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“Sorry,” she said sheepishly. “I don’t know why I just said that.”
“Nerves, probably,” Hope said, sending Fancy a sorrowful look. “It isn’t every day that you come face to face with your ex-fiancé. Give yourself a break.”
Fancy plopped down in one of the love seats. She let out the breath she’d been holding ever since coming face-to-face with Case. “I guess so. Sometimes I just wonder how I ever got to this place and time where he can’t even stand the sight of me.”
“I highly doubt that,” Callie said. “He loved you more than anything. Who knows what he’s going through? As we all know, he holds his feelings pretty close to the vest. He might still be trying to process everything.”
“Callie’s right,” Morgan chimed in. “Loving someone and losing them isn’t easy.” The tone of Morgan’s voice caused all of the women to look over at her. The expression on her face could only be described as haunting. Fancy knew at that very moment that Morgan herself had loved and lost. Had there been someone she’d fallen for in Paris? Or was it someone in Savannah who held the keys to her heart?
“What is taking Case so long? And I wish Charlotte would get back in here,” Olivia said, standing up so she could peek out the window. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
“Maybe he left,” Fancy said in a defeated voice. “If I had to describe the look on his face when he saw me, I would have to describe it as frigid. As in ice-cold, below freezing, Antarctic blast, sub-zero temperatures.”
The sound of footsteps entering the room caused her to stiffen. She clenched her teeth. Why hadn’t she just kept her mouth shut about Case? She turned her head, her blood going cold when she saw his face.
Without a single doubt, Fancy knew by the expression etched on his face that Case had heard her comment. Charlotte looked nervously back and forth between them. Case moved to the seat next to her and deposited his briefcase on the coffee table in front of him.
He turned toward her, his gaze assessing. “You got all that from a single glance?” Case asked, his features implacable. He put his hands together and began to clap slowly. “Bravo, Fancy. Your powers of perception never fail to amaze me.”
**
Case sat through the meeting with his body feeling as if it was tightly coiled. He was so wound up he feared that he might explode. For the entire duration he’d felt keenly aware of Fancy’s presence in the seat right next to him. The smell of her light, floral perfume was driving him to distraction. He knew that scent well. It was “Wish”, her favorite perfume. He’d bought it for her many times on special occasions. The smell of it was something he automatically associated with Fancy. Romantic. Elegant. Timeless.
He wanted to groan out loud. How had he gotten into this situation in the first place? He should have just told Callie and Charlotte that he didn’t want to have anything to do with Savannah House. But that would have been like running away from his problems. Case Duvall didn’t run. He dealt with things head-on. Most times he did so without flinching. And if he did flinch it was on the inside where no one would see. That’s how he’d been raised. To be strong. And stoic. It was the Duvall way. And even when the love of your life made a fool out of you and twisted up your insides in the process, you still had to endure.
Never let it be said that Case Duvall had crumbled.
But now, with Fancy within touching distance, he felt himself wavering. She was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he had ever known in his life. With her lustrous blonde hair and sea-blue eyes set against a perfectly symmetrical face—high cheekbones and heart-shaped lips, she was extraordinarily stunning. Sometimes he wondered if she was too good-looking. Had that been part of the problem? Could a woman as exceptionally radiant as Fancy not be swayed by the attention from other men? That possibility made him sick to his stomach.
He clenched his fists. Nope. He still wasn’t over it. Case still struggled with anger over Fancy’s betrayal. If he’d come across Marc Cabron in the streets of Savannah, he might even be tempted to take a swing at him. Not that violence ever solved anything, but it might make him feel less foolish if he could take him down a peg or two.
“Case. Case, did you hear me?” The sound of Charlotte’s voice interrupted his thoug
hts, serving to remind him that he was in the middle of a business meeting. And he had no clue as to what she’d just said to him.
Charlotte, knowing him like the back of her hand, repeated the question. “Do you think that our liability insurance is sufficient?” She raised an eyebrow at him. Case detected a look of awareness on her face. His sister knew that he was struggling with being so close to Fancy.
He cleared his throat. “As it currently stands, the insurance will cover personal and general, the property, service automobiles, liquor. But you need to make a decision about liability for criminal acts.”
“Whoa. Like a burglary or vandalism?” Hope asked. “I hadn’t even thought of that.”
“It’s not pleasant, but we have to protect our interests,” Morgan said.
“I think it’s important to take that into account,” Fancy said. “Yes, we’re out here on Tybee Island where the crime rate is low, but we can’t live in a bubble and act as if that might never happen.”
Case swung his gaze toward her. “You’re right. Life shows us that bad things happen when we least expect it.”
Fancy barely met his gaze, then looked away. A thick tension hummed and buzzed in the air.“So, are we all in agreement about adding that to the insurance?” Morgan asked, filling up the awkward silence.
Everyone nodded and voiced their agreement. Case bowed his head and focused on the paperwork in front of him. He could barely see through a red haze of aggravation.
“Why don’t we move on to something else. Such as the pending liquor license,” Callie suggested. “How’s that coming along, Case?”
Using all of his faculties—the ones he’d acquired in three years of law school—Case focused on the business at hand and blocked out the fact that Fancy was sitting nearby. It was taking every ounce of his strength of purpose to do so.
“It’s coming along,” he said tersely. “I need to call and check on the status, but it looks as if you won’t be waiting much longer. You might even have it on hand for your launch.”
“We don’t intend to have much alcohol on the premises, but champagne and cocktails for special occasions would be nice,” Fancy noted.
