Inarticulate (21 page)

S
avannah left
Amanda to oversee the wedding at the back of the function room, and bumped the swinging kitchen door with her hip, exposing the stainless steel and tiled area in all its chaos. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

She’d flittered from one job to the next all day, determined to keep herself moving so she didn’t slump into an exhausted heap. For everyone else, the night was running smoothly. Guests were seated, listening to the besotted groom wax lyrical about his glowing bride. Spencer hadn’t lifted a finger since Penny and Keenan had returned earlier in the night. Her ex had discovered that chatting up her cousin made for an excuse to get out of the workload and probably thought it was the perfect strategy to make Savannah jealous.

The only thing poking at the green-eyed monster was the seductive grin Keenan currently gave to a giggling Rydel housekeeper who was posing as a waitress. Apparently, they both knew sign language, which seemed to spark a looming happily ever after for the woman who kept batting her lashes at the eligible bachelor.

“Start serving guests.” A plate was pushed forward from a Grandiosity employee. “The sooner we get the meals out, the better.”

“Sure.” Savannah grasped the porcelain and pushed past the swinging door into the dimly lit function room. She followed the line of Grandiosity wait staff leading to the table being served. Everywhere she turned there were smiling faces—the bride, the groom, guests, even Amanda.

They’d succeeded.

They’d pulled it off. And tomorrow she would celebrate. Tomorrow, when her feet weren’t throbbing and her head wasn’t filled with cement, she would let her hair down and focus on a way to apologize to Keenan. After hours contemplating an amicable, professional way to approach him, she’d come up with nothing. Instead, she’d become an automaton, striding back and forth from the kitchen, serving guest after guest, while she punished herself with the image of him flirting with the hired help.

Time passed without meaning, each speech fading into the next until she glanced up from placing the final dessert bowl on the far back table and sucked in a breath at the man staring at her from his leaned position against the entrance doorway.

She lowered her focus, convinced it was a coincidence they’d both spied each other at the same time, only to be proven wrong when she lifted her gaze again. He hadn’t moved, hadn’t quit staring at her with his arms crossed over his chest, his shirt sleeves folded, and his attention decimating the final vestiges of her strength.

Mentally, she crumpled. She lost coherence under the spell of his eyes. Then with the next inhalation everything rushed back—her energy, her memories, even her desire. She walked toward him, eager to get her apology over and done with while he was finally alone.

“Hey.” She gave him a half-hearted smile and kept her voice low. “The wedding was a success…”

He inclined his head, his expression blank as he took in the room.

“Your staff were a godsend.”
He
was a godsend, although she wasn’t entirely convinced he wasn’t the devil.

His casual nod left her wanting more, craving a reaction, something fierce and emotional to match the growing force inside her chest. Most of all, she coveted an apology. His apology, and the belief that he regretted the deception which had cut her deep.

“You didn’t have to help me.”

He dragged his attention from the guests and looked at her.
No
. He looked into her, seeking secrets and making his presence known in her most intimate of thoughts. She fell under the spell of that look. She capitulated. She caved.

He jerked his head toward the lobby, then pushed from the wall and walked away. A stronger woman would’ve protested. A smarter woman would’ve hightailed it in the opposite direction. But she was none of those, not right now.

She scooted to the kitchen, retrieved her cell from the counter, and pretended she didn’t understand the questioning frown Spencer aimed at her as he continued chatting with Penny.

This was a case of killing two birds with one talented stone. Communicating with Keenan was inevitable. They had a lot to work out, with payments for the Grandiosity staff sitting at the top of the list. And once they were finished, she would receive the grateful bonus of being able to sneak to her room without Spencer shadowing her.

There was nothing sordid or affectionate about the way she trailed after the man who conspired against her. Nothing emotional or calculating. Nope. It was entirely business. That’s why she walked with the added confidence in her stride and the authoritative tilt of her chin.

