a little. They’re talking at least.”
“Yeah.”
I wouldn’t have been surprised if Janet and Andrew were counting down the days until I left. I’d managed to bring chaos on their family in just two short weeks. As much as I didn’t want to say goodbye to Isabelle, part of me was glad to know that once I’d gone, they’d be left alone, and wouldn’t have journalists lurking on their doorstep anymore.
Isabelle gently slapped my suitcase shut, and shoved it to one side so she could sit beside me.
“Enough packing,” she said. “It’s depressing.”
“Okay,” I laughed. “What shall we do instead?”
“Well, I was thinking that, as Dad’s at work, Mum’s shopping again, Hunter’s out with Willow and Georgia is taking a nap, we should do something we’ve never done before.”
Her eyes sparkled playfully, and her lips curved into the kind of grin that made my heart hammer in my chest. For a second, I was transported back to Mischa’s party, when we danced together. That was the last time she’d looked at me that way.
“Oh really?” I asked. “What did you have in mind?”
Her grin widened. “I think I can guess what you’re thinking, and that’s not what I meant.”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to,” I told her, and just when she was about to say something more, I reached for her waist and pulled her onto my lap, kissing her as I slowly lowered her backwards onto the bed. A searing pain shot through my knee, but it was worth it. I could feel her giggling beneath me, and I smiled. “Is this not what you meant?”
“No! But actually, now we’re here …”
“No, no,” I said, backing away, “I wouldn’t want to ruin your plans!”
“Shut up.”
She grabbed hold of my t-shirt and pulled me back to her, kissing me with a new level of intensity. Her arms slid around my back, and my hand gently brushed the soft skin of her cheek. I never got tired of the way it felt to be pressed against her. No matter how many times she snuggled in to me, or how many times I kissed her, I always felt the same way. I didn’t want to let her go.
The tiniest moan escaped her lips, and she held on to me more tightly. A second before, we’d been laughing, but she wasn’t messing around anymore and it took me by surprise. Not in a bad way. Honestly, it was the hottest thing I’d ever experienced, and all she did was whimper, but it was so sudden. I pulled back just a little so I could see her face. The top two buttons of her shirt had popped open, exposing way more of her than I’d seen before.
Well, since she wore that dress the first night we went out. Somehow, she looked way more sexy when she wasn’t trying so hard.
“Why have you stopped kissing me?” she asked. Her cheeks were a little flushed, and I fought the desire to keep kissing her because I needed to know what had happened. Why the girl who was too nervous to kiss me two weeks ago was suddenly taking the lead.
“I just … I think maybe we should slow down for a second.”
Her face reddened more, and she wriggled out from underneath me, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“You’re right,” she said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I didn’t have to look at her to know exactly what she was going through her mind and I sat up, placing my hands gently on her shoulders. She shrugged me off.
“Izzy.”
“It’s fine,” she said. “I get it.”
“I don’t think you do.”
“We don’t need to make a big deal of it. I embarrassed myself, let’s move on.”
I put my hands on her shoulders again. “You didn’t embarrass yourself. I didn’t stop because I didn’t like it, I stopped because you surprised me. And I didn’t want to rush into anything you’re not ready for.”
I’m such a girl.
“You don’t have to say that,” Isabelle said. “I know I’m probably nothing like the other girls who throw themselves at you.”
“You didn’t throw yourself at me, but you’re right. You’re nothing like those girls.”