Yes, she was in big, BIG trouble.
"No." Sailor unlocked his own door using a key. "Just turned out that way. Welcome to my humble abode."
Isa walked in on curious feet. When she saw him kicking off his boots by the door, she toed off her kitten heels as well. Seeing what she'd done, Sailor grinned. "Cute toes, spitfire. But don't worry about the shoes. I just take off my boots because they tend to get filthy over the course of the day."
"It's not a problem." Isa was itching to explore every inch of his private space. "I like feeling the carpet under my feet." That carpet led into a small living area, beyond which was an equally small balcony. To the left was a kitchenette that looked out into the living area over a breakfast counter while to the right was a corridor with three doors that opened off it.
Isa assumed those to led to Sailor's bedroom and the facilities and maybe a closet.
Devil Isa whispered for her to invite herself to explore. Clothing optional.
She was glad for the cool air coming from outside when, after putting the groceries on the counter, Sailor opened the balcony doors.
"It's not much," he said. "Certainly not what you're probably used to. But it works okay for me."
And Isa's brain clicked.
20
Health Note: Sleeping in the Nude Has Many Benefits
I'M NOT ACTUALLY RICH, YOU know," Isa said bluntly.
Where Cody had pursued her to get at Jacqueline's wealth, it seemed Sailor was discomfited by the same. "It's my parents' money, not mine." She held his gaze. "The only reason I have a fancy apartment that I can't afford on my own is because I need room so my siblings can come stay." Not quite the truth, but close enough.
Because both Harlow and Catie would've happily crashed on a couch or on a mattress on the floor. As a child, Catie had spent more than one night cuddled up to her big sister. She'd been so small, a wee thing, but she'd often taken over the whole bed while Isa clung to the side. But Catie was thirteen now, and her life had changed fundamentally. There were things she needed to not be self-conscious, to be her sparky self.
Isa and Jacqueline had worked together to ensure the apartment had all those things.
"Do you understand?" she said to the blue-eyed man in front of her. "It's important to me that I make my own way in the world. Teachers don't earn that much." Especially teachers who'd taken an entire year off in the middle of a rising career.
Isa had zero regrets about her choice.
"Yeah, spitfire, I get it." Sailor chucked her under the chin as if she were five years old. Her scowl just made him grin. "I need to have a shower--I'm filthy. Do you want to grab a seat and watch TV while I wash off the day?"
Isa's mind immediately bombarded her with images of Sailor half-naked and gleaming wet, soapsuds dripping down his chest... and lower. Closing her hands into fists by her side, she said, "Why don't I get to work on a salad?"
"I didn't bring you here to work." It was his turn to scowl, the five-o'clock shadow on his jaw just adding to his dark sexiness. "I brought you here because you looked like you could do with a little TLC."
A strange feeling invaded Isa's bones. "I won't exert myself," she promised, flustered into breaking the eye contact. "I'll leave the hard-core cooking to you."
"I have a feeling you're laughing at me," Sailor grumbled, "but since you're cute, I'll let you get away with it." A tug on a strand of her hair. "The kitchen's tiny--I'm sure you'll find everything you need."
Isa couldn't help but watch him move as he headed down the short corridor to the right. It was unfair how beautiful he was from the back as well. The man worked with his body all day and it showed, but it wasn't just the physical that attracted her. Not now that she'd learned of his passion and drive, seen the rough affection with which he treated his brother, glimpsed a hint of what it would be like to be the woman Sailor considered his own.
When, of course, he was ready for a relationship.
Which wouldn't be anytime soon.
I'm married to my business. She's also my very demanding mistress. Doesn't tolerate other women for long periods.
Grabbing the lettuce leaves on that harsh mental reminder, she began to wash them out; the crisp green leaves had small specks of dirt on them from being newly taken from the garden. She wondered if it was Sailor's mother who'd given him his love for the earth. And she told herself not to care.
