Page 48 of Square Deal

“Hey,” she said nervously. It looked like she was sitting on her couch, still in her prim and proper work clothes. I wondered if she had tried on the shoes I sent yet.

“Hey, yourself,” I replied, stretching out on the couch to match her posture. I flashed a grin, and she returned the favor. “Looking at you just made my day a hundred times better.”

Her cheeks were painted red. “I thought you said your day was good?”

“It was. And you just made a good day great.”

Hannah rolled her eyes, tucking her short hair behind her ear. “Don’t be sweet on me, Isaac,” she said with a deep southern drawl. It was adorable, and I wanted to keep listening to her talk all damn night.

“I wasn’t being sweet on you. I was just stating a fact. You’re a beautiful woman, Hannah Jane Hayes.”

She closed her eyes and rolled onto her side. My imagination raced with the feeling of her pushed up against me, lying side by side. “Isaac…”

“Can we talk about this?” I asked.

She nodded, trapping her lip between her teeth. I wanted to touch it. Feel how soft and warm her lips were. Kiss them until they were bee-sting swollen.

I took a deep breath and began the spiel I’d been rehearsing ever since the night I spent wide awake under her roof, listening to the wind and rain rage outside. “I haven’t been able to get you out of my head. Look, I—I don’t do this. I don’t get hung up on a woman. I just need…”

“To fuck me out of your system?”

I cracked a smile. “Something like that.”

Hannah pursed her lips, biting back her smile. “And I get fantastic sex and no feelings. Right?”

“Win-win,” I reminded her.

“We need rules,” she said quickly. “And a time limit. Not something indefinite. I like labels and boundaries. I like knowing where I stand with people.”

“Eight weeks?” I suggested.

Hannah shook her head. “Too long. How about four?”

“Six,” I countered. “Our schedules might not always match up, so that gives us some extra time.”

“So… We end this the week before Christmas?”

I nodded. “And after, we go our separate ways, parting as unlikely friends.”

She laughed and tossed her head back into a cream-colored throw pillow. “We aren’t friends. Rule number one: no dates. This is just sex. No frills, no hanging out.”

I scraped my thumb back and forth across my lower lip. “Why do I have a feeling you’ve thought about these rules before now?”

“I had to do something. I’m almost into the off-season for events. I’ll be bored as hell once my last few weddings wrap up for the year.”

“Alright,” I groaned, reaching back and propping my head up on my bent arm. “Tell me the rest.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “Rule number two: don’t tell anyone. Not Luca, not your staff, not your assistant. This is just between us.”

“Top secret. Got it.”

“Rule three: If at any point, you want to sleep with someone else, or if I meet a guy and want to go home with him, the deal is off. Hard stop. Dates with other people are fine, but sex is exclusive.”

“Are you on birth control?” I asked.

“I have an IUD, but condoms are non-negotiable.”

“Agreed. Anything else?”

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