Page 14 of Kiss Me if You Can
Meeting the librarian’s eyes, I force a smile. “I’m just glad she said yes,” I choke out because my mouth has literally gone dry.
With one more glance at the computer, the librarian nods and then gives Isla a smile. “You only have a few minutes left, so if you need more time, I can help you up at the front desk.”
“Thank you!” Isla says brightly. Still too loud. And even though the librarian wanders away, she doesn’t move her arms from where they’re pressed against me. “I can’t believe that worked!”
I groan and click out of all of the windows I had open. I didn’t get any actual answers, but I don’t have time to do any more digging. We need to get new clothes for Isla’s meeting anyway. “Thank you,” I tell her, putting my hand over her arm and holding her in place. I don’t want her to let go, which feels like a problem. “You’re a genius.”
“Or I watch too many movies.” To my surprise, she presses one more kiss to my cheek before gathering up her crutches. There’s no one to pretend for, and the feel of her lips leaves me momentarily stunned. “Come on, sweetie pie, I saw a thrift store just down the road.”
Chapter Six
Jake
This isn’t how thingsare supposed to happen. I’m no expert in matters of the heart, but I do know it takes more than a couple of hours to fall for someone. There needs to be familiarity, common interests, similar goals. A couple needs to know each other’s flaws as well as the good traits. Know what they fear and what they most want in life. Love comes from time and growth and experience.
So why do I feel like I’m falling for Isla Adams?
As she peruses a thrift store downtown, I can’t take my eyes off of her, even though I’m pretending to browse the records so I don’t look shifty. She navigates the store with ease on her crutches, which doesn’t surprise me, but Iamsurprised that she hasn’t once complained about missing her prosthesis. I’m sure she prefers having free use of her hands, but she’s over there smiling like she’s having the best day of her life.
I’ve never met anyone like her. From the moment I literally ran into her, she’s been calm and kind and genuinely interested in my fate, despite every reason to hate and distrust me. Maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to her.
She’s the first person in years—maybe ever—to truly see me. To give me any sort of attention and respect without me demanding it with a demonstration of my skills or talents. My team respects me, and they all seem to like working for me, but most of them joined my company because they’d heard of me from my darker days and were more curious than anything. But Isla?
Isla hasn’t given any heed to my background or my job. She only seems to care aboutme.
A woman approaches her, ducking in close to speak to her, and then points over at me.
I stiffen, preparing to run, but Isla shakes her head and says something back with a smile and a laugh. Though the woman lingers, looking skeptical as she takes me in, she eventually wanders off, and Isla comes over to my section of the store with a bunch of stuff slung over her shoulder.
“She warned me that some guy was staring at me,” she says as she reaches me. “I told her that it was just my dorky husband. These are for you.”
I take the clothes from her shoulder and grimace. It looks like most of a three-piece suit. “I don’t really wear suits,” I mumble, though the words come out softer than my usual dislike would warrant. I think I like the sound of being Isla’s husband more than I should, given the circumstances.
Isla shrugs. “Yeah, well, my husband wouldn’t be wandering around in women’s sweatpants, considering my profession. Get changed while I find myself something to wear.”
I want to argue. I really do. If I’m going to pull off a fake marriage, even for just a few hours, I’m going to need to be able to relax. And I’ve never been relaxed in a suit. Outside of graduation, the only other times I’ve worn suits have been for my parents’ funerals, so it’s not like this outfit is going to conjure good memories. I wore the suit at graduation because my foster mom insisted on it, and I needed to keep her moderately happy so she wouldn’t wonder what I was doing during all that time I spent on the computer.
“Please, Jake,” Isla says. There’s a bit of fear in her eyes for the first time all day, which means this business lunch is a bigger deal than I realized. I may spend all day on the internet, but it’s not the same way she does it. I’m going to assume most of her marketing is through social media and word of mouth. How can I refuse her when she’s already done so much to help me? Without her, I never would have made it out of the park.
Holding back a groan, I spin on my heel and head for the dressing rooms. I still think going to lunch with her is a bad idea, but she might be onto something with hiding in plain sight. It worked at the library, and so far no one has stopped to look too closely at my face since we’ve come into the store. It doesn’t solve my problem, but hiding with her is buying me time. Time that I, so far, haven’t used to figure out a plan.
I’ve been too busy falling for Isla.
By the time I’ve wrangled myself into the suit, which fits surprisingly well considering it’s secondhand, Isla is waiting for me outside the dressing room in a blue floral dress that hugs her body in a way that makes my mouth go dry again. Outside of the scrapes and cuts on her arms and legs, she looks fresh and fabulous, like she is more than ready to tackle the rest of this day. From her fair skin to her long, blonde hair, to the crystal-blue eyes she appraises me with, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And that says nothing about her strength, intelligence, or kindness, all of which she has in ample supply.
I might be in trouble. We’re not going to mention how close I came to kissing her at the park. Even before the ruse at the library, kissing her was all I could think about. And I am not and never have been a guy who kisses on a first date, let alone within the first few hours of knowing someone, so I’m pretty sure Isla has put me under some kind of spell.
Not that I believe in magic. But if anyone can make me believe in something like that, she could. It’s the only explanation for why I keep imagining our wedding day at the park even though none of this is real.
“So?” Isla says, setting aside her crutches and balancing on her foot as she holds out her hand to me.
I take hold of her fingers and let her tug me closer to her. “So, what?”
“This suit can’t be that bad, can it? You’re wearing it so well.” She buttons my cuff for me because I couldn’t get it one-handed. I generally avoid buttons because buttons mean fancy. I don’t do fancy.
I put on a smile and gently place a hand on her waist to help her balance as she buttons my other cuff. “The only reason I’m wearing this is because you asked me to,” I tell her.
Her cheeks blossom with pink as she moves to tie my loose tie, which happens to match her dress rather well. “You sure you want to help me?”
