24. Isaac
24
ISAAC
I t was the Monday before Christmas. Luca had ordered me to Beaufort, stating, “Get your ass to my house by six or else.”
I didn’t want to think about what or else meant. Probably Nonna withholding her homemade pasta and putting an ancient curse on me. I didn’t want to risk that. The upside was that I would get to surprise Hannah.
Texas was too short, and she enforced the celibacy clause of our deal— er— relationship.
That took some getting used to.
It didn’t take much convincing for her to let me sleep over, though.
I fired off a text to DeRossi and told him to keep his wife occupied while I did the walk of shame the next morning. Waking up next to Hannah was incomparable. Even with her late night, she was up and at ‘em when the rooster crowed.
Yeah. An actual fucking rooster. Because for some reason, people felt it necessary to put a resort on a ranch resort.
Nothing was relaxing about waking up to the sound of pickup trucks and ATVs before the sun came up .
Maddie and Luca’s house was decked out in garland and Christmas lights. Wreaths hung from all the windows, and fake candles flickered in front of the panes of glass. It looked like a postcard; Christmas in the sand.
If only it was warm. The frigid gusts of wind pummeled me as I got out of the car and told the driver that I’d give him a call when I was ready to go.
Luca offered their guest room to me, but I hoped Hannah had enough southern hospitality saved up for a surprise house guest. I didn’t plan on flying all the way to Beaufort, North Carolina, and not sleeping beside my girl.
Damn. That managed to bring a smile to my face.
Hannah Jane Hayes was my girl. Some billionaires owned tigers. Some collected art. I had a one-of-a-kind masterpiece on my arm. She was priceless.
Maddie answered the door. Instead of hugging me like she usually did, she plucked the bottle of Scotch out of my hand. It was Luca’s favorite. Whatever he had summoned me for, a collector’s bottle was sure to smooth it over.
“Hi! Luca said you were coming over tonight,” she said, ushering me to come inside, out of the cold.
I shrugged off my coat and hung it by the door. I didn’t know what the hell I was walking into, so I opted for dark jeans, a V-neck sweater in hunter green, and a heavy coat. Spenser assured me the outfit was festive.
I adjusted my wristwatch and followed her deeper into the house.
“Everyone’s already downstairs,” she said with a devilish gleam in her eye.
“Everyone?” I raised my eyebrows and ran a hand back through my artfully messy blond hair. I’d found more silver strands this morning and cursed the stress I’d been under. And the serious lack of orgasms. Never in my life had I gone this long without sinking my cock deep into some willing pussy.
Hannah Jane was worth it.
“Yeah,” Maddie said, jogging down the stairs in shorts that barely covered her ass. How was she not freezing? “It’s poker night. We decided to invite you.”
The warm aroma of tomato and garlic wafted through the air. God, I hoped Luca was cooking. I was starving.
A few of their friends I recognized from the wedding were piled up on the round couch. Steve Pelham and Erica, his fiancé, were cuddled up on a loveseat. There was a beer in his hand, and a mountain of baby paraphernalia piled up beside them.
And there was Hannah. She looked like a dream, dressed in a pair of wide-legged pants made of flowing white fabric that tied in a giant bow around her waist.
Her fitted sweater was dark crimson. Her back was to me, but she looked like a Christmas present I couldn’t wait to open. She was in a pair of high heels so tall that I hoped she wasn’t drinking. She’d tip over with the slightest buzz.
Hannah turned around and her eyes locked with mine. It was evident that she had no idea I was going to be here. Shock was written all over her face, and it gutted me.
She averted her gaze back to the baby in her arms and started to bounce when the tiny little human whimpered. Hannah held that baby like it was the most natural thing in the world.
There was a sharp stab in my gut.
Sweat beaded my forehead. My palms were clammy, and my breath came in short pants. Was this a stroke or a heart attack? Maybe it was an aneurysm or a pulmonary embolism.
Was this what nurses meant when they described a patient having an “impending sense of doom?” Whatever the hell was going on inside of me scared me shitless.
Steve, Luca, and Chase stood side-by-side, looking at me skeptically. Hannah was shell-shocked, and the rest of the girls looked like they were waiting on pins and needles.