Because none of this would last. Sooner, rather than later, Sailor Bishop would make a choice, and that choice wouldn't be Isa. Sailor had big dreams, a huge passion for his work. Even though Isa knew that passion would only hurt her in the end, she couldn't help admiring him for it. To be so driven and determined at twenty-three, it said a great deal about the man he'd become in the years ahead.
Take a chance. Make that mistake. Even if it hurts... at least you'll have lived instead of being driven by fear.
Isa shuddered under the memory of Nayna's words.
A door opening and then closing down the hall. The sound of the shower came on a couple of seconds later. Despite her troubled thoughts, Isa found herself imagining Sailor naked and wet all over again, his muscles moving as he lifted his face to the spray and pushed back his hair, washing off the sweat and hard work of a long day out under the summer sun.
Groaning, she tried to wipe the images from her brain. But said brain refused to cooperate, the images too beautiful and luscious to discard. So she listened to the shower and she tortured herself and she tried not to think about anything but this moment in time. The future would still be there tomorrow.
So would Sailor's dreams.
And Isa's.
Both heading in different directions.
* * *
SAILOR SHOWERED QUICKLY, EAGER TO get back to Isa and see if he could find out what was bugging her. She'd looked so sad sitting there in the car, the sparkle gone from her face and worry carving heavy lines into her forehead. The desire to just close his arms around her and hold her tight was so potent that he figured he'd have to sneak in a hug at some point.
Drying off, he pulled on the clothes he'd brought with him into the bathroom. Normally he just walked naked from the shower to his bedroom. As long as he'd closed the bedroom blinds before he left for his shower, he wasn't in any danger of permanently scarring his neighbors.
For a second, he thought about playing with Isa by hitching a towel around his hips and walking out--she did seem to like the look of him, and he was man enough to enjoy the way her eyes ate him up, but he had a feeling that today wasn't the right time. So he pulled on a faded and worn pair of jeans along with an equally soft and faded white T-shirt.
Running a hand through his hair to settle it, he stepped out and padded barefoot to the kitchen. A salad sat neatly covered up in a bowl on the counter. Since there weren't many places Isa could be--the bonus of a one-bedroom apartment--he quickly located her on the balcony.
Going out to stand behind her in the tiny space, the night quiet around them, he fought the urge to nuzzle her as he pointed south. "If you squint really hard and cross your eyes at the same time, you can almost see the dark of water out in the distance." He wrapped his arms loosely around her, sneaking in that hug while she was distracted.
Isa laughed. "What about that mountain in the way?"
"Details, details." Drawing in a long breath of her, he decided to mess with the boss even though he shouldn't.
He tightened his arms just enough that she noticed, then dropped his head and kissed the curve of her neck. Her shiver delighted him. So he stole another kiss and another. Until his redhead melted back into him. "You have skin I could kiss all day," he purred against her throat before forcing himself to rise to his full height.
Oh, he had every intention of seducing Isa.
First, however, he'd look after her, give her that TLC she needed. Which included a good meal. "Let's get this food cooking--I don't want you hungry," he murmured. "I'll eat up the rest of you later." Another shiver.
He smi
led just a little smugly before releasing her to turn on the grill he kept on the balcony. Once he had that going, he went inside the house and quickly wrapped up a couple of sweet potatoes in tinfoil. Those he chucked onto the hottest part of the grill, where the flames licked through, to roast while he prepared the fish.
Isa followed him inside, watching as he seasoned the fish.
"My brother's recipe," he told her. "The brother you met today. He loves muscle cars and cooking, wants to be a chef with a Mustang if he doesn't make the top rugby squads." Having a fallback passion could only be a good thing in the high stakes world of sports. "Our youngest brother, Danny, still thinks cooking is for girls."
Propping her elbows on the counter, her face cupped in her hands--and her skin a little flushed from their play on the balcony, she said, "The rest of you don't?"
"Ha! My mother made damn sure we never grew up with that particular belief--even Danny only mumbles about cooking being for girls when she's out of earshot." His kid brother would grow out of that soon enough; at fourteen and the baby of the family, he was currently on the border between child and youth.
