Take Me: Part 3 (Power Play #3) (4 page)

“But maybe it will be just what we need to get us to where we need to be.”

Declan gives me a flat, considering look. Sometimes when he looks at me that way it reminds me of the looks Daddy used to give me when I was being foolish. It sends my heart racing.

“Hannah, you’re smarter than that. You’d be better off giving it to a charity.”

My stomach lurches again, feeling like it just went into another free fall. I know he’s right, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. I give a quick shake of my head, trying to fight back the emotions that are bubbling to the surface.

“We have to do
something
. I can’t just sit by while Daddy’s company falls apart.” Declan looks like he’s about to say something, then hesitates for an instant. “What is it?” I prompt.

“It’s nothing.”

“
Everything
is
something
at this point.”

His bright blue eyes consider me for a moment, then he bobs his head in a nod.

“I suppose you’re right.” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “I was thinking… I don’t want to give up trying on the European Deal.”

The entire world comes to a stand still around me.

“What do you mean?”

I ask the question, but there’s a large part of me that’s afraid to know the answer. Declan’s head tilts to the side when he responds.

“I feel awful, and I wouldn’t bring it up if I could think of any other way…” My mouth goes dry as my mind races with the possibilities of what he’s going to say next. It’s like I don’t even need him to say what’s on his mind to know exactly what needs to be done. “It just that… it seems that Mr. Drake had taken quite a liking to you. I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t something more that can be done to smooth things along.”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head, trying to wrap my brain around what Declan is asking me to do. “The way things ended between us, I’m not sure if there’s anything I can even do, at this point.”

“Believe me, I wouldn’t even bring it up if I thought there were any other way. But desperate times call for desperate measures, I’m afraid.”

I close my eyes and give a tiny shake of my head.

“I understand.”

I do understand. I understand that Declan has his back up against the wall. I understand that he’s asking me to see Isaac to try and work something out with him. I understand that he is asking me to save the company. And I understand that we have no other alternatives.

So what am I supposed to do?

“I’ll make the call.”

Later that night, I’m back at my apartment. I’m staring at the blank illuminated screen of my phone. When was the last time Isaac tried calling me? There’s a tiny pang of guilt inside of me when I realize that we talked everyday from the moment we met until the moment I told him that I didn’t want to see him anymore. It’s funny just how quickly life can change, in any direction.

I try to remind myself that I shouldn’t still be so upset over the situation. I try to tell myself that it was just about the sex. But that only makes me feel worse. I know I’m just trying to lie to myself when I say it’s all about the sex. I know there’s something more there, but I also know there’s nothing that I can really do about that. That’s why I should be keeping my distance. That’s why I need to be staying away from him.

But there’s something else that’s more important right now. I know that I need to stay away from him, but there’s something bigger than me that’s at stake. I can’t just let my Daddy’s dream fail and fall apart without doing everything I possibly can to help it. So I have to make the call. Because of Daddy. Because of everything I’ve been working towards ever since he passed away. I’ll just have to figure out some way to keep things professional between us.

If that’s even possible.

I stare at my phone for a while longer before I finally push the DIAL button. There are only two rings before the call is answered.

“Kitten.”

The sound of his voice sends chills running up and down my spine. It has his usual air of confidence, and there isn’t a trace of the anger that had been there the last time he’d spoken to me, when he’d walked out of my apartment without ever looking back.
 

“Please don’t call me that.”

There’s a brief silence on the other end of the line.

“You also told me that you didn’t want to talk to me anymore. But here we are...”

That same pang of guilt I felt earlier twists inside of me. Suddenly I’m not sure if I can go through with this. The hard part is done—I’ve already called him—but now I don’t know if I can go to the next step.

“Maybe this was a mistake.”

“Hannah, what are we doing here? Why did you call if you’re not going to say anything?”

I take a deep breath.

“We need to talk.”

“I can be there in a few minutes.”

His response is immediate. I can almost feel the excitement coming through the phone.

“No,” I say, quickly. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Then will you come here?”

That pit in my stomach twists around again, even tighter than before.

“Let’s meet somewhere neutral.”

I trust myself at his place even less than I trust him coming here. Every time we’re alone together something comes over me and I’m completely unable to control myself.

“The bar,” I say. “Where we first met.”

There’s a brief silence on the other end of the line.

“I’m heading there now,” he says.

I don’t respond before clicking the phone off. My insides are knotted and twisted. I stare at the blank phone in my hand for a few seconds.

Am I really doing this? Do I really think that I can go and have a civilized, adult, conversation with Isaac without my emotions getting in the way? I know I told Declan that I am willing to do whatever it takes, but is this possibly taking it too far?

I let out a sigh, remembering what Declan said. And then Daddy crosses my mind.

I don’t have a choice. I have to go through with this. Besides, how bad could it really be? We’re going to have a civilized conversation, and I’ll bring up the European Deal and we’ll just take it from there.

There’s no reason it has to get personal.

Isaac is already at the bar when I get there. As soon as I walk in I see him standing at the bar with his black, leather jacket on. His attention is focused on the door, and his beautiful, gray eyes lock onto me as soon as I walk in.

He flashes me an intense stare before a big smile peels his lips back. He’s leaning against the bar, looking sexy as hell. And the way his eyes fall down over me, taking all of me in, sends butterflies erupting through my stomach.

This is a bad idea. I shouldn’t have agreed to meet with him. I shouldn’t have told Declan that I would do whatever it takes. With Isaac standing there looking at me, all of the walls I’ve begun building to protect me from this situation are already crumbling.

Why is it so hard to keep myself away from this man? Why does he have such an easy time tearing me down when I know that he’s wrong for me?

Trouble. I knew it from when we first met.

But that doesn’t matter.

