Even before Sadie’s teasing remark, Savannah clearly regretted her words. She gave them a quick smile then finished gathering her things.
The three of them walked out together. Mike was glad to see Main Street fairly deserted, which wasn’t unusual this time of day. The women agreed to talk tomorrow then Sadie headed toward her office.
“Okay, so, dinner,” Savannah said, her gaze sweeping the sidewalk.
“I have an idea about that.”
“Good, because I don’t. I’m not even sure I have any brain cells left.”
“For what it’s worth, you did a hell of a job.”
She smiled like she didn’t really believe him. “I’ve already extended my stay at the motel. I don’t have a car anymore, though, and I need to go dump this stuff.” She held up her briefcase and nodded at the laptop case Mike was holding.
“I’ll take you to the motel and wait for you. Unless you need some time by yourself.”
“No, I’m fine. Not very hungry, though. However, I wouldn’t turn down something sweet.”
Damn, he was tempted to take that another way. But he knew what that hopeful look was for, and chuckling, he patted his pockets. “Sorry, fresh out. Not even a mint to my name.”
“That’s okay,” she said, sighing. “I like you anyway.”
That made him grin...until he noticed Jasper standing outside the Watering Hole talking to Avery. The two of them together always spelled trouble. “I have to ask—do you care if people see you with me?”
“Of course not.” She gave him a great smile. “Why would I?”
“I don’t know.” Shrugging, he steered them toward his truck. “You saw how they are.”
“Yeah.” Savannah sighed. “To think I used to worry about what they thought of me,” she said, then came to an abrupt stop. “Oh, my God. My therapist would be so proud.”
Mike laughed. Probably not the best response but he couldn’t help it.
“I know. Right?”
“You should be proud of yourself, Savannah,” he said. “I barely know you and I sure am.” Lucky he held the laptop in one hand and had his keys in the other. The sudden need to touch her caught him off guard. He wanted to feel the softness of her skin, brush the bangs away from her eyes as she blinked up at him. “Not that you’d care.”
“Oh, but I do, Mike,” she whispered. “I really do.”
Mike knew it would be a very long time, if ever, before he forgot that achingly sweet expression on her face as she stared up at him.
* * *
“WHEN DO I find out the surprise?” Savannah subtly sniffed.
Something sweet sat in the box on the back seat. Mike had volunteered to pick up dinner while she’d stowed her things in her room and changed into jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.
“Be patient. After seeing that presentation, I know you’ve got it in you.”
“Had it in me. I’m drained. I’ve used up all my patience for a month.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he said. “You still have to wait.”
“That is so mean. Hey—” she glanced around at the familiar landscape, brilliant fall reds, oranges and yellows everywhere, and rows of pines so tall and magnificent you’d swear the tops reached the gates of Heaven “—where are we?”
“Not too far from town.”
“I know that much.” She thought for a moment. They’d been driving south the last time she’d paid any attention. “We’re ascending, aren’t we?”
Mike nodded, his smile mysterious.
“Can you believe I’ve never been on this side of Blackfoot Falls? The foothills are beautiful. I can see why Hollywood thinks this place is the best thing since sliced bread.”
Mike chuckled. “I haven’t heard that one in a long time.”
“You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl. When did you last hear that one?”
“Not for a mighty long spell.”
Savannah laughed. “I surrender. I’d never be able to keep up with you.”
Mike lifted his right brow at her. “You saying I’m a hick?”
Studying his strong square jaw, she considered telling him what she really thought. Wouldn’t that shock the boots off him? She couldn’t help laughing.
“Well, hell.” He glanced over at her before turning off the highway onto an unpaved road. “You sure know how to undermine a man’s confidence.”
“Careful what you wish for...” She echoed the same mysterious smile he’d given her. Although, it might be fun to see how many shades of red he’d turn if she told him he was positively yummy.
“All right. I see what you’re doing.”
They went over a sizable bump, and she clutched the dashboard. “Okay, now I’m worried the town hired you to do away with me. Jeez. No one will find my body till spring.”
“I’m impressed. Good at business and creative.”
“Aren’t you even going to deny it?”
Mike laughed. “I could just leave you out here for the bears. Less hassle and worry for me.” Slowing down, he leaned forward and peered over the steering wheel. “Hey, that could come under plausible deniability. What do you think?”
“I think you’re crazy. And I blame myself for not seeing that earlier.” The whole truck shifted when the left front tire dipped into a hole. “Ouch.”
“What happened?” Mike shot her a concerned look.
“Nothing. I’m fine. Just a reflex.”
“Hang on. We’re almost there.”
“Wait.” She touched his arm. No, more like gripped it. Hard. She loosened her hold, let her hand fall away. “There really aren’t bears up here are there?”
He looked at her as though he couldn’t tell if she was joking.
“I meant...you know, not this low.”
Mike frowned slightly, shook his head. “Higher up.”
“Right. Go on,” she said, gesturing.
