The agency was closed for a while. The police needed to finish their investigation, Paulina's blood had to be cleaned, and Tia was enhancing security to make sure that nobody could do this again. She knew about my restraining order against Max, and that may have made her realize that it could happen again. Nobody wanted that.

But that meant that we had the rest of the week off, and then the following week as well since it was the Thanksgiving holiday, and many of the employees would be travelling. But not Izzy and me, we had nowhere to go. We still had Friday plans with Erin, but after that she was flying to New York on Monday, where her family was, and we would have the apartment to ourselves.

I liked that. No, not that we were going to be as loud as Erin and her bear, but it would be nice to just snuggle with Izzy all day and not have worries about privacy. Maybe we should get our own place after the break? I didn't have any thoughts of leaving Izzy on her own, so it made sense to get a place with just the two of us. Right?

I mean, sure, we've only been dating a few days and I was already thinking about getting a place with her beyond sharing a room! Fuck! Don't be stupid Trish! You're supposed to be healing yourself, and here you are head over heels for a girl you just met! Georgia would be shaking her head at me right now! Wouldn't she? Or would she think that Izzy is just what I need? A breath of fresh air and a sweet personality that makes me feel so much better when I'm near her that she's like a drug.

I couldn't stop. I couldn't not see her. If I talked to Georgia and she told me to back off and stay single, then I would be a wreck. I was due for an appointment before the Friday get together, so I'd talk to her about it then, but I had no intention of being anything other than a good girlfriend to Izzy.

I could keep spending time with her. I couldn't assume Georgia would advise me against this relationship, and I wasn't going to stop being the best girlfriend I could be. I hoped I was real with what I was feeling and didn't hurt her. I'd lost faith in Lylah, and it cost me a relationship. I wasn't going to lose faith in thinking that Izzy might be the perfect girl for me. Yeah, maybe later we find out we should just be friends, but so far, I loved everything I'd seen of her. Unless she told me she didn't want to be with me, I wasn't going to end things. I'd learned my lesson, and I'd keep the faith until proven otherwise. Damn, my mind was all over, and I couldn't even unscramble that chain of thought.

"Are you okay?" Izzy asked while we lay in bed together that night.

"I'm thinking too much," I acknowledged. "I'm sorry. Everything is going so fast, and so well, and there is so much crazy stuff happening that I'm a little overwhelmed."

"You're worried that we're moving too fast?"

"I'm supposed to be spending my time these last few weeks getting myself better. I'm supposed to be healing. I trust you, and I trust what you feel. But I am a little scared that I'm feeling so good about this because I'm enjoying being desired and that this is all so new," I admitted. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Is that what you think? That you're going to hurt me? That the attraction you feel for me isn't real?" she rolled atop me, straddling my hips, and looking down at me while I looked up at her in shock.

"I don't think so. Well, there is a part of me that is worried about that, but most of me thinks that you're precisely what I need in my life and that I should hold on to you with both hands and never let you go."

She smiled, and then grabbed my hands and placed them on her hips. "Good. Now you've grabbed me with both hands. So, don't let go, and let's see if we can work through things."

I couldn't believe this, but I wanted to listen. "Okay, go for it."

"Do we have a sexual relationship, Trish? Something that would cloud your mind in a haze of lust and passion?" she asked me.

"No," I replied with a shake of my head.

She smirked down at me. "You were supposed to say not yet! But that's okay. Right now, we're just getting to know each other. Everything we're both feeling is new and exciting, just like any other two people at the beginning of any relationship. Hell, you even told me that I'm not the kind of person you normally go for, right? If you were dating Amy or Leila, would you be worried?"

"No, probably not," I admitted.

"Because they're older? They're more experienced? They're more your type?"

"Probably. Maybe all of those." I felt like shit admitting that.

"Then why aren't you with them?" she wondered, a smile on her face.

I frowned at her question. Why wasn't I? I'd been hurt when the Amy thing fell through, but it wasn't heartbreaking, more upset at the embarrassment of the situation. Leila seemed nice, but I never looked twice at her. I probably would have dated Paulina before either of them now that I got to know them, but none of them could hold a candle to Izzy. "They're not you."

"No, they're not. I'm not your type. Jeremy used to say I was the end slice of a loaf of bread, that nobody would ever want me. I was the piece that gets thrown away at the end, because I was tiny, and nobody would notice or care about me." She got a distant look in her eye as she told me and it made me wish I'd known that before I used the stun gun on him. I would have got him like three or four more times. She saw the expression on my face and smiled. "That bothers you, doesn't it?"

"Yes!" I snarled. "That fucker had no idea what he was talking about!"

"Because you noticed me. You proved him wrong. Why did you see me for something other than a girl to call dibs on?"

I thought back to all the interactions that led up to me realizing I could have her. "Your eyes, your smile. I loved your hair and your kindness. I could tell you were sweet from the coffee and the cute notes. I knew you cared but were shy. Nobody had ever done things like that. You didn't come right out and hit on me, ask me for my number and ask me on a date, but all the same I knew you liked me and cared about me. The look on your face when I found you eating in the lunchroom told me everything. I'd just tried to ignore that you were so perfect because I believed you were still too young."

Her smile grew as I recounted all the things that I liked about her before we started dating, and by the end of it she was blushing. I loved that blush. "Do those sound like superficial reasons to like someone? You didn't mention my ass, or my breasts. You didn't mention looks or a sexy walk. You noticed the things that are going to last."

Holy fuck, she was absolutely right. I mean, I've absolutely noticed her body and her looks since then, but that wasn't until after I already noticed the real her! That had to count for something, right? "I can't believe I didn't see that!"

"If it helps, I was the same way. The things that got me were your courage, your tenacity, and the way you stood up and took responsibility for what happened with Lylah. You proved that today when you didn't panic but got Jeremy with the stun gun. You are everything I thought you were, wrapped up in a package that makes me want to move this relationship along a lot faster than we're ready to." She trapped her bottom lip between her teeth as she surveyed me from her vantage point, and I couldn't help but feel myself getting very warm and wet. I'm sure she could see my nipples through my shirt too, and that wasn't helping the situation.

"Then we know this isn't all just us being shallow," I agreed.

"Exactly! Which means we're already on a more solid footing than most relationships here in California," she pointed out as she lifted herself a little bit from my hips.

I don't know what possessed me to do so, but I pulled her right back down, since I'd liked the pressure of her body against me. She whimpered a little as I did, and I realized I might be making her uncomfortable doing that, so I lifted her back up a little. "I'm sorry! It was just an instinct."

"Don't be. Maybe in the future there is nothing I'd rather you do, but right now I'm doing my best to not rush things. But damn do I want to." She fell off to my side as I released my hold on her, laying in the space between my arm and ribs and slinging her leg over me. "You're so damned hard to resist Trish, you have no idea."

"Izzy, I have a very good idea. You think I'm not imagining things too?"

She giggled lightly, her body vibrating against mine. "I guess it's a good thing we're not giving in to our instincts then. I'd hate to give Billie a run for her money."

"Someday we'll do that, I know it."

"We do every night in my dreams," Izzy whispered as I turned to pull her into our normal sleeping position.

Fuck, that didn't help the pooling heat in my belly. It was going to be rough sleeping tonight!