my lips to hers. “See you then.”
I turned and headed to my own room, a smile on my face. It wasn’t the type of night I was used to with a beautiful woman, but it had been fun all the same. Sex was an incredible, exciting bonus, but with Isla, it didn’t matter as much. I could wait until we had another opportunity to be alone. It was kind of weird feeling so relaxed about all of this since it started as a favor. The minute Ian had come to me, though, I’d known there was no way I would be happy as a “fake” boyfriend. I’d been too crazy about her for too long, and this opportunity had fallen into my lap like a gift from the heavens.
I did have one reservation, though, and while I hadn’t given it much thought, now that I was lying in bed, wide awake, it was lurking in my subconscious. It all came back to my growing discontent with my professional life. I still didn’t know if I wanted to stay in hockey, and if I decided to leave, I had nowhere to go. How could I ask a woman I potentially wanted to spend the rest of my life with, to follow me…nowhere? I didn’t have a plan and I truly didn’t even know where I was going to wind up.
Something told me Isla wasn’t the type of woman to just go with the flow. Without a plan, she would be unhappy, and if I was honest with myself, not having a plan didn’t make me very happy either. At some point, I was going to have to do some soul-searching. Because losing Isla now that I finally had her wasn’t an option.
9
Isla
The next day took a turn neither of us had been expecting, when, during breakfast, Lachlan invited Dax to go golfing with him, Liam and several of their mates from work.
“I apologize for not checking with Isla first,” Liam said, “but you won’t mind letting us borrow him for a few hours, will you, Isla? A few of my mates are big fans of the Sidewinders and excited to meet him.”
I shook my head, managing a soft smile. “Of course I don’t mind. I’ve got a few things to catch up on before the wedding insanity begins anyway.”
Dax frowned slightly, obviously torn between being polite and letting everyone know he was far more interested in hanging out with me today. I gave him a quick wink, letting him know I didn’t mind.
“We’ll go out to dinner tonight,” Dax said softly, his eyes never leaving mine. “Just the two of us, okay?”
“Absolutely. Have fun.”
The guys left a little while after
