Chapter 22

                                    

                                          
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.