Page 49 of Square Deal

Hannah closed her eyes and let out a breathy sigh. “I still don’t get how this is going to work.”

“Have you had feelings for me even once since we hooked up at the hotel?”

“Inn,” she corrected.

I chuckled. “My apologies—since we hooked up at theinn?”

She huffed, “No, but that’s not it.”

“Then what’s the problem, Princess?”

“People are going to notice if I start leaving Beaufort to meet up with you wherever you are, and you have no business being here. It’ll raise too many flags. Besides, I have a job. It’s not like I can leave at the drop of a hat to come ride your dick.”

I groaned and adjusted the tent in my pants. “You just leave it to me.”

“That’s reassuring,” she mumbled. “You promise there won’t be any feelings? I can’t have you melting into a puddle and falling in love with me. My stilettos aren’t easy to clean. I try to avoid getting them wet.”

I chuckled. “Scouts’ honor. No puddles. No feelings.”

“Like you were ever a Boy Scout,” she muttered.

“So, do we have a deal?” I asked, hopeful in my plan to let her think this was all on her terms.

Hannah opened her eyes and looked straight into the camera like she was staring into my soul. Her brown eyes danced with anticipation. “That’s a hell yes,” she said. The corner of her mouth tugged into a half-cocked smile.

I smirked. “Buckle up, Hell Yes Ma’am. You’re in for a ride.”

13

HANNAH JANE

Istrutted down the hallway of the administrative wing like I was Gisele Bündchen. I was riding the high I only got from the adrenaline of a perfectly executed wedding.

Champagne, here I come.

It had been one of the best weeks I’d had in a while. I only had one event this weekend, and it went off without a hitch. There was nothing in my planner to do besides relax in a bubble bath, drink wine, and catch up on my Netflix queue.

I was only slightly irritated about my meet-cute at Queen’s getting blown up by Daddy Warbucks. I hadn’t talked to Isaac since our phone call turned video chat, but I could feel the shift in the universe.

It was the same energy that pulsed through the air before a big storm rolled over the coast.

Maybe I would text him after I got good and tipsy on the twelve-dollar bottle of bubbly in my desk drawer.

Sexting could be fun.

I had never been brave enough to strip down and sendsomething seductive. Then again, I’d never been with someone who made me feel—nope.

Isaac made me feel nothing. Not a damn thing.

He was arrogant and infuriating. His special talent was tap dancing all over my last nerve. Even when he was generous in bed, it was done with the understanding that my pleasure wasn’t for me. It was for him.

He got off on making me feel good.

Even if I had feelings for Isaac Lawson, he wasn’t the kind of guy I wanted to settle down with.

He was right. I wanted the security of a small town nine-to-fiver. I wanted someone who loved Beaufort just as much as I did. Someone who wanted to build a happily ever after here. Raise children here. Grow old together here.

I wasn’t born and raised in Beaufort, but I had made it my home. The people in the poker club weren’t my blood, but they were my family.

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