The Plan (Capitol Love Series Book 1)

by Samantha Powers

  Colin debated saying they were still in danger of being caught so he could keep her pressed up against him for a little while longer but decided not to overplay his hand. “Yeah, let’s hurry before someone else comes through.”

  As Savannah followed Colin up the stairs, she tried to calm the butterflies that had taken flight in her stomach the moment he had pulled her against him. She wasn’t a casual making-out-in-stairwells kind of girl, but she suspected that if Colin had kissed her, she would have become one immediately because one kiss would not have been nearly enough.

  Three flights up, Colin stopped at a door and looked through its small window to survey the concourse. It was crowded with people getting food, heading to the restrooms, or standing around watching the game through the entrances to the stands. He opened the door a crack and looked out to confirm that the coast was clear, then he closed the door and turned to Savannah.

  “Here’s the plan,” he said. “I’m going to open the door, and you’re going to slip through and blend into the crowd as quickly as possible while moving down the concourse to the left. Walk to the first restroom and then hang out there, and I’ll catch up in a minute. OK?”

  Savannah’s eyes were bright, and her skin still held a flush from earlier, making her look completely delectable. Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she said, “Got it.”

  “You can do this, Red,” he said. And he reached out to tuck her hair behind her ear.

  Savannah’s eyes went wide, but otherwise she didn’t acknowledge the intimacy of the gesture. Instead, she nodded her readiness. Colin took one more look through the window before pulling the door open and pushing Savannah out. He watched as she held her head up and calmly but quickly moved into the flow of the crowd. After a moment, he slipped out and hurried to catch up with her.

  When Savannah reached the restrooms, she paced around waiting for Colin and gave herself a pep talk about sticking to The Plan. This was definitely an exciting day, and sure, she was attracted to him—she was only human, right? But just because she had those feelings did not mean she had to act on them. Acting on them would be very detrimental to The Plan.

  Or would it? She was starting to wonder if Rayne was right. Maybe it was possible to give in to her attraction to Colin without jeopardizing her overall goal.

  As she was turning around to pace in the other direction, she caught sight of Colin less than twenty feet away talking to a tall, slim, beautiful woman who managed to look elegant even in jeans and a simple linen blouse. She was smiling at him as she talked, and when she reached out to touch his arm, Savannah saw the glitter of what looked like a very expensive gold watch. Colin was smiling back at her and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to end the conversation and find Savannah. Then the woman’s expression became more serious, and she leaned a little closer to Colin.

  Without thinking it through, Savannah charged toward them. As she reached Colin’s side, the woman was saying something about missing inventory and he replied with, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

  “Colin! There you are,” Savannah said.

  The woman turned to look at her. Up close, she was older than Savannah had thought, around forty, but she looked good. Her short blond hair was cut in a fashionable wispy style, and her makeup was flawless. Savannah was suddenly deeply embarrassed, and her stomach was in knots. So this was what jealousy felt like.

  But she reminded herself that she had no claim on Colin and was desperately trying to come up with a graceful way out of there, out of the whole damn stadium, when he said, “Savannah! Honey! There you are!” He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

  Savannah stared at him, surprised at his seeming eagerness to call in an order of catfish nuggets with this elegant woman, but then after weeks of improvising scenes like this, she jumped right in.

  “You know any amount of time without you is too long,” she said as she ran a finger along his jawline and noticed, in spite of herself, the pleasant way his slight stubble tickled.

  Colin leaned in like he was nuzzling her neck and whispered “Save me” against her ear. His hot breath on her sensitive ear made fireworks light off from her belly and flood her veins with heat, and she jerked away before things got hot for real.

  Forcing a giggle, she swatted his chest. “Oh, you!”

  Colin grinned and turned to the woman. “Excuse my rudeness, Holly. This is Savannah. Savannah, this is Holly. She’s...uh...an old family friend.”

  “I’m not as old as all that,” Holly said good-naturedly. “Pleased to meet you, Savannah.” She held out her hand, and Savannah took it, noticing her professional manicure and wondering—if this woman truly was a family friend—just what sort of circles Colin’s family moved in.

  “I’m glad I ran into you today, Colin,” Holly said. “Let me know when you’ve taken care of that business we talked about. I need to get everything straightened out as soon as possible.”

  “Sure, of course,” Colin said, his arm still tight around Savannah. She felt a tremor of impatience—or maybe it was nervousness?—go through him.

  “You know how the boss is about things like this,” Holly said with a smile.

  Holly nodded at Savannah and then walked off toward the concession stands, and Colin steered Savannah in the opposite direction, his arm around her shoulder.

  “I owe you one, Red.”

  “Yeah, you looked like you were really suffering,” she said as she pushed Colin’s arm away.

  He thought about explaining that Holly was also a business associate, but that might lead into dangerous territory. Besides, he kind of liked the jealous vibe Savannah was giving off.

  “An old ‘friend,’ huh?” she said. “As in someone you used to sleep with?” She hoped her tone sounded light, not hurt or jealous—even though she wanted to go back and claw that woman’s eyes out with an intensity she’d never experienced before.

