Page 13 of Inarticulate

He strolled away, leaving them in torturous silence. If this was what Savannah had to expect from her cousin in a good mood, she’d hate to see her during shark week.

“Sorry,Penelope.” She kept her smile tight. “I actually hoped we’d catch up tonight so we could speak about the Grandiosity takeover. There’s been staff—”

“Do you know how surprised I was to hear you were a part of the failing hotel chain?” Penny was glib. “The sale must be embarrassing for all of you.”

Heat consumed Savannah’s cheeks. There were no words. The assault hit too close to home. Itwasembarrassing. For everyone involved—local staff and head office management included.

Keenan cleared his throat and stepped to the side, extricating himself from Penny’s touch. But it was too late. She couldn’t separate them. They were one and the same. Two beautiful people capable of claiming the title for most accomplished assholes in the state of Washington.

“Would you look at that?” She raised the wine spritzer to her lips, chugged the remaining contents, and lowered it with a deep exhale. “I think I need another drink, too.”

Screw Penny and her need to overcompensate for childhood issues. They didn’t have to get along. They didn’t have to speak. As long as her cousin stayed out of Rydel business until settlement, Savannah wouldn’t have to kick the prissy bitch’s ass in the most non-literal way possible.

And screw Keenan for making her wonder if the seduction she sensed earlier was even real. Now she had to drown her libido in alcohol to ensure she flushed him out of her system.

Chapter Six

Savannah stood on her own, her back to the bonfire. She snuggled into her jacket and yanked up the collar to fight the lowering temperature. The heat on her legs was sublime. Almost painful. The slight burning took her mind off Penny, Keenan, and the growing need to pee.

There were no toilets out here. None. And now that she cradled her third wine spritzer, her bladder was determined not to let her forget.

“Hey, sweet thang,” a male slurred from beside her.

She palmed the unopened bottle in her hand and shot him an unimpressed look. “Hey…”

“You single?”

She chuckled and went back to staring at the impressive hedge that separated them from the wealth of the house yard. “Who’s asking?”

“They call me Fox.”

Of course they did. “Well, Fox, you’re extremely forthright.”

“When I want something, I usually take it.”

Unfortunately, her vagina wasn’t on offer. To him, at least. Keenan, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. Even with the question of his relationship status hovering in the back of her mind, she still had to fight the need to turn and seek him out through the flames.

“You lookin’ to get laid?”

She breathed through the need to snort and looked at him with sincerity. “Come on, Fox, you can do better than that. You need to woo me.” She gripped the cap of her unopened wine spritzer and, yet again, tried in vain to twist it off.

A tingle ignited in her neck and she wiggled her shoulders, trying to brush away the sensation that someone was watching her. She knew it was her imagination. Her hormones, to be more specific. She wanted Keenan to be looking at her, his appraisal raking over her skin.

“Woo you?” Fox swayed from side to side and kicked the dust up at his feet. “How?”

A throat cleared behind her and she glanced over her shoulder to find Keenan. Right there. He was less than a foot away, his striking presence hovering over her. He reached out and gripped her wine spritzer. Time stopped as he brushed her hand away and twisted the cap.

“Thanks.” She turned to face him, grateful that Fox took the hint and slinked away. “Ditched the girlfriend, did you?”

There was no response, only sterile silence. She lowered her attention to the ground. To his large brown boots, not wanting to break the ice between them. At some point he had to give her something, anything, to fracture the awkwardness.

But apparently that time wasn’t now.

“Did you know there’s no bathrooms around here?” She looked up through her lashes, thankful that the bitter bite of annoyance had left his eyes. “A guy at the cooler told me to squat behind a tree.” There was almost humor in his gray depths.

“Squat,” she continued. “Behind a freakin’ tree.” She was a city girl. If there weren’t toilets, you didn’t go to the bathroom. You held your bladder. Until you initiated kidney failure, if necessary. “I’m at the point where I either have to stop drinking to avoid the carnage, or become comfortable with a higher level of intoxication so it isn’t mentally scarring when I drop my pants in public.”

His lips lifted at one side, a lazy grin she wished she witnessed more often. He shot a quick glance over her head, past the bonfire, then grabbed her wrist and gently tugged.

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