Page 22 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

I knew this woman was confident. It was one of the things that attracted me to her from the start. But I hadn’t been expecting this level of it. If she followed through, I’d only find her to be that much more appealing.

My hands stopped their movements, but they remained splayed on her sides. As my fingertips pressed in, I countered, “I guess we’ll have to find out.”

Taking that as a challenge, Iris didn’t hesitate. She wasn’t shy at all about her dancing. To be fair, I shouldn’t have expected anything less, considering she was such an outgoing woman.

I had to keep reminding myself to breathe, because I was so caught off guard by all that she was doing.

The excitement and longing I felt for her was undeniable.

And though I’d allowed my hands to roam, eventually drifting down over her ass, I didn’t do the one thing I desperately wanted to do—kiss her.

One song bled into another, and Iris and I didn’t stop.

At some point, her sisters had gotten up and done some dancing, and when I’d asked if she wanted to spend some time with them, she only pressed her body closer to mine and insisted that this was precisely what they all wanted to have happen tonight.

God, I felt lucky.

And relieved.

If I hadn’t shown up here tonight, it was anyone’s guess who might have seen Iris and asked her to dance.

Time passed in a flash, and long before I was ready for it, the evening ended. Iris and I had no choice but to stop dancing and make our way through the crowd and back to where her sisters were waiting for her near the bar.

When we were just a few feet away from them, I tugged on her wrist and brought us to a stop. “I had such a good time with you tonight, Iris.”

She smiled seductively at me. “This was so much fun, Landen.”

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

I laughed and took a step closer to her. “Well, I was just wondering if you thought I did a good job of handling you out there.”

Her eyes danced with delight. “You were fantastic.”

“I hope your sisters aren’t upset with you for spending all this time with me. ”

She shook her head and insisted, “I told you before that this was exactly what they wanted tonight. Though I do suspect I’ll have a late night ahead of me as they ask me no less than a dozen questions about what happened here with you tonight.”

“Then I should make sure to seal the deal.”

Iris tensed, her expression turning hopeful. I took a moment to consider her reaction, and it hit me that she probably thought I was suggesting I kiss her. And while there was little more that I wanted than to do just that, I didn’t want to do it here. Not with the crowd and the noise.

But seeing that look in her eyes, it was difficult not to follow through and steal a kiss anyway. I should have expected nothing less. It wasn’t as though Iris had made anything easy on me from the start.

I grabbed hold of her hand, leaned toward the bar, and asked the bartender, “Do you have a pen?”

He held it out to me, and I quickly grabbed a napkin. After scribbling down my number, I handed the napkin to Iris.

“What’s this?”

“My number.”

Realization dawned, and she whispered with a smile on her face, “Oh, that’s such a good idea. Now my sisters shouldn’t have any trouble believing there’re good guys out there for us.”

Laughing, I brought my hands to her hips again and squeezed. “I’m glad I could give all three of you that by simply showing up to dance with the girl I’ve known and crushed on for months now.”

She tipped her chin down, still smiling, before she shifted her attention to the side. I glanced in that direction and noted just how astounded her sisters looked, like they couldn’t believe that Iris had someone who’d been willing to spend the night dancing with her.

“You better head out of here before they have to pick their jaws up off the floor.”

Giggling, she curled her fingers around my arm. “I think you’re right.”

We moved closer to her sisters, where Iris made introductions. “Eleni, Flora, this is Landen. Landen, these are my sisters.”

I dipped my chin. “It’s nice to meet you. I apologize for monopolizing your sister’s time tonight.”

Flora shook her head and vehemently insisted, “Oh, don’t worry about it. As long as she had a good time, that’s all that matters.”

Eleni shifted her focus to Iris. “Did you have a good time?”

There was an edge of disbelief and doubt in Eleni’s tone, and I wondered if I was making it up in my head, because Iris didn’t seem to pick up on it. She merely flicked her attention to me and smiled knowingly at our secret before returning her gaze to Eleni. “I had a fantastic time.”

“That’s wonderful,” Flora declared.

“We should head out,” Iris suggested. “Thank you, again, for such a fun night, Landen.”

“You’re welcome.”

There was a moment of awkwardness before she turned to walk away. She took two steps toward the exit when I reached for her wrist and tugged. Iris stopped and looked back at me .

That’s when I leaned down and brought my mouth to her ear, where I whispered, “Enjoy the rest of your weekend with your sisters. I’ll look forward to seeing you on Monday morning.”

She shivered against me, and it took every ounce of self-restraint not to nibble on her earlobe.

I pulled back, looked her in the eyes, and hoped the look in my own communicated the promise of something good ahead for her. Offering a wink, I said, “Goodnight, Iris.” My eyes slid to her sisters. “Ladies.”

All of them were too stunned to speak.

I gave Iris one last look and walked out.

If she had been here alone, I’d have walked her there myself.

But I didn’t want to be too overbearing in this situation.

When I made it to my car, I did what I always did at the gym, though.

I waited until Iris had made it to her car and had pulled out of the lot before I drove off.

And the whole way there, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

After years of watching my coworkers and friends find their happy endings, maybe it was finally my turn.