Page 2 of Square Deal

Of course, being the control freak I am, I corrected him, saying he could either respond with,“Yes, Miss Hayes” or“Yes, ma’am.”

Instead of heeding my request, he called meHell Yes Ma’am.

And it stuck.

That was nearly twelve hours ago, and every tick of the clock that brought me closer to Maddie and Luca’s send-off was another minute I wanted to strangle the world’s most insufferable best man.

Why couldn’t Luca have chosen Steve or Chase? They wereboth part of the wedding party, and they were both a hell of a lot easier to wrangle.

My staff called me the bride whisperer for a reason. I could tame wild wedding parties with one exacting look and a raised eyebrow. There were no shenanigans on my watch. Everyone was to be on their best behavior.

Which brought me back to Lucifer.

“Excuse me,” I said sweetly to the bartender, who gave me his undivided attention. I pointed at Isaac. “He’s cut off. No more drinks.”

The bartender nodded. “Yes, Miss Hayes.”

Isaac flashed a grin that could convince a nun to take off her panties and hand them to him in the middle of dinner.

“What’s the fun in that?” he teased with a twinkle in his blue eyes. “Tell you what, why don’tyoustand here with me and have a drink? Then you can get off on making sure I stay out of trouble.”

“Is that what you think I get off on? Babysitting you?” I countered.

A wicked smile worked at the corner of his mouth. Sandy stubble covered his jaw. Usually, I would have made sure all the groomsmen were cleanly shaved, but Steve and Luca had laid down the law with Maddie and me. They told us—verbatim—that they were not shaving.

Luca could shave in the morning and have a thick shadow by lunch. Asking him to shave would have been useless unless I planned on following him around all day with a razor.

Steve was rather fond of the mountain man look he adopted after Heather passed. Apparently, Erica—his girlfriend—liked it too. So the beard stayed.

On Isaac, though, the stubble gave him just enough of an edge that he didn’t just look suave and debonair. He looked dangerous.Hazardous to every person of the female persuasion.

Isaac’s tongue darted out and wet his lower lip. He gave me aslow look up and down. I tipped my chin up, not at all intimidated by his gaze or his net worth.

He chuckled and lifted a finger, flagging down the bartender, who immediately brought him a rocks glass filled with something that looked a lot like bourbon. The bartender gave me an apologetic glance and walked away.That traitor.

Apparently, Isaac approved of the two-timing bartender’s choice of liquor because he slid the kid a Benjamin.

“Don’t feel bad, doll. Money buys more than fear does.” He took a sip from the glass before leaning down until his mouth brushed against the shell of my ear. “And if I had to guess, I’d say that it’s been a long time since you’ve gotten off at all.” He stood up straight and bit down on his lip. “So, if you need some help with that dry spell, you know where to find me.”

If I didn’t have a cake cutting to get underway and a tipsy grandmother to wrangle, I would shove my Louboutin so high up Isaac Lawson’s ass he would taste the red sole.

Or maybe I would just rip that stupid douchebag ring off his finger and throw it at his head. It was big enough to give him a concussion if he took a clean shot to the skull.

Only billionaires, dicks, and playboys wore rings like that. He was all three.

I glanced at the clock. I loved Maddie and Luca, and would literally do anything for them, but God—I couldn’t wait for this wedding to be over. My feet were killing me, and I—oh, no.

Three seconds ago, I had eyes on Maddie while she was on the dance floor with Luca. Now she was nowhere to be found. I silently cursed Isaac for distracting me and made a beeline for Luca.

“Where the hell did Maddie go?” I hissed as I grabbed the sleeve of his tux and pulled him into a corner by the DJ.

Luca waved politely at a guest and chuckled through gritted teeth. “You think I know where that woman went?”

“Well, it’s almost time to cut the cake,” I clipped. “Do not movefrom this spot until I find your wife. You two are like herding cats. Don’t even get me started on your best man.”

Speak of the devil.

Isaac strutted across the dance floor, bourbon in hand. “Well, well, well. We meet again, Hell Yes Ma’am.”

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