She waits for me to hide the evidence of our foolishness in my jeans before shaking her head.
A ball of tension bundles in my throat. “You’re not? Why aren’t you on the pill? Who isn’t on the pill these days?”
“Women not having sex,” Savannah fills in, her voice as loud as mine, her eyes just as wide.
The panic in her tone should increase my worry. It doesn’t. Not. At. All. She’s got enough worry for the both of us, so I have nothing left to give. Furthermore, her admission that she isn’t having sex has me wanting to bang my chest like a macho man. I don’t savor the hold Savannah has on me, but I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling to contain uncontrollable desires.
“Oh god. This is bad, Ryan. Really,reallybad.”
When Savannah burrows her head into her hands, I say, “It’s not that bad. There’s a twenty-four-seven drugstore in town. We can get the morning after pill.”
My assurance doesn’t ease her panic. If anything, it adds to her worry. . . and makes her mad—steam billowing from her ears mad!
"Well-rehearsed on one night stands, are we,Officer Carter?" She sneers my name minus the husky playfulness her colleague used earlier.
I swallow the lump in my throat before shaking my head. “No. I just figured it was the smart thing to do. If you don’t want to take it, you don’t have to take it, Savannah. I’d never force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”
Her lips quiver as she struggles to govern the moisture brimming in her eyes.
"This isn't about forgetting protection, is it?" I know she wouldn't cry about something so insignificant.
The chances of her getting pregnant at this exact moment are slim, but I could never be so lucky to have her tied to me for life.
After raking her teeth over her bottom lip, Savannah shakes her head.
“What is it then, Savannah? You can tell me anything.”
I lean over to brush a rogue tear off her cheek, tripling my guarantee without words. Nothing she could say would shock me more than when I walked into Vipers two weeks ago and saw her on the main stage. Even with her honey-colored hair covered by a chocolate wig, I recognized her in an instant. A million decades couldn’t erase her dimpled grin from my mind, let alone ten painstaking years.
I loathe that Savannah works at Vipers, but I hate that she doesn’t trust me even more than that. Alex didn’t unearth any additional information on Savannah’s whereabouts the past decade than I already knew—she was basically nonexistent—but it was the events following our initial contact causing my biggest worry.
The scant information Alex shared about “Abby Rowe” changed the course of my investigation. Her record was as sparse as Savannah’s has been the past decade, but it did unearth her employee: Pete Chester, owner of Vipers Strip Club. That’s how I discovered Savannah was using an alias.
If that wasn’t daunting enough, within hours of me requesting information on Savannah from Alex, I received a call from a US Marshall in Montana. He was also seeking information on a Savannah Fontane that matched Savannah’s age and description—although his investigation centered around the previous few years, not a decade. He explained that the details of his case couldn’t be shared, but he would pass on his appreciation for my assistance to my superiors.
It is a pity for him I wasn’t born last week.
Although it was unprofessional for me to do, I informed him I was working on a cold case that was over a decade old. It wasn’t a total lie. Even with no charges being filed, Savannah’s name is mentioned in numerous police records from her assistance during Axel’s arrest.
My unprofessionalism had karma issuing me a setback with my hearing. The unnamed Marshall’s annoyance was so high, he slammed his cell onto his desk before disconnecting our call. I had a hunch from when I spotted Savannah outside of Vipers weeks ago that she was hiding something. After his contact, my confidence grew. I just wish she trusted me enough to confide in me. I broke her trust ten years ago. I learned from my mistake. It won’t happen again.
“Talk to me, Savannah. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on,” I mutter, using some of her own words against her.
She begged me to open up when comforting me after my dad’s antics. Very rarely did I accept her offer. I can only hope she isn’t as stubborn as she’s always been.
Savannah's lips twitch, but before a syllable can escape her mouth, the sound of police sirens breaks the silence teeming between us.
“Time to move on, Carter,” Benny’s deep voice broadcasts over his sirens. “Dispatch is still receiving calls of a suspicious vehicle. They’re sending backup to our location.”
Not eager for more witnesses to our unexpected reunion, I raise my hand in the air, advising I heard him before kicking over my motor. I wait until police lights are no longer flashing in my cab before returning my eyes to Savannah. Any hope of cracking open her can of worms is lost. Not only is she facing the scenery whizzing by her window, but the massive barrier demolished by our steamy exchange has also returned greater than ever.
The Savannah I know and love has once again vanished, leaving a woman who is only a shadow of the girl she used to be.
Chapter 18
Savannah
“Are you sure you won’t consider another date? The clients loved your routine.” Keke, the manager of Maison’s pleads while glancing at me with large chocolate eyes. “Our agreed rate isn’t set in stone. I have a little leeway. If you agree to increase the length of your performance, I’ll increase the purse.”