She was owning this—the apology and thank you that would wipe their slate clean. Or she had been until she entered the lobby and found him beside the reception desk. He captured her with those eyes, his attention unwavering as he retrieved his coat from the night shift receptionist and shrugged into the material with enough suave sophistication to rewire the beat of her heart.

Her feet slowed, telling her to proceed with caution because clearly her mind wasn’t up to speed. He jerked his head again, a slightly arrogant nudge toward the entrance.

No
. She shook away the invitation. He was exuding trouble. Tempting, palpable mischief.

He grabbed his cell from his pants pocket, worked the screen, and made the device in her hand dance. She peered down at his message and her stomach descended for the ride.

Keenan: I need to show you something.

She stiffened at the direct hit to her restraint. Humoring him would only cause complications. So why did she continue to walk in his direction? Why was her blood pumping a little faster at the slightest tweak to his lips?

She met him at the lobby doors, his hand poised on the handle. “What do you need to show me?”

He mouthed something indecipherable, or maybe she didn’t understand because she was too focused on his eyes, the gray now vibrant, almost blue. He pushed into the night and held the door open for her to proceed. The freezing air infiltrated her lungs and she shuddered from the vast change in temperature. Within seconds, his coat was slumped over her shoulders, his mouth-watering scent enveloping her like a drug.

“Thank you.”

They walked side-by-side along the path, the silence between them far from comfortable. It was magnetic, his pull loaded with energy that obliterated her need for sleep as they approached the road. There was a clink of a keychain, a flash of lights from a nearby vehicle, and then slowly dawning realization.

“This is yours?” She remembered it from dinner at her aunt’s house. The shiny silver sports car had been parked in the drive the first night they met.

He nodded as he ate up the distance to the passenger door and opened it for her. There was no cockiness in his features. No arrogant smirk. There was no expectation at all, only the lone hand that indicated for her to get inside.

Her lips parted on a silent protest. She wanted to announce her distrust, to tell him sliding into his car didn’t change anything between them. But his actions today meant she owed him. Big time.

“I can’t be gone long.” She made her way to his side. “I need sleep.”

He nodded, the solemn gesture announcing he was fully aware of her exhaustion. She was stupid to think her appearance would’ve escaped him. She still wore her clothes from the night before, the dress now crinkled and her stockings bearing a long runner up her right inner thigh.

She spared a final glance toward the lobby, making sure her stupidity wasn’t being witnessed by staff, especially by Spencer or Penny, before she slid into the soft leather seat. The door shut behind her, the seconds until Keenan joined her ticking by with an unfavorable growl from her intuition.

The keys were thrust into the ignition, the engine purred to life, and her sanity waved goodbye to her from the sidewalk as he pulled from the curb. He accelerated through the city streets, gliding around corners, making the road his bitch with such ease and efficiency that her womanly parts couldn’t help but notice. Within minutes, they were on the freeway, then an exit ramp and farther still. The brightly lit streets became darker, the large buildings turning into residential properties.

He was taking her away from the hustle and bustle, from the lights and the visibility. The shadowed streets filled her with comfort, as if the solitude could hide the secret of falling for him again. There was no radio, no sound, apart from the smooth growl of the engine which thrummed in her chest.

She palmed her cell, unlocked the screen and re-read his message—
I need to show you something.
She skimmed her thumb over the words, stopping at one.
Need.
His request wasn’t a wish or a want. It was a necessary requirement.

The same necessity echoed in her chest. She
wanted
him to turn the car around and drive her home, but what she
needed
was closure. To cut off the redundant desire for him and move on. Without an amicable conclusion, her head wouldn’t cease thinking of him. Her heart wouldn’t quit fluttering at the thought of his name.

She had to stop. He had to stop. Everything and anything had to come to a halt so she could regain her professionalism and do what she’d been sent to Seattle to do.

