CHAPTER FIVE
WITH PROPITIOUS TIMING, the waitress brought their food, interrupting what looked to be a small explosion in Issy’s attitude. Course, she hadn’t missed the way his relatives kept sizing her up. Although favorably, it still had to be a little disconcerting.
Leaning in, Adam whispered near her ear, “Relax. They just like you. That’s all.”
“It’s more than that,” she muttered back. “I’m startin’ to feel like a virgin sacrifice.”
Morgan guffawed, making Issy go red and drawing the attention of other diners.
Sawyer elbowed him. “I’m sure you weren’t supposed to hear that.”
“Not like we’re deaf,” Morgan said, defending himself.
Jordan smiled at her. “We’re aging, but haven’t yet lost our faculties.”
Issy picked up a giant loaded burger that matched almost exactly what the rest of them had ordered. After saying, “You’re all outrageous, that’s what you are,” she took a big bite.
And damn if that didn’t earn even more approval from the elders.
Morgan opened his mouth, and Adam rushed to say, “You’re going to scare her off. You realize that, right?”
“Is that so?” Jordan asked, munching on a fry while scrutinizing Issy. “You quick to turn tail and run?”
“No.” She took another bite, eyed them all while she chewed, and after a drink of her cola, she asked, “Mind tellin’ me why I’m being sized up, though?”
This time there was no shushing Morgan. “The boy’s been hanging with all the wrong kind of girls.”
Smiling with false sweetness, Issy chided him. “I presume you mean women?”
“I’ll call ’em what I like, and sometimes, with Adam’s preferences, girl is more apt.”
“Mostly vacationers,” Jordan said with a lot of meaning.
Issy cocked a brow. “What’s wrong with vacationers?”
“They’re temporary.”
“Ah.” She looked more confused than ever.
“You’re different,” Sawyer tossed out.
“I’m definitely local, if that’s what you mean.”
“Sure, that—and more.”
Adam watched her so closely, he caught the glare she flashed his way. “You mean I’m mature.”
So she was still smarting over that? Adam hid a grin. It hadn’t been one of his finer moments, but damn, Issy threw him off—in wonderful ways.
“We mean,” Morgan said, apparently speaking for all of them, “you’ve got more going for you than just good looks.”
A blush crawled up her neck all the way to her forehead.
Jordan slowly smiled. “You know you’re attractive, right?” Then to Adam, “You’ve told her she’s attractive?”
That, and more, but he only said, “Yup.”
Issy appeared momentarily nonplussed, then she let out a breath and pasted on a smile. “Thank you?”
The men all glared at him. “You’re sure you’ve told her?” Morgan demanded.
Giving up, Adam shrugged. “Let’s just say I’ve been less than smooth in my compliments.”
That made his dad’s smile widen, and the three of them shared more elbow nudges.
“Now what?” Issy demanded. “What’s with all the…” She jabbed her elbows left and right, mimicking them and making them all laugh.
It was Sawyer who spoke up this time. “It takes a certain woman to throw a man off his game. We know the truth of that from experience.”
Adam cocked a brow. “You’re talking about when you met Honey?”
“And when Morgan met Misty,” Sawyer confirmed.
“And when I met your mother,” Jordan added. “When you were only four years old and hiding behind her knee.”
Adam scowled. “Now wait a minute…”
His protest caused another round of guffaws.
“Oh, please tell me,” Issy said, shooting him a teasing smile. “I’d love to hear about Adam as a boy.”
That opened the floodgates, and the jibes poured free.
Oddly enough, now that Adam was out of sorts, Issy smiled and tucked into her food with renewed hunger, eating while they regaled her with goofy stories of him as an awkward kid.
But they spoke with unmistakable fondness, and every so often Issy sighed and smiled at him. Huh. So his uncles and dad were pretty good at this sort of thing. He should have realized that sooner.
When they finally wound down, the food was nearly gone.
“You must have a fast metabolism.” Sawyer nodded at her nearly empty plate. “You don’t look big enough to have eaten all that.”
“I guess.” She munched down a remaining fry. “I don’t do well with idle time, which is why I was gonna spend my off day pullin’ weeds down by the shore before I spotted that poor cat in the tree.”
