Page 10 of Inarticulate

Dominic chuckled. “You’re such a bitch.”

She kept her focus on Keenan as her smile faded. Was she being a bitch? It wasn’t her intent. Then again, just because she wanted to communicate and get inside the mind of the dark, handsome, and silent stranger, didn’t mean he had a responsibility to give in. He obviously had a reason for being guarded.

“Sorry.” She turned to the sink and rinsed off the remaining plates. “Once these are stacked, do you mind taking me back to the hotel?”

“Of course. Go say goodbye to Mom. I’ll be finished by the time you return.”

She nodded and kept her head low as she walked from the kitchen. Her aunt was still standing at the head of the table, smiling and enjoying the praise her cooking had inspired. Savannah came to her side and whispered in her ear, “I’m leaving now.”

There were more hugs and kisses. A myriad of murmured words in her ear and pleas for her to come back as much as possible during her stay in Seattle.

“I will.” She wasn’t sure if it was a lie. Time would tell. But tonight had been fun. Kind of.

She waved goodbye to the guests still chatting at the table, and made her way back to the kitchen. Her steps slowed as she passed through the doorway and found Keenan and Dominic standing face to face, on opposite sides of the open dishwasher door. They both stiffened at the first click of her heels against the tile, and her cousin’s harshly whispered words cut short.

“Did I interrupt something?”

Dominic shook his head and tried to appease her with a fake smile. “Is the princess ready to be escorted back to her tower?”

“Yeah.” She tracked Keenan’s movements as he stalked to the far side of the room and leaned against the wall. He didn’t look at her this time. Didn’t lift his focus from the lazy position on the floor. “It was nice to meet you, Keenan.”

She measured her steps toward him and held out her hand. His chin lifted and she tensed when his eyes met hers. The soulful gray was intoxicating. Hypnotizing. A myriad of unspoken words drifted between them, but they were nonsensical, in another language. She yearned to understand him. To hear what his gaze implied. To comprehend what his harsh focus meant.

His fingers slid across her palm, rough and warm. There was no hesitation. No reluctance. She wanted to believe there was a flicker of seduction in his features. That the look he gave her was more than goodbye. He shook her hand, the slow rhythm in contrast to the hummingbird flutter in her chest.

“I might see you next weekend.” She cleared her throat to cast away her embarrassingly husky tone and pulled back her arm.

He held tight, his unreadable expression not even flickering as he clutched her fingers. The connection was minute, a mere clench of his grip, yet the rush of fire it sent through her veins had her mouth opening and closing like a guppy.

Then he was gone. The brief withdrawal of his palm and slight jut of his chin toward Dominic done in the blink of an eye before he stalked from the room.

“Ready?” her cousin asked behind her.

No. “Yes.”

She turned to Dominic, her mind a whirling mess of annoyance, curiosity, and the stinging bite of arousal. Keenan had cemented her fate for next weekend. She would be at the bonfire. With bells on. The tall, dark, and devilish stranger might be exactly what she needed. There was no way she could keep idle in her hotel suite when the perfect opportunity to move on from Spencer was passing her by.

“Come on.” Dominic led the way from the kitchen. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

Chapter Five

Savannah spent the week smiling. A fake, torturous lift of her lips she didn’t plan on replicating until Monday came back around.

Grandiosity’s plan seemed crystal clear. They wanted to sweep out meager Rydel staff to replace them with their own bright and shiny set of minions. Whether or not they were trying to drive down the settlement was another issue. And both were in breach of the settlement agreement.

The list of staff resignations grew day by day—six housekeepers, one maintenance man, two receptionists, three kitchen hands, and a bartender. There were too many to remember, and Savannah had only had the charm to convince less than half of those to return.

The employees who had stuck by the company had made it clear they were only doing so because they had no other job to go to. They were scared, stressed, and wearing thin of all the bullshit. Rightly so, too.

Kelly, one of the three remaining receptionists, had a dying mother and excessive hospital bills to pay. Amanda, the event manager, had a wedding booked on the eve of Thanksgiving and less than enough staff to facilitate the life changing day for her happy couple. And Grant, the morning shift manager, had admitted to unhealthy anxiety issues and wasn’t sure if he could medically remain working until settlement.

That was merely three of the items on her infinite list of waking nightmares.Three out of a bazillion. And her heart bled at each one. But the last thing she needed was emotional attachment. The weight of fixing this mess was enough for her shoulders to bear. She needed to remain detached, even when more than one employee had told her the insecurities started weeks ago when security footage showed Penny reserving a room under a fake name.

Her cousin then proceeded to intimidate every employee she came across until management had removed her from the premises forty-eight hours later. In a perfect world, she never should've been able to secure a suite, let alone manipulate everyone she came in contact with. Only the trickle of threats hadn’t reached management ears until it was already too late, and staff had started to leave.

But all the manipulation and sabotage didn’t currently matter, because it was Saturday night and Savannah was officially off the clock.

Dominic had texted her directions to the ‘Rich Bastard’s property,’ and she was almost at her destination. A six-pack of wine spritzers sloshed from the passenger seat of her rental car. Blankets and pillows were stacked in the back. The road she drove along was bordered by tall trees and devoid of streetlights. It was the perfect setting for the start of a horror film.

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