The sun had dropped behind the mountains, and the trees around them were creating shadows. Maybe he hadn’t frowned at all. Maybe he hadn’t seen the blood drain from her face. It was stupid to let her father’s cruel taunt play in her head. She wasn’t a child anymore.
God, she needed to get hold of herself.
Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes. The silence suited her fine. She wished she could recall the mantras from her self-help CDs. A couple drifted in and out of her brain. They might’ve stuck if she wasn’t swimming in embarrassment.
Mike parked the truck and turned to her. “I should’ve asked before I brought you up here. I’m sorry.”
“What? No.” She waved off his concern and looked away. “Don’t be silly. This is—” She gasped at the brilliance in front of her.
The vanishing sun had set the sky on fire. Clouds of red and orange streaked across the blazing horizon. Several stubborn gray, pink-tinged clouds hovered over the snowcapped peaks that stretched to the south. The valley between the two mountains formed a V, giving them a window to the incredible display. It was the most glorious sunset Savannah had ever seen.
The company could have had something to do with it...or maybe it was just that he’d been so considerate. Remembering she wanted to see a sunset, listening to her when she said something crazy like “drive” with no questions asked. Accepting her excuses without explanation. He’d even brought something sweet for her because she’d joked about needing it. Despite Porter’s lavish spending on meals, he always found a way to insinuate what he wanted in every conversation. And sex was always on the top of his list. Of course he’d pretended he was teasing, and she’d let him get away with it.
But she wasn’t going to think about him. Not tonight.
She realized she was holding her breath and let it out with a heartfelt sigh.
“If we’d gotten here thi
rty minutes earlier, I would’ve stopped at the first ridge and we would’ve had a damn near panoramic view.”
“Are you kidding? This is perfect.” She couldn’t drag her gaze away. Finally, she found her manners and looked at him. Mike was staring at her and not the sunset. “Thank you,” she said, meeting his darkened eyes. “I can’t believe you remembered.”
He smiled. “Course I did,” he said, lifting a hand and drawing the pad of his thumb across her cheekbone. His touch was so gentle her lids started to drift closed. “You got a smudge here. Probably from all that laughing earlier.”
She opened her eyes. “Great.” Now she’d embarrassed herself again. “I finished the presentation looking like a clown.”
He lowered his hand. “It was tiny.”
Her embarrassment ebbed when she realized she would’ve seen a smudge when she’d checked her makeup after changing her clothes. Mike had looked for an excuse to touch her. The thought made her a little giddy.
She turned back to the sunset. Some of the colors had already faded, and the number of gray clouds seemed to have doubled in just those few minutes. It didn’t matter. The sky was still more beautiful than anything she’d seen in a very long time. Perhaps even since she’d left Montana. Her job left little time for sunsets.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence. Just watched nature finish her show, a rather spectacular performance Savannah wouldn’t soon forget. Had she ever felt this stress free? This peaceful? Completely in the moment?
Especially after that hellish presentation. She would’ve been up half the night, pacing her room, wondering how she went wrong.
Savannah was terrible at meditation. But this...this she could get used to.
The last of the sun’s dappled light started giving way to shadows before Mike spoke. “Getting hungry?”
“I could be persuaded.”
“Do we eat in the truck or outside on a blanket?”
“It’s not too cool out?”
“A little. But no insects.”
She was worried about the bigger critters.
“Let’s just eat right here,” Mike said. “I’m comfortable. You?”
Savannah nodded, noting how immaculate he kept the truck’s interior. “Do you ever eat in your truck?”
“Not usually.” He reached into the back for the food. “But I don’t mind.”
“I promise to keep the crumbs to a minimum,” she murmured, sneaking a look at him.
The way he was stretching made his shirt cling to the muscles in his shoulders and back. No extra fat on him. His movement was slow and deliberate and made her wonder if he knew she was eyeing him. No, there was something in the box he didn’t want to mess up, she decided, watching him carefully set it, along with a white bag she’d missed, on the dashboard. Then he reached back once more and retrieved a bottle of wine and two plastic glasses.
“I hope I didn’t bruise your arm,” she said, just in case he’d noticed her sudden interest in his anatomy.
“When?”
“You know...earlier.”
Mike laughed. “That was nothing. Something tells me you have a bear-phobia, though.”
“No, it’s stupid childhood stuff.”
“Tell me.” He reached into the back again, this time for bottles of water.
Savannah sighed. “You’ll just laugh.”
“Maybe.”
That he didn’t try to deny it made her smile. She looked away, surprised there was still a halo of sunset left. “When I was five or six and my dad didn’t want me hanging around, he used to threaten to take me out to the woods and leave me for the grizzlies and coyotes. You know, silly stuff parents tell kids to keep them in line.”
Mike frowned.
“What?”
“I wouldn’t say most parents do that,” he said, his gentle tone bringing a slight sting to her eyes.
She lowered her gaze. As his words sank in, she had to swallow around the lump in her throat when it hit that her father’s cruelty had been just that. And once again Mike was being so kind. He could have said so much more, made her feel ashamed. Instead, he’d used kid gloves.
