Inarticulate

by Eden Summers

  Once she was in the vicinity of suitably-dressed, she checked her pockets for her belongings and ran for the front door, finger combing her hair along the way. The hall was empty, the thick silence increasing her paranoia as she waited for the elevator.

  Minutes ticked by. Hours. Then the ding of her arriving chariot filled her ears.

  She checked her teeth in the elevator mirror and tried to bring conformity to her unruly hair. As the bell dinged her ground level destination, she looked at the tiled floor and kept her focus there until she was outside the hotel doors. There was no way she was making eye contact with anyone.

  A walk of shame was always painful. Sneaking out of a rival penthouse without your underwear was excruciating. But even though the embarrassment was aggressively potent, a grin still curved her lips. There was an added energy to her step, a bigger bounce that came from the way her body still hummed from Keenan’s touch.

  She wasn’t in first grade anymore. Her panties didn’t have her name clearly written on the tag. There would be no lost property announcement or search for the owner.

  There was no need to panic.

  The sunshine beamed extra bright as she walked through the Seattle streets, sipping a takeaway coffee and reliving the night before like it was her first trip to Disneyland. Nothing could’ve wiped the smile exercising her cheeks, nothing except Penny, who stood at the bottom of the stairs leading to the Rydel front doors, her arms crossed as she glared.

  “Have fun last night?” her cousin greeted.

  Savannah tried not to wither as the overdose of orgasmic bliss flushed from her system in an immediate detox. “What do you want, Penny?” She stopped in front of her cousin, sipped her coffee, and pretended as though she wasn’t currently doing the walk of shame without panties.

  “I want to ask you nicely to stay away from him.”

  “From who?” she drawled.

  “Don’t play coy. It doesn’t suit you.”

  Savannah rolled her eyes. “Then don’t pretend to be nice, because that doesn’t suit you either.”

  Penny dropped her hands to her sides and raised her chin. “Keenan didn’t go home last night and you didn’t answer my calls when the receptionist buzzed your room. It’s safe to assume the two of you were together.”

  “Assumptions lead to false accusations, Penny. You should learn to be more professional than that.”

  “Just stay away from him, okay?”

  Savannah didn’t enjoy thinly veiled threats, especially when they came from someone who had just snatched her morning high with the finesse of a Brazilian wax. The two of them were never going to get along. It was clear. Crystal. So there was no point in deflecting drama. She needed to face it head on. To gobble it up with a voracious smile on her face to ensure Penny knew she wasn’t interested in playing games.

  Savannah lowered the coffee cup from her lips and calmed her expression. This could be handled with civility, right? “If you feel threatened by me, maybe you should take it up with this man of yours.”

  “Or I could take it out on your staff?” she sneered. “Interviews start soon. It would be a shame if I was too angry to judge Rydel staff fairly.”

  Or maybe civility was a stretch. A long stretch.

  “Do that and we’re going to have a lot of problems.”

  “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’s Penelope,” her cousin snapped.

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

  Chapter Eighteen

  Savannah wasted yesterday 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 dispo
sal. 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.”

  “A package has arrived for you. Would you like me to arrange for someone to bring it up?”

  A package? Her heart sank. There was no excitement over the delivery, only a slowly dawning dread working its way from her feet to her chest. Life was becoming ridiculous when your initial reaction was to envisage your cousin sending a severed cow’s head or sheep’s heart in the mail. “No. I can come and get it. Do you know who it’s from?”

  “It doesn’t say on the box, but there’s a card. Want me to open it?”

  “No, it’s okay. I’ll be there in a minute.” She hung up the receiver and pulled on her shoes before leaving her room. When she entered the lobby, Grant and Kelly were on the customer side of the reception desk, both peering down at the counter that held a silver box adorned with ribbon. The package was at least a foot long, marginally shorter in width and around eight inches in height.

  Too small for a severed head. Too big for a sheep’s heart. Winner.

  “Is this it?” she asked as she approached.

  “Yep. It was delivered by courier.” Kelly greeted her with a smile. “And it sure looks pretty.”

  “Thanks.” She lifted the box, surprised at the light weight. “I’ll be back down later to get a coffee and check the occupancy reports.”

  “You’re not going to open it here?” Grant asked.

  She eyed the package. “No, I didn’t plan on it.”

  “Come on.” There was no nervousness in his features, no twitch to his hands. “We need something to brighten our day.”

  “I’m not sure the contents of this box will help with that.” She shook the package and nothing clunked. Whatever lay inside was soft. Come to think of it, it was probably a box full of bubble-wrap, with compliments from Spencer who liked to waste her time and the company’s money on stupid shit like this.

  “Just open it,” he chastised.

  “Pushy much?” She glared and placed the box back on the counter. Kelly and Grant encroached, both hovering over her shoulders as she pulled at the pink ribbon and lifted the lid an inch. Silver tissue paper stared back at her, the contents hidden from view.

  “Here, let me hold that.” Kelly snatched the lid away.

  “Slow down.” Savannah looked at them in turn. “With the settlement being temperamental, I don’t want to rush into opening unmarked packages.”

  Kelly took a step back. “What do you think is in there?”

  “I don’t know.” She slid her hand under the layers of tissue paper and relaxed at the soft texture under her fingertips. She grasped something that felt like lace and lifted. Bright purple material came into view. Black stitching was woven around the edges, more and more of it becoming visible as she slowly raised her hand.

  “Is that…” Grant’s voice drifted off.

