“I keep a girl I don’t deserve,” I murmured as I took in different parts of the property—each that had a memory tied to it. Where we’d first dreamt up our lives. Where Savannah wanted to get married. Where we’d first explored each other’s bodies under a night of stars.
“That isn’t . . .” She sighed gently, wonder filling her voice when she continued. “That isn’t the same thing.”
“It is,” I argued. “Maybe one of these days, you’ll understand that my life with you is everything I want.”
“I love you.”
“Every breath,” I vowed.
She exhaled slowly and said, “Well, are you gonna come see what I spent all that money on?”
My mouth twitched in the beginnings of a smile. “Tell me where.”
“Well, I was thinking on me for now, and later tonight, maybe on your bedroom floor . . .”
“Where are you?” It was all a low demand as I stalked across the property to my SUV.
A breath of a laugh sounded in my ear. “My favorite place.”
I stopped short and looked around even though I could hear subdued holiday music and laughter through the phone. “The plantation house,” I said, confident in the answer even though I knew she wasn’t there.
“Whoops—nope. Second favorite place. I’m there.”
“Got it.”
“Come find me.” Wicked excitement lit her voice before she ended the call, and then I was climbing into my car and cranking the engine.
Carefully reversing down the side of the property to the large U-shaped drive, as if I was still afraid of getting caught. It wasn’t until I was pulling onto the street that I realized those days were behind us.
Almost.
And I couldn’t wait to get to Savannah so I could tell her . . . at least part of the news. But her second favorite place was a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the next city over that we’d been going to for years, and it wasn’t exactly close. Then again, nothing was close to Amber, but I didn’t wanna be anywhere else.
When I was little, I’d always thought I’d escape one day. Escape the people and kids who feared me—who saw me a certain way. Find a place where I could hide away in a crowd.
Or just get lost.
And then Savannah happened and everything changed.
She made me see the world differently. Made me want more for myself. Pushed me to go for what I wanted, even if I thought I didn’t deserve it. Even if the people of Amber thought I didn’t . . .
Most of them were judgmental assholes anyway.
I glanced at my phone when it started ringing and started to decline the call since I was about to turn into the restaurant but accepted it at the last second.
“Mom,” I answered as I lifted the phone to my ear.
“Hey, sweetheart, hi. Have you, uh . . .” She cleared her throat. “Are you with Savannah, by chance?”
I pulled into a parking space and turned my car off, not wasting time getting out and starting across the lot. “I’m about to be, why?”
“Well, I was with her earlier—”
“You were?” That brought me to a stop. I glanced at the restaurant and then turned around to block out the distraction of lights and people through the glass windows. “When?”
“Oh, she didn’t—well, never mind. Anyway, she just seemed . . . off might be a word? Very Savannah, but also very not.”
The muscles in my jaw worked as flashes of Savannah over the past couple of years burst to mind. Her smile not as bright. Always seeming to be waiting for something—someone. Never dancing unless it was for teaching.
“I think she’s having a hard time,” Mom added. “Especially today.”
“What’s today?” I asked, mind racing to think of what I could’ve missed.
“Oh, nothing. Well, it’s just not for me to tell you.”
“Mom.”
“Son, I have no doubt you’ll find out as soon as you see her.”
I mumbled a curse. “All right, then I gotta go.”
“Love on that sweet girl and be gentle with her.”
I lifted a hand. “As opposed to?”
“Don’t get snippy with me, Beau Dixon, just go take care of my future daughter-in-law!”
“Damn it,” I ground out when the call ended and turned, already jogging for the door to the restaurant. But when I walked in, I found Savannah in the bar area, surrounded by our friends, head tilted back as she laughed.
I made my way over there, looking for anything in her expression that would hint at what my mom had been talking about, but she looked light and free for the first time in a long time.
The drink in her hand might’ve had something to do with that.
The corner of my mouth ticked up when I noticed what she was wearing. It was so Savannah—all comfort and sexuality—and I fucking loved it. An unbuttoned, red flannel shirt that I was pretty sure was new over a pair of skintight black pants that she would live in if she could.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered when I saw what was beneath the flannel.
“Babe!” she called out when she caught sight of me, reaching for me and pulling me closer to where she was pressed up against a barstool.
“Your shirt,” I said against her lips when she reached up to kiss me.
“You like?” she asked excitedly, grabbing at the flannel and inspecting it as if she were looking at it for the first time.
A rumble of assent built in my chest as I slid my hand around her waist, curling my fingers around the thin, black shirt underneath. “This is see-through.”
A wicked glint flashed in her honey eyes when she looked at me.
“You’re gonna get me in so much trouble,” I murmured as I lifted my other hand to trail the tips of my fingers across her jaw.
A giggle rolled up her throat and danced across her lips. “Look good on your floor though, right?”
“Fucking perfect.”
“You’re not mad?” she asked, voice dropping to a whisper I could barely hear in the bar.
“Savannah, why the hell would I be mad?”
“Because it was impulsive and stupid, and I should’ve asked you,” she rambled quickly, her head lowering to hide whatever emotion had started creeping across her face.
I pressed my thumb under her jaw to stop her and went still when a body crashed into me.
The impact was a trigger I couldn’t afford—not then, not ever. Causing a haze of red to creep around the edges of my vision and every muscle to lock tight in preparation.
Anticipation.
“Oh God, sorry,” a voice wrapped in laughter said. “Beau, sorry. Shit, sorry.”
My gaze slanted to the side in time to see Tanya using my arm to keep herself vertical. Before I could attempt to start unlocking my body to help her, Alex was there, pulling her up and giving me a look like he knew I was struggling.
“You good, man?” At the dip of my chin, he cracked a smile. “Bartender said they were already three drinks in by the time I got here. Want anything?”
“No.”
Shock and disbelief billowed from him. “Not even your one drink?”
“Not this time.”
He rolled his eyes but nodded. “Fine, fine.”