19. Hannah Jane
19
HANNAH JANE
T he ambient hum of bustling servers, clanking silverware, and pleasant conversations filled the restaurant. The place was packed with guests enjoying five-star meals, but it felt like Isaac and I were off in our own little world.
Our spoons clinked against each other as we fought over the last bite of the affogato we shared. Isaac let me win, and I savored the lingering taste of espresso and gelato on my spoon.
He had taken me to Luca’s flagship restaurant for dinner—the one Maddie had worked at when she was fresh out of pastry school.
I didn’t know her back then, but it was neat to see her old stomping grounds. I didn’t know if it was because Luca and Isaac were close friends or because Isaac was insanely rich, but he had his own table.
There were no reservations needed or notice given to the staff. We just showed up and walked to a table that had already been set up.
Isaac sat back leisurely and drummed his fingers on the crisply pressed linen tablecloth. “I think it’s my turn to ask,” he said, eyeing me up and down.
I had packed plenty of date-appropriate dresses, but there was no way in hell I was going to pass up a chance to wear a one-of-a-kind garment from a new designer.
Spenser and I hit it off immediately. Two peas in a pod. He showed me each dress that his husband had sent for me to try on and gave me immediate and brutally honest feedback.
I wanted to throw him in my suitcase and drag him back to Beaufort.
Spenser and I only spent a few hours together, but I knew that when things ended with Isaac, I’d sure as hell miss his assistant.
Finally, Spenser helped me pull the trigger on a sleek black number that fit me like a damn glove. The one upside of being built like a two-by-four is that I usually struck gold at designer sample sales.
The dress was modest. The hem hung a few inches below my knees, and the square-cut neckline covered my modest cleavage.
Teddy, Spenser’s husband, lined the bodice, so I got the luxury of going braless. I really loved Teddy too.
The big wow factor was the slit that nearly went up to my hip. It was sexy and understated, but Isaac’s jaw practically bounced off the floor when he saw me sitting cross-legged on the couch, slipping on my beloved Louboutins.
My hair was in soft curls I had teased out for a vintage look. I added a touch of liner, mascara, and red lipstick. I was ready to grab New York City by the balls.
I looked across the table at Isaac, who was musing over what to ask next. He and I had been playing twenty questions for the better part of our dinner. Nothing profound, just little personal tidbits we had previously avoided talking about between orgasms.
I had learned that he went Ivy League for college, while I went Ivy of the South .
Isaac actually earned his MBA rather than accepting the honorary doctorate he was offered.
He had told me about how he and Luca had become friends. Back in the day, Luca started bartending Isaac’s college parties to make some quick cash. The two hit it off and had been friends ever since.
“Tell me about the last guy you dated,” Isaac said with brows furrowed as he signaled to the waiter that we were finished.
I looked between the two of them. Are we going Dutch? Not that I had a problem with that, I just didn’t want to awkwardly ask if we were splitting the bill.
I reached for my clutch and pulled out my debit card. Isaac chuckled and shook his head.
“It’s taken care of, Princess,” he said, scooting back from the table and offering me his arm.
I smoothed out my dress and followed him out of the restaurant to the curb where Alice was waiting with the car. “I was worried that we were dining and dashing.”
He chuckled and waited patiently as I slid into the backseat of the car. Alice shut the door behind Isaac. He shrugged. “It works like a bar tab. I have an accountant that squares up with the restaurant.”
“You eat here a lot?”
“When I’m in town,” he said casually. “Don’t think you’re getting out of the question, Han. Tell me about him. How long ago was it? Why did it end?”
I watched as the nightlife of Manhattan flew past us as we cruised—albeit slowly—through the city. When I turned my head back to look at him, he was staring at me.
I swallowed thickly. “It’s been a while.”
“How long?” he asked, draping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me close. I liked how warm he felt. How comfortable I felt with him. The rich musk of his cologne was intoxicating .
I sighed. “Four years.”
It was cringe worthy. I was thirty. I hadn’t really dated since I was twenty-six.
Fuck. When had I turned into such a pathetic mess?
I was supposed to be in the prime of my life, but all I wanted to do was go home at the end of the day and watch reruns of The Office.
I had been so busy at the Taylor Creek Inn that I hadn’t even really given the dating apps on my phone much thought as of late. Well, that, and the fact that Isaac kept me busy. I swear the man was trying to work his way through the Kama Sutra with me.
“You broke up with him four years ago?” he said in disbelief. The puzzle pieces clicked in his brain. “And you haven’t dated anyone seriously since?”
I shook my head.
“So you haven’t slept with someone else in?—”
“Four years,” I confirmed. I opened my clutch and pulled out the pocket mirror I kept stashed away for makeup touch-ups. I reapplied the red on my lips. The motion was soothing. “I’ve gone out on dates, but I haven’t gotten serious enough with anyone to… You know...”
