TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 287

Two hundred and eighty seven

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Two hundred and eighty seven

Isabella’s POV

“Ah, there you are,” Grandma Cassidy said, smiling.

I had already taken half a step back, hoping I could leave as quietly as I’d come in, but it was too late as Wesley looked up, and our eyes met.

The bond hit me so hard my breath caught. It crashed into me like a breeze. Every instinct inside me

screamed to close the distance between us and breathe him in until the ache eased.

Instead, I looked away.

“You’re later than usual,” Grandma Cassidy said, completely unaware of the battle unfolding inside me. Not that I had anything to worry about. Maverick had already found company. He spent almost the whole afternoon playing with one of the workers’ little girls. That woman has another baby every time I turn

around.”

I forced a smile.

“I stopped by the staff lodge for a while. I apologize for coming in late,” I said, waiting for her to hand me the key to my room, which had been given to her in case she needed something for Maverick.

“What are you apologizing for?” she said with a scoff, as if I’d said something ridiculous. “You’re young and allowed to spend time with your friends. Work isn’t going anywhere. Don’t let it swallow your whole

life.”

I stepped closer for the key, and Wesley’s scent and warmth hit me. My bond responded like someone had thrown a switch inside me. A phantom memory swept through me so vividly that my lips almost tingled. The moment we’d nearly kissed. It wasn’t a real touch, but my body remembered it anyway, as though the space between us had disappeared for a heartbeat.

How could he stand there like that and look perfectly normal while every nerve inside me felt stretched so tightly I thought I might come apart? Without the way he kept looking at me, he could have passed for a complete stranger.

I lowered my eyes before I started imagining things that weren’t there.

“Good evening, sir,” I said quietly.

He lifted the bottle of mango juice in his hand in greeting before taking another sip. There was an amused look in his eyes that immediately made me suspicious.

“Have you decided what you’re going to do about my sister?”

I blinked.

“I’m sorry?”

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Two hundred and eighty seven

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“My sister.” He sounded entirely too entertained. “The one who’s made it her personal mission to convince you that the two of you belong together.”

“I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughed.

“I think you do.”

Grandma Cassidy looked between us.

“Wait.” Her brows lifted. “Anita?”

Wesley nodded.

Grandma Cassidy burst into laughter.

“Oh no.”

“Oh, yes.” He sounded almost impressed. “Apparently I’m supposed to help her win the poor girl over.”

Grandma Cassidy laughed even harder.

“Oh! Isabella, you’re talking about the woman you mentioned the other day. So Anita is your mystery

woman.”

Oh fuck.

I wanted the floor to open beneath me.

I’d completely forgotten I’d said anything to her about Anita.

I managed a weak smile.

“It’s not that deep,” I mumbled.

Grandma Cassidy shook her head with another fond laugh.

“That girl has never understood the meaning of giving people room to breathe. Once she sets her mind on someone, she keeps turning up until they finally surrender or chase her away.”

The two of them laughed together, but nothing about the situation felt funny from where I was standing.

“I’m sure she’ll lose interest eventually,” I said. “People usually do.”

Grandma Cassidy’s smile softened.

“I don’t know about that. Attraction isn’t something you can force. If someone doesn’t feel the same way, you have to accept it and let them be.”

My chest tightened.

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Two hundred and eighty seven

If only feelings disappeared because they weren’t returned.

“Let me get your keys. You wait here,” she said.

Still talking as she answered the call, she walked out through the back door.

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