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By the time she ended the kiss and withdrew, Isabel sucked in a much needed breath and knew she was in trouble. Yeah, chemistry was not a problem. "No peeking," she ordered huskily before ducking around him to rush into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her to hide her flushed cheeks and rapid breaths.
She leaned against the hard paneled wood, desperate to put a lock on the Pandora's box she'd just opened when she thought of them in New York without the prying eyes of her family and friends.
This man...
A stranger.
Didn't feel like a stranger at all.
The following afternoon,Everett walked into the bar in Carolina Beach and made his way up the stairs to the outside seating, Tomas and Jacob at his heels. Tomas would make himself comfortable within sight of him, while Jacob would join the scheduled planning meeting with Michael so that he could stay informed and up to date on changes.
"Hey," Michael said by way of greeting. "Looks like Carolina Cove agrees with you."
Everett smiled at the words but didn't comment. He shook hands with Michael and then got comfortable, easy to do when he wasn't stuffed into a three-piece suit and strangled by a tie. He rather liked the casualness of this meeting.
Michael had already spread out the plans he worked on, and Everett scanned the paper in front of them. "It's coming along nicely."
"I think so. I incorporated the changes you asked you for last time, as well as a few updates to meet new code. I'll send the digital files to you as well as let you have this copy, and we can schedule to meet up again after you've taken a last look."
"Sounds like a plan. I don't see anything off the bat, but I want to take my time."
"Of course. So...how's things going with you and Izzy?"
He'd known Isabel's cousin would ask about them, but he wasn't sure how much Isabel would want him to share. "Fine. She's coming to New York with me to meet with a couple of galleries."
Jacob's phone rang, and with a look at the face, he excused himself from the table.
"Your doing?"
"I made some inquiries on her behalf. Her work did the rest. She's very talented."
"I agree," Michael said as he lifted his water glass for a drink. "But is that the type of thing you should be doing if you're divorcing? I mean, if it ever becomes public, will those connections withdraw their support because you are no longer involvedon her behalf?"
He hadn't thought of it that way. "It'll be fine." Especially since he hoped the divorce would never go through. Maybe he was crazy to think they could make a marriage work, but he'd never met anyone like Isabel. Never been as drawn or entertained or fascinated by someone. If that wasn't incentive to try to keep them tied to one another, what was?
"Everett, Izzy isn't…Izzy isn't as worldly as you."
"It's part of her charm," Everett stated honestly. Until Isabel, women seemed to fall into two categories. The trophy-wife wannabe like his father inevitably married or the high-powered career woman with no interest in stepping back in order to have a family and a life outside an office building. He appreciated that women had to make their own decisions when it came to the paths they were willing to take, but that didn't mean he wanted to veer from his own.
No, that meant finding someone with a career path different from his own that could accommodate such a thing. Which, he mused silently, was another point in Isabel’s favor.
"It also makes her more vulnerable than you might think."
The waitress brought the drink he'd ordered, and Everett thanked her, waiting for her to walk away before meeting Michael's gaze. "The last thing I want to do is hurt her. Your friendship makes that goal even more important."
Michael seemed to accept his words, but Everett could still read the doubt in his friend's expression.
"So New York is what? A chance to get her to change her mind?" Michael asked.
"If I'm lucky." Everett felt the weight of Michael’s gaze and his surprise.
"You really want this to work out, don't you?"
Everett wiped his thumb over the bit of condensation on his glass and decided to be honest. "Isabel has something. Something no other woman has possessed. And I'm now of an age where I think about the future and why I work as hard as I do. This seems to be the next step."
"Does Izzy know that?"
"We haven't discussed things beyond New York. Right now she's focused on the fact we've only known each other a matter of weeks and doesn't believe a future is possible. I thought maybe showing her what our life could be like might help."
