Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
T he call had taken much longer than he’d expected. He wasn’t supposed to be on call today at all, but sometimes the department needed extra hands. And when it came to a local man, who was now not only illegally trapping but stealing from other people’s illegal traps, the whole situation could have easily gotten out of hand.
Theo had been called in when his fellow agents had finally felt that they had enough information to go after all of the trappers.
But there was a two-hour surveillance period, an ATV chase that went on for ten miles, four arrests, and a crap-ton of paperwork between the time he left his cabin and when he climbed back up the porch steps.
The moment he opened his door, he knew something was wrong.
Savannah was not inside, though her towel from the night before was still there and one of his T-shirts was missing. He immediately went to her cabin, but she wasn’t there either, and all of her stuff was gone.
He called, he texted, and then he called and texted Becca.
All he got back from that was she’s fine and doesn’t want to talk to you .
Great.
He knew immediately what he’d done wrong. So he sent Savannah a final text: I would never abandon you. Give me a chance to explain .
He didn’t hear anything back from her, so he showered, then headed into Autre. He found Beau and Becca at Ellie’s bar. But no Savannah.
“Where is she?”
Becca looked up at him with a frown. “Back in New Orleans.”
“Is she alright?”
“She’s kind of pissed that you didn’t give her a ride back like you said you would.”
“I got called out to work. I left her a note. I was coming back to get her.”
“Well, she called someone else to pick her up.”
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something about the way Becca said that, or the way she was looking at him, that made him hesitate. It didn’t seem that Becca was upset that he and her friend had slept together or that he’d treated Savannah poorly the morning after. This seemed to be strictly about him not giving her a ride back to town.
“What did she say?” he asked.
“That she met all the stipulations of your agreement and that you were supposed to bring her back to Autre, but you just left her out there for no specified amount of time. She has a job, Theo. She didn’t plan her entire weekend around this stupid competition that you cooked up for her.”
“That’s all she said? She was just mad about the ride to town?”
“What else would she be mad about?” Becca’s eyes narrowed. “Did something else happen?”
Okay, so Becca didn’t know that he and Savannah had slept together.
That… bugged him.
Becca was Savannah’s best friend. From what he could tell, they told each other everything. He wouldn’t be surprised if Becca was one of the very few people that knew Savannah’s whole family history and what was going on with her mom.
But she hadn’t told Becca that she’d slept with him last night? What did that mean?
“I guess we never settled on a time. I didn’t want to wake her up so early,” he finally said.
“Yeah, well, wrong choice. She wanted to get the hell out of there. She would have been ready as soon as the sun came up even if she’d had electricity and AC.”
Yeah, well, when the sun had come up, she’d been snuggled up in his bed, exhausted from the hot, dirty, best sex of his life.
And he’d been hoping they could spend the day together. He’d thought about showing her more of the bayou. Maybe showing her the bald eagle nest he’d found last week. Or giving her an airboat driving lesson, helping her learn the basics at least so she’d feel more comfortable on the bayou. Or even taking her to his favorite pond for some skinny dipping.
“I’ve tried calling and texting. If you talk to her, tell her to call me. I would like to apologize.”
“Okay.” Becca gave him a funny look. “I mean, I think she’s fine now that she’s back. But I’ll tell her.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Theo had a feeling he wasn’t going to hear from Savannah Lee for quite some time.
And he was right.
He didn’t hear from her or see her again until Thursday night at the city council meeting.
S avannah was already there when he walked in.
She was wearing another pencil skirt and a silky blouse.
And just like he’d promised her that night in bed, seeing her in that skirt made him think about how it had felt to be buried inside her.
He wondered if she’d thought of that when she’d put it on. And if she had, that was damned diabolical.
He was equally turned on and frustrated.
Her blouse was a pale pink, but it might as well have been white. It was completely wrinkle-free, very feminine, and definitely buttoned-up. It made his palms itch with the desire to wrinkle it, rip it, and throw it on his bedroom floor.
Her legs looked amazing, of course, in three-inch heels that made his cock hard.
And she barely glanced at him when he came down the aisle and took the seat directly across from her.
