Thirty minutes later, I’m ringing the doorbell. When Hannah opens the door a shocked expression colors her face.

“Tristan? What are you doing here?” No matter the circumstance, when she says my name the need to grab and pull her against me is so strong, it takes all my self-control to reel it in.

“Am I early?” I check my watch to make sure I didn’t arrive sooner than we agreed to, since I got here fifteen minutes earlier.

“Early? Early for what?” she questions.

“You told me to come here.”

“No I didn’t.”

What?

“Yes, you did. I asked if there was any way I could see you again and you told me to come here.”

Hannah straightens her back and crosses her arms. She’s wearing a tight sweater and the motion pushes her breasts up. I try to be a gentleman and not stare at them - too much.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I never asked you to come here.”

I pull out my phone, search for our messages and show her our conversation. “If it wasn’t you, who texted me?”

Her eyes go wide as she reads the messages and realizes I’m not lying.

“Oh my god, I’m going to kill her.”

“Who?”

“Everything makes sense now.”

“Care to explain? Because I’m not understanding.”

“It was Shae. She texted you. She said she had to go run some errands and when I offered to go with her, she made excuses to make sure I would stay.”

She must notice the disappointment written on my face because her demeanor changes from annoyed to sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Tristan. She shouldn’t have done that.”

“It’s fine.” That’s all I’m able to say. This isn’t going how I expected. “Can we still talk?”

Hannah nibbles at her lip, I can hear the gears turning inside her head, trying to make up her mind. No matter how bad I desire her, the last thing I want is for her to feel pressured and as much as it hurts, I realize it’s best if I leave.

“I’m sorry, I can tell this is an inconvenient time for you. I’m going to get going.” Moving forward, I take her hand and kiss it lightly. “It was really nice to see you again, Hannah. Take care.”

I let go of her hand and turn to leave.

“Wait.” She grabs my arm and that small touch sends a jolt of electricity all over my body. “Yes, we can talk. Do you like chocolate chip cookies? I’m about to get some out of the oven and I need a victim willing to taste them.”

“I’m definitely your guy.”

Hannah places a plate full of cookies in front of me and my hand reaches for one. “Shit.” I mutter when my fingers get burned.

“You have to wait for them to cool down a little,” she giggles and it’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

“Patience is not one of my virtues.”

“I can tell.” She sits opposite me at the kitchen table and hands me a napkin.

Grabbing a cookie, she takes a bite and a half moan slips from her lips. I shift my weight, trying subtly to adjust my dick, wondering how loud she would be if I was inside her.

“I know I’m biased, but this is so good. I love chocolate,” she adds, unaware of what she’s doing to me.

I take a bite of my own, the cookie is crispy and the gooey chocolate combined perfectly. “Wow, these are amazing,” I praise.

“Thank you.”

“So far I know you can make delicious chocolate chip cookies and that tequila isn’t your friend. What else can you tell me about yourself?”

She blushes at my comment and stands. “Would you like some coffee?”

“Why do I feel like you’re trying to distract me? Sure, I’d love some.”

Grabbing two mugs from the cupboard, she pours coffee in the first and turns to look at me. “Cream or sugar?”

“Black is fine.”

After putting some cream in hers, she places mine in front of me and sits again. Her hands grip her mug so tight I’m afraid she’ll break it.

“I feel so ashamed about what happened last night. You must think the worst of me.”

“Because of what that guy did? No, Hannah. He was an asshole. I’m glad I was there to help you.”

“No, I mean, yes he was an asshole, but it was also my fault.”

“Why do you think that?” I’m curious why she feels this way.

“Because I was there,” she pauses and shakes her head, “I was there because I was considering...” she trails off awkwardly. Her lips rake over her bottom lip, her brown eyes look past me as she searches for the words to say.

“You were considering him as a sugar daddy?”

Her head snaps in my direction and her eyes widen but she doesn’t say a word.

“It’s okay, Hannah. Tell me.”

“How do you know about that?”

“Because you told me you needed one.”

“What?” she gasps.

“One of the things tequila does to you is make you talk a lot and cry,” I chuckle, but her face shows me she’s not finding this amusing. “Sorry, let me reword that. You told me you needed a sugar daddy and then you started crying. You mumbled about needing money fast and that you were running out of time. Before you passed out, you mentioned something about your dad being in the hospital.”

“Oh my god.” Hannah covers her face with both hands, but I’ll have none of that. Clasping her hands, I pull them away, but don’t let go of them. This is the moment I was waiting for and I need to make my move before she shuts down on me.

“Hey, look at me.” Her eyes connect with mine and I can see the same sadness I noticed in the chocolate depths the night before. “That guy is a scammer, but I assure you I’m not. I want to give you whatever you desire, whatever you need. I want to be your sugar daddy.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Her tone sounds both hurt and irritated.

“I’ve never been more serious about something in my whole life. Whatever you need, I’ll give it to you,” I repeat.

“In exchange for what?” She tries to pull her hands away, but I tighten my hold.

“Whatever you want to give me. I’m not trying to take advantage of you, or trick you into sleeping with me. All I want is to get to know you.”

“Why?” Her brow furrows and against Alaric’s advice, I decide to be honest about this one thing.

“Because I like you. I wanted to know your name after we bumped into each other at the restaurant and I was kicking myself for not following you and talking to you some more. Then I saw what was happening with that jerk and I felt the need to protect you.”

“I wasn’t careful and ended up in a situation that could’ve been so much worse. I’m not making that mistake again and I’m sorry to say I’m not sure I can trust you.”

“I can understand that.” Deciding it’s best that I offer her something, I opt for honesty once more. “I know a lot of the sugar bowl lifestyle, the arrangements between a sugar daddy or sugar momma’s and a sugar baby, but I’ve never had one of my own.” Surprise colors her face. I pull out my phone from my pocket, open the Satisfaction Guaranteed app and motion for her to take it. “You can see I’ve never messaged anyone, even when I’ve gotten some messages from sugar babies.”

“Why not?” she asks, her eyes fixed on the screen.

I grab her chin between my fingers, tugging gently up, so her eyes meet mine, I hope she can see the sincerity of my words reflected in them. “Because I’ve never seen anyone I’ve wanted. Until I saw you.”

A flash of desire burns in her eyes, whether it’s hers or the reflection of my own, I’m not sure. Her cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink and I smile. Knowing I have her full attention. “I know you need money and I have plenty. As much as you need is yours.”

Dropping my hand from her face, I miss the warmth of her skin. I pull out the envelope from inside my jacket pocket and place it in front of her.

“There’s fifty thousand dollars inside. It’s all yours.”

“What? No.” She shakes her head and tries to push the envelope away.

“Take it,” I order.

“That’s a lot of money. I can’t accept it, I haven’t done anything to earn it.”

“Of course you did. We had our first date and you fed me cookies.” I smirk.

“This isn’t a date.”

“We had cookies and coffee, same difference.”

“Tristan, no.”

“Fine, then take it as an advance.”

“For what?”

“Three dates. Give me three dates. Three chances to spend time with you and get to know each other.”

She looks at the envelope like it holds the answers to all her problems. Whatever reservations are holding her back, slowly fade away.

“Only three dates?” she inquires, raising a brow.

“Only three dates,” I confirm. “That’s all I’m asking, but make no mistake, I meant what I said. I’ll give you whatever you want. All you need to do is ask.”

“Okay.” Her voice is whisper soft and I want to make sure I heard correctly.

“What was that?”

“You’ve got yourself a date.” She smiles. I take her hand and lay a gentle kiss on the back, letting my lips linger a bit longer this time.