  “I didn’t say that. But why do you care anyway? Are you jealous?” Colin smiled and tugged a strand of her hair as they walked.

  “No!” Savannah said, swatting his hand away. “It’s none of my business who you sleep with.”

  “If you say so. Although I think I’m gonna start calling you Green instead of Red.”

  “You’re delusional.”

  He stopped walking and turned to face her. “Seriously, Red, there is nothing and never was anything between Holly and me. Except business.” Then he quickly added, “And family, of course.”

  She thought back to the conversation she’d burst in on. “Is everything OK at Zipped? What was that business Holly was talking about?”

  Colin glanced away for a moment then said, “She’s in charge of inventory. There was a mix-up, and I told her I’d straighten it out. It’s not a big deal.” Colin mentally crossed his fingers that Savannah wouldn’t ask any more questions.

  The answer sounded plausible, but Savannah wasn’t entirely at ease even when he finally looked her in the eye.

  “So she’s not a family friend?” she asked, wondering why he’d bother to lie.

  “She is. But she’s also a business associate.”

  Savannah must have looked as confused as she felt because he suddenly grabbed her hand and said, “Come on. We came here to forget about work and rotten dates—let’s have some fun.”

  She laughed as he nearly dragged her around the last bend of the concourse and into an open food court area, with huge TVs showing the game and a long counter that overlooked the field where people could eat and drink.

  “How ‘bout you go find us a spot at the counter while I grab us some beers?” he asked.

  By the time Colin returned with two beers, two hot dogs, and a bucket of french fries, Savannah had secured a tight spot in the center of the counter with a perfect view of the field.

  “I was also going to get you some cotton candy, but figured I’d save some leverage for later,” he said.

  Sav
annah picked up her hot dog but immediately put it down. There was an icky hard lump in the pit of her stomach—the same icky hard lump that had started to form when she pictured Colin with other women, with any other woman, and she didn’t like what it meant about her feelings.

  “Something wrong?” Colin asked around a bite of hot dog.

  “Still full from brunch, I guess.”

  “Right! Sorry. I’ll eat your dog,” he said as he crammed the last bite of his own hot dog into his mouth.

  Over the next hour, Savannah drank her beer and nibbled on french fries and got absorbed in the game. The counter was prime real estate, and eventually Colin moved to stand behind her, his arms braced on the counter to keep her from being jostled by the drunk and rowdy people on either side of her. His body was warm against hers, and she couldn’t believe how comfortable it felt to have him hovering behind her, leaning in to offer commentary on the game or the people around them.

  It didn’t take long before that knot in her stomach was replaced with a warm glow, and the only thoughts in her head were of this moment, with Colin, hoping she could hide from the real world with him forever. A little voice in the back of her head told her she was in a danger zone, but she pushed those thoughts into a box labeled “worries for later” and kept her mind in the moment. This deliciously warm and exciting moment of being so close to Colin.

  During the game, they heard an announcement that there would be a concert afterward. “Oh, I’ve always wanted to go to one of those concerts!” Savannah said, turning slightly within the frame of Colin’s arms. “I’ve seen them on TV, and they look so fun, all the people down on the field dancing.”

  “Then we’ll stay for the concert.” Colin watched the smile spread across Savannah’s face and knew, without a doubt, that he’d do anything in his power to make her smile like that as often as possible.

  Chapter 17

  By the sixth inning, Savannah was tired of fighting for space at the counter so she and Colin walked along the concourse, people-watching and idly chatting between companionable silences. At some point, her hand slipped inside his, and she chose to leave it there. As the game ended and the announcer told them they had an hour before the concert started, Savannah asked, “Won’t we need tickets to get into the show?”

  “I bet if we stayed up here we’d be fine, but getting onto the field might be a little tricky.”

  “Ah, well, that’s OK, I’m sure we can dance just as well up here as on the field,” she said, meaning it. The day had felt like one of the best dates she’d ever been on, and she decided to stop reminding herself that it wasn’t and let herself pretend, just for the day.

  “I might have a few tricks up my sleeve yet,” Colin said with a wink.

  Savannah laughed. “Just don’t get us arrested, OK?” She bumped her shoulder against his, and Colin casually draped an arm around her shoulder. And she didn’t pull away.

  “I make no promises, Red,” he said and had to stop himself from kissing the top of her head.

  They went into the stadium and walked up the ramp to the highest level of seats, to the very top row, where he dropped into a seat and pulled her down next to him.

  “No one is going to give a damn if we have tickets for these seats or not,” he said, propping his feet on the back of the seat in front of him.

  “My god, the view from up here is amazing.” Savannah sat forward and craned her neck to look down across the field to the city skyline.

  “It definitely is.”

  Savannah turned and found Colin staring at her. A small laugh, almost more of a snort, escaped from her lips. Colin looked at her in surprise and then started to laugh, too.

  “You’re so cheesy,” she said, full-out laughing now.

  “I know. I know!” Colin tilted his head back and covered his face with his hands. “In my head, it sounded like a line from a movie, but when I said it…”

  Savannah screamed with laughter. “It is a line from a movie, dork. That’s why it’s cheesy.”

