Page 30 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

Iris

My fingertips rested lightly on my lips. Memories ravished my brain, sending shots of warmth and desire throughout my body.

I swore I could still feel the soft touch of Landen’s lips against mine, could still taste him on my tongue.

Looking out my window and seeing him pull into my driveway only intensified those feelings.

This thing between us was taking me by surprise.

It had been such a long time coming, and I already felt a level of comfort with him that I didn’t think would ever be possible after only having a single date with someone.

In the same breath, there was so much left to learn about him, so many details I wanted from him.

It was a wonder I was even awake now, that I’d been able to get up at a reasonable hour this morning. I’d had such a difficult time settling down last night after Landen brought me home .

From the moment I closed and locked the door after thanking him for such a lovely evening, I replayed our date over and over in my head. The dinner, the conversation, the teasing, the laughter, and especially the kiss.

Even after a day when I’d woken up early to go to the gym, put in a full day at work, and gone on a date with Landen, I didn’t feel the least bit tired. I hadn’t felt so good, so excited, about anything in my personal life in such a long time.

At some point, I’d managed to drift off, but it was hours that I’d been there, awake in my bed, remembering every little detail about our date, about the things Landen said or did to make me feel so happy.

I suspected it was the anticipation of getting more of Landen, more of his sweet words and divine kisses, that had me awake, alert, and eager to hop out of bed at a time that was far earlier than usual for a Saturday morning for me.

Except for when I went home to Grouse to celebrate my birthday with my family and when my sisters came to visit me, I hadn’t had Saturday plans in months. I was thrilled to have some plans for the weekend that didn’t involve my job, too.

Though, given the current work circumstances, it would be wise for me to spend some time working on a few projects before I returned to the office on Monday morning.

For now, for today, I didn’t care about any of that. I was going to give myself this treat, because I deserved it. Landen deserved it, too.

I only wished I’d been more courageous and asked him to stay the night with me, considering he was going to be showing up first thing this morning.

It would have saved him the time and trouble of driving back and forth between my place and his.

And, if I was honest, it was likely he would have found ways to distract me from my thoughts so that I might have been able to drift off hours before I did.

I couldn’t do it, though. I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to stay when I so desperately didn’t want him to leave.

We’d only been on one official date, and I thought it was wise to just give ourselves time to ease into the romantic side of the relationship that was budding between us.

Plus, I figured a little bit of longing would build us up to something big.

It would be worth waiting, worth delaying gratification for just a bit longer, especially if we’d both been pining for so long already and had experienced a kiss like we had last night.

And that time would give us the opportunity to go a little deeper in our quests to learn more about each other.

Despite being friendly and talkative at the gym for so long, there were a lot of things I didn’t know about Landen, a lot of things he still didn’t know about me.

But even if I wasn’t ready for us to hop into bed with one another just yet, I was fully prepared to find some time today to kiss him again. It was like he’d opened the bag of potato chips for me with his kiss last night, and I was expected to only take one.

Not a chance.

Especially not with a man who kissed the way Landen did.

My lips curved into a smile as he exited his vehicle, looking just as happy as I felt.

Wanting to give him something more—and being unable to wait any longer—I opened the front door and stepped outside wearing what I thought was the perfect outfit for a late September apple-picking date.

It was a forest green wide leg jumpsuit that had a plunging V-neckline and form-fitting bodice.

It was comfortable and casual enough for a day of strolling around outside, but flattering enough to look as though I’d put in some effort.

Landen noticed me immediately, and the way his face lit up at the sight of me sent chills running down my spine.

I still couldn’t get over how much I liked seeing him laugh the way he had last night.

I’d wondered for so long if he ever felt genuinely happy, and it was nice to get an answer to that last night.

As he climbed the steps and walked onto my wraparound porch with that knowing look on his face, another twinge of excitement moved through me.

He smiled, offering up one that showed off his pearly white teeth, something I was still trying to get used to. “Good morning, Iris.”

