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A huff of breath that could be a laugh passes his lips. “It wasn’t really meant to be.”
I scoot my chair closer to him, resting my arms on his open thighs. I can feel the pulse ticking faintly under my jaw. “No? Why ask then?”
He licks his lips. “To provoke you.”
I ease my hands onto the top of his thighs.
“Yeah? What if I told you I did like what we did together? What if I told you that I went home and screamed your name into a pillow while I touched myself?”
Cole’s eyes darken. He drags in a breath.
“Savannah.” He runs a single finger along my jawline, making me shiver. “Such a responsive little thing. I wonder if you’re like that with everyone… or just me?”
Biting my lip, I smile. “Just you.”
For a long moment, I think he’s going to kiss me. We’re going to sweep the papers off this desk and tear each other’s clothes off in a moment of heated ecstasy.
Cole grips my hands. From the possessive look in his eyes, I’m sure he’s every bit as impatient as I am.
But then he pushes me away.
I’m still in the broken chair so it moves back easily. He stands up and adjusts the bulge pressing at the front of his jeans.
“Let’s get back. The others will probably come looking for us soon.”
Oh, right. I’m supposed to be leading his kid in a play. That’s why we are all here.
I had completely forgotten.
20
Cole
“You would demolish the community center and pay for it to be reestablished somewhere else. Is that what I’m hearing?”
Mrs. Glory Brown takes off her bright red reading glasses. She’s wearing a frilly white blouse, and a pair of red dress pants. Of two other women and one man that make up the South Shore Planning Commission, she is clearly the leader.
The commission sits at a pair of long folding tables; Mrs. Brown sits in the middle. I am left standing in front of them, in the role of petitioner.
Mrs. Brown looks at me with a frown, clearly expecting an answer. She makes me nervous for some reason. I’m not accustomed to people making me jittery.
I clear my throat and offer Glory a thin smile. “That’s the gist of my offer. I want to build a hotel in the footprint of the community center. I will also pay to have several restaurants and cafes opened. It will be a renaissance for South Shore.”
She gives me a long look, and fiddles with her glasses. “You still haven’t addressed where you think the community center should go.”
Clenching my teeth, I smile. “With the money I’m offering, South Shore can build a new community center in any place that you feel like. Or you can put the money into another revitalization project. You will have every option available at your fingertips.”
Mrs. Brown rocks back in her seat. She turns to look at the committee members on both sides. Some kind of wordless communication flows between them, but I’ll be damned if I can guess at what it means.
I pull back my sleeve to check my watch. This meeting is running long. I have a million things to do today and sitting here is just not one of them.
Mrs. Brown catches me doing it and harrumphs. She slides the proposition back across the table to me.
“You haven’t put in the legwork on your application. It’s half-put-together and lazily thought out. I’m surprised. I thought you were working with Savannah Guthrie. Savannah is usually much more community-minded than this.”
She taps the proposal. I feel my neck heat. Grabbing the proposal, I incline my head.
“If I come back with a proposed new site for the community center, you’ll sign off on it?”
