Isaac nodded dumbly, his head still spinning at this one-eighty. He’d made her upset by using the word girl instead of woman. Now she was restored. He wasn’t about to complain, but he still didn’t see how she could ever think he viewed her as a child, and he’d honestly rather sit and hold her and talk to her than have her cook for him again. But he wasn’t dumb enough to voice any objections right now.
She gave him one more happy smile, then turned and pushed through the water. He didn’t turn away this time. When she bent down to scoop up her shoes, he pulled in a loud breath. Cosette glanced over her shoulder at him and gave him a broad wink. His heart was hammering, threatening to burst out of his chest. She walked slowly up to the house, swinging her hips in such an appealing way, it was all he could do to not push through the water, sprint at her, and tackle her into the sand.
She stopped on the top step and checked to see if he was still looking. When she saw that he was, she beamed and called to him, “You’re ogling your woman, Captain Jewel.”
Isaac chuckled. He saluted her. She gave him a sassy flip of her long hair and strode into the house. He watched through the glass until she disappeared in the bathroom, and then he lay back and floated in the water, staring up at the blue sky. Everything had changed. Excitement rushed through him. Were there still reasons he needed to be cautious and not just kiss her until they both had to come up for air? If there were, he couldn’t think of them.
Your woman.She’d said that, called herselfhiswoman. His heart beat out of rhythm just thinking about it. Yet she’d also reminded him that he was Captain Jewel. He was going back. If she truly became his and he kissed her and fell for her like he yearned to do, how would he leave her?
* * *
Cosette rushed through her shower in a happy daze. Isaac didn’t think she was a little girl; he thought she was a beautiful, accomplished, and brilliant woman. Ooh, she wanted to squeal. Today was the best day of her entire life. Could he truly like her the way she liked him? Had she really called herself his woman? Was that too presumptuous? Would he kiss her? Her stomach filled up with butterflies at the very idea, and she shoved away Vance’s snide comments about her kissing abilities.
Brushing out her hair and putting on some makeup, she dressed in a floral sundress and hurried to start the waffles. It was quiet except for the birds twittering outside and the tide softly rolling in. She wondered where Isaac was, and she cast her gaze outside and spotted him out floating in the sea. He came in while she was separating egg yolks and whites. Her hands were shaky as she accidentally dropped a bit of shell into the yolks.
“Hey,” he said, his face splitting in a grin as his eyes swept over her. “You look beautiful.”
“I, um …” Her hands were full of eggshells, and her heart was full of his look and compliment. He looked amazing, with his dark hair pushed back from his handsome face, his tanned, muscular chest glistening with water droplets, and—most importantly—his blue eyes focused on her. “Do you want chocolate chips or blueberries in your waffles?”
His eyebrows shot up. Probably not the response he was planning on. “Chocolate chips are an option?”
“Of course.”
“Definitely chocolate chips.”
She smiled. He was perfect for her. She’d always choose chocolate over fruit.
He held his shirt up, and the muscles in his arm flexed smoothly in response. “I’ll just go shower,” he said.
“What do you do to have muscles like that?” she demanded before he could walk away.
Isaac’s smile grew and his blue eyes twinkled. “I’m naturally built this way.”
She dropped the shell in the garbage, rinsed off her hands, and wagged a finger at him. “Don’t give me that nonsense.”
He chuckled. “We have a pretty strict regimen of healthy eating and exercise with my unit.” He pumped his eyebrows at her and said, “Are you getting more comfortable seeing my bare chest, then?”
Her face flared red, but she forced herself to stare steadily at him. “Ogling it, you mean?”
His laughter increased. He folded his arms across his chest. “Yes, ogling,” he said.
“It’s not any trouble for me to look at it,” she said.
His smile grew. “Well, I’m glad to hear that.” He winked and then strode into the bathroom.
It was rough to focus on a perfect consistency for waffles when she heard the shower running, and especially when Isaac walked from the bathroom to his bedroom in only a towel—he muttered, “Sorry, forgot my clothes,” but his unapologetic look said that he knew exactly how he affected her. She had an entire stack of waffles ready when he came out of his bedroom with his dark hair swept back, looking fresh and perfect in a white T-shirt and navy-blue shorts.
“It smells good,” he said.
“Thank you.”
She said a prayer, and they ate, talking about what they were going to do today. Isaac thought they could go explore the island a little bit. There were no indicators that Vance was coming after her, and he shared that her dad had investigators taking pictures and videos and thought it would all be over soon.
She definitely wanted Vance arrested, but she didn’t want to cut short her time with Isaac. They were just getting comfortable with each other, and there was a myriad of things she wanted to experience with him, first of all a lovely kiss. She was still afraid of being horrible at kissing like Vance had told her, but she wasn’t going to let that jerk keep her from trying.
They finished eating and worked together to clean up. Cosette turned from the island counter with a handful of dishes and bumped into Isaac, who smiled down at her. She wished her hands were free so she could wrap her arms around him and hold on.
He leaned down and brushed the hair over her shoulder. “I love this dress on you,” he murmured.