by Kelsie Fann
Luckily, Liz was out of the hotseat by the time it arrived. Caroline had taken to describing in detail the office artwork she had ordered. Somewhere between subtle insults about “bringing culture” to their office, Liz took a spoonful of her bread pudding; the gooey dessert and buttery sauce melted over her tongue.
“What’s that?” Georgia pointed to Liz’s desert.
“Bread pudding,”
Georgia scrunched her nose. “Weird name.”
Liz nodded. “It is, but it’s absolutely the best dessert in Savannah. Want to try it?” Liz pushed the bowl to her new friend.
“Sure.” Georgia picked up her spoon and took a bite. Instantly, she smiled as she tasted the sugary dessert. “Oh, that’s good.”
“May I?” a deep voice asked. Liz turned to see Darcy lifting up his spoon across the table from her. The light flickered on the shiny metal utensil.
“Sure.” Liz pushed the bowl his direction, and he dipped the curved spoon into the dish. Liz watched, transfixed on the man sharing her dessert. It felt oddly intimate. He looked at her before he took a bite, his eyes prying into hers.
“Good. Very good,” he said after he swallowed. He looked at Liz for a few more seconds. And the heat that she had felt when Darcy touched her lower back formed again in the bottom of her stomach.
The spell was broken by a cough from Caroline. Liz looked around the table, and everyone was staring at them.
James gave Darcy a look, and Darcy promptly stood. “We’ve got an early morning.”
The table took his exit as their cue, and everyone got out of their chairs. Caroline walked around the table and locked arms with Darcy. Darcy escorted her out first, and James, Georgia, and Liz followed.
Watching Darcy escort Caroline out of the restaurant made whatever heat she felt toward him disappear. He was leaving for Chicago tomorrow, and he was her boss. That was it.
6.
Liz floated down the streets of Savannah, ecstatic about her dinner meeting with Darcy and company. She’d been able to easily answer and address every concern her new bosses had. She felt good, powerful even. For the first time since she found out Chambers Marketing, the company she worked at for a decade, was closing, she felt proud.
She walked onto Congress Street and texted her team. “Where are y’all?”
Less than ten seconds later, Elise texted back. “We’re at Wayfarer.” Liz groaned. Of course they were at Wayfarer. As a ghost-obsessed woman, “Way” was Elise’s favorite spot, as it was one of the most haunted places in town. Locals said it was haunted with old southern generals from the Civil War, but Liz didn’t buy it. She didn’t think it was haunted at all, just an excuse to keep the place dimly lit and dirty.
Despite her dislike for Wayfarer, Liz didn’t hesitate to meet up with her team. She needed to celebrate, and she didn’t want to do it with anyone else.
As Liz walked into the bar, it was hazier and dirtier than she even remembered. Her eyes fought through cobwebs and fog as she searched for her friends. She walked closer, through a block of picnic tables, toward the bar, trying to find everyone in the fog.
“Hi, Liz,” she heard a man’s voice say behind her.
Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she glanced over her shoulder. There was something so familiar about that voice.
Liz slowly turned around toward the block of tables she’d just walked through. Perched on top of the middle picnic table was Hamilton.
Liz’s breath caught in her throat as she walked toward his table. She watched his signature lopsided smile spread across his face, and she was instantly under his spell.
“Hello,” Liz said, walking toward him and sitting on the table beside him.
“Lizzy, you just broke the heart of every man in here with that dress.” Liz’s heart raced. Hamilton was the only person she let call her by her childhood nickname because he was also a former fat kid. Plus, there was something about his sandy brown hair and tan skin.
“Your heart included?” she asked.
He winked at her. “Absolutely.” He draped his arm around her shoulders.
“What are doing in Savannah?” she asked him, trying to break the spell he held over her. “You should have texted me.”
“I’m just staying for a few hours. I’m getting an Uber to Atlanta tonight. I was trying to salvage a client, one totally mishandled by my team. Ever heard of Sassy Sweet Tea?”
Liz looked down as her stomach twisted. It was easy to forget that her success meant his loss, especially when they were thousands of miles apart. Now, as she looked into his sparkling blue eyes, she felt terrible. “Lizzy, do you have something to tell me?” he whispered.
Liz shifted her weight in her seat; she didn’t want to have to admit the truth, but she knew she had to. “I’m sorry,” she said.
Hamilton stood. Liz thought he was leaving, but he bent down in front of her. She braced herself as he leaned toward her. “It’s fine. It’s business.” It was the last thing she expected to hear. How could someone be that gorgeous and gracious at the same time?
She looked into his eyes to try and figure out what he was thinking, but he didn’t show any sign of emotion. He motioned between their bodies. “We’re good. I’m happy for you. Can I get you a drink?”
She shook her head, thinking his response made her like him even more. He stood and walked toward the bar. Liz followed him with her eyes, then saw Rose, Elise, and Stella walk out of the bathroom and toward her.
Stella plopped down across the table from her. Her lime green tank top scooped low, leaving her black bra plenty of room to peek out around the neckline. “That bathroom might be the dirtiest place I’ve ever been in.”
Elise sat down next to Stella. “The ghosts need to learn to clean up,”
“Hey, Liz.” Rose swooped down to hug her.