  Oh, shit. Scorching heat flooded her cheeks. She shoved the tiny sliver of underwear back into the box and snatched the lid from Kelly’s grip. “I think it’s best if I open this in private.” She slid the package off the counter and clutched it to her chest. “The card?”

  Kelly scooted around the desk and lifted a white envelope from her keyboard. “Was that lingerie?”

  “I don’t know.” Liar, liar, libido on fire. “But it’s definitely not work related, so I’ll take this back to my room.”

  She ignored the twitch of Grant’s lips and swiveled toward the elevator. She ignored their laughter, too, and walked at a clipped pace, fleeing the lobby and ascending to her room with adrenaline flowing through her veins.

  She pushed her front door open with her hip and ran for her bed, dropping the box down immediately and throwing away the lid. She unfolded the tissue paper and stared in shock at the numerous pieces of matching lingerie.

  One by one, she lifted the items—red satin bra and matching panties, purple lace bra and matching G-string, bright pink, see-through camisole with a tiny string of material that could not be described as underwear.

  She checked the tags, all of them displaying the same name of an expensive women’s lingerie company along with the notification of her size. Her size. The size that nobody else in the world should know except her.

  She reached for the envelope, tore the side, and pulled out a pearl white piece of cardboard.

  Rumor has it that you left a souvenir in the penthouse pool. I hope these make up for your loss.

  Keenan.

  That overwhelming heat flooded her cheeks again, and a torturous, undeniable double-tap thumped in her chest. She pivoted, snatched her cell from the small desk and began typing with fingers that were overdosing on adrenaline.

  Savannah: Thank you for the inappropriate and outrageously beautiful gift. I assure you I didn’t plan on leaving a souvenir, however, I was rudely left to awaken alone and in enemy territory moments before the troops were scheduled to attack. I think my nights of sleeping naked are well and truly over.

  She clicked send and threw her cell onto the bed. She was buzzing—her limbs, her heart, her thoughts. Whenever she thought his seductive appeal was unable to reach new heights, he surprised her all over again, weaving his web of infatuation tighter and tighter.

  “You’re killing me,” she murmured to the empty room.

  She backtracked into the small desk, clutched the wood, and scrutinized the package from a safe distance. The contents were masterful in their appeal. He’d purchased items to make her think of sex, their sex—last night and in the future—and she’d already been overdosing on the topic.

  Her cell vibrated and she practically lunged for the device, sweeping it off the mattress in a lithe swoop as she casually dropped against the end of the bed.

  Keenan: A woman of your outrageous beauty should never sleep with clothes on. Especially in my bed. I will endeavor to make sure that disservice to the world never happens on my watch.

  She stared at the message. Couldn’t stop. Her focus was stuck on two words—outrageous beauty. Yes, they were her words repeated back to her with alluring perfection, but it was much more than letters and syllables.

  She actually felt beautiful in his presence. It was probably why her brain was a mass of fog and giddy contemplation. He made her feel gorgeous. Adored. Revered wasn’t a stretch.

  What so many men before him couldn’t articulate, he did without voice. He transformed her into a goddess whenever they were together. His presence, his dominance, even the possession in his eyes, it all wordlessly danced together to wrap her in a confidence unlike what she experienced in the professional world.

  Her cell vibrated in her grip.

  Keenan: I expect a fashion parade tomorrow night.

  Tomorrow. Not tonight.

  The giddiness faded and in its place came a vision of Penny. The reminder of her cousin’s taunts made all happiness dissipate and an unhealthy amount of determination ignite.

  Savannah: How about tonight? I can wait up for you.

  She started packing the orgasm-inducing lingerie into the box, taking her time to admire each item. She could pretend his reply wasn’t as important as her next breath. Yep. She could pretend the shit out of that.

  Keenan: My commitments aren’t in the city and I’m not sure when I’ll be finished. I promise to make it up to you on Friday.

  And there it was, the ball sailing gracefully into Penny
’s side of the court.

  Savannah fell back onto the mattress and stared at the ceiling. Her options were narrowing. She could either trust a man she barely knew or give credit to someone she was beginning to loathe. Neither made her heart flutter with joy. In fact, both options kind of felt like a knife to her kidneys.

  Penny’s claws were gripping tighter around her throat. The woman was winning. At the very least, her manipulation was starting to dent Savannah’s thin layer of professionalism because all she wanted to do was forehead slap her cousin and tell her to wake up to herself.

  Should she tell him about the confrontation with her cousin? She’d held off all day, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. But now that she had his attention, she didn’t want to let the opportunity slide.

  Savannah: Penny was waiting for me when I arrived at my hotel this morning.

  She picked up the purple bra and twirled it on her finger, waiting for her cell to buzz.

  It didn’t.

  She pulled all the lingerie out, inspected them, replaced them back into their box, and still there was no reply. Her body reacted as if starved of oxygen. Her heart rate increased, her lungs threatened to explode. There was so much angst waiting for one message. A few words.

  Was it really worth it?

  She closed her eyes and was immediately greeted with Keenan’s grin. She could feel his touch on her neck—his fingertips, his lips. She could sense the warmth from his strong arm wrapped around her waist, and her heart began to do that tippy tappy thing.

  The phenomenal sex may not be worth the jealousy and anger Penny inspired. But Keenan’s attention, his affection, made the negative side-effects less harsh. Yes, the risk was great. Huge. Only there were so many other reasons to negate those bad thoughts. Seattle was lonely. She needed stress relief, and she needed to prove, not only to herself, but to Spencer, that she could move on.

  The familiar vibration of her cell startled the silence, and the pressure in her chest lessened.