I returned the smile. “Good morning, Landen.”

“You look lovely today.”

“Thank you.”

“Are you set to go, or do you still need some time?”

My eyes dropped to the ground for a moment before returning to his face. Tapping my toes on the wood beneath my feet, I said, “I just need to put on my shoes and grab my jean jacket. Otherwise, I’m all set. Do you want to come inside for a minute?”

“Sure.”

We walked inside, Landen waiting by the door while I grabbed my things. When I returned to him, I bubbled, “All set. ”

I moved to open the door, so we could leave, but he curled his fingers around my wrist. I halted my movements and twisted my neck to look back at him.

There was something swirling in his gaze, something dark and intense.

“Landen?” I called when he made no move to speak.

One half of his mouth quirked, and he tugged on my wrist to urge me toward him. “You can do that?”

My brows pulled together. “Do what?”

He studied me for a moment, his fingers twitching around my wrist. “Share the kisses with me that you did last night and not feel the overwhelming need to do it again this morning.”

I stared at him, unsure of how to respond. How would it look if I told him I was desperately trying to play it cool?

It seemed Landen wasn’t finished. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it. I haven’t stopped thinking about you.”

My heart thudded.

There was little point in offering explanations. Why waste more time when I wanted to kiss him as badly as he seemed to need it?

Tipping my chin up, I placed my palm flat against his chest and brushed my lips against his. Tingles of pleasure shot through me, the masculine scent of him invading my senses.

Landen hesitated for just a few seconds before he took over, his arm slipping around my waist and holding me tight. His kiss was claiming, possessive, and hungry. Like the kiss from last night hadn’t been anywhere near enough for him.

When he finally tore his mouth from mine, his eyes roamed over my face, lingering a bit longer on my lips. His mouth curved into a slow, satisfied smile. “Now we can go pick some apples.”

Turning, Landen urged my body ahead of his, reaching around me to open the door.

After I locked it, he took me by the hand and led me to his car.

On the way there, I wasn’t surprised to see Walter outside.

What did surprise me was how Walter responded.

I expected him to get up and walk in our direction for a chat, even slowing my steps in anticipation of it, but he didn’t move.

Walter remained seated on his porch, so I merely lifted my hand, smiled, and waved to him.

He was holding his coffee mug in his hands, which meant he only offered an upward jerk of his chin in response.

Landen had just backed out of the driveway when he said, “I wasn’t anticipating you waiting outside for me when I arrived.”

“I was up earlier than expected this morning,” I confessed.

“Did you have trouble sleeping, too?”

My eyes shot to him. “You had a hard time?”

He came to a stop at the end of my road and looked over at me. “I told you I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

The news filled me with warmth. Granted, the kiss and his words this morning had gotten things started and had certainly revealed his fondness for me.

But Landen continued to give me things that were making my heart soar.

“It was the same for me with you. I kept replaying our date over and over in my head.”

Landen focused his attention on the road again and continued driving. “I replayed that kiss over and over. And I guess I spent some time kicking myself for not acting sooner, too.”

I reached out to where his hand was resting on the center console and linked my fingers with his. “You need to stop doing that. Don’t punish yourself for something you can’t change. We’re here now.”

His fingers gave me a squeeze in response, and the two of us spent most of the remainder of the drive in a comfortable silence. It seemed just being back in each other’s presence was enough for the both of us.

Once we were walking through the orchard, Landen carrying the basket in one hand, I asked, “Did you always know you wanted to be a private investigator?”

The fingers on Landen’s opposite hand were linked with mine, and he never released them.

Not even when I stopped to pluck an apple off a tree.

“Not always. For a long time, I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. Then I started working out in high school, and I considered getting into bodybuilding.”

I’d been holding an apple up to my nose, inhaling the sweet aroma. At that tidbit of information, I lowered the apple from in front of my face and smiled at him. “I could totally see you doing that.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“What made you decide against it?”