Kelli
The giggly mood Kelli had suddenly been in was short-lived. Just as Isaiah finished parking, he got a call he had to take, so she pulled down the visor to check her makeup while he took it.
“Valerie, how’s it going?”
Instantly, Kelli stiffened, but she took a deep breath and pretended to be too preoccupied with her makeup to listen to his conversation.
“No, no, that’s great news, except”—he cleared his throat—“I’ve sort of had a change of plans. I’m not sure when I’ll be back now.”
He was quiet for a moment. Kelli glanced at him casually but turned back to the mirror on the visor when she saw him shake his head with a frown. “Yeah, there’s no way I’m gonna make it now, sweetheart, but I’ll be over to see you as soon as I get back.”
Isaiah paused for a moment again as Kelli tried desperately to remain as impassive as possible. This wasn’t the first time Valerie had called, and those were only the times Kelli knew of. She’d seen him on the phone in his room and the backyard several times.
Finally, he was off the phone, but not before assuring Valerie to feel free to text him tonight. He’d mentioned that he’d be somewhere it might be too loud to hear, but texting he could do. His thanking her so amiably for whatever great news she’d called to give him was so sweet it had Kelli rolling her eyes. How different he could be when he was sweet. He’d been so amazingly sweet to her that first weekend. Now, except for yesterday when he’d given her the bad news about her uncle and brother and earlier today when they’d had a pleasant enough breakfast, his behavior was so different from the way he’d acted the rest of the time since he’d arrived at her place.
As curious as she was, she dared not ask him about the apparent great news he’d just gotten. He didn’t mention it either and they got out of the car. Watching him come around the car to meet her was just further confirmation that maybe coming here with him was a huge mistake. Maybe she should’ve stayed back in her little house. Even in regular clothes, the man was a sight to behold. But seeing him all done up in a suit and tie, looking so perfectly delicious and smelling just as good, wasn’t fair.
Now she thanked God she’d gone with her better judgment. Of the two dresses Kelli had packed for tonight, she’d decided to go with the classier more conservative one at the last minute. The dress she wore now was the one she’d planned on wearing all along. She’d only packed the classic little black dress when she’d considered making him drool tonight. But seeing him in his suit now, she was glad she didn’t.
After his reaction to her admitting, once again, that she was still in love with him, she’d begun to think wearing the black dress was a bad idea. Having to be around him now for several days, and especially after sharing an almost sweet time at breakfast that morning, she now knew she’d definitely made the right decision.
The way he’d kissed her a few nights ago was proof that getting him into her bed wouldn’t be that difficult. But he was still adamant that nothing more could ever happen between them. It didn’t matter that he gazed at her today as he had so often that weekend. It didn’t matter that he reacted to Matt and Gilbert like he had. The way he’d glared at Gilbert was a reminder of the insane jealousy she’d felt the night she’d been forced to see him with Lola all night. Now she felt the same heat listening to him talk to Valerie and telling her to text him tonight.
Obviously, Isaiah had felt for Kelli what she was sure he had that first weekend. But he’d made it clear enough. Anything more between them now was impossible. Kelli would only have herself to blame when she ended up heartbroken in the end.
“So what’s your friend getting an award for anyway?” he asked, staring ahead as they made their way through the parking lot. “At his age, if I had to guess what kind of job he had, my first guess would be waiting tables or maybe working the drive-thru window at McDonalds, not at a company throwing a formal cocktail party in his honor.”
“He is young,” Kelli agreed, surprised by the inquiry.
Not even that morning when they’d had an unexpected pleasant conversation over breakfast had he asked a single thing about her friends. It felt almost as if he were purposely avoiding any talk of them. But she supposed he’d eventually be curious at least about this part.
“Matt’s been a tech genius ever since we were kids. Gaming mostly,” she clarified. “There wasn’t a game online he couldn’t master within a couple of hours. He’s very well known in the gaming world. Could’ve been a pro gamer if he’d stuck with it, but he ventured in another direction.” She turned to him as they reached the entrance of the restaurant. “Do you know there are colleges that offer hacker courses?”
“I’d heard something about that from my cousin.”