“Have sex.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?” he asked. “And don’t give me that bullshit line about wanting your forever person. Everyone wants forever, but not everyone puts their own needs on hold for a hypothetical soulmate.”
I raised an eyebrow as I tucked the lipstick tube back inside my clutch. “You don’t want forever.”
“I’m not everyone,” he countered.
I couldn’t argue with him there.
“My mother would have had me crucified for doing anything that would have remotely sullied our family name. Appearances are the most important thing to her. It doesn’t matter if things are falling apart; what matters is how we’re perceived in the community.” I sighed. “A daughter having one-night stands and going to crazy college parties was not an option, and they made sure I knew it.”
I lowered my voice, though I wasn’t sure why. We were in a car. There were no prying eyes or eavesdropping ears. Isaac had raised the privacy partition between Alice and us. “I had a trust fund contingent on my behavior. If I wanted to have my college paid for and get it when I turned twenty-one, I had to play by their rules.”
“What happened when you turned twenty-one?” he prodded.
I smiled sadly. “I didn’t want to rock the boat, but I felt like I was being suffocated. I graduated, found a job clear across the state, and moved to the coast. I liked the distance, but I still played by their rules. I dated who they saw fit.”
Isaac leaned in closer, turning my chin with a crooked finger, so I was looking at him. His breath was warm against my temple. “And now?”
A coy smile played across my lips. “I’ve grown up a lot since I left and started living my life the way I want to, but it’s still hard to shake the things that were ingrained in me at such a vulnerable age. I’m cautious. I’m trying to let go—slowly. I’m figuring out who I want to be without going completely off the rails. Figuring out what I want in life. Who I want in life. I have a hard time opening up—you know— sexually . I have a difficult time exploring new things. ”
Our lips were a breath apart. Isaac’s large hand cradled the side of my neck. His thumb pressed against the place where my pulse raced like a hummingbird.
The car slowed to a stop in a dark alley and Alice opened the door. The moment shattered and we broke apart. Isaac got out first, adjusting his suit and offering me his hand. I straightened up and looked around. “Where are we?” I asked .
Isaac chuckled as he led me to an unmarked door. He didn’t even have to knock. A man opened the door, greeting us by name.
Isaac put his hand on my lower back, just above the slight curve of my ass, and led me through darkened hallways. Music floated in from somewhere, but I couldn’t quite tell what direction it came from.
“Isaac, where are we?” I asked again, looking around. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but nothing I could make out gave away our location.
Isaac paused at the bottom of a narrow staircase. He put his hands on my hips and pulled me closer. “You know, I’ve heard about that bar you go to, and I gotta say—I’m a little disappointed that you haven’t taken me.”
“That’s because you and I are a secret,” I replied, booping his nose with my finger. “Two-stepping and drinking whiskey with my friends isn’t exactly incognito.”
Isaac’s chiseled jaw flexed in amusement. “Well, I thought it would be a good idea to take you to my club.”
“Let me guess,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “You liked it, so you bought it?”
He let out a crack of laughter and led me up the stairs. “More like I came here so often that it was cheaper to buy, but yes, I own it.”
He opened a nondescript door and motioned for me to walk in first. When I crossed the threshold, I was floored.
It was like stepping back in time. Dim globe lights hung over black velvet booths. Crimson drapes spilled down the walls. A stage with gold curtains pulled closed was on the other side of the room. Gold chandeliers dotted the ceiling, dripping in crystals.
Servers dressed in period clothing from the 1920s hustled, doling out drinks to the guests seated at tables and booths.
“Not what you were expecting?” Isaac asked, closing the door behind us. We had come through the back of the club, directly into his private booth.
There was a tufted semi-circle couch for us to sit, with twin cocktail tables on either side. It was raised two steps from the floor to overlook the club. Velvet curtains in scarlet were pulled back with gold ropes, to be untied should he want privacy.
There was an orchestra pit with a live band playing jazz.
“I can’t say I envisioned you being a fan of cabaret.”
Isaac chuckled and took a seat on the couch. I was so awestruck by the opulence that he had to pat the seat beside him twice before I joined him.
Two drinks appeared on the cocktail table without ever being ordered—both old fashioneds.
“How’d you know?” I asked, tipping my glass toward him before taking a sip. “
“You seem like a woman who appreciates a well-made drink. I’ve seen your liquor cabinet.”
I smirked.
All around us, the lights dimmed as the show began. There was a stained glass banker’s lamp on the cocktail table beside Isaac. He leaned over and pulled the chain so we could see our drinks.
The stage curtains drew back as the show began. The brass section blared in glorious harmony. Saxophones played a sultry tune. A woman in a glamorous evening gown appeared on stage, snapping her fingers and swinging her hips. Glittering sequins covered every inch of her gown.