“Hey, ladies.” Liz pointed to the bar where Hamilton stood. “Do you all know Hamilton?”
Stella batted her eyes. “Of course. He came with me.”
A pang of jealousy surged through Liz’s heart. Hamilton came with Stella?
Stella stood up, pulling her legs out of the picnic table. “Don’t be jealous, Liz. We’re friends. We met after the Chambers Marketing party.” Liz studied Stella, hoping she was telling the truth.
“Let’s dance!” Elise interrupted and drug Rose to the cobweb-covered dance floor, motioning for Stella and Liz to follow.
Liz and Stella just sat there, looking at each other. Hamilton came back to the table a few seconds later with two beers. He handed one to Stella, and he sat down between the women.
Liz didn’t want to wait any longer to confront Hamilton. She motioned between Stella and Hamilton. “So . . . y’all came together?”
Stella took a drink and pulled her green tank top down to expose her bra a little more. “Just friends.”
Hamilton put his arm around Stella. “Best buds,” he said. “She’s just been putting up with me.”
Stella set her beer bottle down on the table with one loud thump. “On that note, I’m going to dance. Want to come, Liz?”
Liz didn’t know if she was being lied to or not, but she wasn’t in the mood for dancing anymore. “I’m good here.”
“Suit yourself.” Stella stood up and burst onto the dance floor with Elise and Rose.
Hamilton paused a few beats and put his hand on top of hers. Liz bit the inside of her cheek as Hamilton leaned back on the picnic table and crossed his arms in front of his chest, showing the outline of his biceps.
“I’m sorry about Sassy Sweet Tea,” Liz said.
“Don’t be. Congratulations, really. My team messed it up. They were actually my last client in Savannah. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be around for a while,” Hamilton loosened his tie and took off his sport coat. “I need to apologize too.”
“About what?” Liz wondered where this was going.
Hamilton leaned forward and was so close to her that she could smell the perfect amount of cologne coming off o
f his body. “Darcy didn’t mess with my financing to buy Chamber’s Marketing.”
“You could have told me the truth.” Liz’s words came out as quiet as a whisper.
He squeezed her hand. Her whole body relaxed, and the guard she’d been holding up around her completely began to fall. “I was embarrassed to tell you the truth.”
Hamilton continued, “Darcy comes from one of the oldest, wealthiest families in Chicago. It’s different for me. Every dollar I make, I put back into my business, which means I don’t have a pile of cash laying around. I was so ashamed of my lack of liquidity that I lied to you. I’m truly sorry. It’s hard always feeling like you’re behind because you weren’t born into wealth.”
“You could have just told me. I would have understood,” she said.
“I should have. I’ve known Darcy since I was a boy, and it’s hard. He just gets everything handed to him, and I feel like I’m just scraping by to get a tenth of the business he has. Then, when I land a client, he’s right behind me, taking it away.”
Liz grimaced as she thought about the part she’d played in the most recent Hamilton blindside.
“Can you forgive me?” he asked. At this moment, his lopsided grin had disappeared. Instead his mouth had formed a serious, straight line. He looked into her eyes, and as hard as she tried not to, she felt hypnotized.
Liz nodded. Even though Hamilton lied to her, she thought it was incredibly endearing that he was so open about his current feelings. “I can.” She knew what it was like to feel inadequate. Every time she had to tell someone she was a college dropout from Sugar Hill, Georgia, she felt the same way.
Liz knew she needed to turn the tables and ask Hamilton the same question. “Can you forgive me for working for him?”
“We’ve all got to eat.” Hamilton stood up, still holding her hand. “Want to dance?”
Liz suddenly realized she was exhausted from the dinner and her confession to Hamilton, and she was tired of the dirty bar. “I think I’m going to go home.”
He pulled her hands toward him, helping her stand. “Can I walk you?”
“Okay, but it’s at least two miles,” Liz said.
“I’d walk a marathon,” he bent down and whispered into her ear, “if it meant I could talk to you for twenty-six miles.” It was cheesy and over the top, but looking into his sparkling blue eyes, she ate it up.
Hamilton grinned and pulled her toward the door. “After you,” he said. Before she could answer, he opened up the large black door into the dark Savannah night.
7.
Hamilton’s fingers intertwined with Liz’s as they walked in sync down the brick road in front of Wayfarer.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asked a few minutes into their walk.
“Anything.”
She’d been wondering about Hamilton’s relationship with Darcy since before Dee’s wedding. “What’s up between you and Darcy?”
Hamilton put his free hand into his pocket. “What do you mean?”
She took a few steps and hoped that they were close enough for her to pry into his relationship with her boss. “Well,” she said slowly. “You lied about him blocking your financing, and he didn’t hesitate to steal one of your clients. It seems,” she stopped trying to find the right word, “complicated between you two.”
Hamilton sighed and tossed his sports coat over his shoulder. “More than complicated. You know those relationships where you just don’t start off right and then you can’t fix it?”
She thought about Caroline. Even if Caroline became a nun, Liz would never like or trust her.
