Take Me: The Complete Series (Power Play #1-4) (13 page)

My jaw drops open as my eyes shoot over to her.

“Tawny!” I yell for the third time.

She gives me a defensive look.

“Calm down, I’m just messing around!” She turns back to him with a casual smile. “Really, I’m pretty flexible on both of those requirements.”

A deep laugh rolls straight from Isaac’s chest while I shake my head in disbelief.

“I think I might know why you’re single,” I tease her.
 

Her brow scrunches together as she plays dumb.

“I’ll see what I can come up with,” Isaac says, nodding at her.

He hooks his arm, holding it out for me to take. I don’t move. Instead I give Tawny a questioning look, making sure she’s satisfied with the whole situation.

She considers it for a second, then bobs her head.

“I like this one, you can go out with him.”

I give a tiny laugh.

“Gee, thanks.”

She winks at me.

“You two have fun. Don’t do anything I would do.”

I loop my hand through Isaac’s arm and he leads me down the hallway. Tawny is a unique one, I’ll give her that. There’s no one quite like her, and I’m starting to love her to pieces.

The restaurant is elegant, classy, and probably the most expensive place I’ve ever been. Isaac has a way of setting the bar high. He’s made it clear that he isn’t someone who does something half-assed. I knew guys like that at Harvard.
Go big, or go home
. That was their motto. And tonight, Isaac is pulling out all the stops.

An attractive hostess seats us at a corner table, far from the kitchen. The table gives us both privacy and a view out over the street. It’s probably the nicest table in the house.

“This place is really nice,” I say.

Isaac leans back in his seat, his gray eyes twinkling at me.

“I’m trying to impress you.”

“Do you try this hard to impress all of your first dates?”

The corners of his mouth pull up into a devious grin.

“Only the ones I’ve been fucking all week.”

I bite my lip, my insides twisting when they hear him speak to me so bluntly. I’m starting to realize that isn’t at all the way he speaks to other people. With every little layer I peel back I learn something new about him. And every time I learn something new it makes it harder and harder to keep my distance.

“The limo was a nice touch,” I say. “Unnecessary, but nice.”

“I figured that, if a bloke has never given you flowers before, then surely he’s never taken you out in a limo, either.”

A smile spreads across my face as my eyes fall to the single red rose sitting on the table.

“You’re becoming a lot of firsts.”

His lips quirk a little as he looks at me.

“So, is it working? Are you impressed?”

I give him a little shrug, just barely tilting my head to the side. I take a sip of my water, making him wait just a little longer.

“I guess you’ll have to wait and find out at the end of the date.”

His eyebrows rise as his face widens. He leans forward, giving me a disbelieving smile.

“Are you saying you won’t let me have that hot little body of yours if I
don’t
impress you?”

“Isn’t that how first dates work?” I give him a wink.

He raises a finger and gestures with it as he talks.

“I seem to remember our first night together going a little differently.”

I raise my eyebrows, and fix him with my most playful smile.

“That wasn’t a date.”

His grin manages to spread even wider as he sits back in his chair. Our gazes are locked, sizing each other up, and I have to fight down the images that are flooding through my head. He gives me such a cool, sexy look that the thought of crawling under the table and pleasuring him right then and there sounds like a good idea.

A pretty waitress comes by to take our order, but Isaac’s eyes never break away from me, like the world around us doesn’t matter to him.

“Would you like to select something from our wine menu to start?” she asks, smiling between us.

“No wine,” Isaac says, decisively. His gray eyes flash a little as they remain locked on me. “Two pints of your finest stout. I want them black enough to hide the sun.”

The waitress disappears and I give him a questioning look.

“So you take me to an elegant restaurant and then order a beer?”

He leans forward.

“The elegant restaurant is for you, kitten. But the beer, that’s all me.” That secretive little smirk tugs at his cheek. “I’m a very giving man, but I also take what I want.”

I bite my lip. There are a few things that come to mind that I wouldn’t mind him taking.

After the waitress drops off our drinks, Isaac lifts his towards me. I mirror him.
 

