6
Isa
Isa sat on the back deck of the rented cabin. The patio furniture that came with the place was more than decent. She lounged comfortably on a chair made just for lounging. The afternoon sun heated her skin, and soon, she would need to cool down. For now, she wanted to keep on soaking in the rays as she contemplated what she would do over the winter.
Last year, they’d gone skiing. Her series of stunts had been fine.
Not great.
Not viral.
Fine.
That wasn’t how to keep her sponsors. In fact, any time she was tapped to write an article, her sponsors would be quick to email her with a reprimand. They didn’t like her stepping a toe out of line.
If she wasn’t risking her life, her videos weren’t getting exposure. That meant their products weren’t getting eyeballed by teens looking for the next cool thing. Isa wasn’t an idiot. She knew her life couldn’t be like this forever.
The articles were sort of her backup plan. If she was ever to get badly hurt, or when she got too… old … to do her stunts, she needed some kind of career to make a living.
Writing articles wasn’t ideal, but it was something.
She had no idea what else to do.
She would hardly go crawling back to her father for cash. She would never give him that satisfaction. Going back to her old life would give her father entirely too much control. Once again, he would try to dictate who she married, where she lived, and what she did for a living.
Now, even though she spent her life doing very dangerous things, Isa was free.
Freer than she had ever thought possible or even dared to dream.
She laid her head back on the headrest and looked up at the sunny sky, letting the rays soak through her skin. Tucked onto her lap, her phone vibrated, pulling her out of her daydreams. Luke, who was lounging in the chair beside her, craned his neck to see her phone.
He did that a lot.
“Who is it?” he asked.
“None of your business, Luke.” She gave him a tight smile, but she was annoyed. Sometimes, Luke reminded her a bit too much of her father. Always wanting to dictate what she did. “I’m a grown woman.”
The second she saw the name on her screen, she regretted leaving the ringtone on. Nothing ruined a day like a stalker.
YourOne&Only: You’re hurt. I saw the last video you posted. I am so worried about you. If you need anything, you know you can reach out. I’d do anything for you.
Isa shivered. That was fast. Then again, it always was. It never took her stalker very much time to post something on her videos or pictures. The man — if it even was a man — seemed to have some kind of radar for her posts.
Sometimes, Isa didn’t even have time to refresh the page before a comment would appear.
“There’s someone at the door for you,” Tarrah said, popping her head outside. “Do you want me to tell them to fuck off?”
Isa sighed. “Well, it depends. Is it a crazed fan?”
That's all that she needed. YourOne&Only finding her. That would be when she needed to alert the cops that someone was overly weird and creepy.
“Her name is Bree. Apparently, you met her today.”
“Oh, shit. That’s right. She is the Sheriff’s wife. I’ll talk to her.”
“Is that wise?” Luke cut in. “You know the police aren’t always welcoming of our stunts in their jurisdiction.”
Isa waved off his constant worry. “No, no. Apparently, the Thatcher family is into my whole thing.” Except for the doctor. Isa didn’t add that because it would only upset Luke, and she didn’t have the energy to make him feel better today.
The man was high maintenance, but he knew how to drive everything from cars to planes and helicopters. He was useful to keep around even if he was a bit of a crybaby sometimes. She couldn’t understand why Tarrah was so into him.
When Luke had first joined her crew a long time ago, he was this cool, collected, capable guy. He’d join in on some of the stunts. Nowadays, she was lucky to go more than eight hours between lectures from him.
And because Tarrah was basically in love with Luke, it was two-vs-one more often than not.
“Be careful,” Luke reminded her. “You’re hurt.”
“I’ll try not to bust open my stitches while having a conversation,” she snapped. It wasn’t the nicest exchange she’d ever had with Luke, but really. What did he think was going to happen while she stood at the door talking to another human?
Besides, Isa needed to get away from Luke and her stalker. Maybe a nice conversation with Bree was just what she needed.
Isa joined the other woman on the front porch once Bree declined the invitation to come in.
“I wanted to stop by and remind you that you’ve got an important dinner invitation for tonight.”
Isa grinned. “I sorta thought Dr. Valens took that back after our little chat earlier.”
“Valens isn’t the boss of me. Come on. Oz is dying to meet you, and so are my in-laws.”
This made Isa giggle. She was curious to see how the doctor behaved in front of his parents. He wouldn’t be able to give her lip in front of his mother. And if he did? Well, then. No amount of hotness, or no size of dick, would be worth the hassle. Isa was already looking forward to giving the man a hard time.
“Fine. I’d love to come over.”
Bree beamed at her and clapped her hands together. “Yay. That makes me so happy. With my father-in-law and the three Thatcher brothers at the dining room table, it can get a little lonely for us ladies. We’re seriously outnumbered. Let’s go now. I’ll give you a ride back after.”
“Great.” She needed space from Luke, anyway.
The second she walked back through the door, he would ask her who wanted to talk to her, what they had discussed, if she needed to change her bandage, and a million other questions. Her head was already spinning from trying to quiet him down in her mind.
An evening with the Thatchers from Thatcherton was a great way to spend the evening. Especially if she got to piss off Doctor Valens Thatcher in the process.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Valens growled at her as soon as she walked into the living room.
Isa plastered on her best innocent smirk. “Why, hello there, Doctor. Surprised to see me?”
He shot his family members a searing glare. “I shouldn’t be.”
Isa couldn’t help it. She found the good doctor hot. That was good. It made teasing him and egging him on that much more fun. What was even better was that the chances he was her stalker were slim to none. He hadn’t recognized her in his office, nor did it seem that the man did much of anything except take care of people’s injuries in Thatcherton.
Her stalker had followed her to China, Thailand, Russia, and Spain.
Valens Thatcher might find her aggravating for reasons she didn’t quite understand, but he was a safer man to tease than Luke, or any other dude she met, who just wanted to fuck her for thrills, then dump her the second he tossed the condom. For that reason alone, it had been a while since Isa had been with a man. She was by no means a prude, but she also didn’t want to die or be used.
The doctor offered her the snarky flirting she was fond of while presenting very little threat to her life and her independence. His hair was lush and coiffed perfectly. She wanted to mess it up just to see what he would do. It took great control for her to refrain as she was introduced to the entire Thatcher family.