Page 40 of Isolated (Harper Security Ops #21)

Iris

I’d had thoughts about what it’d feel like to be wrapped up in Landen’s arms all night long. The fantasies had played out in my mind for months. But once things changed between us, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering.

Now, I knew what it was like.

Now, I knew there was nothing else that could provide me with the kind of comfort that Landen’s embrace gave me.

Warm.

God, so warm.

I wasn’t sure I’d ever felt something so strong yet gentle all at the same time.

And to know he’d given it to me without hesitation meant the world.

The way I felt now made it just a bit difficult to believe that, mere hours ago, I’d been such a mess. I had no idea what I would have done yesterday without him. I’d been feeling on edge for a while, and each day just seemed to get worse and worse.

I hated it.

Why, when I felt like I was finally getting the one thing in my life that had been missing—a real shot at a romantic relationship with a great guy—did everything else have to start falling apart?

My eyes fluttered open, and I glanced down to where his arm was draped over my body, his hand holding me possessively. I relished the sight of it, in the feel of having him here in my bed.

It wasn’t lost on me that I’d taken advantage of his need to care for me last night, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about it now. I didn’t want to be alone, and I was so grateful he had been willing to stay with me.

Perhaps I needed to find a way to make it up to him, to show my gratitude. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that immediately, because my bladder was screaming at me.

In an effort not to wake him, I slipped out of Landen’s hold as carefully as I could and made my way to the bathroom. Believing I’d find myself feeling the overwhelming urge to kiss him this morning, I decided to take care of brushing my teeth while I was in there.

When I emerged from the bathroom and stepped back into the bedroom, my eyes met Landen’s. He was awake, looking at me with a lazy smile on his face. Like he’d just had the best night of his life.

I smiled in return and made my way back to bed, where I pressed a soft kiss to his cheek. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, sunshine. Are you feeling okay this morning? ”

Nodding, I answered, “I am.”

He inclined his head with understanding. “Good. Hang tight for two minutes while I use the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

Landen tossed the blanket back and swung his legs out of the bed.

I watched as he crossed the room and made his way into the bathroom, doing it wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs.

I certainly hadn’t expected that the first time I saw him nearly naked would be after I had a complete breakdown.

If only the circumstances had been different last night.

Once he closed the door, I wasn’t ashamed to admit I scooted closer to his side of the bed, buried my face in his pillow, and inhaled. Even the scent of him could comfort me. If I had my way, I would have spent the next two days in this bed with him.

By the time Landen returned to the bedroom, I no longer had my face shoved into his pillow, but I was still resting my head there. My eyes drifted over his body from top to toe, appreciating the view.

He seemed to be amused by my actions. “Enjoying yourself.”

I nodded against the pillow before scooting back enough to allow him to slip beneath the covers beside me. He slid in on his back and held his arm out, urging me to curl myself into his body.

As soon as I was settled comfortably beside his warm skin, I tipped my chin up and asked, “Did you sleep alright?”

His smile turned into a full-fledged grin. “Best night of sleep in my life.”

Something told me he was embellishing. “Thank you for spending the night with me. You didn’t have to stay here, but it means a lot to me that you did.”

Keeping his arm wrapped around my back, holding me close, Landen brought his hand to rest just beneath my jaw as he lifted his head from the pillow and touched his lips lightly to mine.

His breath was minty fresh. A thrill moved through me at the thought that he must have had the same idea as I did. Apparently, Landen intended to kiss me this morning, too.

“Well, you did entice me with that toothbrush.” Another kiss. “There is nowhere else I would have wanted to be than precisely where I was last night. Are you sure you’re doing okay this morning?”

I pressed my cheek to his chest once more and traced my fingertips over the smooth skin there. “If I allow myself to think about everything, it makes me sad. I feel like I always know what to do, but in this situation, I’m completely lost. I have no idea how to fix any of this.”

“We’ll figure it out together,” he assured me. “I promise we’ll work through all of it.”