“That’s right. He probably would know about that stuff.” They walked in and were told which way the cocktail party was being held. “Anyway, he always had in interest in that too. I guess he thought it was more reliable than gaming for a living. He checked out the schools but never even had to attend. Instead, he called this gaming company in Santa Fe and asked them if he could try and hack into their network so he could find the vulnerabilities in their system and secure them. It’s called ethical hacking.” She laughed softly as Isaiah opened the door to the private room where the cocktail party was taking place. “They laughed at him and told him to have at it. Within a half hour, he was in and they hired him on the spot. Ever since, he’s been wowing them. He’s only been with the company for a year, and already he’s helped them tremendously. Tonight they’re honoring their top employees of the year.”
“We were kids,” Isaiah said, making her turn to him, confused.
“What?”
“You said ever since we were kids,” he said as they reached an empty cocktail table and took stools next to each other. “How is it you’re so close to him? You said you’ve known him since you were thirteen; as young as he looks, he must’ve been real young.”
Kelli’s eyes widened for a moment. She hadn’t even thought of that detail, but she recovered fast enough. “Matt’s twenty-two. He’s not that much younger than I am.”
“That kid’s twenty-two?” Isaiah asked, peering at her suspiciously.
“Yeah.” She smiled, trying to shrug it off. “He looks very young for his age, but yep, he’ll be twenty-three in a few months.”
Isaiah seemed to ponder that for a moment as Kelli glanced around, searching for Matt and Gilbert. When she turned back to Isaiah, he was still peering at her strangely. “Still, that would mean that at thirteen you were hanging out and got very close to a ten-year-old boy. How does that even—?”
“Oh, wow, it is you!”
Kelli turned away from Isaiah to meet a very familiar pair of eyes. It took her a second, but then she smiled big as her heart sped up. “Oh my God.” She got off her stool so she could hug him. “Dylan, it’s been like forever since I’ve seen you.”
“Way too long.” He squeezed her tightly then pulled away and took her in from top to bottom. “Wow, you look amazing.” He smiled even bigger, staring at her the way she remembered he used to once upon a time. “Matt did say you did a complete one-eighty. What happened to my Kelli-Bean-Tomboy? I remember how much you loved jumping in the river with us without a care in the world about messing your hair or clothes. Now you’ve turned into this sexy little Ms. Style thing.”
She smiled, feeling timid suddenly and nodded. “Yeah, there’ve been some changes over the years.”
Isaiah shifting in his seat brought her attention back to him. “Oh, I’m sorry, Isaiah. This is Dylan, an old friend of Gilbert, Matt and mine, who I haven’t seen in years.” She turned back to Dylan. “Dylan, this is Isaiah.”
Isaiah reached out to shake Dylan’s hand. “Her fiancé,” he said without so much as a smile then slipped his other hand into Kelli’s. “Nice to meet you.”
Kelli stared at Isaiah, stunned for moment. Isaiah lifted a brow as if to challenge her to deny it. They were back to this? Boyfriend didn’t suffice? They had to be engaged?
“Oh, congrats.” Dylan’s body language did exactly what she was sure Isaiah had meant for his fiancé declaration to do—he backed off and toned the playfulness way down.
Dylan chatted with her for a few more minutes then said he needed to find someone but hoped to chat with her again before the end of the night. Kelli knew with all certainty Dylan would’ve hung around much longer had it not been for her fiancé. The guy had always been in insatiable flirt.
With her mind back on what just happened, she turned to Isaiah as soon as Dylan was far enough away. “We’re engaged again?”
Isaiah had done something else she hadn’t expected him to do tonight as they’d stood there chatting with Dylan. He’d ordered drinks. The waitress was dropping them off just then, and Isaiah smirked, letting go of Kelli’s hand as he dropped a few bills in the waitress’s tip glass.
“I was ready to pay for these.” He motioned to the drinks in his hands. “You didn’t tell me this was an open-bar cocktail party.”
“Don’t ignore what I just asked you, Isaiah.” She took the drink he handed her. “What happened to being my cousin tonight?”
Despite her annoyance with him at the moment, seeing that beautiful smile made her insides go crazy. But it was gone quickly enough.
