“I did. I spoke to Dylan earlier, and Legacy Malt is moving along at a nice pace. He’s excited to come up in a few weeks, to spend a night behind the bar here. Seeing what the energy is like in the city versus a small town. ”
“It’ll be nice to get to know him a bit better. Although, soon enough, I think I’ll know him more because of his connection to Lex and Caleb rather than Legacy Malt.”
“Yep.” She nods. “I think future brother-in-law is more accurate than business partner.”
“Did you see the ring Caleb got Lex for Valentine’s Day?”
Her eyes bug out, then she places her drink back down, wiping the condensation from her hands. “It’s beautiful. And that was just a promise ring!” She shakes her head. “I’ve never dated a billionaire, but Caleb is quickly showing me normal dating rules don’t seem to apply.”
I pull the towel off my shoulder, wiping my hands so I have something to do. “What kind of men have you dated?” I ask, without meeting her eyes.
Silence follows. I don’t know why I’m asking. I don’t want to know about her with other men. I just want to know her. Whatshe likes. What she needs. Why she’d been single so long. Because there was clearly something about the men in her past that made them not right for her.
I flick my tongue over the ring through my bottom lip again, a nervous habit I picked up since I got it years ago, and make myself look up at Isabelle.
There’s a soft smile on her face, her head tilted thoughtfully, making her look so sweet as she stares at me with sparkling blue eyes.
“I’ve dated career-driven men and men with a free spirit. Men who were funny and playful or intellectual and curious.” She swirls the straw in her icy drink, watching the motion. “But they all had one thing lacking in common.”
I lean into her, needing her next words. “What?”
“A passion for me. I’ve never felt like I had chemistry with someone that was so intense, it was stifling. Wanting to know what the other person was doing, or thinking. Counting down the minutes to seeing them. Finding someone who becomes the first one I think of when I have something I want to share. And those moments when we’re alone, being unable to keep our hands to ourselves.”
It’s like she’s slipped inside my mind and flayed me open, exposing my inner thoughts. Those are all the things I feel for her.
“Passion, huh?” I ask.
She nods slowly while she picks up her cocktail and brings the straw to her lips. Her eyes never leave mine as her tongue darts out, licking up traces of her drink that have spilled onto her lip.
I wipe the back of my hand against my forehead from the sudden influx of heat that ignites me.
My head leans in, bringing my face inches from hers. “You see that door behind me? The one marked staff only?”
She looks over my shoulder, then back at me with a single nod.
“Go.”
I see her squirm in her seat slightly before she finishes the rest of her drink, then slips off the barstool. Casually, she makes her way through the crowd and over to the door. I watch her the entire way over there, trying to command a shred of that serenity myself. But it’s left the building.
Isabelle looks over her shoulder, just as she pushes the door open and slips out of sight.
“Keeley!” I shout as I notice her pass just behind me.
“Right here, boss.”
“I need to step into my office for a bit.” I throw my towel in the sink.
“No worries. We’re good here.”
Thank fuck for that, because I’m done waiting to have this woman again. She says her other partners have lacked passion.For her?Challenge fucking accepted.
Chapter twenty-five
I push through the door and into a dimly lit hallway. There’s a storage room to the left with shelves full of glasses and bottles of liquor, and two closed doors on the right.
My heart is pitter-pattering as I wait and wonder about what’s going to happen next. The door behind me opens, and Gage walks through with eyes only for me. They’re wild and hungry, instantly setting my skin alight.
He storms towards me with an unapologetic force, clutches my cheeks in his large, rough hands and slams his lips to mine. I’m a puddle on contact, sighing my defeat against his lips. The cold metal of his lip ring makes my skin prickle. I want to let my tongue explore it, but Gage pulls back, then squats down. With his shoulder against my stomach and one arm banded behind my legs, he lifts me up and tosses me over his shoulder.