  “Fine, laugh! I deserve it,” Colin said, laughing, too. But when he turned to look at Savannah, the laugh died in his throat. The setting sun glinted off her chestnut hair and her green eyes sparkled, and he didn’t think he’d ever seen anyone so beautiful in his life.

  “Savannah—” he said in a voice rough with desire.

  She turned to look at him, and suddenly she wasn’t laughing anymore either. The tension between them was so thick Savannah knew what was going to happen next if she didn’t do something.

  Colin slid sideways in his chair until his knees touched hers. Reaching up to brush her hair from her face, he saw her gaze drift down to his mouth and he couldn’t breathe. Then her eyes darted up to meet his, and she exhaled what sounded like “yes.”

  He ran his fingers through her hair to rest lightly at the base of her skull, and her hands moved to his chest. He leaned his mouth a millimeter closer, and she grabbed a handful of his T-shirt and pressed her lips against his.

  When Colin had stopped laughing and looked at her with so much intensity, she knew he was going to kiss her. She knew, deep in her heart that they’d been leading to this all day. A small warning bell started to sound, but she promptly shut it down. Just for today, she was going to be this girl. The girl without a plan, the one who gets to kiss the insanely hot guy at the baseball stadium and not have it mean anything.

  When their lips touched, Savannah felt like it was the first and only kiss she’d ever had. The whole world dropped away, and the only sensations she cared about were the warmth of his lips against hers and his spicy-sweet scent. After only a few seconds—not nearly long enough—Colin pulled back, and Savannah opened her eyes to see a question in his. She let go of the fistful of his shirt she’d been clutching and slid her hands up the side of his neck until her palms were on his jaw and slowly pulled his mouth back to hers, which was all the confirmation he needed.

  His tongue slid between her lips and glided over hers like silk. He tasted faintly of beer and something else, something fresh and masculine and strangely familiar. As he tangled his hands in her hair and shifted to deepen the kiss, Savannah heard a low moan and realized it had come from her. Colin responded by catching her bottom lip between his teeth and giving a gentle tug. Then he leaned his forehead against hers while they both caught their breath.

  “Holy crap,” Savannah breathed.

  “Holy crap indeed.”

  She could hear the smile in his voice and couldn’t resist pressing her lips against his again. He responded immediately, filling her mouth with his hot, probing tongue, one hand firmly at the back of her head and one hand moving up and down her back.

  With a rough, masculine growl, he ripped himself away and flopped back in his seat, panting for air. Savannah still sat on the edge of her seat, turned toward him, knees touching. She brought her fingers up to touch her swollen lips and looked out over the field. Colin’s hand slid from her shoulders down her back and tugged her toward him. She let him pull her in until her head rested on his shoulder, and then he kissed the top of her head, something he’d wanted to do all day.

  Blowing out another lungful of air, he said, “Good lord, woman.” His voice was still rough with desire, and the sound made Savannah lift her head up and try to get him to kiss her again. “You stop that, or I’m going to do things to you that will get us both arrested.”

  Just then his phone chimed in his pocket. “Saved by the bell,” he murmured.

  He pulled the phone out and looked at the message on the screen before shoving it back in his pocket. Her head was resting on his shoulder and her face was turned up to his, her mouth looking eminently kissable. He let out another breath and stood up, pulling her with him.

  “How about we go check out this concert that’s about to start?” he said.

  “We can see it just fine from here.” Savannah wrapped her arms around his neck. Now that she’d given in to her attraction, she felt like she would never have her fill. But s
he was also afraid to do anything to break the spell, scared they’d never get back to this place. And Savannah really, really liked this place.

  “Red, you know as well as I do that if we stay up here, we’re not watching this concert, and the things I’ll end up doing to you deserve a better setting than dirty stadium seats.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly against him, letting her feel exactly how serious he was about his intentions. She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. “Nope. Now go, and I’ll be right behind you. I just need a minute before I can navigate the steps comfortably.” Colin smiled ruefully as he adjusted his now very snug jeans.

  Savannah took a step toward the aisle then turned back to look at him, fearing that this would all evaporate. Seeming to read her mind, Colin closed the gap between them and took her by the shoulders. “I’ll be right behind you. Our day isn’t nearly over. There’s still much fun to be had, OK?”

  Nodding, Savannah smiled and said, “OK.”

  “OK.” Colin dropped a light kiss on her forehead and turned her toward the aisle with a pat on the butt.

  When Savannah got to the bottom and started down the ramp, she glanced up and saw Colin typing on his phone. The thought that he’d been trying to get rid of her for reasons other than modesty floated through her mind, but she shoved it into the “worries for later” box, not wanting to ruin the spell of the day.

  Colin caught up to her on the concourse a few minutes later, and she suddenly felt shy. Having had a moment to catch her breath and clear her head, she kept thinking, “Did I just have the hottest make-out session of my life with Colin?” She had an urge to text Rayne but didn’t because Rayne was real world, this was still pretend land, and in pretend land, Savannah did whatever she wanted with sexy, funny, not-part-of-The-Plan Colin.

  “Ready?” he asked with a smile as he took her hand and led her to the elevators. Savannah glanced down at their entwined fingers, liking what she saw.