“Where are we going?” She’d only been this far from the city once, the night of the bonfire, and they were traveling in the same direction, down roads that turned desolate, with houses that increased in size and land that spread out between them.

“I think you should take me back to…” Her words drifted as the mansion from their past came into view, the impressive structure now alight from innumerable angles. She sucked in a breath, held it, and let the pressure trigger her adrenaline.

The home was bigger than she remembered, more monstrous in all its pretentious beauty. The top level mimicked the bottom with matching windows and curtains. There was a balcony above the double-door entry, a three-bay garage, and an immaculate garden to make it picture perfect.

The car slowed at the looming front gates, while her heart tried to climb into her throat. “This is yours.” It wasn’t a question. She was now well aware of all the blindingly obvious clues she’d missed.

He hadn’t lied. His position at Grandiosity hadn’t been a secret. The puzzle had been there for her to piece together. She’d just been too preoccupied to notice.

The gates parted before her, cracking her ribs apart at the same time. “You should take me home.”
Christ
. Even her words betrayed her. There was no conviction, no determination or demand.

He remained unresponsive and drove the vehicle along a gravel path to park in front of the stairs leading to the entry. The engine died, the keys were removed, and he slid from the car, leaving her in thick, tangible silence. She ignored his movements in her periphery, the way he strode around the hood and came to her side.

Her door opened, the freezing chill not penetrating the heated bubble she’d placed her thoughts in. He held out a hand and those fingers taunted her. They mocked her. She could already sense the spark his touch would ignite. The pleasure would be traitorous. Her white flag would raise without her permission.

“I can get out on my own.”

She waited until he stepped back, and then pushed from the car, her cell clutched in her sweaty palm. Visions from the past bombarded her. He’d commanded her silence. He’d made her fearful of being caught. He’d played her, and somehow she couldn’t find the will to hate him because those moments were some of the most exhilarating in her life.

“I need to get the bank documentation on the Grandiosity staff that helped today. I want to pay them as soon as possible.” She was deflecting, endeavoring to turn the seductive vibe into something more professional. “And I haven’t thanked you yet, have I?” She couldn’t remember, she couldn’t even concentrate. “If not, thank you. And I’m sorry for my attitude this morning. You and Penny caught me off—”

He encroached, seeping into her personal space as she backed herself against the hood. Her nerves responded accordingly, tingling with a complete lack of regard to her emotional turmoil.

“Don’t,” she whispered into the night. She couldn’t handle his proximity. His temptation. Her inhalations increased, the depth of her breaths resembling someone under interrogation and would soon parallel that of a marathon runner.

He took another step and monopolized her vision as he raised his hand toward her face. She stiffened as his fingers approached, preparing for the unauthorized pleasure his grip on her chin would inspire.

She was defenseless against that hold.

Helpless.

But he didn’t touch her. His hand fell to his side and the disappointment that burst through her veins only cemented her stupidity. “Was that night a game?” The need for answers bubbled from her lips without consent. “And every night that followed?”

“
No
,” he mouthed. “
No game
.”

She tore her focus away, already losing the will to remain angry. How could she when his wordless apologies addressed her libido, not her common sense?

“Is this all you needed to show me?”

There was no answer.

She looked up from under her lashes and hated how her heart squeezed as their gazes collided. His lips parted, then closed. His focus flickered between her eyes, from one to the next, back and forth, his zealous scrutiny shrinking her defenses. He shrugged, the answer filled with a yes, a no, and a maybe.

“You can take me back now.” She pushed from the car, forcing her feet to move.

Then there it was. His touch. The connection that made her knees weak and her heart respond with arrhythmia. Goosebumps cascaded down her back, along her arms, and slid between her aching thighs. Every inch of her was covered in skin that literally burst forth for more of his attention.

Don’t turn. Don’t turn.
Please
, don’t turn.

She turned and hated that his pain seemed to outweigh her own. His expression was etched with remorse from the shadowed depths of his irises and the creases marring his forehead.