“You pull weeds in your bikini?” If so, Adam thought, then it was a wonder all the fishermen didn’t congregate in that particular cove.
“Maybe,” she drawled in that fetching accent of hers, “you failed to notice the heat. It’s downright steamy.”
“I’m sure he noticed,” Jordan murmured.
“He’s slow,” Morgan said, “but not stupid.”
With a growl, Adam said, “Maybe you guys should quit helping me now.”
“Is that what they’re doin’?” Issy pointed a fry at them and laughed. “Y’all don’t make it easy to tell. But I can assure you, Adam needs no help.”
That pleased the elders, but Adam wondered what the hell it meant.
Morgan cocked a brow. “He doesn’t, huh?”
“Nope.”
Sawyer looked at Jordan, who only shrugged.
Adam waited for her to expound on that, and instead she finished off the last pickle and two fries on her plate.
Amused, Morgan asked, “Dessert?”
“Not for me, thank you.” She looked inquiringly at the others.
His dad declined. “I need to get back to the clinic.”
“And I’ll have patients showing up soon,” Sawyer said.
“Then I suppose I should get back to pullin’ my weeds.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s the truth I’ve let things get overgrown. My schedule just stays so busy.”
“Dating?” Sawyer asked.
Issy laughed and laughed, as if that was the funniest thing ever.
Adam didn’t see the humor. She could have a date every night if she wanted. If Amber had her way, it might happen still.
To keep his dad and uncles from getting the wrong impression, Adam explained, “She’s the school librarian, I think you all know that. But she also volunteers extra hours at the school. Isabella is great with kids, especially the kids who struggle with learning disabilities. She goes out of her way to ensure they all can read.”
Finally done with her chuckles, Issy said, “Sometimes it’s just a matter of findin’ the right book for the right child. They’re not all on the same level, and for a certainty, they don’t have the same interests.”
The men all agreed, alternately praising her and asking questions.
It struck Adam that he had a lot of reasons to be proud of Issy. Not just her beautiful face or understated sexiness, or even her sweet nature. She had…substance.
Real substance.
The kind you didn’t mind showing off to your family.
And if he told her that, she’d no doubt mock him again.
He’d known other admirable women, he reminded himself. A lawyer, social worker, a CEO. Smart women. Beautiful women.
But somehow, none of them had been the whole package; smart, educated, but still very approachable. Caring about kids and animals alike. Bold one minute and reserved the next. Sexy without seeming to know it, and sweet even when giving him hell. She had a sharp wit and a generous heart.
“We’ve lost him,” Sawyer murmured.
“Coming to grips,” Jordan guessed.
“There y’all go again,” Issy said, her accent getting more noticeable. “Sayin’ things I don’t understand.”
“Tell you what,” Morgan said. “Why don’t you come by for dinner Sunday? It’ll give you a chance to get to know us all better.”
“We grill out,” Jordan explained. “There’ll be swimming, boating, horseshoes and badminton.”
“Shohn and Nadine will be there,” Sawyer added. “Garrett and Zoey. Amber, too.”
Morgan nodded. “Misty and Honey are leaving it as an open invitation, so more of the young folk will probably show up.”
Adam felt his dad watching him, maybe waiting for him to protest, to make excuses. But hell, he wanted Amber to see Issy with him, to know she could quit with her match-making efforts. At least for now.
At least until…when?
Adam didn’t know, and there was no reason he had to decide this minute. “What do you say, Issy?”
Big blue eyes stared at him with surprise. “Well, I…”
“You’ll have the kitty back by then, and could bring her along. I’ll give her a follow-up,” Jordan offered. “Let you know how she’s settling in.”
And just that easily, Issy nodded. “All right. Thank you.”
Something eased in Adam’s chest. He needed more time with her. More than lunch, more than dinner with his enormous, pushy, intrusive family around. Private time.
He glanced at the clock on the diner wall. Still plenty of time for him to make a move.
With any luck, he wouldn’t botch it this time.
* * *
ISABELLA STOOD IN her driveway, uncertain what to do now. After a quick trip to the pet store for supplies, they’d ridden home in an odd silence with Adam watching her intently, smiling every so often.
