He smiled. “You’re too young to have a heart attack.”
She wagged a finger. “It’s happened.”
“I can’t believe you remembered about sturdy tricks. Seth and Caleb were so full of it.”
“They still are.” When she’d spent time with their family as a child, Seth and Caleb were always playing “sturdy tricks” on everybody, especially her, because she reacted so dramatically. She cast a casual glance at Isaac, and she really liked the way his gray shirt draped his muscular build. “I was just going for a tromp on the beach.”
“I have to be with you at all times.” He shrugged. “Sorry about that.”
Cosette’s eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips, ready to tease with him. “My friend Mar explained to me that when someone says, ‘Sorry about that,’ they’re basically saying, ‘I don’t give a rat’s behind.’ Did you know that?” Cosette was constantly asking Mar to explain expressions and social situations to her. Mar kept reaffirming that Cosette was fun and perfect and did just fine, but Vance’s belittlement rang in her head and made her doubt all the confidence she’d gained over the years.
“I didn’t.” Isaac chuckled softly. “‘A rat’s behind’? Such vile language.”
She arched her eyebrows. “I’m sure you’ve heard much worse.”
“Sadly, I have.” He tilted his head. “You want to ‘tromp’?”
“Yes, thank you.”
They walked slowly, with nowhere to go and plenty of time to get there, as her mom would’ve said. She missed her mom. Hoping to take her mind off of that, she asked, “How on earth are you going to be with me ‘at all times’? That doesn’t really work, you know?”
Isaac pumped his eyebrows. “Who says?”
A warm flush came over her. She might have been too innocent, but she wasn’t stupid. “You’re sleeping in your own room,” she shot at him.
“How about if I sleep on your floor?”
Cosette gasped. “You’re joking.”
He shrugged and gave her an infuriating smirk. “Slept in worse spots.”
“Do you really want to be by my side at all times?” she demanded, refusing to allow herself to imagine him sleeping, especially close by her. Even though she pushed the image from her mind, her body still felt too warm.
His gaze moved carefully over her, making her shiver with a pent-up desire she hadn’t known she had stored inside. She’d thought she loved Vance, but for the most part their relationship had worked because he’d pretty much left her alone and was over-the-top romantic when she saw him. She knew a relationship like that would never work with Isaac. He’d want her, every inch of her: emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Isaac was the complete package, and he’d expect his woman to give him everything as he would give her everything—his time, his love, his devotion—until he’d left her for the military again.
She had to look away so he didn’t see how much she wanted to be his everything.
Isaac stopped walking, and she drew herself to a halt as well. He tilted her chin up and stared deeply into her eyes. Those blue eyes of his were powerful and seductive. “I would love to be by your side at all times,” he said in a husky voice that pulsed through her.
“But you have to go back to the military next week,” she heard herself remind him. Ah, dang it. Her tongue always got the best of her. Way to kill the mood. Not that she should be letting herself have “moods” with Isaac. He was her protection. Her dad would take care of Vance, and she’d go back to her regular, busy life, creating new scents and working with Mar to make sure the marketing and production teams were doing their jobs. Life would be good—and boring. Yet she’d seen what a mess romance could bring into her life. Even though Isaac was a good man, there was no guarantee that romance with him would end any better than it had with Vance. Okay, at least she’d never see Isaac torture someone and she wouldn’t literally run from him, but maybe a spacey scientist wasn’t destined to find love. Her scents, her best friend, and her dad should be enough for her.
Isaac’s eyes shuttered and he stepped back. “You’re right. And somehow I don’t think you’d work as a leave fling.”
“Excuse me?” She cocked an eyebrow at him and folded her arms across her chest. “You’ve had … ‘leave flings’?” What in the world did that mean? Mar would probably pick it up instantly, but Cosette was lost.
Isaac’s jaw tightened. He looked like he wanted to lie to her, but she knew that wasn’t in his nature. He finally shrugged and said, “I’ve dated women while on leave. When I go back to base, the relationship fizzles out and dies. Nobody really wants to deal with a long-distance relationship.”
A roar of jealousy flickered in her. Oh … flings with women while he was home. She could count the number of men and boys she’d kissed on one hand, and Isaac was one of them. It wasn’t hard to imagine women crawling all over Isaac. “And why wouldn’t I work as a ‘leave fling’?” she asked.
Isaac studied her carefully, and his eyes became a smoky blue. “Because a girl like you is meant to be loved and cherished, not deserted.”
Cosette could only blink at him as her heart stuttered and then resumed its pace at a frenzy. Would Isaac love and cherish her, or was he only speaking in a general sense? It was a compliment, to be sure. Except … girl? Did he think of her as a girl, or as a woman?
She had to ask, “Would you have to desert me, then?”
Isaac’s tongue moistened his lips, and Cosette found herself leaning closer. He smelled clean today, less like his cologne. She alternated between staring at his lips and his blue, blue eyes. “I would,” he admitted in a gravelly tone.
Cosette jerked back as if he’d slapped her. Apparently, she was to be “loved and cherished,” but not by him. It shouldn’t sting so bad, yet she knew she’d probably never be loved and cherished by anyone. She was too flighty, too spacey. Men didn’t settle down with the brilliant chemist. Especially not tough, perfect men like Isaac.