He turned toward her, leaning forward, his forearms on his thighs, feet spread, taking up most of the aisle between them. “Savannah,” he kept his voice low, but firm.
He saw her chin lift slightly and take a deep breath, but she didn’t say anything.
“Savannah, look at me.”
“Just let it go, Theo,” she said, still looking straight ahead.
“Let it go? That you’re not speaking to me? Returning phone calls and texts? I’m not going to do that.”
“There is nothing that we need to say in a phone call or text. Or in person. We’ve never really talked much. We should just go back to how things were before.”
“You don’t want to hear that I’m sorry?”
She pressed her lips together, then said, “It doesn’t matter.”
Annoyance pricked at him. After everything they’d talked about and done to one another, she wouldn’t even look at him? “I got called into work. It was unexpected. I left a note. I really thought that was enough.”
That got her to finally look at him. “Did you have to come back to Autre?” she asked.
He frowned. “When? Tonight?”
“That morning,” she said in a whisper, looking around to see if anyone was listening.
Mr. Allen was here, as he always was for every meeting, and the six members of the city council were all in their chairs at the head table, but they were involved in conversation with one another. Otherwise, the room was empty.
“Yes,” Theo told her. “I had to pick up my work truck and a coworker on my way to the call.”
Savannah nodded. “So you could’ve woke me up and brought me with you.”
He leaned closer. “I guess I was hoping that you wanted to stay at the cabin and see me when I got back.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But you should’ve asked me what I wanted to do. Where I wanted to be. Especially before you took away the only way for me to get out of there on my own.”
He leaned in. Fuck. She had thought he’d abandoned her. “I told you I understood. I would not just leave you out there. Not after what you told me. Especially not after…everything. But I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up. I liked seeing you in my bed too much.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare try to bring…” She looked around again before pinning him with a glare. “ …that into this.”
“That changed things between us, Savannah.”
“No, it didn’t. That just happened. It was one night. And now we should pretend it didn’t happen.”
He sat back, shoving a hand through his hair in frustration. And, he could admit, hurt too.
“You knew I was coming back. You were not stranded,” he said.
“Yes, I was!” she exclaimed. Then she lowered her voice again. “Even if you were coming back, I was dependent on whenever you decided that was going to be.”
“And you were that eager to leave?” Of course she was. She was not cut out for the bayou. Not even for a day. Not once she’d accomplished her objective, anyway. Their night together had been…an accident. Neither of them had intended for it to happen.
Just then, Kennedy banged the gavel on the table at the front of the room and started the meeting.
Theo faced forward, his emotions twisting through his gut.
He’d been awakened by the phone call and the request to come in and help with the arrests at the last minute. He hadn’t gone through the entire scenario in his head. She’d been sleeping peacefully. They’d had a great night the night before. He’d wanted more.
He’d said he wanted to keep her in bed with him, and he’d gotten some oh, yeses from her, but fine, that hadn’t been a specific plan. He hadn’t asked her if she wanted more after the sun was up. They hadn’t talked about how long she was going to stay. He’d thought about asking if she’d consider staying the weekend with him. But they hadn’t gotten that far.
And then he’d left her there.
And he fucking knew about her anxiety.
He’d messed up.
But maybe knowing that she couldn’t wait to get away from his cabin as soon as the sun was up was a good thing. It was the reminder he needed that Savannah wasn’t cut out to be a full-time, long-term part of his life.
“Well, we’re here for only one reason,” Kennedy said, looking around the room.
“Savannah, I understand that you stayed at the cabin as planned?”
“Yes,” Savannah said. “Last Friday night.”
“Okay, you have the floor.”
Savannah rose and approached the podium. She adjusted the microphone and said, “I stayed at the cabin, and…enjoyed it.” She stopped and cleared her throat.
Theo also cleared his throat.
“My…emotions for the bayou are even deeper now. It’s beautiful and unique and definitely…requires a special approach.”
Theo shifted on his seat. Her emotions for the bayou ? Really?