“To first loves and broken hearts… May they go fuck themselves.”

I give him a shocked look as he clinks his glass to mine, then takes a long pull from it. I take a sip of the dark beer, again surprised that something so dark can tastes so light. But it’s good. I never thought I’d become a beer drinker.

“That was an interesting toast,” I say, after setting my glass on the table.

“What better way to start something new than by reminding yourself why you got rid of the old?”

I grin at him.

“I wouldn’t have taken you for a romantic.”

“You seem to think I’m quite a few things that I’m not.”

“You do have a way of keeping me on my toes.” I give him a suggestive smile as he takes another drink of his beer. “And on my back.”

The table shakes as Isaac slams his glass down on the table. I jump back, startled. He fixes me with a stare, shaking his head as he licks the beer from his lips.

“No, no, kitten, you can’t go saying things like that.” His gray eyes are stern. He pokes his finger into the table. “You’ve made your bed, now you’ve got to lay in it. This is a first date, and there are rules. Rule Number One—there won’t be any talk of what I might do or have done to that delicious little body of yours.”

I give him a playful smile. My heart is racing a million miles a second.

“Fair enough. But you should know that I took my time in the shower earlier, making this body extra delicious for you.” I give him suggestive tilt of my head as his face darkens into a scowl. Two can play at his little game. “And what’s the second rule?”

He mutters under his breath a bit, munching his lips together discontentedly.

“The Second Rule is that there will be no sexual contact of any kind.” I give him a hurt look. He nods, that discontented look regaining its confidence. “That’s right. No kissing and no fucking. Not even any hand holding.”

My eyes narrow as I give him a sultry stare. I pull my tongue across my lips, slowly, drawing his attention.

“Does that rule apply to me touching myself?”

His eyes widen as he gives me a furious stare. I don’t even have to be touching him to know the rumble that’s going through his chest right then. He leans forward, his voice going quiet despite the strength behind it.

“Damn you, woman,” he snarls. He gives a quick glance to the people around us. “Bloody, fucking hell. If we weren’t on a date I’d be tempted to take you right here and now.”

I give him a playful look.

“Maybe it’s too bad we’re on a date, then?”

Waves of excitement are coursing through me, and I know I’m already dripping wet for him. I want to crawl under the table and pleasure him even more now than I did just a few minutes ago.

He settles back in his seat, cursing and muttering to himself. The frustration in his eyes makes me want him all that much more.

“Were there any more rules you wanted to discuss?” I ask, innocently.

“Bloody hell date with your bloody hell rules…”

My face is beginning to hurt from all the smiling.

“So what is it that first dates talk about? Other than the No Touching rule, of course.”

He gives me a hard look before finally pulling himself together. He picks up his beer and takes another drink, setting it on the table more gently this time.

“We get to know each other,” he says. I give him a surprised look, and he nods his head. His finger is pointing at me as he says, “You said I don’t know anything about you. Well, tonight we’re going to change all that.”

I give him a cool look.

“So we’re going to sit in this fancy restaurant and talk about me all night?”

He gives me an exaggerated nod.

“That’s right, kitten. I don’t want to leave here until I know everything there is to know about Hannah Barnes.”

My lips pinch together, considering.
 

“And what’s in it for me?” He frowns, giving me a confused look. “Don’t look at me like that, you don’t get to have all the fun…”

He nods. “Fine. Then for every question I get, you get one too.”

“So who goes first?” I say.

Isaac holds his fingers out, gesturing towards me.

“Ladies first.”

My mind races with all of the millions of things I want to know about him. The first thing that comes to mind is how long he’ll be in the States. I already know he doesn’t live in New York, but he’s here enough to have a car. Will he be going home soon? When will he be back? What are his hobbies? Does he get along with his parents?

There are so many questions I want to ask, but I don’t get to ask any of them. A hand on my shoulder stops me.

And when I turn to see who it belongs to, my jaw drops.

“Declan, what are you doing here?”

