Page 36 of Isabelle & Jason
“So Mark, were you a chef in another life, too?”
Mark practically choked on his laughter. “No ma’am.”
Isabelle glanced from him to Jason.
“Mark was more of a jack-of-all-trades. He did a bit of everything back in the city.” Jason didn’t need to mention that Mark had a hard time holding down a job until he moved out here. “But he’s found good footing out here.”
Isabelle smiled warmly at Mark. “You guys have been friends for a long time, then?”
Jason and Mark exchanged smiles. “Yeah.” Mark nodded. “Jason was my best friend in high school. He just did better at following his dreams.” He nudged Jason in the ribs with his elbow. “He’s luckier with just about everything in life except one thing.”
Isabelle continued to watch Mark, her interest and curiosity coming off her in waves. “And what’s that?”
“Women.”
She blinked.
Jason stifled a growl. Why on earth did Mark feel the need to say that? He shook his head. “Mark’s joking.”
“Nah. Jason just doesn’t want to admit that he gave his heart away to a stranger years ago.” Mark chuckled. If this was his way of pushing Jason into finally doing something about his feelings for Isabelle, he wasn’t going to win.
Jason cut his friend a warning look. He made no promises of controlling himself if Mark ended up making Isabelle uncomfortable. And Jason had the feeling that was already starting to happen.
Mark laughed and moved toward the skillet with the opened packages of bacon.
Isabelle didn’t prod. If she was curious about Mark’s statement, she didn’t let on.
Jason refused to push Isabelle into something she wasn’t ready for. What they had was tenuous at best. One wrong word and Isabelle might retreat once more. One step at a time. Day by day, he’d help her come out of her shell again.
“What about you, Isabelle?”
She stiffened at Mark’s question. Then she glanced up at him with a curious smile. “What about me?”
“Were you a chef in another life?”
Isabelle laughed. “In my dreams, maybe. Nope. I’ve never really been good at doing much in the kitchen besides following a simple recipe.”
“I guess it’s a good thing that Jason can whip stuff up out of thin air, then. You two practically complete each other.”
“Mark,” Jason warned.
His friend chuckled. The guy wasn’t getting it.
“It’s fine,” Isabelle murmured quietly at his side. Her cheeks flushed with mild color, and she offered him another smile. “I grew up with siblings, remember? I can handle some harmless teasing.”
“Well, if it gets to be too much?—”
She laughed. “It won’t.”
Mark moved around the kitchen toward the fridge, and before Isabelle could react, Jason became the barrier between them. He handed her a measuring cup to help cover up for what he was doing. It wasn’t easy to tell whether or not she noticed that he was shielding her from Mark, but he’d continue to do so until she asked him not to.
Isabelle accepted the measuring cup, and their fingers brushed. Her eyes bounced up to meet his briefly, and that blush deepened.
That had been happening a lot more often as well. While Jason went out of his way to make sure he wasn’t too close to her, accidents still happened.
The graze of fingertips.
The brush of hands.