"We're not great cooks, Gabe and I, but we can feed ourselves. Though," he admitted, "Mom feeds me too when she thinks I haven't been taking care of myself. She'd do it for Gabe as well except the team nutritionists take care of the players' diets." Not that it stopped his older brother and closest friend from turning up for Sunday dinner.
Isa dropped her hands to the counter, her expression soft, vulnerable. "I can't imagine that, you know." Again that lingering sadness in her.
Sailor decided to hell with it. Leaning forward, he kissed her nose before he went back to dusting on a bit of some herb Jake had left him with strict instructions not to go overboard with it. "What can't you imagine?" he asked the redhead who was staring at him as if he were an alien... but an alien she liked. Sailor could work with that. "Me and my brothers cooking?"
"No." A shake of her head, her hair a burst of sunset. "A mom who cooks for you even though you've moved out of her home. Does she make you frozen meals?" She said the last as if they were talking about some magical discovery, all wide-eyed wonder.
Sailor was fascinated by her fascination. "It's a little embarrassing to admit, but yes. She knows I'm working all hours to get my business off the ground, so every so often, she makes extra of whatever she's cooking and sets a few portions aside for me that I can reheat." Seeing Isa's continued interest, he figured he might as well admit the whole of it. "And my dad has been known to drop off fresh groceries so I won't live on canned goods."
Sailor knew he was lucky with his tightly bonded family, had always known he was lucky, but it was only now, as he looked into Isa's wistful face, that he understood exactly how lucky. "I'm guessing Jacqueline wasn't much of a cook," he said, with another kiss on the nose. "Your dad?"
This time she smiled, as if warming up to the nose-kissing alien in front of her.
"My dad's basically the charming male version of Jacqueline." Dry words. "When I was a toddler, they both spent so many hours at the office that I apparently started to call my nanny Mommy and the cook Daddy. Jacqueline and Stefan had to switch to short-term contractors to keep me from getting confused."
Isa rolled her eyes as she said that, as if it was just an amusing little anecdote, but Sailor saw nothing funny in a child so disregarded by her mother and father that she'd tried to find family in her parents' employees. Who the fuck did that to their baby? And then to take those familiar figures away just so Jacqueline and Stefan could still feel like parents?
Unforgiveable.
Sailor clenched his jaw. Hoping she'd at least had grandparents who'd given her love and spoiled her stupid, he was about to ask about her extended family when her phone rang.
The ringtone was the theme music from Star Trek.
"It's Harlow," Isa said with open affection. "My brother."
Sailor tried not to listen in on the conversation, but there wasn't much he could do to make his apartment bigger. So even though Isa had stepped out onto the balcony, he still heard pretty much every word.
Her first words were cheerful. "Hey, Harlow."
Silence for a minute or two before Isa spoke again. "You got the job fair and square." A firm tone. "I spoke to Ginny--she told me that HR had no idea who you were until it was time to actually offer you the position and you confessed your identity."
Another period of silence followed by "Of course I'm sure. Have I ever lied to you?" She listened again. "No," she said in response to Harlow's reply. "Mother wouldn't have taken it from you. You know she admires initiative."
Sailor happened to be looking over at her right then, and so he saw the fingers she'd crossed behind her back.
By the time she finally hung up and came back inside, he was finished with the fish prep. "Problem?"
Pressing her lips together, she put her hands on her hips. "Harlow won an internship at Crafty Corners after applying under a pseudonym so there'd be no cries of favoritism. But an unsuccessful applicant from his school posted something nasty online about it." Her eyes sparked with temper.
Impressed at the steps her brother had taken to make the process fair, Sailor said, "So why are you crossing your fingers behind your back?"
Isa's skin flushed a delicate pink. Folding her arms, she said, "You weren't supposed to have seen that."
He wanted to take little bites out of her. "Come on, fess up."
"It's family business."
Sailor put together what he'd heard of the phone call with what he knew of Isa's family. "Jacqueline being a hard-ass?"
