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“It’s funny, I’ve been here more times than I can count,” she said, “but I don’t know the Crystal’s history. All I know is it has my favorite burger in the world. I’d bet money that you know all about this place, don’t you?”
He nodded. “For about thirty years, this place used to be a grocery store. The Gerken Family Grocery Store opened back in the early 1900s. In the early 1930s, they sold the place to Blocko Manning and his wife, Connie. The Crystal was one of the first places to serve alcohol after the repeal of Prohibition. It’s rumored that Manning ran a little hooch back in the day and may have even operated a speakeasy.”
“Right here?” Elle asked.
“The speakeasy was in the basement. The house of ill repute was upstairs.”
“If these walls could talk.”
“A lot of people would’ve gotten into trouble.”
“You’re really passionate about knowing all this history, aren’t you?”
He nodded. “If you look deep enough, you see that everyone has a story. I think it’s fascinating. I love collecting deeper stories about Savannah.”
“Tell me another one,” she said.
He thought for a moment. “Okay, here’s one. Did you know Savannah has more than one hundred distinct neighborhoods in six principal areas of the city?”
“And what are those principal areas?” She bit her bottom lip and he leaned in and kissed her, drawing her lip between his teeth, biting it and teasing it.
“Downtown, Midtown, Southside, Eastside, Westside and West Chatham.” As he ticked off the locations, he scooted his finger higher up her thigh with each one.
She leaned in closer. “I like all this...history. Tell me more.”
Her hand fell onto his thigh, dangerously close to his crotch. She let it linger, tracing small circles on the leg of his jeans. His body responded.
“The historic district encompasses about two and a half square miles and houses around twenty-three hundred buildings—give or take a few.”
She was teasing him and it was driving him crazy.
“And what else?”
His hand was at the base of her panties, now. He could feel the lace. He trailed his finger along the edge of it. She shivered.
“The architecture is in a handful of different styles. Steamboat Gothic, which is way over the top, and Colonial, which is pretty straightforward. Federal architecture and Italianate style and, of course, Victorian.” He slid his finger under the edge of the lace and she shuddered. “I know there are others...but I can’t think of them right now.”
Out of his peripheral vision he saw someone moving toward their table. Their server.
“To be continued,” he whispered, as he discreetly withdrew his hand.
After dinner they drove back to Hall Street. Daniel parked the truck at the inn so they could get out and walk. It was unseasonably warm tonight, the perfect night to show Elle his favorite places in Savannah.
“I have a surprise,” he said. He reached into the back seat and grabbed a small cooler. Inside was a bottle of champagne and a couple of red plastic cups.
“Care for a to-go cup to start off our champagne tour of the city? This is a classy operation.”
To-go cups were one of the guilty pleasures of walking in the city. It was perfectly legal to take your beverage of choice for a stroll.
“This is perfect,” she said. “Are you planning on getting me drunk so you can take advantage of me?”
“Would you like that?”
The question hung in the air between them.
She leaned in and kissed his neck, trailing her lips up to his ear, where she whispered, “Yes. I would. But you wouldn’t have to get me drunk. And you wouldn’t be taking advantage of me.”
Her breath was hot and sweet and he almost came undone as he pulled her in for a long, slow kiss. If not for the damned cooler in the well between them, he would’ve pulled her onto his lap and finished what they’d started in the Crystal.
But the blockade was a sign that he needed to slow things down. So, he poured the champagne into the two cups and handed her one. “Wait right here,” he said. “I’m coming around to open your door.”
