back and forth to calm the squall

"Balancing the budget?" She scoffs at him, grinning. "So I get the very sophisticated professional bodyguard outside my door, and a couple cans on a string to get in touch with him? I think you need to look at your books a bit more closely, Cal." Isla raises her eyebrows, but at that point they're chatting about the super-really-serious-important stuff, and any further jokes die on her tongue. Especially when he's saying things like that, Isla's cheeks flushing afresh as she gazes up at him, as if waiting for the punchline. Except there isn't one - there's just this man she's only just getting to know, wearing his heart on his sleeve and bringing her murder mysteries as a gift from a faraway place. There's only one thing for it - Isla gives him a little shove for his trouble. "Stop it," she mumbles with a fluttery laugh, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear only to peek back up at him. "I think I would like to go on more dates with you," she decides. "I would like to date you, in other words. And I'd like to learn more about you, and I don't want you to stay on my couch." Where that leaves, precisely, is something she's sure he'll be able to work out. And if he can't, the way she leans in to kiss him might give a general idea. ISLA when it's just the two of us, only the two of us, I could die