A scowl from his redhead. "Stop using your telepathic powers on me."
Feeling young in a way he rarely did, he grinned. "How old's your brother?"
"Seventeen." Isa regarded his grin with suspicion. "Technically we're stepsiblings. Jacqueline married his father when Harlow was twelve."
Sailor hadn't paid too much attention to the tidbits about Jacqueline's personal life in the research he'd done. He'd been more far more interested in her business strategies. Some of that information had, however, stuck, so he knew the marriage Isa was talking about couldn't have lasted long. Yet she'd embraced Harlow as her brother.
That said a lot about his curvy spitfire.
Her phone rang again just as she'd parted her mouth to speak, the ringtone a generic one. Isa glanced at the screen. "It's Oliver, my mother's current husband."
Lifting the phone to her ear on that mystified statement, she answered in front of Sailor. "Oliver, hello." Then, "What?" in pure astonishment. "You know I don't have that kind of influence on her." She listened for a while. "Oh, I'm sorry. Look, I'll try, okay? Can't promise anything though."
Hanging up, she blew out a breath. "I have to make a call. Is there any point in my going to the balcony?"
"Nope. You want to go in my bedroom? The sheets are still messy from this morning," he said in deliberate provocation. "Hot dreams about a hot redhead."
Color on her cheekbones, but she held her ground. "Probably matches my bed. I took off my pj's in the middle of the night, I got so hot. Nude sleeping apparently has a lot of health benefits."
"Oh, I know, spitfire," Sailor drawled. "I don't own pj's."
Her pupils dilated, her breath catching.
And Sailor's body began to push for hard, dirty, physical TLC.
21
Knight in Gardening Armor
SAILOR GRIPPED THE EDGE OF the counter and tried to count to a hundred to get his erection under control while, across from him, his wicked little playmate made her call. Her voice, he was pleased to note, was breathy, the pulse in her throat moving too fast.
"Mom," she was saying, "Oliver cooked you an anniversary dinner, even timed it for your usual late finish. You know this is a big deal for him. Go home." A long pause before she said, "Shall I order the divorce cake now? Chocolate or red velvet?"
When she hung up a few seconds later without further words, Sailor figured
Jacqueline had decided to go have dinner with her husband. "Does that kind of thing happen often?" he asked as he walked out to the grill to put on the fish.
"That's a new one." Isa leaned in the doorway of the balcony, and it felt intimately comfortable--as if they'd been doing this forever.
As if he knew her bone deep.
Yeah, Sailor wasn't stupid. This, what they had, it was something special. He'd do whatever it took to convince his redhead to stick with him. Even if meant using his manly wiles and body to confuse her every time she thought of a good reason why they weren't suited.
"Poor Oliver," she said with a shake of her head. "It's like a marriage between a befuddled puppy and a barracuda."
Her phone rang for the third time before Sailor could reply.
Worry swept over Isa's features like a tidal wave. "My sister's a texter except when there's a problem." She lifted the phone to her ear. "Catiebug?" Her body straightened. "Catie, honey what's the matter? Is it--" A pause. "Yes, I'll do it now."
Shoving a hand through her hair after hanging up, she paced back to the counter as she made another call. Then it was back to Catie. "Your father's fine, sweetheart. He must have his phone on silent. The hotel concierge confirmed for me that Clive is on the gaming floor."
A minute later, she walked out to take a seat on the single chair he had on the other side of his postage-stamp-sized space. "Sorry about that," she said, her arm hooked over the back of the chair. "Catie heard about a Kiwi man of her dad's age getting mugged at the hotel where he's staying and panicked."
Yet instead of calling Jacqueline, the other girl had called Isa. And Isa had just handled it, was now sitting chatting with him as if the past fifteen minutes hadn't been extraordinary, as if she hadn't just put out three emotional fires without blinking.
Sailor was both proud of his redhead and irritated by the other adults in her life who clearly weren't pulling their weight. From what he'd witnessed so far, it was starting to look like she was the main support for her siblings. "He's your dad too?"