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I drop to the couch and pick up the remote with a dismissive shrug. I feel the attention of everyone in the room, particularly Isabel whose gaze is now glued to me. Like yesterday, the heat radiating from her intense stare stirs my blood in painful surges.
And I like it. A lot.
I’m not the only one who’s changed. Her hair seems shinier and thicker, the features on her face more mature and striking. Her eyes, though. Those are the most dangerous. The way they spark with intelligence and strength and make you desperate for what you can’t have.
Jack’s weird offer at lunch comes roaring back in the tense silence. He wasn’t too far off, but it isn’t some random hookup I’ve been craving since my return to Suncrest Valley. It’s the challenging, fiery, no-nonsense siren across the room who’s been consuming my thoughts and torturing me with her constant presence.
The one woman I swore I’d resist.
“Want any?” I ask, adding the eggs to the pan. Damn, I’ve missed salchicha con huevo.
Isabel eyes my offering before her gaze drifts to my bare chest. A scowl spreads over her face, but she doesn’t look away. If anything, her stare intensifies into what feels like an electric buzz over my skin.
Kim is at work, leaving Iz and me alone for the first time since I arrived. Not gonna lie, my dick is way more interested in that fact than she seems to be. It’s like she’s been going out of her way to avoid me, but even warrior queens need to eat eventually.
“Is that the eggs with sliced hot dogs thing?” she asks.
A slow smirk creeps onto my face, drawing her focus to my lips. Did she just lick hers?
“Technically, it’sthe hot dogs with eggthing. Late lunch.”
My smirk tips into a half-grin, and I see something close to longing before she tears her gaze away from me. Hmm. Interesting.
“Whatever,” she mumbles. “Didn’t Kim talk to you about wearing clothes?”
“I amwearing clothes,” I say, flipping off the burner.
I turn to give her a full view and don’t miss how her cheeks flush. Her dark brows knit in a cross between annoyance and concentration as she scans me slowly, absorbing every detail of my body down to the drawstring on my low-hanging sweatpants. I know she likes what she sees when she sucks in a sharp breath and bites her lip. She’s not helping the situation in those tight athletic pants and cutoff shirt. There’s plenty I’m enjoying about the view as well.
I lean back to expose more of my body, loving how her gaze lands on the coarse hair just above the waistband of my pants. Her fingers clench the handle of the fridge, but her eyes scream the truth about what she wishes she were gripping instead.
“So, no to the salchicha con huevo?” I tease.
“No,” she says stiffly. “I’m grabbing an early dinner with Pierce.”
My jaw tightens, all amusement fading as I readjust and focus back on my task. Grabbing a plate from the cabinet beside me, I fight to suppress the rising ire.
“You don’t like him, do you?” she says.
I glance over, surprised she even cares what I think. With a shrug, I settle back against the counter, clutching the edge on either side of me.
“Why do you let him treat you like that?” I ask.
She yanks open the fridge door. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Why do you let him treat you like shit?”
“He doesn’t,” she says, pulling a yogurt from the drawer.
“No? So youlikebeing demeaned and controlled?” Low blow, but she’s pissing me off. This woman should accept nothing less than perfection from whatever guy she allows near her. “The Isabel I knew wouldn’t take shit from anyone, let alone the guy she gave her heart to.”
“Yeah? Well, guess what? I’m not the Isabel you knew.”
She’s got that right.
“And honestly? I’m not sure you ever did,” she continues with impressive venom. “You were too full of yourself to see anyone who wasn’t staring back at you from a mirror.”
Ah, there’s the girl—woman—I remember. Guess it’s just me who triggers her fire.
