"Savannah, wait!" I ran after her.
Every time she heard her name, she kept running.
Knowing her fiery temper, I was pretty sure she'd never forgive me. She shoved her way into the cottage.
I pushed in after her and closed the door. When she tried to corner herself in the bedroom, I pushed the door open and grabbed her. "Stop running away from me."
"Get your hands off of me, you fucking cheat. Now!"
I released her and held up my hands. "Will you at least listen to what I have to say?"
"Fuck that and fuck you too!"
"Savannah."
"No, I see exactly what this was. If you wanted to make her jealous and steal her from Robert, you should have been honest up front, and I would have said no and you could have found someone else that doesn’t mind being used to hurt other people. You know I don't do that kind of thing."
"That's not what this was." I grabbed her arm gently. "Will you please just stop packing and listen to me for a second? It'll only take me a few minutes to explain what was going on."
"What's there to explain? You kissed someone's fiancée. What are you going to say? It’s not what I think it is?”
"Are you insane? I didn't kiss her!"
She blinked up at me. "You...didn't?"
"Hell no! She's my best friend's fiancée. Why would I ever jeopardize our friendship like that? Why would I screw you over like that?"
"I don't know," she muttered. "Men do stupid shit all the time. Besides, you probably have feelings for her still."
"I've already told you I don't have feelings for Catherine. I treated her right because she's Robert’s girl and that's it. Other than that? I don't want anything to do with her. Especially not if she thinks I'll betray my best friend."
"You two looked so close."
"She feigned being dizzy and I let her hold my arm, so she wouldn't pass out. When I realized she was lying, I was out of there. I was about to tell her that she's a fool for treating Robert the way she's been treating him. Running after me when she has him? That's just horrible. He's a great guy."
"He is," Savannah said as she sniffled. "I like him."
"I do too," I said as I brought her close and wrapped my arms around her. "That's why I'm going to have a talk with her and tell her to knock that shit off. I've been nice long enough. I think she needs a serious foot in her ass at this point."
Savannah chuckled through her sniffles. "So, you don't want her?"
"No. I have you. I mean, until we're back home and you move on with your work," I added with a frown. I stroked my hand down her hair.
I wanted to tell her that I wanted more than that. The last thing I wanted was to go back home and never see her again. Why couldn't we go after what we both felt when we were together? Clearly, I wasn't the only one that had caught feelings, not with the way she acted when she thought I was about to kiss Catherine. I didn't know why she had to hide her feelings from me.
But I decided not to push it right now. There would be time enough. I wasn’t going anywhere. I'd wait for her until the end of time because I hated the thought of being without her. "Are you okay?" I asked.
She nodded against my chest. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"Are you sure?"
There was a knock on the door and she tensed. We both did until a voice carried through the wood. Catherine asking me to come to the door. For God’s sake! I looked at Savvy. "If you don't want me to answer it, I won't."
"Go. Someone needs to talk some sense into that stupid girl’s head before I do it. And it won't be as nice if I do it."
I grinned. "Can you unpack your things, please?'
Savannah nodded. "Sorry I flipped out. I mean it's really none of my—"
I kissed her before she could finish that foolish sentence. I was her business. And she was mine.
When I pulled back, she looked up at me with glazed over eyes.
I wanted to put that look on her face forever. "I'll be right back and when I do we're going to do whatever you want tonight."
"Anything?" she whispered.
"Anything. Hit me with the worst, sappiest movie you have."
"Don't read my mind." She chuckled, then she rubbed at her reddened eyes. "I'm going to take a bath first and clean my face."
"Take your time. I'll bring you a glass of wine."
Savannah melted against me. "I think someone might have replaced you with an AI, or something. You're way too sweet to me."
I wanted to tell her that I'd never been so sweet before because I'd never been so in love before. Even when we were younger, I thought I knew what it was, but the second time around? I was sure. I was in love with Savannah.
Another knock rapped against the door. I smiled, kissed her head, and slapped her rump.
She grabbed a towel and padded to the bathroom.
With a sigh, I walked to the door. Catherine really had lost her mind. I knew she was a couple of drinks in, but there was no excuse for her behavior. As far as she was concerned, Savannah was my real fiancée and she was willing to bang on my door and interrupt us, so she could carry on her shit? Catherine needed to be put in her place and fast… before someone else got hurt because of her idiocy.
I walked to the front door and yanked it open. The usual polite look that I gave Catherine was gone. She'd eroded all of my patience and she wasn't the woman I loved. I wasn't going to take it easy on her. "Catherine, that's enough," I snapped.
"I just wanted to talk to you, Dane."
"Why? So you can stir up more trouble? So you can get my fiancée pissed off at me, and destroy my friendship with Robert in the process?"
"That's not what I was trying to do."
"Then what were you trying to do? Since I've arrived here, you've done nothing but throw yourself at me, start shit and be snappy and rude to Savannah. Do you think she didn't notice? Do you think Robert hasn't noticed?" Really, this woman was so selfish and self-absorbed she should be an exhibit in a pathology museum.
She took a step back. "I-I don't know."