“You don’t eat up a girl with your eyes so blatantly then call her sexy when she’s sitting with another dude, unless you know for sure he’s not with her. It’s disrespectful.” He shrugged with a smirk. “I wanted to make him feel stupid.”
“I’m not wearing an engagement ring,” she countered.
Isaiah glanced down at her right hand then lifted it, taking off the heavily studded ring with the pear shaped cubic zirconium the size of her nose in the center. She’d bought the cocktail ring special for the occasion. He slipped it off her right hand and onto the correct finger on her left. Once again he wore that smile that turned her insides to liquid. “Looks like I spared no expense.”
Before she could respond to that, they were interrupted again. “Hey, Fancy Face.”
They both turned to see Matt and the girl Kelli could only assume was Lori.
“Hey,” she said, smiling big.
Matt introduced Kelli to his girlfriend, Lori. She was actually cuter than Kelli expected. Not that she didn’t think Matt could get a cute girl, he was just so painfully shy when it came to girls. So she’d been expecting someone a little more awkward or shy in appearance. Lori smiled big and seemed far more self-assured than someone Matt would get the nerve to ask out.
She and Lori exchanged some small talk before Kelli turned to Isaiah, knowing she had to do this before Matt did and said the wrong thing. “This is my fiancé, Isaiah.”
The nonchalant way she’d said it was as if they’d been engaged forever. She eyed Matt in the process so he’d know she’d just explain it later. Matt knew that she didn’t want to have to explain the truth about Isaiah to everyone tonight. It was just easier this way; though she was sure Matt was thinking the same thing she had: why not just boyfriend? As fast as Isaiah had been to react to her “no engagement ring” retort, she had to wonder if he hadn’t spotted the ring earlier and if introducing himself as her fiancé hadn’t been so spur of the moment after all. The more she thought about it, the more she was certain it’d been the plan even before he’d felt disrespected.
While her heart knew better than to let this excite her, it did as much as it annoyed her. Isaiah was sending mixed messages now. Already she couldn’t help getting her hopes up that, no matter how hard he was trying to fight the insane draw they’d had for one another from day one, he was losing the battle. Like at the farmers’ market, was this his way of reminding her of the profound connection they still had?
A few things couldn’t be clearer. He couldn’t stand to see other guys ogle her. And her having two male friends she was so close to, irritated him to no end. For some reason, Gilbert was especially annoying to him. Though she was fairly certain Gilbert’s attitude from the very beginning had a lot to do with that, now that Isaiah had met Matt’s girlfriend, she had a feeling he’d ease off his insolence at least towards Matt.
Kelli found out soon enough how right she’d been about one thing. As the night progressed, Isaiah was much nicer and more sociable with Matt now that his girl was there, especially since Matt and Lori appeared to be smitten with one another. Kelli couldn’t be happier about it either. Matt needed someone in his life who could remind him he deserved to be happy.
There was a short informal presentation by his bosses for him and the other employees who’d been honored. After the presentation, the main boss let them know the DJ was almost ready to get the dancing started.
Because they were celebrating on Matt’s behalf, everyone kept making toasts to him. Isaiah had switched to water after his second drink, but Matt insisted Kelli celebrate with him. Since she wasn’t driving, she decided to have a few more drinks, but she didn’t want to get drunk and do or say something stupid. She didn’t trust herself even sober to not lose her inhibitions around Isaiah. Only Gilbert kept ordering shots all around.
The whole night Isaiah had barely left her side. He did now only to use the men’s room. Of course, he’d sternly reminded her to be aware of her surroundings and not go anywhere alone. Gilbert had once again taken that short moment she was alone to compliment her on everything from her hair and clothes to her perfume and even red hot lipstick.
“It’s utterly distracting,” he said, gazing at her in that brazen way she knew had a lot to do with the alcohol.
Gilbert knew the truth about Isaiah—that he wasn’t really her fiancé as they’d been telling everyone else—that she wasn’t involved with him in any way. Matt was the only one who knew about her long ago weekend with Isaiah. She’d let him know about it the morning he called and she stepped out into the backyard to take his call. Kelli had to warn him that things might feel awkward. But because of her past with Gilbert, she’d asked Matt to keep that to himself in an effort to keep the awkwardness to a minimum. So there was no way Gilbert could know there might be anything more than a business relationship going on between her and Isaiah. Yet anytime Isaiah had stepped away tonight for any reason, such as when he had to take a call for a few minutes earlier, Gilbert took advantage to engage in a more flirtatious manner than when Isaiah was there.