After a big breath so she could speak again, she looked up. “Hey, you know what? I’m starving.”
Chapter Ten
“Spread some napkins on the dashboard, would you?” Mike said, passing her a stack he’d pulled out of the bag.
She did as he asked but kept watch on what he was doing.
Setting the bag aside, he balanced the box on his lap. He opened it and pulled out a turnover that was perfectly crisped and filled with something red, maybe cherries or raspberries. Savannah’s mouth started watering.
“I should’ve thought of paper plates,” he said, shaking his head. “Not too bright.” He was already bringing out something else from the box. A fritter, dark and glistening, that smelled like apple.
“Oh, my God, I don’t care about plates.”
He might’ve grinned at her, she wasn’t sure. Savannah had eyes only for what had appeared next—a chocolate cupcake, perfectly preserved with every swirl of frosting intact.
She moaned. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?”
“The lady wanted sweets. I wasn’t sure which ones.”
“They’re all favorites. I swear, I couldn’t be happier—”
He pulled out two small but perfect éclairs topped with thick chocolate ganache.
“Okay, now I’m positively giddy.”
Mike laughed. “Kylie—she owns the bakery—she’s amazing. I admit, I’m a fool for her doughnuts. And these éclairs? Hell, I almost ate one while I waited for her to box everything up.”
“Almost?” Savannah gave him a long look. “Come here,” she said, grabbing the front of his shirt and leaning toward him until their faces were inches apart. “I smell chocolate on your breath.”
Mike stared at her mouth. Probably thought she was going to kiss him. And damn, she wanted to.
Releasing him, she sat back. “I’ll let it go this time,” she said, her pounding heart stealing some of the glibness she was going for. “But only because you brought enough to share.”
“You think so, huh?” His smile was impressively evil.
“Careful. We’re way out here with no witnesses, and I can be a real wildcat.”
A faint moan came from the back of his throat. He tried covering it up with a cough. That only confirmed her suspicion about what he was thinking. Telling him that wasn’t at all what she meant could backfire.
“We have more,” he murmured, grabbing the bag and tearing into it.
Inside was a baguette and a couple imported soft cheeses, plus a deli package. “Ham,” he said. “Picnic food, right?”
“Picnic banquet.”
“Bet you’re surprised I could get all this in Blackfoot Falls.”
“I’ve been to the market,” she said.
“It’s not exactly Whole Foods.”
“I didn’t say that. They have very fresh produce.”
“That they do.”
They were talking about groceries—a topic one step up from the weather. All her fault for messing around.
Maneuvering so she was sitting almost facing Mike, she decided to act like a grown woman...with manners. “Should we start with the cheese and bread?”
“I won’t tell anyone if you want to have a cupcake first.”
“Nope. Half the pleasure is the wait.”
His brows lowered. “I’m not sure about that...” Leaning in just a touch—enough that she held her breath—he picked up the wine bottle from where he’d left it on the floorboard. “I like the getting part.”
It wouldn’t have taken much to meet him halfway, but no. The waiting was all she was going to have. It was no use thinking about anything else.
“W
hat’s the wine?”
He showed her the bottle, and it was one she liked. He could just as easily have brought soda. It was him making her bubbly.
The dashboard served as their table, and their glasses ended up between their thighs. Great fix, but it made her far too conscious of...things.
“I want to ask you a question,” she said, focusing on the cheese he was spreading on a piece of the baguette. “But it’s important that you know you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. Okay?”
He nodded, his brow slightly furrowed. “I made this for you without thinking,” he said, handing her the bread. “You can have it or if you’d rather get your own...”
“Thank you.” She smiled as she accepted the offering. “After I left, I mean, after my mom and I left, what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, what did people say? And, please, if you answer, be completely honest. I’m prepared for pretty much anything.”
He tore off another piece of bread then met her gaze. “I’m not sure I can help. I know you don’t have any doubt that there was gossip. A lot of it. I was away at college, but when I came home that weekend I heard about some of what happened. Obviously it was big news.”
“Who did you hear it from?”
“My mom, though she isn’t much for gossip. Meaning she didn’t have much to say.”
“Do you mind telling me what she heard?”
“Let’s see, three of your teachers were involved over the course of two months. They were all married and—well, hell, I’m just repeating things you already know.”
“But I don’t. That’s the thing,” she said, aware she was getting anxious. She stopped to take a deep breath. “I only knew bits and pieces and some of it my mom had lied about. I know my English teacher was separated from his wife at the time, and, yes, I did know the other two teachers were married when the affairs started.”
“Before all that, weren’t you being homeschooled?”
“Yes, my parents thought I’d learn more, but after my dad left, I convinced my mom to let me go to the high school. So she had to meet with the principal and some of my teachers.” Savannah shrugged. “I’d tested well. In fact, I could’ve skipped freshman year, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t understand why my mom kept having so many parent-teacher meetings because my grades were excellent. What did I know?
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