The percussion picked up, and the dancer spun. Her long dress fell to the floor, revealing a shorter, sexier flapper costume. There was polite applause from the packed house. More dancers appeared on stage. They moved as one, working their way through the crowd, dancing in sensual steps between tables.
The short flapper dresses turned into skimpy corsets with fringed bottoms. I kept myself from gasping when a dancer floated by Isaac’s booth, giving him a wink and shimmying her voluptuous breasts.
“Isaac,” I whispered. “Is this?”
“Burlesque, sweetheart,” he said leisurely. His arm was stretched across the back of the couch.
Slowly, he tucked a wide curl behind my ear and trailed his fingertip down the side of my neck and across my nearly bare shoulder. It sent shivers down my spine.
“I think this might be a good experience for you. You might even enjoy yourself.”
The dancer closest to us swayed by a table occupied by a husband and wife. She flirted with them both, keeping perfect time with the band. They both smiled and watched as she moved her body with confidence.
I could dance, but I wasn’t that sexy by a long shot.
Isaac leaned down and murmured, “What do you think?” His arm snaked low around my hips, and he gave my ass a squeeze.
I sipped on my old fashioned, savoring the warm burn of the liquor. “They’re… Talented,” I choked out.
A dancer in tasseled pasties came close. I averted my gaze, studying the precise stitching on Isaac’s shoes, and ignored the slow fizzle of sparks I felt deep inside.
He chuckled. “You can look, Princess. That’s the point.”
“I just… This is… I don’t do this kind of thing,” I stammered softly.
His mouth grazed the shell of my ear. “That’s also the point. You said it yourself—you need help exploring. Opening up.”
I looked up, and then quickly down at my drink. My cheeks turned an unsightly shade of strawberry.
Isaac spread his knees wide and patted the small triangle of couch between his thighs. “Come here.”
Cautiously, I settled between his legs and leaned back against his chest. Isaac splayed a wide hand across the front of my torso. His thumb settled in the valley of my breasts. I sucked in a sharp breath.
He reached around and tipped my chin up to watch as the dancers, who had changed into feathered showgirl costumes, teased and tantalized the patrons.
“Do you think you’re a sexy woman, Hannah?” he asked, stroking his knuckles down my cheek.
Women, in various states of undress, danced around us. Maybe I felt sexy on nights like tonight when I was all dolled up and ready to be seen, but I wasn’t sexy like that—like them.
I could never stand up in front of a crowd and bask in their attention as every eye in the room judged my body. The thought alone terrified me.
“Sometimes.”
He kissed the soft skin behind my ear and then growled, “Wrong answer.”
My heart revved like a race car.
“Watch them,” he ordered, sliding his hand up the obscenely high slit in my dress. “Look. See that?”
A full-figured woman in barely-there lingerie waltzed in time to the music. She traded places with a silver-haired dancer who was a fellow member of the itty-bitty titty committee.
“Sexy isn’t how much you have on or how much you take off,” he murmured, sliding the strap of my dress off my shoulder. Isaac ghosted his fingers across my collarbone. “It’s not limited to a body type or an age.” His hand delved under my dress, and he squeezed my breast. “Confident women are sexy women.”
I gasped in shock. “Isaac, someone could see!”
“That’s right,” he said arrogantly, tweaking and twisting my nipple between his fingers. “They could, and that turns you on.”
Flames shot through every inch of my body. Never in my life had I been so aroused or so terrified of getting caught .
He slid his other hand up the slit to the apex of my thighs. “Dammit, woman, do you ever wear panties?”
Rarely, but that was my little secret.
A dancer, covering her breasts with only a feather boa, twirled by. She didn’t stop or stumble, but the smirk on her face as she danced away told me she knew exactly what Isaac was up to.
Pinpricks of heat flooded my body from the soles of my feet to the top of my scalp.
He pinched my clit and my nipple at the exact same time. “You know what turns me on the most about you?” he began as he pressed his erection into my lower back. “The fact that you have no problem sticking your finger in my face and yelling at me. Not a lot of people do. The first night we met, you spent most of it yelling at me for one thing or another.”
He had me teetering on the edge, and the show was coming dangerously close to the end. I whimpered and squeezed my eyes shut, quietly begging for release. “Are you asking me to yell at you?” I choked out.
“I’m telling you to demand whatever it is that you expect out of life. The Hannah Jane Hayes I fell for while she was bossing me around at my best friend’s wedding doesn’t accept anything less than exactly what she wants. You don’t need help opening up. You’re a fucking force of nature, and it’s about damn time you remember that.”
My orgasm crashed into me with the strength of a tidal wave. He wiped his hands on a cocktail napkin and straightened out my dress as the house lights came up.
I followed him out of the club and into the waiting car. The warning thud that had been steadily beating in my heart for weeks turned into a drum roll.