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"You're right. I do know that," I said.
We stood there lightly touching each other, looking at nothing else.
"I haven't seen you in forever, it feels like. I can't stop looking at you." Isaac's grip tightened on my back, and he pulled me a little closer. "You're more beautiful than I let myself hope. You're better than I imagined."
"You've seen me before," I said, feeling choked up.
"Yeah, but it's different now. Things are different between us."
"Things are different."
"I'm taking you on a date tonight," he said.
"A date? Where?"
"Where do you want to go? We could do dinner somewhere. I don't know. I'll do anything."
"Dinner followed by the painting of set pieces?" I asked hopefully. "I have one more coat to do on the candy canes. That red takes forever. I think I should have used a different brand of paint."
"Reds take a lot of coats."
It was a basic conversation, but our stares were far from basic. We spoke slowly and stared at each other's faces with dazed expressions, and the tension between us was tangible. Isaac and I did not bother moving even though people shifted in front of us.
"I would love to put a third coat of red paint on candy canes with you tonight," he said. He leaned down and kissed me swiftly again before pulling back. His mouth was on mine for only a second, and it was electric.Was it love if I was out of my mind when he touched me?
Isaac stepped back just far enough to break contact. "Lizzie McGuire?" he asked with his eyebrows raised.
"You've heard of it? We did one episode before I got picked up for Dance Camp. We were extras."
Isaac smiled as he leaned over and grabbed his luggage handle, taking off and pulling me along with him. I followed him even though we were in my airport. He was confident and sure, and I held onto his hand, smiling at the sight of him as he walked through the crowded area.
He had told me to get a ride to the airport so that he could rent a car and we could ride together. We made our way out of the crowd, and Isaac slowed down so that he could walk beside me. He looked over at me, still holding my hand, and I smiled.
"What kind of car did you order?"
"A Tesla," he said, grinning at me.
"Oh, whoa. The electric one?"
"Yeah. They're fun. Have you ever driven one?"
I shook my head. We walked a few paces, and his big, warm hand held onto mine protectively. The feeling of it made me feel distracted and at a loss for words. Isaac Alexander was the man of every woman's dreams. He was handsome in pictures and in my memory, but having him there, watching his body move and shift, it was a sight to behold. Being near him again was causing me to have all sorts of feelings. He gave me a wry smile and nudged his head toward the rental company sign.
"You can drive if you want."
Chapter 13
Isaac swept me off my feet from the moment I saw him. I was smitten before he ever arrived in Atlanta, but seeing him and interacting with him in person made matters ten times worse.
We got into the Tesla and went straight to his hotel so that he could check in and put his things away. I noticed everything about him. I liked the way he drove and the way he interacted with people. He seemed to be comfortable traveling, and he easily navigated his way through Atlanta.
There were classes in the studio until 8pm tonight, so I told Isaac we would wait until then to go back and paint. He said he wanted to take me out to dinner first. We sat across from each other at a steak house that was way too fancy for my casual work attire. I had on trendy, loose sweatpants with cargo pockets and a tank top with a hoodie.
I wore other styles of clothing when I was going somewhere special, but some variation of this urban but casual, sporty style was basically my uniform when I was doing normal things like working and hanging out with friends. I thought about getting dressed up in something different for Isaac, but I figured it was best to be myself. He didn’t seem to mind. He mentioned liking my outfit twice.
The service was terrible at the restaurant, and it took forever to get our food, but we had no idea because we talked to each other non-stop. We were both like fountains of information the whole time we sat there and ate.
"That place is this close to the studio, and I've never eaten there before," I said as we were in the car, approaching the studio.