Maybe planning, though she wasn’t sure about that part. They’d each exited the car in the same quiet way…and now what?
She felt out of her depth, and very uncertain on what should happen next. “I guess you need to get on home?” She winced after she said it, hearing the question, and the hope.
“Is that a hint for me to leave?”
“No!”
His gaze heated and somehow sensual, Adam closed in on her. “I’m not in a rush.” He cupped her shoulders and drew her against him. “What about you?”
Heaven help her, the man could scatter her thoughts with a touch.
Feeling lame and hesitant—and a little like warmed gelatin—she gestured with a limp hand toward the back of her house and the waiting shoreline. “Well, after I put away the cat’s stuff, I was gonna get to those weeds…”
“Planning to put your suit back on?” His chocolate brown eyes stared down at her, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Pleased that he’d liked her suit—and her in it—she lifted one shoulder. “Maybe.” Definitely, if it enticed him into staying.
He grinned, and it made him so handsome she wanted to go on tiptoe and kiss him silly. In fact…
Heartbeat racing, breathless, she inched up.
“Mind if I stay and help?”
Her gaze went from his mouth to his sexy bedroom eyes. “Help?”
“With your landscaping cleanup.”
In a million years, she would never understand him. “You wanna stay and help me pull weeds?”
“Sure.”
She shoved back from him. “Are we ever thinkin’ the same things?”
He laughed. Actually laughed.
Oh, that got her irked. “My confusion is funny?” she asked in a deadly whisper.
“The idea that you’d not know what I’m thinking is.” He moved close again. “Because I was thinking about how you look in that bathing suit…and how you’d look out of it.”
Heat washed over her and it had nothing to do with the broiling sun. “You were?”
He gave a slow nod. “About kissing you. Touching you all over.”
So maybe they had been thinking along the same lines.
He tipped up her chin and brushed his mouth over hers.
Holy cow, that was intense. A real toe-curler.
His warm breath feathered her lips when he murmured, “I keep reminding myself that I shouldn’t rush things.”
Blast. “Why not?”
The corner of his mouth lifted, and his hand slid along her jaw and up to cradle her skull. “Because you still have it in your head that you might want to woo other men.”
Her brain was back there on that part about him getting her out of her swimsuit. She shook her head. “What?”
He kissed her again, firmer this time, his mouth moving easily over hers—and seriously, that did not help her to get it together.
He smiled down at her. “You’ve forgotten that you were going to practice your wiles on me?”
It sounded a little familiar…
“Have to admit, Issy,” he whispered. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Her house was private. They were all alone on the end of the lane, surrounded by a cow pasture on one side, thick woods on the other. Go for it, Isabella decided.
After licking her tingling lips, she went on tiptoe and looped her arms around his neck. “So how’s this for wooin’?” Her breasts brushed his chest and her thighs touched his.
“Pretty damned good.” He stared at her mouth. “Any guy who walks away at this point isn’t into women.”
“And this?” She brushed her nose along his warm throat, inhaling the potent scent of his skin, teasing him and teasing herself. Sensation curled through her as she kissed the warm flesh of his neck, a light touch at first, then with her lips parted, damper, hotter. She tasted him with her tongue, lightly bit him with her teeth.
His hands clenched on her hips, bringing her body into fuller contact with his so that she felt him, all of him.
Her pulse leapt. She wanted him so much. Not just for tonight. Not only for a weekend.
But forever.
Have to start somewhere, she told herself. Sex, right now, would sure get things started!
Licking her way up to his ear, she nipped his earlobe, brushed her lips over his jaw, touched the corner of his mouth, and…found herself being ravenously kissed.
Nice.
As her feet left the ground, she held on to him, loving the hungry way he took her mouth, the plunging of his tongue, his hot breath, how he groaned low in his throat.
Taking her by surprise and leaving her cold, he suddenly set her back on her feet, and their bodies no longer touched.
Dazed, she blinked and said, “Wha..?”
Adam stared along the drive, cursed, and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
Still disoriented, she couldn’t get her feet working. “What…where..?”
“You have a visitor, honey. And we both need a minute before greeting them.”