Page 56 of Square Deal

She raised her eyebrows and giggled. “Weddings and shit?”

I shrugged. I had a general grasp of what she did for work, but the details eluded me. “Can you get away for a few days?”

She chewed on her lip. “I don’t know.” Hannah huffed and crossed her arms. “This whole thing… It isn’t me. It’s not who I am.”

“Listen to me,” I said as I sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her to stand between my legs. “Chase your own happiness. Either you’ll find exactly what you were looking for, or you’ll find something better.” I tugged on the waistband of her uptight pencil skirt. “Maybe you should see what happens when you let go. It’s worked pretty well so far.”

Hannah draped her arms loosely around my neck and gave me a reluctant smile. “How did you just convince me to not walk out that door and never look back?”

I chuckled, tugging at her blouse until it came untucked. I likedseeing her messy, imperfect. “I’m not just a pretty face, Princess. I did have to earn some of my millions.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Your pretty face helps, but you should teach me some of your mind games. I’ll help my event bookings go through the roof.”

I laid back on the bed and pulled her on top of me. Hannah squealed as she toppled over.

“Are you really that worried about your friends judging you for having a casual relationship?” I didn’t know her friends aside from Luca and Maddie, but they didn’t strike me as the type to judge anyone.

Hannah rolled so that she was lying against my side. I pulled her closer, sliding my arms around her waist. “Is this the part where we do the small talk?”

Through a hooded gaze, I nodded and brushed my lips over hers. “Yeah.”

She kissed me, slow and gentle. All that fuel for the fire she had inside burned away.

“It’s not just them. I worry about what everyone thinks. I obsess over how I’m perceived. It's...” She sighed. “One of my many faults.”

I propped myself up on my arm and looked at her.

Goddamn, she was a knockout. She could walk around wearing a garbage bag, and people would call it couture.

“At your best, the wrong people will still hate you. At your worst, the people who love you will still think you’re amazing. Fucking own it, Princess.”

Hannah laughed. “You have a way with words, you know that?”

I pulled her in for another kiss. “I convinced you to stay, didn’t I?”

15

HANNAH JANE

“You sure you’re good with this?” Isaac asked. He caressed my cheek and his lips lingered above mine.

We were standing in his room at the inn right while his assistant checked out at the front desk. Somehow, Isaac had convinced me to stay another night with him.

I didn’t argue.Much.

It was a tough pill to swallow, but I didn’t hate Isaac’s company as much as I used to.

He made me laugh. He made me feel like a damn goddess. He made me come more in two days than I had in the last year combined.

What girl in her right mind would argue with that?

I was nervous about his “enemies with benefits with a side of small talk” deal.

The more I got to know him, the more I liked being around him. On top of that, he had erased my fears of catching feelings.

I mean, it was Isaac. Maybe I didn’t hate him, but I certainly didn’t like him.

“I’m in,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and leaningin for a kiss. His lips were warm. Familiar. I relished the scratch of his blond scruff against my skin.

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