"Well, you can guarantee that he has. Robert's not stupid, but you've been treating him that way the whole time we've been here. Do you always treat him that way?"
"No," she whispered. "Just that —when I saw you again—I thought..."
"You thought wrong! How could you do that to him? If that's the way you're going to act after the two of you are married, then he shouldn't even marry you. Trust me, if I have a serious conversation with him about your behavior, he'll drop your ass so fast you won't recognize what's going on, and that's what I'll do if you keep showing that you don’t really give a shit for him and you’ll leave him at the drop of a hat."
"Are you really saying that you don't want me at all?" she whispered in a shocked voice.
“Yes. That is exactly what I am saying.”
She stared at me white-faced and aghast. "When we broke up, I thought that we would get back together eventually. I waited, Dane. I thought you coming here was the sign that we were finally going to patch things up."
"You're wrong. There's no way that I wanted to have anything to do with you after we broke up. We had fun back then, but we weren't in love."
"I was in love with you."
"Bullshit. You didn't love me, you just think you did because you couldn’t have me. And now because you're getting married, it's scary and you think the smart thing to do will be to run to me, but I know that's not true."
"How can you be sure?"
"I just know." I sighed. "At any rate, I don't love you, Catherine. You need to let it go. Think about Robert and how much he loves you. And really think if you want to lose him."
She wrapped her arms around herself. "I don't," she said quietly. "I was so fixated on you, but he's always been there for me even before we started dating. I do love him I just—"
"There's no just anything. You've been wasting your time going after me. The only one I want is Savannah, okay?"
Catherine sniffled. "God, I'v
e been such an idiot," she muttered. "What the hell was I thinking?"
I softened a little. "I think you just wanted to know if there really was anything between us. There's nothing wrong with that. But now, you have a concrete answer. I hope we can still be friends. You're special to Robert so you'll always be special to me."
She smiled softly. "Thank you, Dane. I'm glad he has such a good friend, honestly. The fact that you'd be there for him no matter what, it means a lot. Shit, I owe him an apology, don't I?"
"You really do."
"I'm going to go do that right now. Thank you."
"Goodnight, Catherine."
"Night, Dane."
I watched as she walked off and headed back toward the party.
She didn't make it far before Robert showed up. I was sure he was heading toward the cottage. Shit, he definitely knew about the BS she was doing, but at least she'd changed her mind. She fell into his arms and Robert held her tight. I smiled when he pulled her back and kissed her deeply.
Thank God, that was over.
I closed the door and turned to the kitchen. Wine glasses, corkscrew, red wine. I poured both of us a glass and carried the bottle into the bathroom.
Savannah opened her eyes slowly. "How'd it go?"
"Better than I thought. Wine?"
Savannah took her glass and sipped. "That's good to hear. I'm glad everything worked out."
"Do you mind if I join you? I could use a good bath."
"Under one condition."
"Yeah?"
"Kiss me first."
I leaned down and kissed her deeply. She never had to ask for that. Or anything else in the world.
Savannah
Dane stripped off his clothes, and tossed them onto the counter. I stared up at that magnificent body of his. I would never get tired of looking at Dane. Or being with Dane.
"Are you really going to try to stuff yourself into this tub?" I teased.
“I’ll get in there if I have to cut my legs off,” he responded.
I was laughing when he climbed in behind me and tried to fit his big body into the tub with me. I shifted to let him in before I settled back against his body. Water sloshed over the sides and splashed onto the floor. The constant drip, drip normally would have driven me crazy, but I wanted him closer.
"Are you still mad at me?"
"I don't know," I muttered. "Kind of. No. Yes. Maybe."
"That's not an answer."
I shrugged. "I don't know what you want me to tell you. It's just how I feel."
Dane was quiet for a minute and I went quiet with him. The water shifted around us as he picked up a bar of soap and the loofah on the side of the tub. He quietly shifted around behind me before he started to rub the loofah over my skin.
I sank against him and sighed.
"What can I do to make up for it?" He whispered in my ear.
I shuddered. The sound of his voice right up against me made every nerve in my body want to respond. Was I really angry at him? I guess not. He'd explained himself after all and I knew he'd shut Catherine down. "Tell me how it went with Catherine?"
"I did what I should have done when we first arrived. I made her see that there was nothing between us. She was okay with it. I actually think I made her realize that she was actually in love with Robert and not me. I think she was just freaking out about getting married, you know?"
"Just like that?"
"I think she never really realized she was messing things up with Robert. She gave up as soon as I mentioned that Robert could see what she was up to."
"Do you think Robert will be okay with that?"
"Yeah. I saw him when she walked off. He just looked happy to have found her. I think things are going to work out for them. His love is bigger than her stupidity."
"Good." I sighed. "I was worried he was making a mistake, to be honest."
"Oh, me too. I even told her that if she didn't stop fucking up, I'd be sure to tell him I thought she wasn't a good match for him. I wouldn't want my friend to be married to someone who didn't love him."
"You're a good man."
"You think so?” He asked, dragging his fingers up and down my arm.
"Yeah. I really do."
"Good." Dane kissed the crook of my neck and left a trail of them to my shoulder.
