She hung her head, ready to apologize.
“Don’t say sorry. Try a crab Rangoon.”
The scrape of a container against the picnic table brought her attention up. Dillon sat beside her, so his thigh touched her and filled her with more warmth.
She couldn’t figure out how he made her want to throw herself on him and shove him away at the same time. Clearly, there was a problem with her and not him. Dillon had done nothing wrong. She was struggling to find a balance in her new life. While Evangeline had independence in her very bones, Isabella had to forge her own.
Her first attempts at it were truly weak.
Would she ever be her own person? Or would someone always have to pull her strings and follow in her wake to make sure she did nothing stupid on her own? She hated the thought that she would always be someone’s responsibility and never her own person.
She would be a great mom, though. That was the one thought that she clung to. No matter what else happened in her life, she would raise a happy baby, and she would savor every moment of it.
“Don’t like crab Rangoon?” Dillon asked, almost sheepishly. He shuffled the boxes. “I bought eggrolls, honey chicken, and something called Bang Bang shrimp.”
She finally took in the containers laid out before her and realized that Dillon had gone overboard. Perhaps he could eat all this food on his own, but it still seemed an odd assortment of items that didn’t really match.
Unable to deny her hunger any longer, she grabbed an eggroll, but paused. “Did you buy all this because you didn’t know what I liked?”
“Well, yeah. I wanted to make sure you could eat.”
She cocked her head and smiled. “You know, you could have just asked me what I wanted. You wouldn’t have had to buy so many different entrees.”
Dillon seemed unperturbed. He popped a spicy shrimp into his mouth and winked.
The array of choices felt like a buffet. Looking at all the open choices before her made her mouth water. In the end, she ate way more than her fair share. Yet, Dillon still didn’t seem to care. He acted as though the food was hers, rather than his.
She felt a bit of guilt for being mad at him earlier. He’d only been trying to protect her.
“Why are you so nice?” she asked, lifting her gaze to meet his.
Dillon stared at her. Somehow, her question had stunned him. He always said the right thing at the right time, but now it was as if he was at a loss for words. He blinked and looked away.
“I’ve told you before, this is how all men should act.” He offered her a fortune cookie.
She took it from him, letting her fingertips graze his in the process. His breath hitched, a small gasp that she caught. Her heart got over-excited and began hammering.
“The last man to buy me this much food was my father,” she said, trying to joke.
“Where is he? He should have been the first to warn you about Tommy.”
Struck by memories she’d shoved away for too long, Isabella nearly crushed her fortune cookie. She shook herself and looked up. “He moved away when after he filed for divorce. Usually kids get mad at their parents for splitting up. I didn’t want to keep them together. I wanted him to take me with him when he left.”
But, he hadn’t. Her father had vanished the moment her mother signed the divorce papers. Her mother had gripped harder when her hands already felt like talons on Isabella’s skin. It wasn’t like Isabella could leave her, too. Not then.
Isabella shook her head. She’d never meant to get caught up in her family history. That was all behind her now. Before her lay a future in which she could do better than her mother. She wouldn’t tell her child that they needed to make themselves smaller to keep a partner. Isabella would raise her baby to know their own worth and to find someone who would celebrate them.
“For the longest time, I was afraid the people in my life would leave me. I held so tight to Tommy because I felt like I’d tricked him into a relationship, and the only way to get him to stay was to keep him happy.”
“What about your own happiness?” Dillon asked.
Her gaze lifted and found his earnest eyes studying her. She pressed her lips into a firm line.
“I get by,” she said. “I like writing romance novels. I’m really excited to become a mother. That’s about it.”
His lips twisted to the side. “I don’t know how to treat you.”
She recoiled, confusion souring her stomach.
Dillon touched her cheek, his palm barely connecting with her skin. “I’ve never been around a pregnant woman before. It scares me. How do I keep you safe? Are you really as fragile as I think?”
She opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn’t fragile, just weak, when voices began to climb the hill toward them. Evangeline’s voice carried the furthest, followed by Gavin’s growls. When Gavin made a sound of dismay, she knew Casey had defended his mate—probably by bopping Gavin.
“What are you two doing hiding up here?” Gavin asked as he stepped into the grove.
Casey sat on the other side of the picnic table and pulled Evangeline into his lap. When he kissed Evangeline’s cheek, a furious jealousy overtook Isabella. She clamped her hand over her mouth, alarmed at her own emotions. She couldn’t help but be aware of how empty her other hand was when she flexed it.
No one would touch her like that anymore. Not that many of her exes had ever been so affectionate. Dillon’s words reverberated through her mind. He thought she was fragile right now, as if she would lose her baby if he even looked at her wrong.
Sure, she’d heard a lot of pregnancy horror stories, but it wasn’t like she would fall apart if Dillon held her hand.
Isabella’s eyes widened. Why was Dillon the first person she thought of? Her gaze slipped toward him, and she found him watching her. He barely paid his friends any attention at all. The way he looked at her made her think his world had shrunk down to her and only her.
She bit her lower lip and watched a bit of yellow begin to circle his blue irises. The contrast between blazing yellow and cool blue entranced her until Evangeline leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“While we’re up here, there’s no one in the cabin who will be able to hear you if you need to scream.”
Isabella balked, shooting her best friend a wary glare. Evangeline stood upright, clearly proud of herself. She even tossed Isabella a sly wink before claiming her seat on Casey’s lap once more.
Casey raised a brow as he regarded his mate. It was clear he knew she was up to something.
Isabella’s face flamed. She couldn’t handle it anymore. She shot out of her seat and tried to get her feet over the bench seat. They tangled with each other, but she finally found her footing after stumbling for a solid minute.
“I have to go…check on Persimmon.” She lurched down the hill, back toward the cabin.
Was she really that obvious? Isabella bemoaned her inability to be subtle about her attraction to Dillon. She covered her face with her hands, but they weren’t as cold as she would have liked. Nothing could tame the heat searing her cheeks.
She couldn’t deny how nice Dillon was to her, but that made her think she was attracted to him because of that alone. Dillon had entered her life in a time when she was starved for attention and kindness. Like a drug, she wanted more from him.