“He shaped my career, my ideals.” She paused to eat. “He nurtured my love for undeveloped, untamed land. If that wasn’t enough, he had integrity, something my mom desperately lacked.”
“Where’s your biological father?” He ate a forkful of rice.
“No clue. He was my mom’s boyfriend until she told him she was pregnant. Then he was gone.”
Their waiter popped over to check on them, giving them a natural break in the conversation. The relentless compulsion to check his phone every two minutes had faded into the background and he relaxed for the first time in over a decade.
“Okay, Zander, your turn.” She wrapped her fingers around the glass of tequila and cemented her piercing gaze on his. “Tell me about your life before my mom and I barged in.”
“Like you, I don’t talk about my childhood or my relationship with my father.”
She reached across the table, grasped his hand. “That’s because we’ve never had anyone to talk to. This feels good, Zander. It feels right.”
Is she talking about the cathartic conversation or the fact that she’s holding my hand?He gazed into her eyes, alight with energy.
“I never set out to defy him.” Zander sipped the tequila. “Had I known his passion for nature, I might have taken my career in a different direction. I sought Kyle’s approval. Needed his attention. But I never got it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to know he gave you what he couldn’t give me.”
“Why’d he push you away?” she asked, before taking another sip.
“Looking back, I think he wanted to toughen me up. I was a clingy, insecure kid who eventually learned self-reliance, but I missed not having a relationship with him.” He glanced at their clasped hands. Her fingers were long and soft. Her nails reflected a clear coat of shiny polish.
“I’m sorry he wasn’t a better dad to you.”
“Me, too.” The more she caressed his fingers, the louder his blood whooshed in his ears. “We have more in common than I realized.”
“Broken homes, but we turned out okay.”
“You did,” he said. “I’m still a work in progress.”
Laughing, she pulled her hand away. While he appreciated her compassion, he sought something more, something taboo. He hungered to bring her the kind of pleasure no man should ever want to give his stepsister. Lusting after her was damned wrong. He shouldn’t want her in his bed.
But he did.
He wanted her writhing beneath him and screaming his name when she surrendered to the carnal pleasures he needed to bring her.
“I’ve talked plenty,” she said. “Tell me about King Development.” Waiting, she cocked her head.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to…” He sipped more tequila.
“No, I mean it. I want to know.”
He pushed his plate away. “Kent and I strove to create the area’s most customer-centric commercial real estate development company. We started King Development right after college, worked twenty-four seven slogging through the small deals and building our portfolio.” He smiled at the memory. “We had an absolute blast.”
He explained why he wanted to develop Starry Cove and how the area would benefit from an infusion of business. He discussed a small portion of the financials, along with his long-term approach for the build-out.
“We want to hire as many of the townsfolk as possible and hope to lure back those who moved away. Our goal is to keep the small-town feel but offer modern amenities that will attract visitors. City or suburb dwellers who seek out that type of escape.”
While Zander wasn’t giving her a sales pitch, he watched for signs she’d lost interest or wanted him to stop talking. She’d leaned forward, tucked her hair behind her ear. Even if she never changed her mind, he appreciated that she was giving him her complete attention.
In those few moments, he made a decision. He wanted her to know the full story, even if it exposed a weakness. There was something special about Savannah that made it all right to bare his soul.
“I haven’t been completely forthright.” He set down his empty tumbler. “My business is in jeopardy.”
“What’s going on?” She handed her plate to a busboy who cleared the table.
Pushing his pride aside, he told her everything—from not winning forecasted new business to the large sum of money owed from an online university looking to build a brick and mortar campus.
“If things don’t improve in the next thirty days, we’re declaring bankruptcy. It won’t be the end of King Development—just a financial reorg—but my employees are stressing over losing their jobs. I feel responsible to them, to their families.” Breaking eye contact, he watched the band set up on stage. Telling her about his predicament reminded him that he could lose everything he’d worked for and all that he had.
