Chapter 12 Isaac #2
On a bar napkin, she scribbles something and slides it to the bartender.
A smirk briefly tilts his lips as he pockets it.
I can only assume it’s her room or phone number, and while I don’t know Aubrey well, in the past she usually dated men who had a trust fund, and her ex-husband is a billionaire.
I shouldn’t judge—for all I know, she’s rebelling against family norms or rebounding after her divorce.
I can’t say I blame her after how he publicly humiliated her by cheating with his assistant.
She whispers something to Olivia as she’s leaving, making Livy gasp, then claps me on the shoulder with a song in her voice. “See you tomorrow, Prime Minister.”
Once she’s gone, I ask Livy, “Everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s fine. I’d love to grab dinner with you, since I need to give Aubrey a few hours of”—she does a quick check for anyone within earshot—”alone time. But we would have to go somewhere that’s not…”
“Busy?”
“No.”
“Romantic?”
She offers a soft smile and a single nod. “Exactly. We don’t need another repeat of November.”
“I completely understand.”
We finish our drinks as we scroll through the hotel directory on our phones in search of a restaurant that’s casual enough we could play it off as friends catching up, but I’m also hoping for something quiet—I want her all to myself.
We settle on Italian, and the pictures online appear to be formal, which will also allow us to spin the narrative that we’re meeting about the upcoming summit.
It’s not dimly lit to give off the impression that it’s a date, even if that’s exactly what I wish it was.
We finish our drinks, and I charge them to my room, then the three of us make our way over.
Todd agrees to wait at the restaurant bar, keeping eyes on us and the dining room while giving me space and privacy with Livy.
I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.
Then again, it’s always been like this when it comes to her—the stars aligning a little too perfectly.
Once we’ve ordered another round of drinks, Olivia tells me about a few proposed pieces of state legislation that would help with water supply, and I share about an issue I’ve had with environmental protections recently.
It’s no surprise we’ve fallen into easy banter, as if no time has passed.
It helps that we’ve talked nearly every day for months.
Except, this is different. To someone on the outside, it’s nothing out of the ordinary.
Anyone would assume we were just two politicians discussing local matters, but they’d be missing everything I love about her—how her eyes sparkle when she’s excited, how passionate she is about helping others, or even how her cheeks flush when I compliment her.
It’s all bittersweet. For the first time in years, I have her back in my life… but she’s not mine.
After dinner, disappointment swirls in my gut as we share an elevator to our rooms. It takes everything in me to not reach for her.
It’d be so easy to hide her away from the outside world for the night.
But I know damn well I wouldn’t stop there.
I’d give anything to have her pressed up against the cool metal wall while I claimed her lips for the first time since I made the biggest mistake of my life leaving her.
With how she’s fidgeting, maybe she’d let me.
The doors open to her floor, and even with no chance of them closing on Livy, I still press my hand to the opening as she steps out.
She turns to face me, her expression unreadable.
Now isn’t the time for a grand gesture or declaration, or to suggest she continue up two more floors to join me for a night cap.
I’m lucky I had her to myself for as long as I did tonight and shouldn’t push that luck, as I’ve done over the past few months on more than one occasion.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“Thank you for dinner,” she sighs, mindlessly playing with her keycard.
“It was my pleasure. Would you be up for coffee in the morning?”
Olivia stops her idle movements, her sweet smile meeting her eyes. “I would, but then you’ll probably ask me to have lunch with you too.”
“Of course. And dinner tomorrow night.”
“Isaac.” Her face falls. “We shouldn’t.”
“No one is going to suspect anything if we spend time together,” I assure her, even if it’s not entirely true.
Taking a step toward me, she lifts onto her toes, pressing a soft kiss on my cheek. “I’ll be downstairs for breakfast at six. If we see each other, we see each other.”
Without another word, she pivots and walks down the hall, looking back once just like she did the first time we met.
She’s a different woman now, and I can’t bring myself to tear my eyes away from her even as the elevator door taps against my hand to close.
After I step back, I watch her walk away until they shut completely.
It ascends to my floor, and once I’m in my room, I kick off my shoes and shrug off my jacket, draping it over a chair at the small dining table.
I only had a few short hours with her, but they were the best hours I’ve had since I left her in New York fifteen years ago.
She’s smarter than me and definitely has more courage in her pinky than I have in my whole body.
I don’t deserve her, but maybe one day I will.
The mountain I have to climb in order to keep her feels impossible, but there has to be a way.
Fate didn’t bring us together after all this time for me to lose her, and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it if I have to.
I have no fucking clue how I’m going to pull this off and will need to call Nikki in the morning for help.
As I pull out a bottle of water from the fridge, there’s a faint buzzing sound coming from my jacket. It’s probably Todd giving me the all-clear, but I’m pleasantly surprised it’s my favorite person.
Livy
Are you free for a drink downstairs?
Of course.
Which bar?
I don’t care. I’m sharing a room with Aubrey, and she’s still busy.
I chuckle to myself, loving how fate is yet again working to my advantage. Who knew a flirtatious bartender was all it would take to give me more time with Livy?
Want me to see about getting you your own room?
We tried when we checked in. The hotel is sold out. We reserved four rooms, and since they were overbooked, we only got two when we arrived. So, Aubrey and I are sharing. My security team has the other.
You’re welcome to come to my suite, or I can meet you downstairs in ten. Whatever you’re comfortable with.
Typing bubbles appear and disappear no less than four times.
What room are you in?
Fuck. Is this really happening? It’s incredibly risky for either of us if we get caught, and I try to not read into it—she just needs somewhere to hide out until Aubrey is done with her bartender. Still, I won’t pass up any opportunity for more time. It’s the only asset I have.
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