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He opened his mouth. Then closed it again. “Honestly, I was here to see the man your sister is dancing with. I wanted to hire him for a little while to keep an eye on you while you’re working.”
Isabelle glanced over at the giant of a man. He cast several surreptitious looks her way, too, as if he found their likeness difficult to imagine.
“Like a bodyguard? Why?”
“Because of the threatening phone calls. Not to mention that creepy coughing guy you were worried about at the courthouse the night we met.”
Her eyes narrowed. Here she was ready to call the relationship over, and he was exhibiting a prominent protective streak. That was unexpected.
She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. It was probably nothing. Both calls and the imaginary guy at the courthouse were probably nothing. Just my foolish imagination.”
“You’re right. It’s possible. Still, I don’t want to take any chances.” He gave her a particularly heartfelt look, adding, “I wanted you to feel safe, Isabelle. If someone approached you, I wanted you to have someone in the vicinity on your side. Someone who wouldn’t be compelled to have his lips on you at all times the way I would.” He smiled.
“Yes. We do have a reputation when at either of our respective offices.
Still Isabelle couldn’t quite figure out why Warrick would go to the trouble. Especially since he never intended to marry her for any reason. Seeing as how she wasn’t a worthy contender to be his bride. A day’s worth of hurt crashed back into her brain, making her wish she didn’t have to deal with her sister right now.
She glanced across the room, knowing Ari wouldn’t want to wait for her for very long. She could see the irritated look on her sister’s face as their gazes met across the short expanse. Even after all this time she hadn’t changed.
“Izzy,” her sister said from a few feet away, ignoring the fact that she hated that nickname, and being exactly as impatient as Isabelle remembered. She motioned sharply with one hand to come over.
Isabelle held up her forefinger toward her sister to indicate she needed another minute, resisting the urge to use a different finger in a much different way. She didn’t know what Ari wanted or why she was here after all this time, but expected not to like it.
“I have to ask, why do you care if I’m safe or not? It’s not like this relationship is going to last forever.” Or even until tomorrow.
“What?” Warrick’s expression changed from conciliatory to wary in an instant. He tightened his grip around her, and asked, “Are you angry with me?”
Yes. No. I don’t know. Isabelle shrugged, and pushed out a long sigh. “Doesn’t matter.” Why would you care?
His gaze swept her face, focusing in on her still irritated, red eyes like a hawk discovering juicy prey. “Your eyes are swollen. Have you been crying?”
Damn it.
After all that work getting herself together earlier, she was about to lose it. Her mouth trembled with uncontrolled emotion. She sniffed deeply, swallowed hard, and shook her head trying to keep from losing it. “I plead the fifth,” she managed, but her tone sounded like her crying jag was making a big comeback.
“I don’t think so. Explain.”
All of a sudden Ari was standing next to the two of them.
“Izzy. Hurry up. This is serious. We need to have a conversation.”
“Oh?” Isabelle couldn’t seem to help herself. “Really? All these years later? I sort of figured after the first five years of absolutely no communication whatsoever, we were done.”
“I—” Ari started to speak, but Isabelle cut her off.
“No. Listen up, Ari. When you stood me up a few months ago after almost ten years of nothing, I certainly didn’t expect you to be here tonight. You’re lucky I showed up at all.”
Her sister glanced at Warrick and frowned. “Be that as it may, I really need to talk to you. It’s important.”
“Fine. I’ll be right with you.” She glanced at her watch, noting her dwindling dinner break time. When Ari didn’t move, she grabbed Warrick’s arm and led him even closer to the front door.
“So your sister’s in town,” Warrick said, seeming to understand their difficult relationship in one short meeting.
“Yes. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I haven’t spoken to her in quite a long time, but if memory serves, with Ari everything is always urgent. Plus, she’s used to getting her way.”
He shrugged. “No need to be sorry, Isabelle. Trust me. I have an interesting family as well. One of these days very soon we need to have a very long discussion regarding them. But it can wait.”