Teeth grazed my shoulder and his tongue followed. I reached my hand back and let it glide down his throat. My body heated up. I wasn't ready to tell him what conclusion I'd come to just yet. I'd talk to him about it tomorrow.
"Hey!" I jumped. "What are you doing?"
"Shhhh." Dane's fingers had trailed down to my inner thighs where he tickled them.
I giggled and tried to snap my legs shut, but Dane was having none of that. He shoved my thighs apart with his strong hands and went back to stroking my skin. My breath stuttered in my chest and I moaned as soon as his fingers started traveling upwards. One brush of my clit and I cried out, "What are you doing?"
"Making it up to you, of course. You deserve to feel amazing after everything you put up with tonight."
I couldn't protest even if I wanted to. The way his fingers stroked over my most sensitive parts put an end to any objections I might have had. I sank against him and my legs parted more for him. He chuckled and it rumbled through his chest and into my back.
His lips brushed against my ear. "Will this make up for it?"
"Finish the job and we’ll see," I challenged daringly.
He chuckled. "Oh?"
I grinned. "Hey, you need to earn my forgiveness, you know."
"You're kind of a brat," Dane said as he inserted one, long thick finger inside me. "Do you want to keep that up, or do you want to enjoy this?"
"Enjoy," I choked out.
"That's what I thought," he drawled.
Dane's thumb pressed against my clit and massaged it as he twisted and shifted his fingers inside of me. My eyes closed, I grabbed his arms, my nails digging into his flesh. He didn't complain as his fingers sped up and brought me closer to the edge.
"Dane," I whispered.
"You're really close, aren't you?" he whispered.
"Y-yes."
"Don't hold back on me."
"God," I cried out. "More, give me more."
Dane's pressure increased until he hit the spot perfectly. My back arched as my climax claimed me and I writhed against him. The air slipped out of my lips as my chest rose and fell. Every bit of tension fell from me until I was soft and weak against him.
"Better?"
"Much, much better," I mumbled.
"Good. Let's get you cleaned up and into bed."
"That sounds amazing."
We finished off our glasses of wine and rinsed off.
I followed Dane into the bedroom. My hand reached for the dresser, but I thought better of it. Screw that. I didn't want to wear any pajamas. I wanted to feel Dane's skin against mine.
Dane raised a brow. "You're getting in like that?"
"Just like this. Is that a problem?"
"Not at all," he replied with a big, big grin. He climbed in beside me and yanked my body against his. Lips grazed my skin before he reached over and shut out the lights.
I smiled quietly to myself in the dark. Tomorrow. I'd tell him for sure how I felt about him tomorrow.
Savannah
"I can't believe I'm about to get on a horse," I muttered as I held his hand and trekked to the stables.
"I can't believe you've never been before."
"We live in a city, Dane!"
"I'll take you all the time."
"Let's just see if I can get through this first, okay? I keep seeing myself flying off of that thing and ending up on the ground."
"That's not going to happen. You're going to get a nice, tame horse and it'll be fun. You'll see."
I sighed. We'd see about that. Dane squeezed my hand and I squeezed back. That little bit of comfort did soothe my nerves a bit. And I didn't mind doing it. I did know the basics after all. But m
ore than anything else, I loved spending time with him.
"There you are," Robert called. "Hurry up!'
"We're coming," Dane called back. "Hold your horses!"
"Really?" Robert grimaced. "Horse puns?"
"I'm in a good mood."
"I can see that."
Catherine strolled over to Robert. She wrapped her arms around him and he tilted her head up before he kissed her lips. Catherine smiled. When she saw us, she waved a bit sheepishly before she walked over. "Savannah, do you want to go with me and pick out your horse first?" she offered.
My eyes widened at the hundred and eighty degree turn. "Um… yeah sure. That sounds great."
We pulled away from the guys and walked into the stables together. The tension between us grew with each step. I knew she'd wanted to get me alone, but I was still anxious about what she had to say. If she started any more trouble, I wasn't sure I could continue to be nice.
"I want to apologize for last night."
I blinked at her. "You do?"
"Yeah. I was way out of line. I don't know what I was thinking. I'm engaged. You're engaged. I just screwed up real bad, but it wasn't fair to keep going after you and acting like a jealous moron. I really do want to apologize for my behavior and I hope we can get along. Our fiancés are best friends, after all. I want to make sure things aren't awkward between us or them."
I stared at Catherine. Was this the same person? We'd done nothing but butt heads since I'd arrived with Dane. I even thought we'd continue to fight even after their talk the night before, but it looked like Catherine had a change of heart. "I don't want it to be awkward either," I said slowly. "What made you change your mind?"
"Dane talked some sense into me and pretty much told me that I was being an idiot." She laughed. "And he was right. I wasn't in love with him. I love Robert. I was just scared and I dragged you guys into it."
"It was pretty shitty."
"Yeah," she mumbled as she stared at the ground. "It was."
I could see she was really sorry so I smiled at her. "I forgive you. Honestly, I don't know how I'd react if I was getting married. I'd probably do something crazy too."
Pretend You’re Mine: A curvy girl romance Page 15