Keeping my head resting against him, I angled it to look up at him. My fingers continued to glide lightly over his skin. “I hope you know how much I appreciate you, how much you mean to me. And I pray that what happened last night didn’t scare you away. I swear, I’m usually not so emotional.”

He tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear. “I hate seeing you upset, but what happened last night would never lead to me walking away from you. I’ve got feelings in this too, Iris.”

“You’re close to being all that I have right now. ”

His hand moved up and down my arm encouragingly. “That’s not true.”

“But it is. My relationship with one sister is non-existent, which is making the relationship I have with the other sister severely strained. My neighbor doesn’t like me anymore, and my friends and colleagues at work all seem to hate me.”

“Like I said, we’re going to work through all that one step at a time. But you should know that you’ve got other people around for you, too.”

I lifted my head from his chest as my body went taut. “What? Who?”

Driving his fingers through my hair, he revealed, “I told my best friend about you. His name is Hart, and we work together. He told me that whenever you and I are ready for it, he and his girl, Reagan, would like to get together for dinner. Reagan works as a real estate agent, but she doesn’t have any family, so she’s looking for friends.

And while she’s made some recently, Hart said she’d love another. ”

Tears filled my eyes. I didn’t know why I was getting so emotional about the news.

Maybe it was that I’d been here in Steel Ridge for two years, and the only friends I’d made were the ones I found at work or living next door to me.

And while I adored those friendships and wanted to do everything I could to hold on to them, I wouldn’t turn down a few more.

Perhaps being with Landen would open up opportunities not only for the romantic relationship I wanted with him but meaningful friendships with his friends that I didn’t know I needed.

“I can’t wait to meet them. ”

He grinned at me. “I had a feeling you’d be excited. They aren’t the only ones that want to meet you, either.”

“There’re more people?”

“Well, I don’t doubt that everyone else I work with, along with their significant others, will be excited to meet you, but I was referring to one very specific person.” He dragged his thumb along my bottom lip, his eyes watching it go. “My mom wants to meet you, too.”

“Your mom?”

Landen nodded. “I told her about you yesterday.”

“Was she upset? Had she already found you a blind date at church?”

Laughter spilled out of him. “No. She was thrilled to hear everything about you. She even bribed me with cookies to get more information.”

I bit the corner of my lip. “What am I supposed to think?”

He tipped his head to the side and eyed me curiously. “About what?”

“About you telling all these people in your life about me.”

“I don’t know. Does it bother you that I have?”

I shook my head slowly. “Not at all. In fact, it makes me want to do very naughty things to and with you.”

His lips twitched. “Is that so?”

I crawled my fingers up his chest, toward his shoulder, over to his neck, and up to his cheek. My thumb stroked along his lip, much like his had done with mine. “Absolutely. But I guess I’m a bit worried.”

“About what?”

My fingertips drifted lightly over his cheek. “That if I make a move, you might turn me down. ”

“Doubt isn’t a good thing. I’ve never seen you uncertain about anything. Is there something I could do to help bolster your confidence in your chances of success?”

Just hearing him ask the question was enough to have all my senses firing. He wanted this. He wasn’t going to deny me, deny us, any longer.

I scooted closer to him, twisting my body so half of my front was covering him. “You could undress me.”

Landen’s eyes danced with delight. “Seems like I’ll be the one making the moves then, doesn’t it?”

Feigning innocence, I shrugged one shoulder and tipped my head to that side. “Well, you were the one who vowed to make me so exhausted that my workouts would feel like a walk in the park. It wouldn’t feel right if I denied you the opportunity to fulfill that promise.”

The look in his eyes told me he was going to take the bait, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. I wanted this man to take charge and make me get lost in him.

“I am a man of my word,” he said as he urged me to my back, bringing his big body over mine. “And I was on the verge of breaking anyway, especially after spending the night with this beautiful body of yours pressed against mine.”

I smiled at him. “I loved waking up in your arms.”

He smirked, giving me some of his weight as he captured my mouth in a kiss that matched that claiming and possessive hold that he had on me when I woke this morning.