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Rex pulled the corner of his lower lip into his mouth. He took her hands in his, then lifted them to his mouth, pressing kisses to the knuckles. Finally, he rested his forehead on their clasped hands.
Isabella thought this intimacy was saved for old Hollywood movies. Not her. She swooned.
“I wanted to be a big musician. But then…” He lifted his gaze once more. “Then I met you.”
Her lips parted.
“If I do this, it’s going to be, ya know.” Rex jerked one of his hands out, palm flat. “I have to be in LA and then I have to do the tour thing and that’s going to be crazy, Isabella, it’s just going to be…”
Isabella felt her cheeks tighten. He didn’t have to say anything more. It was sweet. To make her think that this was something special. That this twenty-six-year-old boy might have so much love for her he’d give up a whole career in music. But it wasn’t realistic.
In his words, she felt the ultimatum looming. Rex either stayed in Ocotillo Valley and gave everything up for him and his band to be here with her. Or he went on to fame and fortune without her. Because he’d want to be free.
Isabella’s stomach dropped. The free, wild man would always choose his freedom over her. She had to accept that.
“You’re taking the deal,” she said. “End of story.”
Rex’s eyes drooped as if he was pained. She didn’t believe it.
“When do you have to go to LA?” she asked.
“Two weeks.”
She forced a smile. She could do this. “Then we have two more weeks to make the most of… this.” Us.
“Isabella –” Rex began to rebut.
Isabella cut him off with a kiss. This makes sense, she told herself. More sense than any of this has made thus far. We set rules and limits. And then it’s over.
Yes. That will be just fine.
Chapter 15
Rex
“Are you afraid of heights?” Leo asks me.
I squeeze his hand tighter as we walk. “Can’t be when you’re as tall as me.”
Leo then looks up at Isabella who has him by the other hand. “Will I be that tall?”
“Maybe, mijo,” she says, then gives me a sweet, glimmering look.
“You want some practice?” I ask.
Leo nods excitedly. I scoop him up off the ground and tuck him onto my hip. He gasps with delight, clinging to my neck. “I’m so high up!”
Isabella scoots into the spot Leo had beside me and wraps her hand around my bicep. “Careful with your…” Her other hand touches my midsection. It is an intimacy that feels like we’ve been together for years rather than days.
“I’ve done a lot more physical activity than this, Isabella,” I say, raising my eyebrows. Because that’s the truth. Any moment we get alone, we’re usually contorting our bodies for pleasure. If something was going to ruin my recovery, it already would have happened.
She bites on her tongue, smiling. “You’re bad.”
Leo shoves his face closer to Isabella. “What did he do?!”
I laugh. My heart is so full I’m waiting for it to burst. I’ve got my son on my hip, my faux-wife, ex-lover, current-lover, whatever the fuck on my arm, and we’re about to wipe the floor at this prospective parents barbecue with how stinking cute we are.
I’ve spent the past three days with Leo. He goes to preschool in the morning and the afternoons we have together. We’ve had so many adventures, lots of laughs, and he’s even gotten comfortable enough to hold my hand, let me pick him up, and on one occasion, nap in my arms while we were watching Bluey.
