Page 40 of Inarticulate

He reached out his free hand and she stepped back, fearful of her weakness. A smirk tilted his lips and the glint in his eye said he knew exactly why she was fleeing.

“The best thing for me is an early night.”

His smirk remained in place. Teasing. Taunting. He stared at her, unblinking, and began hypnotizing her into submission.

“Keenan…”

He raised a brow, feigning ignorance of his appeal.

“Stop using that smirk on me.”

“What?” he mouthed, innocent as sin.

His confidence was her Achilles heel. But he was right. She was only here for mere weeks. Not nearly long enough to get to know him like her body demanded.

“You’re manipulative.”

His focus didn’t waiver, the smirk didn’t falter.

“Fine,” she huffed. “I’ll go get changed. But you need to wait out here and cool off a little.”

He gave an almost indecipherable nod, sealing her fate, banging the gavel and resigning her to another ride on the emotional Keenan roller coaster.

Email

Date: 23rdDecember

Subject: That night.

Savannah,

Do you remember the night you made me stand in the shadows of your hotel while you went inside to change your clothes? Can you imagine the thoughts that went through my mind while you undressed in your room?

Five minutes is a long time for a man to wait in the cold. But I never felt the chill. Around you, I lacked normal sensation. I lacked control and foresight. And everything else that I’d grown to rely on.

The night our movie plans were ruined is evidence of that.

I don’t chase tail, Savannah. I don’t run after women or heel when lovers come running after me. But I’d happily go to the ends of the earth if it meant you’d come back to me.

Will you? Will you ever come back? Will you ever return my emails?

Keenan

Chapter Fifteen

Keenan was leaningagainst the lamp post when Savannah returned. He stood in the same GQ fashion as the other night, his casual sophistication making every erogenous zone on her body take notice.

He straightened on her approach, but she didn’t acknowledge him. She turned onto the sidewalk and continued toward the corner, her head low, her coat tight around her waist. It was time to start being careful, no matter how intensely her body tingled with the need to be near him.

His footsteps grew louder, the thump of his boots sending a constant shiver up her spine. When she reached the end of the block, she took a cautious look for oncoming traffic even though her mind was stuck in daydreams instead of the real world.

A deep, masculine throat cleared behind her,rightbehind her, and she sucked in an anxious breath. She could see him in her periphery, his muscled build a looming temptation. He brushed into her, his shoulder against hers, and trailed his hand into her already occupied pocket.

Her veins tingled as his palm glided over hers and he entwined their fingers in the sanctuary of the material. She didn’t look at him, and he was facing straight ahead, too. They were merely two strangers, walking side-by-side, with their hands inadvertently tangled.

No biggie.

They continued across the street, toward the sanctuary of upcoming businesses that would hide them from all possible view of the Rydel hotel. Each step increased the rampant beat in her chest and her lungs began to labor.

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