He stepped in close and kissed her, silencing any admonishment she might have come up with.
He was thorough, exploring her mouth with leisure, even when a woman nearby cleared her throat in an obvious attempt to get their attention. The second, louder throat-clearing made her gently break away.
“Stop,” she whispered, heat burning across her cheeks. “We’re causing a scene.”
“I can only say I wish my man looked at me with such open admiration,” the woman said, eyebrows raised. “I brought the extra jumper you asked for, sir.”
“Thank you, Linda.”
The saleswoman all but melted at Isaac’s gratitude, her appreciation visibly doubling when he slipped her a twenty note. “Enjoy the rest of your shopping. Let me know if there’s anything else I might do for either of you,” she said before fading away without further comment.
Rachel took the sweater he handed her. “You’re incorrigible. And I can’t afford this sweater.”
“I told you—this weekend, all of it is my treat.”
“I don’t want you paying for everything, Isaac. If you had just let me goby my place and get some clothes, this wouldn’t be necessary.”
“It would have taken a couple hours in rush hour to get to your place and then back to the airport. Every hour we spent trying to gather belongings for a spontaneous weekend away made the trip less spontaneous and...” He swallowed and looked up at the ceiling, seemingly searching for inspiration. Or that escape hatch he’d mentioned.
“And what?” she prompted.
“And every second we weren’t in the air was a second you could change your mind.” He stepped in close and pulled her into his embrace. “I wanted this time with you, Rachel.”
She let herself relax in the circle of his arms. “I wouldn’t have gone back on my word.”
“I know that. Or, at least, now I do.”
“Because I’m here?”
“In part. But also because I’m getting to know you better.”
“True.” Leaning back so she could see his face, she waited until he met her gaze. “Thank you for bringing me.”
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Let me see that sweater she just brought you.”
Rachel slipped out of the one she’d been wearing and into the one he’d chosen. Sliding past him, she crossed the dressing room and stopped in front of the full-length mirror. The clothes she wore fit her exceptionally well. Curling her toes against the cold seeping through her feet from the tile floor, she worried her bottom lip. This was going to be an expensive shopping trip. The last thing she needed was to spend the money, but she didn’t want him to provide her with everything she needed, either. That wasn’t the deal. At least, not in her mind. She’d provide for herself so there was no misinterpretation about what was going on or who they were—or weren’t—to each other. But this was going to seriously damage her vacation fund.
“You look incredible, you know.”
She looked up and found Isaac’s reflection in the mirror. He still stood outside her dressing room, one shoulder leaned against the door frame as he watched her through hooded eyes.
Tugging at the sweater, Rachel shifted her attention away from him, instead taking in the fit of the jeans and the sweater’s muted colors. “I like it.”
“Then it’s yours.”
“I’ll buy it, Isaac.”
“I want to get it and whatever else you need.”
“No.” She faced him then, forcing her hands to stay relaxed while keeping her arms at her sides. “I don’t want you buying everything I want. I need to do this for myself.” She drew a deep breath. “But thank you for the offer.”
He started toward her, steps slow. Steady. Kept coming at her even when she was less than an arm’s length away. He moved her back and into the vacant dressing room beside the floor-to-ceiling mirror. And pulled the curtain shut behind them.
Rachel’s nipples pearled at the sheer dominance Isaac exuded. To maneuver her like he had, to pull the curtain shut without even looking—He wasn’t intimidating her. Not even close. What he was doing was turning her on. She shook her head and looked away, trying to keep her cards close to her chest. Never had she been the woman who found overbearing men attractive, but this man? The whole thing simplyworked. She wanted to tear off his clothes at the same time he shredded hers, then she wanted to go at it like frenzied animals. In a semipublic venue. Which was so, so not her style. But he brought out that part of her, made her feel alive and sexual and emboldened to take chances the old Rachel wouldn’t have thought of, let alone suggest. He empowered her as well as celebrated her empowerment, and the realization was enough to have her gaze whipping up to meet his.
He stared at her as he worked both hands under her sweater’s hem and found bare skin. He ran his hands around her waist, then splayed them across her lower back, his fingers dipping below the waistline of the jeans until they caressed the upper globes of her ass. Thumbs followed.
“Unzip your jeans.”