Her dress leaves nothing to the imagination, but it forces my mind into overtime while wondering how easy it would be to rip it off her.
After taking a moment to settle my shock that Isabelle isn’t as surprised by my presence as I am hers, I shoot my eyes to Col’s table. Since he is in the process of being stunned by his own exquisite brunette in a bustier dress with a teasing hemline, he’s failed to notice Isabelle’s unexpected arrival.
Keke has a beauty that can cast Tatiana’s looks into the shadows, but she rarely hires it out. There’s only one woman she can’t shine a light to. It’s the same woman Ryan cozies up to like he isn’t aware his date with Isabelle will both commence and end here.
Isabelle is mine, and I don’t care who I must take down to ensure they are aware of that fact.
Ignoring the buzz of my cell phone, most likely Hugo calling to warn me about Isabelle’s change of plans, I shift my eyes to Ryan when he greets, “Isaac, I haven’t seen you in months. Where have you been?” Much to the displeasure of my fists, he releases his hold on Isabelle’s hand to offer it in greeting to me. “How’s Nick? How many months left until we have another Holt player running around?”
A vein in Isabelle’s neck pulsates faster when I stand to my feet to return Ryan’s greeting. “I’ve been around. I’ve just been busy.” I keep my eyes locked with Isabelle’s during my last sentence, emphasizing who is occupying all my spare time. “Jenni is due in a couple of months.”
Isabelle’s smile draws the attention of every man in the room. Even Tatiana drinks it in before she straightens her back like the game is only beginning instead of her chances of going home with me being forfeited before we were officially introduced.
“Isabelle, this is Isaac Holt,” Ryan introduces, unaware we’ve already been thoroughly introduced. “I’ve not yet had the pleasure of arresting him, but I’m sure my day will come soon.” The humor in his reply is lost on me when he mistakes his influence in Isabelle’s life by presenting her as his date. “Isaac, this is my date, Isabelle.”
When Isabelle thrusts her hand my way like she did two weeks ago after I claimed her as mine in the private jet, I accept it, but instead of shaking it as both Ryan and Tatiana are hoping, I raise it to my mouth so I can kiss the edge of her palm.
As a rosy, pink hue creeps up her delicate neck, Isabelle yanks her hand out of my grasp before waving it at Tatiana. “Are you going to introduce us to your date?”
“Isabelle, Ryan, this is…” On purpose, I act as if Tatiana’s name has slipped my mind.
It’s the standard ploy of any man wanting to portray he is only with a woman solely for her looks, and it goes down a treat when said woman sneers, “Tatiana.”
I smirk about how easy it is to manipulate people into believing what you want them to believe when my somewhat dismissive introduction sees Isabelle plonking into her seat with a groan. She’s displaying signs of a jealous, scorned woman, and her ill conception works in my favor when Col’s smug snigger exposes he’s reached the same conclusion as me.
He thinks I’m in for an uncomfortable night, and I am a mere step behind him when Isabelle answers Ryan’s interrogation on how we know each other by acting as if our natural connection is nowhere near as blistering as it is. “I don’t know him. He’s practically a stranger.”
With my pigheadedness being fueled by the flare of hope darting through Ryan’s eyes, I drag my tongue along my top lip, wordlessly reminding Isabelle of the time I had more than her lips on my mouth.
When the hue on Isabelle’s neck deepens, and she snaps her eyes away before she combusts, I chuckle like whatever Tatiana is jabbering on about is funny before retaking my seat.
“Maybe we can get that drink now?” Tatiana mutters in my ear before squeezing my thigh in a way that exposes Isabelle’s arrival hasn’t altered her plans for dessert.
When our eyes lock and hold, I realize I misread her gall. She’s intimidated by Isabelle but not enough to take her eye off the real prize.
In case you are wondering, the trophy she’s hoping to win doesn’t belong to me.
Her eyes only maintain my hold for approximately two seconds before she flicks them in the direction Col and Keke are seated. She stares at Col with hate so palpable he can’t help but glance her way. His glare switches the expression of Tatiana’s face from loathsome to ditzy in under a second, and her antics go from friendly to flirty just as fast.
She is aware of her role tonight, and she’s going to ensure she earns the five-thousand-dollar payout awarded for it.
“Play along,” she whispers into my ear while slipping onto my lap. “Because if you wantIzzy off Col’s radar as badly as I want to slip a sedative into his drink, I know just the wayto achieve that.”
This time, when she tiptoes her overly varnished nails up my tie, I play along.
Over the next hour and a half, I nip at the fingers she playfully scrapes across my pecs and jaw, press my lips to the throb in her neck more times than I can count, and only show the slightest bit of frustration at her numerous underhanded mentions about the size of my cock.
Her tactics are aggressive, but since they have Isabelle on the verge of storming out, I encourage every ditzy comment and over-friendly gesture.
When it is for the greater good, nothing is off-limits.
If only Harlow understood the assignment. Tatiana’s fifth comment about my male appendage has barely left her mouth when Harlow reminds her that Isabelle and Ryan aren’t the only duo sitting across from us. “Okay! We get it. It feels so big. It’s so big. Isaac has a ginormous cock, but can you please shut your mouth for the next thirty minutes so I can enjoy my dessert without having to hear your nasally, whiny voice anymore? Thirty minutes of peace! That’s all I ask.”
While watching Col and Keke exit the restaurant via the back entrance, I message Hunter to ensure he has men on-site while Tatiana replies to Harlow’s slander. “You’re just jealous.”
Harlow scoffs off her claims with agusto she shouldn’t hide since it has Cormack all hot and bothered under the collar. “Oh, honey,please. I have absolutely nothing to be jealous of.”
Two hours ago, I would have agreed with her, but after spending the last hour and a half in Tatiana’s presence and witnessing her deliver the perfect line when Col bypasses our table, my opinion continues to alter. “She’s just disappointed because you’re planning to show meexactlyhow big it is tonight instead of her.”
