Not going there.
Would she leave him her number?
He knew the answer to this one without a doubt: she would...if he asked.
And he wouldn’t.
Isaac had seen and done a great many things in his life, but pursuing one woman exclusively didn’t make the list.
And it never would.
There was too much at risk; too much that couldn’t be predicted and, therefore, protected.
Rachel made a small sound in her sleep and snuggled deeper into her pillow.
God, she was beautiful in the early-morning light.
“Beautiful in any light,” he whispered.
The way his life was structured suited him, and he didn’t see the value in changing something that worked so well.
But doesn’t she work well for you?The question, one he hadn’t even been aware he’d been bandying about, was a legitimate one.
She did, in fact, suit him in many ways. Sure, she was his opposite. And the way she tested his control made him mentally itchy. But she drove him insane in an entirely different manner when their clothes came off. Andinsanewas the right word considering that he was even entertaining the thought of seeing her again.
There was something so undeniably different about her. She was the first woman he could remember who made him want one more moment with her, another round between the sheets. One more of anything that would keep her within his reach.
His phone buzzed, and he realized with a start that it was Friday.
A workday.
And he was late.
Isaac wasneverlate. Particularly for work.
Gently rolling away, he dug his phone out of his jacket pocket and saw his brother’s number flashing on his display.
“What time is it?” Rachel asked, her voice raspy with sleep.
Isaac sent his brother straight to voice mail before he turned to the woman in his bed. “It’s seven forty-five.”
The covers flew back and she nearly fell out of bed. “Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I have to go!”
Every component of the conversation he’d had with himself—every argument for not seeing her again, every rationale for letting the morning be the end of things—evaporated. Only one single word came to mind. “Stay.”
She paused, pushing her mane of hair out of her face and revealing eyes gone wide with surprise. “What?”
“Stay.” He cleared his throat. What the hell was he thinking? But he carried on despite the idiocy of the request. “Stay. Today. With me.”What the hell. In for a penny, in for a pound.“We’ll go somewhere for the weekend.”
“And what?” she croaked.
“Spend time together.”
“Doing what, exactly?”
“Plotting world peace? Just spending time together, Rachel. I enjoyed your company and was under the impression you might have enjoyed mine.” He shifted to better see her. “We can take the weekend and figure out what this is, figure out what’s going on between us.”
Rachel sank down on the edge of the bed, twisting the dark material of her dress until it was a crumpled mess, her bare toes curling into the plush carpet. “Where?”