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God forbid she ever admit this, but maybe her mother was right? She was too old for this. The games that came with dating and…
It's not dating when it's a one-night stand.
Which she didn't do.
Ever.
Except with someone Michael knows?
Her cousin wasn't a saint by any means, but she was pretty sure he wouldn’t want to go to a business meeting and find out what had happened to his "kid cousin" in Vegas. And if memory served, Michael and Everett were currently working on a project.
Great. Oh, great.
“Iz?”
She had to really focus to remember Amelia’s question. "Um, I-I don't know. The buyers finalized everything with the curator. I'll get more details this week, I'm sure. There...wasn't much time there at the end." Because she’d finished the show floating on a cloud, having made plans to meet Everett to celebrate the completion.
"Well, it's fantastic. I'm so proud of you," Amelia said, sliding Izzy another glance from across the way as she crossed the bridge toward Carolina Cove.
"Thanks. I mean, they could always change their mind but—"
"No buts. It's awesome and doubtful that would happen, so accept the sales as a win. I'm happy for you."
"Yeah. It's just...surreal."In so many ways.
She appreciated Amelia's support. Her friend was the best, softhearted and understanding and supportive even though Izzy's crazy ideas weren’t always thought through.
"Okay, so, you're only minutes away from home. Take today off to recoup and rest, and then you can hit the ground running tomorrow."
"Yeah, I think I might." Sleep was good. It would bring clarity. Right? Maybe then she could figure out exactly how she'd gone from being a not-so-wild child to waking up with a virtual stranger.
She'd had boyfriends. Two long-term ones and a handful of wannabes. But despite what people—especially her mother—might believe about artists and her so-called bohemian lifestyle, she wasn't a casual hookup kind of girl.
And other than talking and laughing and kissing—alot—she wasn't sure when the scales had tipped during the night. Only that she'd allowed Everett to walk her to her hotel room in the wee hours of the morning after all their fun—and then invited him inside.
"Thanks again for picking me up."
"Absolutely. The timing couldn't have worked out better. I can drop you off and head to the film location to look around and still make it home early. I want to do something special for Lincoln's birthday. Especially since this is our last birthday alone for a while."
Izzy watched as Amelia slid her hand over her pregnant belly again and loved how happy her friend seemed to be. Pregnancy definitely agreed with her. "Good thing I have my sunglasses on," she teased. "You're absolutely glowing."
Amelia laughed, her earrings brushing her shoulders as she shrugged.
"I feel like it. I mean, it's weird but I have all of thisenergy. I'm told it's not the norm and usually the opposite is true, but I think I could climb mountains with energy to spare."
Izzy thought of how tired her older sister, Allie, had been during her pregnancies and shook her head. Definitely not the norm. "Just don't overdo it," Izzy said, wishing she could borrow some of that energy right now. Maybe then she wouldn't feel as though she'd been dragged out to sea by a riptide and been swimming against the current for days.
"Oh, I won't. I couldn't if I wanted to. Lincoln has been waiting on me hand and foot when I get home from work, and no one on set will let me lift a finger. Oh! Crap."
"What?"
"Well, before I forget...I ran into the Babes while you were gone."
"And?"
"I hate to say it, but your mominsistswe use her house for the baby shower you're hosting. I hope that's okay? When I told them we were going to have it downstairs at London's Lattes, the Babes…well, they made itreallyhard to say no."
No doubt they had. The Babes rarely took no for an answer to anything. But why should they when the five older women had been catered to their whole lives?
