Page 71 of Dust to Dust

With a giggle, she replied, “Sorry. I couldn’t help teasing you.”

I blinked at her. The only people in my life who remotely teased me were my brothers. And Caterina. No one else had the balls big enough to do it. “People who dare to tease me usually get punished.”

Isla’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “They do?”

“For you, I would find a more pleasurable form of torture.”

At her whimper, I inwardly groaned. What the fuck was wrong with me trying to seduce Isla in broad daylight, not to mention while she held her nephew? Deep down, I knew it was because she drove me crazy. Any morality I had in me went out the window when I was with her.

After clearing her throat, Isla said, “Where are my manners? I should’ve invited you in.”

“I’m not a gentleman, so you probably shouldn’t.”

At the insinuation in my words, heat filled Isla’s cheeks. “The least I can do is offer you a cup of coffee.” When I continued staring at her, Isla cocked her head at me. “Maybe a glass of water to cool you off?”

A laugh burst from my lips, surprising both of us along with Henry. His tear-stained cheeks widened in a smile. “I think a glass of water would be grand.”

Isla held the door open. “Then come in.”

When she started to walk down the hallway, I remembered that I hadn’t come alone. “Hold on.”

She turned with a curious expression. “What’s wrong?”

I jerked my thumb to the driveway. “I need to let the men in to work on the security system.”

Her brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

“I’m having a security system installed in your house.”

Isla’s mouth gaped open. “But I?—”

I shook my head. “Don’t tell me you don’t need one. Two women and a baby need one.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what?”

Her gaze shifted to the floor. “You should understand it’s not in the cards right now. You know, financially.”

“I don’t give a fuck about your finances.”

Isla jerked her gaze up to mine. “Quinn, don’t curse in front of the baby,” she admonished.

With a roll of my eyes, I countered, “Like he knows what I’m saying.”

Her blue eyes narrowed at me. “I mean it.”

“Fine. I don’t care about your finances. This is on me.”

She shook her head wildly back and forth. “I can’t let you do that.”

“You don’t let me do anything—I just do it.”

Her perfectly plump lips opened and closed like a fish out of water. “You are a….a….”

“What, Isla?”

“A beast!”

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