If there were any doubt before, it was then that Kelli confirmed what she thought she’d picked up on from the moment they arrived. Not only had Gilbert sensed there was far more going on between her and her bodyguard, Isaiah had picked up on there being more to her and Gilbert. Since they were supposedly engaged, Isaiah had held her hand off and on throughout the night. One of those times he’d leaned into her ear, making her shiver, to explain with a whisper as if he were saying something far more playful—sensual. “It’d be too weird if we didn’t do any of this, being that we are engaged.” Kelli had gulped hard, nodding but saying nothing more.
When Isaiah returned from the men’s room, just like the other times when he’d stepped away and come back to find Gilbert chatting it up, it was apparent he wasn’t oblivious to Gilbert being sneaky again. If the deliberate glare hadn’t given him away, the way he’d slipped his hand into hers as soon as he reached her would’ve been enough. But he took it even further, leaning into her ear again.
“Anything I should know about you and your fucking friend Gilbert?”
Kelli knew it was the alcohol, but she almost giggled. She’d never known someone so obvious about being demandingly possessive, especially when they had zero right to be.
“Maybe if we were really engaged, yes. But since we’re not, no there isn’t.”
He jerked his head back, the lethal stare making her resolve weaken momentarily, and she breathed in deeply. “My job is to watch you,” he practically hissed, “make sure nothing happens to you, and there’s something about that asshole that—”
“He was my first everything,” she said before he got too worked up.
Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was the fact that Isaiah seemed so close to admitting this was killing him. That he could only use his authority as her bodyguard to have any say about the men in her life. That if he were really her fiancé he might just have the right to get this worked up over Gilbert’s continued and blatant attempts to flirt with her behind Isaiah’s back. Or maybe it was because, while she knew for a fact Isaiah could be one of the sweetest guys she’d ever met, she’d seen his other side—the feral side that could detonate without warning. It wasn’t pretty. This felt dangerously close to it now, so she needed to put the brakes on fast.
“He’s as much a threat to me as you are. Only difference between you and him is, while I don’t think he’s ever gotten completely over me, I’ve been over him for years.”
Isaiah stared at her for a silent moment. She’d obviously stunned him. He glanced up behind her, zeroing in on Gilbert, no doubt, then back at her again. “I trust him even less now.”
To her surprise, he took a glass of wine from one of the waitresses walking by. He didn’t sip it either. He downed it. “How much longer do you think this is going to be?”
Lori tapped Kelli’s arm just then and handed her another shot. “After this, we’re all getting on the dance floor. You have to help me convince Matt. He’s insisting he doesn’t dance.”
Matt walked up from behind Lori and brought his arm around her waist, kissing her cheek. Clearly, the alcohol was having an effect on him too. He was usually so shy and reserved.
“Having fun?” he asked with a big goofy smile.
Yep, those shots they kept passing all around were definitely getting to Matt too. Kelli teased him about being a wet blanket and that he had to dance. After a few minutes of Kelli trying to persuade him, Matt agreed but under one condition. “You have to come dance too.”
Kelli turned to Isaiah, who, to her surprise, shrugged then nodded. She downed her shot, making a face, then put it down onto the table. As they made their way to the dance floor, she sort of stumbled, but Isaiah held her up then whispered into her ear again. “You might wanna lay off those shots now.” Feeling a little embarrassed, she nodded. Then he added, “Either that or take off those shoes. They look dangerous to walk in even sober.”
Once again, he surprised her when they hit the dance floor. Given his “I’m on duty” declaration before they left the hotel, she didn’t expect him to do much more than stand around tonight, looking annoyed. The whole fiancé thing hadn’t been too much of a surprise since it wasn’t the first time he’d done it. She was certain now it had everything to do with his inability to control his knee-jerk reactions when it came to certain things. Being introduced as her cousin would’ve meant having to deal with any guy that hit on her tonight. He’d already proven more than once that was something he was incapable of doing. So it was probably the smart thing to do.
