Page 85 of Square Deal

Hannah raised a single eyebrow that should have sent me running. “I have one condition.”

21

HANNAH JANE

No sex.What the hell was I thinking?

Honestly, I thought that Isaac was going to say no. There was no way in hell he was going to agree to labeled, monogamous dating with no sex.

He was all about the benefits.

But, to my surprise, he did. It nearly knocked me over. I felt like a lion tamer.

I, Hannah Jane Hayes, was Isaac Lawson’s girlfriend.

We spent two more days in New York together, soaking up the city and doing all the touristy things he hated.

We snuck into a Broadway show, ate hotdogs from corner carts, and saw the giant Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I even convinced him to visit the top of the Empire State Building—after hours, of course.

Isaac wasn’t above using his status for special access. It helped with the somewhatclandestineaspect of our newfound relationship status.

We agreed to keep things quiet until I figured out a way to tell the poker club. It wasn’t that I was ashamed to be with Isaac. It wasthat I didn’t exactly know how my friends would react, given his reputation and my history of safe dating.

I wanted to control the fallout as much as possible. Luca and Maddie would come around the fastest, but Chase—I wasn’t so sure about him.

For the first time since we met, Isaac and I slept in the same bed and didn’t have sex.

It was weird.

We awkwardly stood around the bedroom before he finally flopped down in the middle of the mattress and stretched out his arms. I rested my head in the corner of his chest and laid beside him, stiff as a board.

Isaac poked fun at me until I loosened up and snuggled in close. He pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead and whispered sweet nothings until I drifted off to sleep.

The week after returning to Beaufort had been a learning curve for both of us. Isaac had never played the role of devoted boyfriend, and I had to accept that I was dating someone who thrilled me, but still made me feel a little scared.

I worried that he would break my heart in unmendable ways.

It wasn’t that I intentionally dated guys who bored me to tears in the past, but I liked ‘safe.’ I was okay with not having the most exhilarating life as long as it was predictable.

And Isaac Lawson was anything but predictable.

I was the kind of girl who went to amusement parks and watched the shows. I took pictures and made schedules for what times we would meet up to eat. I stood to the side and held everyone’s bags while they rode the roller coasters. I didn’t feel the need to have my body flung into the air at ninety miles an hour.

Being of sound body and mind and agreeing to be in a relationship with Isaac? Well, hell—that was the scariest ride I could imagine.

My heels clicked across the familiar worn wood floor that wasalways covered with peanut shells and stray pretzels. Martina McBride blared out of the jukebox, and pool balls clacked in perfect time.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” Bridget said from behind the bar at Jokers. “So, youarealive.”

I plopped my tired wedding planner ass on a barstool. “What do you have that will make me forget about having to deal with the florist from hell today?”

Bridget presented me with her finest bottle of bottom-shelf tequila. “You gonna drink it straight, or would you like me to mix you something?”

I rested my elbows on the sticky bar, too tired to be bothered by the spots it would leave on the sleeves of my blouse. “Make it a margarita. Extra happy juice.”

Bridget snickered. “You got it, babe.”

My phone buzzed, and I fished it out of my handbag.

---