Page 41 of Isabelle & Jason
This was where she felt safest.
“Isabelle.”
She moaned at the soft sound of a deep, male voice.
“Isabelle, I have to go. You should head back to bed. It’s almost morning.”
Her eyes fluttered open, and she jolted upright. At her side, Jason peered up at her. He gave her a small smile just before she glanced over to the horizon. Sure enough, the faintest glimmer of light was coming over the ridge. “What time is it?” she gasped.
“It’s nearly five.”
Five in the morning? She’d actually slept.
No nightmares.
Around them was another blanket they hadn’t brought with them. Jason must have noticed her confusion because he said, “Mark brought it out to me.”
She blushed even as Jason sat up and took her chin in his grasp. They’d stayed out here all night. She’d actually slept, and soundly at that.
Jason still held her face, and he waited for her to meet his eyes. When she did, he murmured, “You fell asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you. I sent Mark a message to bring us something until you did. If I didn’t have to work, I would have let you keep sleeping.”
Isabelle wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. She wanted to shout for joy.
For the first time in a long time, she feltgood.
“Are you going to be okay?” he whispered. “Can I walk you back to the house?”
She bit down on her lip to prevent herself from grinning like a crazy person. Then she nodded. “Yeah. To both questions.”
15
Jason
“Why do you look nervous?” Mark laughed.
Jason sent his friend a warning look.
“Is it because of the night you spent in your boss’s yard under the stars with a certain young woman?”
“Don’t bring it up,” Jason warned. “Nothing happened.”
“I don’t know…” Mark drawled. “Seems to me that something is definitely happening. You wouldn’t be this nervous otherwise.”
“Why is Jason nervous?” a female voice chimed in.
Jason flinched at the sound of Nikki’s voice. This was the only reason he’d regretted asking Mark for help last night. He really should have thought to bring an extra blanket when he’d asked Isabelle to go star gazing. It had been warm enough, and with their shared body heat, they would have been fine. But it did get cold later into the evening and he hadn’t wanted Isabelle to wake up. Her sleep issues being what they were had him wanting her to sleep as long as she could.
“Jason’s nervous because things are heating up between him and Isabelle.” Mark smirked, his arms crossed as he leaned against the counter near the fridge.
Jason could have wrung his friend’s neck at what he’d just announced. Did he even know what this could mean for his job? His eyes sought out Nikki, who didn’t bat an eye as she said, “The movie night went well, then?”
“What?” Jason said, wiping his brow.
Nikki reached for her apron with a roll of her eyes. “Come on, Jason. We were all hired around the same time. It’s not like you’re dating your boss.” She gave him a pointed look. They all knew Nikki had started dating Mateo shortly after she’d been hired. They’d fought their feelings for each other longer than Jason thought possible. Nikki laughed at his frown. “Mateo doesn’t seem to mind. I think you’re good.”
But what about the other brothers? Roman had given him a warning. Marcus hadn’t said anything specific, but Jason could tell he was more wary about his sister, but that could be due to something else.
“Really? He’s good with it?”