I’m trying to compose myself as my eyes bounce back and forth between Declan and the skinny blonde that’s strung to his arm. Familiarity tugs at the back of my mind, but it takes me a second to place where I know her from—the waitress from the restaurant we had lunch at.

He arches an eyebrow, giving me a cool stare. He glances up at Isaac before returning his gaze to me.

“My friend and I just arrived for dinner when I saw you sitting here from across the bar.” His eyes settle on Isaac, and his face darkens. “I didn’t realize that you had company.”

“Good to see you again,” Isaac says, a cheery smile on his face. In fact, it’s so cheery that it’s bordering on mockery.

Declan’s face remains mute, as though he didn’t catch the sarcasm in the Sexy Brit’s tone. His gaze returns to me.

“I didn’t realize you two were going to be meeting on a Friday night at a place like this. Is this some kind of business meeting I should be a part of?”

“No!” I say, too quickly. I clear my throat, composing myself. “No, it’s nothing like that.”

Declan stares at me, unblinking.

“I see.”

My insides are churning on themselves, but I’m not going to back down. I know him well enough to know exactly what’s going through his mind. I can see that seething jealousy lying just beneath his eyes.

He’s always been this way when he’s seen me with other guys. But I’m not the little girl he needs to protect, anymore. I can make my own decisions, and after the way he’s been acting ever since I moved back to town, it’s about time he comes to terms with that fact.

“Can I have a word?” he says. He holds out his hand as though he’s expecting me to jump at the request.

“We’re about to order dinner. We can speak on Monday, back in the office.”

Annoyance flashes in his eyes and he gives me an even harder look.

“Hannah. Please.” His tone has a dangerous edge to it. “It’s important, I must insist.”

I don’t budge an inch and I have no intention of budging an inch for him. But Isaac isn’t going to sit around, idly.

“Mr. Cross, if you don’t mind, you’re interrupting our lovely evening.”

Declan’s eyes shoot over to him, his anger now surfacing.

“Excuse me,
Mr. Drake
, but if you don’t mind, I need to speak to my
employee
for a moment… I’m sure you understand.”

I leap out of my chair and stand in front of him. His eyes shift back to me, and I give him a hard look. Rage is pouring through me, and my voice comes out low and dangerous.

“Don’t you dare speak to him that way.” I lean in closer, my voice getting softer. “And don’t you
dare
refer to me as your
employee
like that ever again. We both know damn well that I’m more than that—both in and out of the office.”

He’s all but shaking with rage as I draw back. The girl on his arm tugs gently at him, snapping his attention back to her. He pats her on the hand, assuring her he’s almost done here.

When he turns back to me his features have softened. But there’s still a hardness lying just out of sight.

“Enjoy your evening,” he says, curtly.

His eyes flash between me and Isaac. Neither of us respond before Declan ushers his date away from the table.

When they’re finally gone, I sink back into my seat and give Isaac a frustrated sigh. His gray eyes are soft as he watches me.

“Do you want to get out of here?”

I give him a pleading look.

“No, it’s fine. We haven’t even ordered dinner yet.”

Without saying another word, he pulls out his wallet and retrieves two hundred dollar bills. Dropping them on the table, he slides out of his chair and holds his hand out to me.

“Come on. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”

I give him a thankful smile and let him help me to my feet. As he escorts me out of the restaurant I can’t help but feel comforted by the way he wraps his arm around me, drawing me tight to his body.

I can’t believe Declan actually said all of that to my face. What the hell had gotten into him, lately? Where the hell was the man I used to know?

After climbing into the back of the limo, Isaac tells the driver to take us to Katz Koffee. The drive isn’t very far, and when we get there it’s the perfect place for how I’m feeling. It’s busier than I expect, but it’s not very loud, and that’s nice.

We order a couple drinks, I make sure mine is decaf, and pastries to go with them. We climb rickety steps to the second floor where we sit at a table near the balcony, overlooking the cafe down below.

“This place is cozy,” I say, looking around. Isaac’s gray eyes are focused on me. I give him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry about what happened earlier. I didn’t mean for Declan to ruin our date.”