When it comes to Isaac Drake, nothing else seems to matter.

I push my fears aside and take a deep breath. I came here for a reason, and the only prayer I have of making it through the night with my wits intact is to stay focused.

I walk determinedly to the bar. Isaac doesn’t budge an inch as I draw closer. He just watches me, like he has all the patience in the world, like there’s nowhere else in the world he could possibly be.

“Kitten...”

My heart flutters.

“You really do need to stop calling me that.”

“Never.”

He flashes me that assured, British smile that sends my stomach into a free fall. There’s only a foot between us, but it feels like the largest chasm I’ve ever seen. The Grand Canyon has nothing on the space between us.

“You look good,” he says, his eyes falling down along my body.

I give him a weak smile through the jitters that intensify inside of me. I don’t even want to start thinking about how good he looks. I need to keep myself focused on the reason I’m here in the first place.

“Should we sit down?” I suggest.

I move past him to sit at the bar, but his hand catches my arm, stopping me.

“Somewhere more private.”

He leads me off to a booth in the far corner of the bar. He gestures for me to sit, and I give him only a fleeting glance before sliding into the booth. Isaac sits on the same side with me. He moves in close, the heat and weight of him overcoming me.

“What are you doing?” I ask, alarmed by his sudden nearness.

He gives me an innocent look.

“Sitting down, of course.”

“But why are you sitting
here
?”

He studies me for a moment before responding. His face hardens from his usual light-heartedness to something more intense.

“What are we doing here, Hannah?”

His tone is serious.

“We’re talking…”

He shakes his head.

“Why now? We haven’t talked all week.”

My chest seizes up. I’ve already thought about the answer to this question, but that doesn’t make it any easier to lie to him. I shrug a shoulder and give him an uncertain look to buy myself a little more time. He takes it as an opportunity to start making assumptions.

“You missed me, didn’t you?”

My brow pulls together.

“What? No!”

The cocky grin on his face spreads even wider as he bobs his head.

“Yep, that’s it right there. You tried to play hard to get and then you started getting a little lonely.”

He puts his hand on my thigh, giving it a light squeeze. Energy pulses through every muscle in my body at his touch. I tense for a moment, not sure if I should push his hand away or make him take me right there.

The sudden thought of him having me right there in the bar startles me. I need to get a hold of myself!

“That’s not it, at all.”

I place my hand on his, stopping him from going any higher up my leg.

“Then what is it?” he asks, his tone getting serious, again.

Cold nerves wash over me. I can’t keep beating around the bush—I have to be straight with him. I hate feeling like I’m leading him on.

“I need to talk to you about BMG,” I say, flatly.

 
Isaac’s eyes narrow as he considers me. He lets out a deep breath as he pulls his hand away from my thigh. The sudden absence of his touch leaves a cold spot on my leg.

“So that’s it, then?”

“You told me you were going to have your people look over the deal again and get back to us… and we still haven’t heard anything.”

His lips spread into a disbelieving smile.

“Bloody hell. After last time, you finally call me so we can talk
business
?” My pulse races faster with each heated word that comes out of his mouth. “Is that all this is to you? Just business?”

“Isaac don’t be like this—“

“
Don’t be like what
?” He cuts me off. “Don’t be
honest
? I thought that’s what you wanted from me—honesty. Or do you only want the truth when it’s convenient for you?

I let out a frustrated sigh and fix him with a hard look.

“You know it can’t be anything more than that, no matter how we feel.”

His gray eyes go wide as his body turns sideways in the booth to face me.

“Why can’t it be? We can make it whatever we want.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Bollocks!”

Heat is rolling off of him in waves. It’s the same anger that he had back at my apartment the last time he was there.

“We’ve been over this. Things just aren’t as simple as you want them to be.”

“Bollocks!” he repeats. He gives me a frustrated look. “Tell me
why
.”

“I’ve
already
told you why.”

“Tell me again.”

I give him an exasperated look.

“You live in London. I live in New York! We’ve got our separate lives. You already know all of this…”

He gives me a hard look for a time before he turns away and starts muttering under his breath again. His accent is so thick that I can’t even understand what he’s saying. He’s frustrated, and that’s making me frustrated. Why does he have to keep bringing it up? Why can’t he just understand that some things aren’t meant to work out?

After a long minute he lets out a deep sigh, calming himself before he turns back to face me.

“Fine. You want to talk business, let’s talk business.” The usual little smirk appears on his face. He’s got something on his mind. “You still want me to look over the deal, then I will. But on one condition…”

“What is it?” I ask, slowly.

“You have to go on a date with me.”

My eyebrows rise.

“Isaac, why are you doing this?”

The smirk on his face spreads a little wider and he bobs his head in a nod.

“That’s right. Date Number Two. And this time there are going to be some new rules…”

“New rules?”

“I’ll let you know what they are when the time is right.”

I give him a confused look, and then shake my head, trying to make sense of everything he’s saying.

“Let me get this straight… If I go on Date Number Two with you, you’ll do the deal?”

He cocks an eyebrow at me.

“I’ll give it serious consideration.”

I shake my head.

“That’s not good enough. If I go on the date then I want more assurances.”

The cocky little smirk on his face has spread into a wide, wolfish smile.

“You’re in my world now, kitten. And I’ve got all of the negotiating leverage. How do you Yanks say it?
It’s my way or the highway
?”

My look flattens.

“It’s something like that…”

Despite the fact that I’m annoyed he won’t agree to the deal, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t a little excited by the prospect of going on a date with him. The last date was a lot of fun, even despite the fact that it had been rudely interrupted by Declan. I know it’s not the smart thing to do. I know that I’m going to have a hard time keeping my emotions in check. But what other choice do I have? I told Declan that I would do anything to help the company—and this is what I have to do.