Erica was the first to break the freeze-frame. She looked giddy as she eased off of the couch and scooped the baby out of Hannah’s arms. “Yes! I vote yes! I’m so excited! I finally get to vote someone in!” She looked at Steve. “Did I do it right? My vote’s yes.”
Hannah didn’t move. Her mouth just opened and closed like she didn’t know what to say.
Chase was the first dick-wielding member of their little clan to speak up. “Fine by me. My vote’s yes. Han gets real strippy when she’s drunk, and it’s awkward trying to get her home without any public nudity.” He swigged his beer. “I’m more than happy to let someone else haul her ass home after girls’ night.”
The trio of girls on the couch chimed in with positive votes.
What the hell was going on?
Steve shrugged and said, “I’ll kill you if you fuck it up. But you’re fine for now.”
Finally, Hannah stammered and choked out, “You came.”
I cracked a smile and let out a strangled laugh. “That’s what she said.”
Maddie lost her fucking mind. “ Oh my God! I knew this was the best idea ever! Y’all are so perfect it makes me want to puke! And it didn’t even take as long as I thought it would. I had like, ten more plans to execute before I thought you two would finally get together.”
Hannah’s head whipped around, her short hair flaring out at the sides. “Back the fuck up, Maddie Lee. You have some explaining to do. I didn’t summon a vote. I didn’t even tell y’all we were seeing each other!”
Kristin, the housekeeper from the inn, snickered from the couch. “Oh, we all knew.”
“Well, I know you and Mel knew. Y’all found us in the wine cellar at Thanksgiving,” Hannah clipped .
Chase held up a hand. “Wait. What happened at Thanksgiving? I thought they just hooked up during the hurricane?”
Steve reared his head back. “They were hooking up during the hurricane? I thought everyone was at the hospital?”
“Me and Kris heard them fucking in the wine cellar while y’all were cleaning up Thanksgiving dinner,” Mel said, stuffing a bite of pizza into her mouth. She looked over her shoulder and winked at Hannah. “Way to get some.”
Hannah looked mortified. Her mouth clamped shut, and her cheeks burned bright red.
“And I saw you sexting him at the bar,” a blonde chirped. “Putting someone in your phone as Thor’s Evil Twin isn’t exactly subtle.”
Oh, Hannah was going to pay for that.
“Ethel from the diner told me that the girls at the coffee shop said that some rich out of towner was bankrolling your coffee habit,” Chase said. “That and the hurricane thing—it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
“I watched the security camera footage of you running through the inn in a bathrobe so many times I think the computer broke,” Kristin said with a grin.
“Do you really think it was chance that you caught my bouquet, and he caught the garter?” Maddie said with a flip of her hair. “I planned that shit, honey. I practiced throwing things backward for weeks.”
Luca smirked, folded his arms one over the other, and looked at me. “I saw it from the get-go. Warned you the night of the wedding.”
Well, shit.
Hannah caught my eye again. Her hands were clasped and her face was stoic. I couldn’t tell if she was about to kick me in the balls or make a run for it. If she went out the doors of the man cave and onto the sand, she wouldn’t get very far with her choice of footwear.
“Han?” I asked softly.
It had to be on her terms. I couldn’t steamroll her like I did opponents in the boardroom. I couldn’t dictate things the way I did in the bedroom.
Her fingers trailed along the green velvet table as she slinked toward me. Those billowing pants sashayed with each step. I wanted—no. I needed to touch her. To taste her. I needed to wreck her lipstick and remind her just who it was that she belonged to.
Sure, we were together in every sense of the word, but we hadn’t stopped dancing around each other since the wedding. It was damn time I stood still and staked my claim.
Hannah Jane looped her arms around my neck and planted her red lips on mine. The kiss nearly knocked me on my ass. Then again, that happened every time I looked at her. The little thief took my breath away.
The rest of the group wolf-whistled and jeered things like, “Get a room,” but Hannah wasn’t fazed. She looked happy.
I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth and was surprised when there wasn’t any lipstick residue.
Hannah Jane eased up on her tiptoes and whispered, “We’ll have to see if it holds up when I take your cock in the back of my throat tonight.” Hannah had a smile that could topple empires with one fell swoop. She was a gladiator in designer heels.
