Page 15 of Square Deal

Did you know that you burn 60 to 100 calories each time you reach orgasm? Breakfast is on me, even though I wish I was eating it off of you.

Thanks for the memories.

-Lawson

I giggledand tossed the note back on the tray. My stomach rumbled, and I didn’t hesitate to dig into the spread. I had an hour until checkout, which gave me at least two until housekeeping showed up to turn over the room.

Surprisingly, I’d never actually stayed at the inn. I knew each room and corner of the property like the back of my hand, but I had never snuggled the luxury linens or soaked in the clawfoot tubs.

I snacked on a danish that the inn bought wholesale from Maddie’s pastry team at Revanche and wandered over to the French doors that led to the balcony.

The Sunday morning sky was gloomy. There was a hurricane whirling off the edge of the coast.

When the forecast came in and said there was a hurricane approaching the week of her wedding, Maddie buried not one, but three bottles of bourbon in the courtyard.

Lucky for her, the old tradition worked. She and Luca were out of dodge, on their way to Europe, and the rest of us were here riding it out. Flights out of the airport in Raleigh were already being canceled. The traffic on Highway 70 would be backed up for miles as people pulled their boats out of the water, loaded them up on trailers, and drove inland.

There were only a few storms I had evacuated for over the years I had lived in Beaufort. Usually, I stuck around to ensure the inn was okay and that my clients were assured everything was being done to keep their wedding venue in tip-top shape.

I kept my generator at the ready, had a year-round stash of canned goods and bottled water, and packed my chest freezer full of casseroles and comfort food.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of the housekeeping cart squeaking around the corner and Kristin’s voice carrying from the next room over.Oh shit.

I sprinted through the room, gathering my clothes and shoes and darting into the bathroom.

The note.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I muttered as I snuck back into the room and snatched the note from Isaac off of the room service tray. I heard the beep of the master key clicking into the electronic slot just as I shut the bathroom door behind me and flipped the lock.

“He checked out early this morning. I figured we could get a head start on turning over this one and Room 327 since everyone checked out on the same day. That way, if the storm is bad, the rooms are ready for whenever guests come back,” Kristin said to whoever was helping her clean rooms today.

Oh, no, no, no.Isaac ripped my shirt in half last night when we got in the room. The buttons were all over the place, and there was no way I could make it out to my car in the tiny shreds of fabric that were left.

But I did have my emergency outfit still in my office.

I just needed to?—

I heard Kristin open the balcony doors to air out the room and turned on the TV. It was time to bolt. I tied the guest bathrobe tight around my waist, grabbed my things, and tiptoed out while they were distracted.

I took the stairs, hoping to avoid any other employees being privy to my walk of shame. Lucky for me, Sunday morning meant that the admin office wing was a ghost town. I shirked off the robe and quickly slipped into my emergency clothes, still feeling thedelicious soreness between my thighs from all of Isaac’s handiwork.

Damn that man.

I didn’t want to admit it, but the bastard was right. Icoulddo no-strings-attached sex. I could hook up, have my needs taken care of, and not fall hard.Go me!

Apparently, I just needed to find someone that I hated to get it on with.

So maybe Isaac wasn’t the repulsive, chauvinist playboy I thought he was. He just had well-defined boundaries.

Did I have fantasies about waking up next to someone after a night of passionate lovemaking? Sure. Doesn’t everyone?

Settling for waking up alone but sexually satisfied for the first time in my life thanks to Isaac Lawson? That wasn’t like me.

There was no way in hell I could tell anyone we hooked up, and I prayed to the good Lord that Isaac would share the sentiment.

I didn’t know why I hated the thought that maybe he wouldn’t tell Luca. Or that maybe he wouldn’t brag about me the same way I overheard him talk about other women he had slept with.

I shoved those nasty thoughts aside as I pulled into my driveway. Before I could even turn the car off, Maddie’s name flashed across my phone.

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