Page 96 of Power Play

His cocky smirk from earlier has returned. This man screams confidence and power, and although it shouldn’t, it excites me.

Since Blaire is sitting down at the other end with Isaac, I realize that I should probably try to make conversation.

“Hi, I’m Vanessa,” I say, having a hard time making eye contact with the man. Looking around for our server, I’m relieved when I see her at the table next to us, slowly making her way over. A quick distraction will be nice.

“I know. Isaac did the introductions,” he says, and when I look up, he’s staring at me with that irritating smirk still on his face.

It’s unnerving. It feels like he can read my mind and knows my deepest, darkest thoughts. We’ve only said like five words to each other, but it feels like he’s already seen too much.

As the waitress passes by our table, I notice him grab her attention. Quickly stopping at our table, she ignores me completely, giving Adam all of her attention.

“What can I get for you?” she asks in an almost seductive way.

“The same thing I had last time, another scotch,” he says with an unamused smile. “But I stopped you because my friend here would like to order,” he tells her, pointing to me.

I’m not sure what to focus on. The way this man can disarm me with a simple smile, or how he’s standing up for me with the waitress who clearly just wanted to flirt. I don’t miss the way she brushes his arm accidentally as she turns to look at him again.

“Oh, I know, handsome. You just flagged me down, so I was seeing if there was something else you needed my help with.” Leaning forward, I notice she whispers something in his ear.

Instead of being excited, or even liking what she said, he appears annoyed.

“That won’t be necessary, Maria. Now, if you wouldn’t mind, take a step back and continue doing your actual job. You know, taking everyone’s order. Don’t forget to start with Vanessa here.” Adam commands the words as he says them, gaining every one’s attention at our table.

I have literally spoken two words to this man, yet I can’t help but feel a wave of possessiveness after watching the server with him, as well as a slight excitement that he isn’t feeding into it.

What’s even more unnerving, though, is the way he hasn’t stopped staring at me this entire time, almost like he’s watching to see how I’ll react.

“What are you having?” she asks me rudely. “A white claw? Cosmopolitan?”

“I’ll have the same as him,” I reply, never once taking my eyes off of him.

“Are you sure?” She looks at me in disbelief. “You want to drink Macallan?”

“Yes, I do. Now, do you only have the fifteen year that they ordered?”

“Fifteen year what?” she asks.

“Macallan. Do you only have the fifteen year? Or do you have the fifty?”

Adam just smiles, obviously enjoying this.

The waitress’s face flushes red, embarrassed that she’s the one who looks dumb now instead of me like she wanted.

“Nope. Just the one he has. Would you like to start a tab?” she asks, still snippy.

I go to reach for my clutch, but Adams voice stops me.

“She’s with me, just add it to mine.”

Everyone can hear her audibly scoff, but she surprises me by keeping her mouth shut. Finally moving on, she takes everyone’s orders, keeping her eyes down on her notepad. After she’s finished, she heads back up to the bar without a second glance.

It took a moment for everyone to start talking again, and during that time, everyone's eyes were on Adam, while his eyes never left mine.

Needing to break the ice, I reach across the table. Adam looks surprised, thinking I’m going to hold his hand or something.

“Gimme,” I tell him as I reach for his drink. “If everyone is like that around you guys, I need more alcohol, like ten minutes ago.”

Chuckling under his breath, he slides me his glass and just watches me with curiosity.

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