However, seeing his moves on the dance floor was something else. It reminded her of something he’d touched on the night she met him at the bar. “I prefer clubs to bars. There’s at least more to do there than just sit or stand around and drink.”
Now she knew why. His dancing started off modest enough, but just from the perfectly timed bounce of his upper body, she could tell he was good. As they continued dancing and the music changed to something even more upbeat, his shoulder movement and smooth wave of his hips reminded her of something the girls once talked about at her salon. One of them had assured her, if a guy can dance, you can be damn sure he’s good in bed. Kelli already knew this to be fact. Typically, like with Matt and Gilbert, she was always a better dancer than any partner she ever danced with. Even the idiots that sometimes tried to show off at the clubs she occasionally frequented had nowhere near as sexy moves as Isaiah. The more she watched the sensual rhythm of his hips, the more she remembered just how good he was in bed.
When she finally lifted her eyes to his, she realized she’d been caught admiring him. His expression was blank, but his eyes bored into hers, making her breathing hitch. It was only when Gilbert danced onto the dance floor, handing out more shots, that Isaiah turned away to peer at him. Gilbert started toward Kelli until Isaiah stepped in front of him. He leaned in and said something to him that made Gilbert’s smile go flat. Kelli braced herself because, while she’d never known Gilbert to be as explosive as she already knew Isaiah could be, he had been drinking. A lot.
Gilbert glanced up at her and shrugged, taking the shot she could only assume he’d meant to give to her until her fiancé stepped in. Isaiah turned back to her and their eyes met again. Just like earlier, they seemed to challenge her to protest. She could see the man was ridiculously officious. Without him even saying anything, she could tell what he was thinking. I don’t want you taking any more drinks from him. No doubt he’d made it clear to Gilbert that he was done bringing Kelli drinks. She was also certain of another thing. It had nothing to do with her safety. This was entirely due to Gilbert being her first everything.
She turned away from Isaiah’s challenging eyes when she was nudged. Dylan smiled as he bumped his hip against hers. Obviously, he’d had plenty to drink as well. First, he was quick to get away from her the moment Isaiah told him he was her fiancé. Now he was bumping hips with her right in front of him. The only thing she was thankful for, because already her irritable bodyguard was staring Dylan down, was that Dylan wasn’t alone. The girl he’d walked on the dance floor with was doing her own version of Isaiah’s sexy hip wave, only she had nothing on Isaiah’s moves.
But the wicked smile on the girl’s face as she closed in on Dylan was appreciated because Isaiah’s glare at Dylan was as noxious as Kelli had come to expect. Little did he know, in Dylan’s case, if Isaiah were actually Kelli’s fiancé, he’d have every right to be glaring at him in that way. Unlike Isaiah, who was loyal about not breaking bro codes, those codes meant nothing to Dylan. But if she hadn’t planned on sharing much more of Matt and Gilbert with him, she certainly wasn’t sharing with him about Dylan.
“Alright, let’s slow this down,” the DJ announced as the music changed to something much slower.
Isaiah was quick to pull her to him and brought his arm around her waist, lowering his mouth to her ear. Her body shivered again as she felt his lips graze her ear. “Let’s go get you something to drink—water. Your feet must be killing you.”
“Not really.” She glanced up at those stunning eyes, chiding herself for lying.
They were actually. If the music hadn’t slowed, she’d planned on taking them off soon. But she’d sacrifice the pain now to be in his arms just a little longer. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes dropping to her lips for a millisecond before jumping up to stare into her eyes again. If panic was a tangible thing, his eyes swam in it now.
“Let’s go anyway.” He slipped his hand in hers and began walking off the still-crowded dance floor.
Kelli’s insides were completely conflicted. On the one hand, the disappointment of not being able to dance in his arms to the romantic slow song playing weighed heavily. On the other, it was almost a thrill that, without her even trying to seduce him, his resistance seemed to be breaking. And yet another part of her was suddenly terrified because she knew with all certainty, in the same way he was breaking, she’d be just as incapable to stop him if he ever did. Only she wasn’t sure her heart could survive losing him again.