I was fucked.
“So, this is poker night, huh?” I said from my spot at the table.
Once the chaos settled, pizza was devoured, and drinks were imbibed, we crowded around the poker table and made cheap bets.
Hannah sat beside me with a terrible hand and a shitty poker face. “You know what this means,” she whispered from behind her playing cards.
I used mine to shield my mouth, bringing her into the Cone of Silence. “What’s that, Princess?” I asked as I picked up a few chips and slid them into the center.
The corner of her mouth pulled up. “You’re gonna have to be around here more now that you’re in the poker club.”
I put my cards down and shoved my pile of chips into the middle of the table. “I’m all in.”
Hannah nearly dragged me back to her place. I wasn’t complaining. We were both riding a buzz, so I called the driver to come get us. Luca promised to bring Hannah’s car to her house on his way into the restaurant in the morning.
I wanted to throw her over my shoulder like a caveman, tie her down to the bed, and make her come over and over until she couldn’t form a cogent thought.
I wanted to rain kisses on every inch of her body.
I wanted to pull her hair and sink deep inside her cunt and feel the rhythmic slap of my balls against her perfect skin.
I wanted so many things from her that I didn’t know where to start.
Hannah unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Before she could turn on a light, I kicked the door shut and kissed her. She still tasted like pizza and whatever the hell she had been drinking. I had a neanderthal reaction to her in those pants.
They pissed me the hell off.
I liked her in those skirts and dresses she wore. I liked being able to slide my hand up her thigh and sink my fingers into her bare pussy.
Fucking pants.
Hannah placed her small palms squarely on my chest and pressed. I backed off, sweetening the kiss. Before I pulled away completely, I trapped her lower lip between my teeth and tugged .
She grinned and looped her arms around my neck, pecking my lips once more. “Everybody knows about us.”
“How do you feel about that?” I murmured, kissing down the column of her throat.
“How do you feel about it?” she countered.
I didn’t respond with words. Instead, I sank my teeth into her neck and sucked, leaving a bright red mark for everyone to see.
“How long do I have you?” she said in a soft, dreamy voice.
“Just tonight,” I admitted. Her smile fell, and I stroked my thumb down the contoured line of her jaw. “I have to fly to Vancouver in the morning, but I can be back by Christmas Eve.”
Shit. Did I say something wrong? She looked shell-shocked. Wasn’t this what I was supposed to do? I was supposed to spend the holidays with her, right? Or was this too soon? Was this a big relationship step I didn’t know about?
I wanted to wake up next to Hannah on Christmas morning. I wanted to make her orgasm, eat a buffet of sugary cereal, and then open presents—in that order. Sounded pretty damn good to me.
I caged her in, bracing my arms on either side of her head. “What’s the matter?”
Her brown eyes turned up to meet mine. “You—you wanna spend Christmas with me?”
I snorted and brushed my lips against hers. “Is that so hard to believe? I want to spend every fucking day with you, Hannah Jane.”
Her nose bumped mine as she smiled against my mouth. “I’d like that.”
I stripped her down right there in the entryway. Her sweater was first. I peeled it off her torso and tossed it on the ground before making quick work of her pants. I pulled the tail of the bow and watched them fall off her hips. She rested her hands on my shoulders and stepped out of her stilettos.
My clothes hit the floor—she didn’t waste any time shredding my sweater and jeans. I trailed my finger along the swells of her breasts as they strained against her lace bra.
“I want to fuck you, Hannah Jane Hayes. I have a list a mile long of all the dirty, depraved things I want to do to your perfect little body. All the ways I want to make you feel good. Since you came to New York, I haven’t thought about anything but sinking my cock into your pussy.” I rested my forehead against hers as she shuddered.
Hannah looked up at me with innocent eyes. “But?”
I softened my tone and added, “But I just want to be with you more. Everything else can wait if you’re not ready.”
She kissed me hard, fusing her lips to mine. “I don’t want to wait another minute.” Her whiskey eyes danced with anticipation and excitement. Hannah tangled her fingers in my hair and pulled in for another kiss.