Isabella (The Mitchell/Healy Family #2)(21)
Author: Jennifer Foor

“It’s obvious that you have some kind of attraction to me. At times it’s been a little creepy, but I get it now. I guess I’m just wonderin’ if you feel the way you do because I look so much like her? I wouldn’t blame you if it was true. I’d probably feel that way if I was in your shoes. It’s like gettin’ a second chance in some ways.”

I couldn’t look at her when I answered. It wasn’t just a personal question she was asking. My answer could affect our friendship in the future. I had to be careful with my choice of words. “At first it was. I’m not going to lie. One look at you and I did feel like I was getting a second chance with Simone. It was short lived though. I mean, I knew you were someone else. Then I saw you screaming at your cousin and knew for sure that you were nothing like her. It only took me being around you a couple more times to realize that my attraction to you went beyond the resemblance. I wanted to know that indecisive woman that spoke her mind, and yet always seemed confused. I wanted to be there when you were down, and do whatever it took to make you smile. Being around you helps me want to live again.” I put up my hands so she wouldn’t get freaked out, or try to cut me off. “I get that you’re not into me that way. I know I’m ten years older than you, and that your family would send me packing if I tried to pursue anything more than a friendship, but I also know that I’d be lying if I tried to deny it.”

Isabella put her fork down on the table and placed her hands flat on either side of her plate. “I would have thought that gettin’ knocked up by another man would change your opinion of me.”

“You’re in love with the guy. Why would that change the way I feel?”

“I was in love with him. There’s a huge difference. As far as he goes, I hope his dick falls off. He doesn’t deserve to be happy, not after the shit he pulled on me.”

I started to laugh. She smiled and cocked her head to the side. “What’s so funny?” she asked.

“It’s that spunk that I think is fascinating. You don’t hold anything in. Sometimes you’re so brutally honest that it’s painful.” I continued to laugh after explaining, and she finally joined in. This was pure enjoyment for me. I needed this kind of connection, and it reminded me again why she was so different from Simone.

Then she did something that I wasn’t prepared for. Her smile faded away and she peered into my eyes with some kind of intent that I’d never seen from her before. “Today has opened my eyes to the person behind the mask.”

“Is that a good thing or bad?”

She smiled and cackled to herself. “I’m still decidin’.”

I took a sip of my tea, never taking my eyes from hers. “Let me know when you’ve reached a verdict.”

“Okay.” This half-smile formed at the corner of her lips and she looked down at her plate. “Doesn’t it gross you out that I’m pregnant?”

“Why would it? You’re still you.”

“I’m about to get terribly fat. I already have killer mood swings, and most of the time I have puke in my hair from mornin’ sickness. Sorry for rainin’ on your parade, but I’m not very desirable.”

“It’s true. You are going to gain weight. Some days you may become so crabby that nobody wants to be near you, but the morning sickness will soon pass. You’re going to get this glow to you, and as your body transforms from a young woman to a loving mother, you’ll rediscover yourself in ways you never knew possible.”

“Is that what happened with your wife?”

I laughed. Simone was a happy woman when she carried Sydney. “No. I read a lot.”

“You read pregnancy books?”

“In med school I did.”

“What? You went to med school? Were you going to be a doctor?”

“A veterinarian. I had my own practice that I ran with my dad. He retired, and I took on the whole thing. That’s why I can’t go back. I ruined my father’s legacy without a single apology.”

She changed the mood by throwing me a compliment. “I can see you in one of those white lab coats. I bet you were a little sexy.”

Her comment honestly made me blush. I’d never heard her compliment me in that way. “You think I’m sexy now, after everything I’ve told you?”

Isabella folded her hands and shot me a ornery grin. “Maybe.”

“So old men can be sexy?” Something was happening between us. I could feel it, though I had to wonder what the reasoning behind it was.

“You’re not that old.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

I watched her sipping the tea up from a straw. “I’m not goin’ to.”

I waved for the waitress to bring us our check. It was going to be a long drive back to Kentucky, and since I wasn’t full of rage anymore it was certainly going to drag.

I paid for our meal and we started walking out to the truck. While I kept my eyes focused on where I was heading, she asked something that stopped me dead in my tracks. “You must hate me. I wouldn’t blame you for it. I’ve been so shitty to you. If I’d have known…”

I didn’t let her finish. “No. Of course I don’t hate you.” I paused and looked down at my hands before proceeding. “It’s the opposite actually. Listen, I chose to keep my life a secret. I suppose I scared you with my stalker tendencies. I can assure you that it wasn’t on purpose. I just didn’t know how to go about getting you to notice me.”

Her cheeks reddened as she looked away, seemingly embarrassed at my confession. “Doesn’t it bother you that I’m ten years younger? I mean, when you were in elementary school I wasn’t even born.”

I let out a chuckle in light of her question. “If you haven’t noticed, I am a man. Though I try to be a gentleman in most circumstances, I’d have to say that having a younger woman is sort of every man’s dream, at least once.”

I realized right away that they could have been construed as a come on. Before I could retract the statement, or at least rephrase it, she asked a question that changed everything.

“So, I was wonderin’, are we goin’ to drive home tonight, or get a room somewhere? To be honest, I’m kind of tired.”

I never saw it coming, and wasn’t positive what she was implying.

Chapter 13

Isabella

I couldn’t believe that I’d said it. One minute I wanted to be as far away from him as physically possible and the next I was asking him to spend the night out of state in a hotel room.