Hamilton looked down at the sidewalk. “You know, I was a fat kid in school. And I was picked on all the time. So, one day, I just couldn’t handle the torment anymore. Darcy had an inhaler; he had really bad asthma growing up.
“I’d spent the week before with a pack of bullies teasing me, so just to get them off my back, I hid Darcy’s inhaler.”
He stopped talking for a few seconds, then began again. “I thought they would stop picking on me if there were someone else to make fun of. I didn’t realize we were going to be playing lacrosse in gym that day, and he had a horrible attack. He was on the ground wheezing for almost an hour. It was horrible.
“I kind of understand why he hates me. I’ve thought he would forgive me, but it doesn’t seem like he will.
“I’ve spent the last few years trying everything I could to get him to like me, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen. I sent flowers to his parent’s funeral. I helped his sister when she was grieving. I lost my dad young, too, so I understood what they were going through. But no matter how much I reach out, none of it seems to matter.
“I wish . . . ” he trailed off. “I wish he would forgive me. We have so much in common; I really admire him.”
Liz looked up at Hamilton and could see the struggle in his eyes. She swallowed and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear. Even though Darcy was the victim, she also felt for the man walking next to her. It was hard trying to seek forgiveness and not be able to get it. “That’s hard,” Liz said.
Hamilton nodded. “It is.” After a few more minutes, he put his arm around her waist and looked at her. “Tell me about you,” he said, changing the subject.
“What do you want to know?” Liz asked.
“Start with where you’re from.” Liz told him about Sugar Hill and about dropping out of college, and in return, he told her about his father’s death. It seemed like no subject was too deep for their conversation. Liz hadn’t revealed so much about herself to anyone in a long time.
Soon they had walked the two miles to her apartment. “So here we are,” Liz said, reaching into her purse to get the keys. Hamilton unlaced his fingers from hers as she walked up the stairs to her apartment door. The metal apartment numbers twinkled in the moonlight.
He looked at the modern building. “I like it.”
“It’s growing on me,” she said, missing her historic townhouse on the square.
Hamilton moved toward her, just inches away from her body. She could smell a hint of cologne as she stared into his bright blue eyes. The wind blew his hair out of place, and she slowly reached up and pushed it back.
As her hand came down, he gently tipped back her chin so she was staring into his eyes again. A streetlight reflected into his chiseled face, and she desperately wanted him to kiss her. He must have read her mind because he leaned in and his lips touched hers.
Liz leaned into his lips, letting herself get lost in his touch. Their kiss deepened, and he put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer.
It was exactly the kind of release Liz had been hoping for. A few seconds later, Hamilton pulled back. Her lips felt cold where his mouth had just been. She slowly opened her eyes and looked into his icy blue eyes.
“That was nice,” she said.
He laughed and cocked his head. “Just nice?”
She smiled and looked down at his hands still on her waist. Then she looked back up slowly at his face. Her heart was pumping so much blood through her body that it felt like she was spinning. “Amazing.”
He brushed her lips with his thumb. “I thought it was nice, too.”
Liz heard his phone vibrate, and the spell of their kiss was broken. Hamilton looked at his phone for a second, then shoved it back into his pocket.
“My driver is here,” he said. “Promise me I’ll see you soon.”
Liz tightened her grip on her keys. “I definitely hope so.”
He wrapped his arms around her once more and kissed her cheek. Then he walked off into the dark night.
8.
Liz didn’t have time to even think about Hamilton—or any other man—as the month of April slipped into May then June. She didn’t have time to think about anything except work.
Keeping her staff lean, like Darcy requested, meant that Liz was the office manager, sales manager, and creative lead. The only time she was at her house was to take a shower and sleep.
She stepped into her office building, sweating under her floral pencil skirt and denim button-down shirt. She looked around, watching Stella, Elise, and Rose, settled snugly at their new desks, and she felt like she was back at her old company, but with a new name.
Liz walked into the executive office, sat down at her desk, unlocked her computer, and started typing up an agenda for her morning staff meeting. She listed the items they needed to accomplish: timeline for new media buys, updates on potential clients, and . . .
There was one more thing they needed to discuss, but the thought floated right outside her grasp. What was it? Liz bit her thumbnail as someone walked into the executive office. She didn’t look up because between the movers and tech guys setting up the internet, there were a lot of people in and out of her office.
“Hello, Liz,” a man’s voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Just one minute,” Liz said, trying to catch her thought.
“No hurry,” the voice said. She paused; she knew that voice. Was Darcy in her office? No, the voice wasn’t quite right, not quite deep enough. Was it Hamilton’s? Her heart started beating faster. She became hyper sensitive to the air around her as she slowly looked at the man standing in front of her desk. She sighed when she saw the man standing in her office wasn’t the bronzed surfer she hoped to see; it was James.
The strawberry-blond-haired man looked dapper in his blue and white seersucker suit, and an impossibly easy grin slid across his face.
Liz stood up, and she extended her hand. “I didn’t know you were in town, James. It’s great to see you.” And it was. Liz loved the time she spent with James at dinner. He was just so easy and carefree. He was completely unlike Darcy, who constantly made her feel on edge.
“Just wanted to check in. Your office has been pretty quiet except for your new client announcements.”