Page 105 of All I Want For Christmas

Annoyance pricked at him. After everything they’d talked about anddoneto one another, she wouldn’t even look at him?“I got called into work. It was unexpected. I left a note. I really thought that was enough.”

That got her to finally look at him. “Did you have to come back to Autre?” she asked.

He frowned. “When? Tonight?”

“That morning,” she said in a whisper, looking around to see if anyone was listening.

Mr. Allen was here, as he always was for every meeting, and the six members of the city council were all in their chairs at the head table, but they were involved in conversation with one another. Otherwise, the room was empty.

“Yes,” Theo told her. “I had to pick up my work truck and a coworker on my way to the call.”

Savannah nodded. “So you could’ve woke me up and brought me with you.”

He leaned closer. “I guess I was hoping that you wanted to stay at the cabin and see me when I got back.”

Her eyes narrowed. “But you should’veaskedme what I wanted to do. Where I wanted to be. Especially before you took away the only way for me to get out of there on my own.”

He leaned in. Fuck. Shehadthought he’d abandoned her. “I told you I understood. I wouldnotjust leave you out there. Not after what you told me.Especiallynot after…everything. But I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up. I liked seeing you in my bed too much.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare try to bring…” She looked around again before pinning him with a glare. “…thatinto this.”

“That changed things between us, Savannah.”

“No, it didn’t. That just happened. It was one night. And now we should pretend it didn’t happen.”

He sat back, shoving a hand through his hair in frustration. And, he could admit, hurt too.

“You knew I was coming back. You werenotstranded,” he said.

“Yes, I was!” she exclaimed. Then she lowered her voice again. “Even if you were coming back, I was dependent on wheneveryoudecided that was going to be.”

“And you werethateager to leave?” Of course she was. She wasnotcut out for the bayou. Not even for a day. Not once she’d accomplished her objective, anyway. Their night together had been…an accident. Neither of them had intended for it to happen.

Just then, Kennedy banged the gavel on the table at the front of the room and started the meeting.

Theo faced forward, his emotions twisting through his gut.

He’d been awakened by the phone call and the request to come in and help with the arrests at the last minute. He hadn’t gone through the entire scenario in his head. She’d been sleeping peacefully. They’d had a great night the night before. He’d wanted more.

He’d said he wanted to keep her in bed with him, and he’d gotten someoh, yesesfrom her, but fine, that hadn’t been a specific plan. He hadn’t asked her if she wanted more after the sun was up. They hadn’t talked about how long she was going to stay. He’d thought about asking if she’d consider staying the weekend with him. But they hadn’t gotten that far.

And then he’d left her there.

And he fucking knew about her anxiety.

He’d messed up.

But maybe knowing that she couldn’t wait to get away from his cabin as soon as the sun was up was a good thing. It was the reminder he needed that Savannah wasn’t cut out to be a full-time, long-term part of his life.

“Well, we’re here for only one reason,” Kennedy said, looking around the room.

“Savannah, I understand that you stayed at the cabin as planned?”

“Yes,” Savannah said. “Last Friday night.”

“Okay, you have the floor.”

Savannah rose and approached the podium. She adjusted the microphone and said, “I stayed at the cabin, and…enjoyed it.” She stopped and cleared her throat.

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