Page 50 of Inarticulate

“I think we already do.”

True. They were embroiled in a mess that started years ago, and now it was morphing into something bigger, something nastier.

“Look, I’ve asked repeatedly and have been assured that the man I’m spending my time with is single.” She wasn’t going to doubt Keenan again. She had no reason not to trust him, and until he did something that made her question her judgement, she would ignore her cousin’s attempt to cause drama.

“Ha.” Penny shook her head in disgust. “Keenan is always single, yet you’ll never see him without a woman on his arm or me in his bed.”

“Well, you weren’t there last night.” Savannah snapped her mouth shut, wishing she could take back the taunt. Silence engulfed them. The sound of traffic grew distant. The presence of pedestrians walking to work disappeared.

Penny’s face fell and paleness creeped into her features. “No, but I bet you won’t be tonight.”

No, she wouldn’t be. Keenan had already left her a note telling her as much.

Savannah bit her tongue and breathed deep through her nose. They were in a boxing ring, landing invisible blows that still packed a physical punch. It would go on forever unless she put a stop to it. She sipped her coffee, taking the additional seconds to regroup, then met Penny’s scowl head on. “All this is beside the point,” she continued. “Because I’m not sleeping with Keenan.”

If Penny could lie, so could she. They were done with this. She was moving on. She took the first step toward her hotel and ignored the sound of callous laughter that sent a shiver down her spine.

“Are you really going to stick with that load of bullshit?”

Savannah took the first step, and the second, not slowing her stride. “What I’m going to do is extricate myself from this childish situation and pretend like you were never here.”

There was a beat of silence, one slow, blurred glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel before, “Dominic said he told you about what happened on our last summer vacation.”

Savannah paused on the top step, this time out of respect for the mistakes of her past. “Yes, he did.”

“And you have nothing to say?”

She kept her gaze straight ahead. The reflection of Penny in the lobby windows was enough to test her composure. “If you told me years ago, I would’ve apologized profusely. As it stands, I still feel horrible. But we were kids, and I refuse to let you drag the past into the present. That summer is over and we’ve both grown up.” She took the last step. “At least I have.”

“You’re such a bitch, Savannah. You always thought you were better than me,” Penny raised her voice. “I’ll destroy the lives of all those employees. One by one. And I’ll make sure they know you’re to blame.”

Savannah continued walking, her head high, her shoulders straight. She wouldn’t show fear, no matter how excruciatingly tight her chest became. “Goodbye, Penny.”

“It’sPenelope,” her cousin snapped.

Savannah pushed open the hotel door and glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t care.”

Chapter Eighteen

Savannah wastedyesterday trying to deny she was hiding from staff over the condom scandal. Today, she refused to acknowledge that she felt threatened by her cousin. Neither day was spent in the skin of a woman who was confident and calculated. She was beginning to see a stranger staring back at her from the mirror. A stranger who had left her underwear in the bottom of the Grandiosity Penthouse pool.

Through phone calls to the San Francisco office, emails to local staff, and numerous coffee breaks, she struggled to concentrate. She spent hours working in her hotel room without a second unmarred by thoughts of Penny. Her mind couldn’t focus on work. Instead, she fought with herself not to question Keenan’s motives or honesty.

The easiest option was to extricate herself from the situation and kiss goodbye to a phenomenal yet temporary sex life. But she didn’t think she could. Keenan had edged himself into her life, and even though she would eventually go back to San Fran and leave him behind, she couldn’t bring herself to cut him off prematurely.

She pushed from her tiny hotel desk and dragged her feet to the window. She could still see him leaning against the light post, his confidence beaming back at her. Not a second passed without his remembered touch on her skin.

Eight months with Spencer didn’t equate to one night with Keenan. Her ex wasn’t even in the same ballpark. Who would’ve thought that a wealthy, articulate man like Spencer with his pretty-boy looks and his CEO inheritance would be no match for a guy as rough and gruff as Keenan?

The man she was falling for didn’t have an army of seductive words at his disposal. He didn’t have a portfolio of assets or a gushing bank account. There was only the man himself—pure sex appeal with no added distractions.

She settled her hand against the cool glass of the window and wished he was still down there, his devouring stare peering up at her. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there daydreaming. It could’ve been seconds. It could’ve been days. And when her suite phone trilled, she was torn from her fantasies hard enough to wrench a gasp from her throat.

She pushed away the curtains, stepped past the desk chair and around the bed to pick up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Savannah, it’s Kelly at reception, I’m sorry to bother you—”

“It’s no problem.”

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