“And I feel I’m actually perfect for a project that involves bringing visitors to the area. I can understand how it feels to come in and experience this place as an outsider. As much as you all love it, I don’t think you even realize just how amazing it is. I can help highlight the things that will truly make Autre, and the bayou, special for someone who’s never been here before. And I can help you all understand what visitors need in order to be comfortable and feel welcome.” She cleared her throat again.
Theo sighed.
“As you all go about your usual life, living and working here where you’ve always lived and worked, you take a lot of things for granted and don’t always think about the things that are different here.”
Got it, Savannah. Loud and clear. I was an inconsiderate asshole . Theo ran a hand over his beard.
“So you are still interested in going ahead with the plan?” Kennedy asked.
“I am,” Savannah said.
Theo frowned. She still wanted to go ahead with everything? He probably shouldn’t be surprised. But had she learned nothing about the difficulty of building those cabins? Not to mention that staying in one wouldn’t be for the typical city guy or girl just trying to get away from it all?
“Theo? Do you have anything to add?” Kennedy asked.
“Oh, I definitely do.”
Theo rose and stepped forward to stand next to Savannah at the podium. He crowded into her personal space, on purpose. She gave an exasperated sigh and took a huge step to her left.
“I haven’t changed my mind either,” he said. “Miss Lee did as she promised. She did spend the night down there, but I guess she wasn’t paying attention to several important details.” He glanced at her. “For one thing, I’m not sure how she missed how difficult it will be to get people in and out.”
She sucked in a quick breath, and Theo kind of regretted the dig.
But how could she still think the idea of building luxury cabins was a good one?
He blew out a frustrated breath. “I think it would be a huge waste of money and time to invest supplies and services in building a bunch of cabins for people who are going to hate the entire experience once they’re here.”
“Well, hearing that, I assume the project can’t move forward,” Kennedy said with a frown.
Savannah stepped forward. “Just because Theo says no? His opinion is really that important?”
Kennedy looked surprised. “Are you downsizing the project then?”
Savannah shook her head. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll be building fewer cabins?” Kennedy asked.
“No. I’m not making any changes,” Savannah said stubbornly.
Theo just crossed his arms and waited. She was going to be really pissed in about three, two, one…
“But Theo owns just a little over half of the land you want to build on,” Kennedy said. “You won’t be able to build as many cabins if you don’t have as much land, right?”
Savannah looked at him.
“We didn’t discuss who owns the land,” Theo said to Kennedy without looking away from Savannah.
“I thought the city of Autre owned that land,” Savannah said, looking back at Kennedy.
Kennedy nodded. “We own roughly the first half that you have outlined. The half that’s closest to town. But when you get past the mile six line, it becomes private property. Theo’s specifically.”
Savannah let out a long breath. Her shoulders slumped. “I didn’t know that.”
“So if you want just a couple cabins on the Autre city side, and they agree, I suppose you can do that,” Theo said. He looked at the city council. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Okay. Well, you both did what you said you were going to do. I guess it’s in our hands now,” Kennedy said. “We will discuss it further. But give us a few weeks,” she said to Savannah. “This is a big decision.”
Savannah nodded and gave her a forced smile. “Of course. Please let me know if you need any more information from us.”
And the meeting wrapped up just that easily.
Savannah grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
Of course, Theo was right on her heels.
“Hold up,” he said, putting a hand on the top of her car door before she could pull it open.
“I really don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
“Savannah, I’m sorry .”
She turned to face him, her eyes glittering. “About shooting down my project?”
“No. About making you feel stranded that next morning.”
“I’m upset about the project now, Theo.”
Okay, she didn’t want to talk about the morning after. He blew out a frustrated breath. “You can’t be surprised that I’m still against this project.”
“Surprised? Maybe not. Disappointed? Yes. I did what you asked. You said you would be on my side then.”
“No. I said I would consider it then. Which I did. The thing you have to understand, though, is I am on your side. I understand what you’re trying to do. I just think this is the wrong way to do it. You’re so bright. You’re so passionate. I’ve no doubt that you can come up with another idea. Just…don’t do it here in Autre.”
Okay, that hadn’t come out exactly right.
The flash of hurt in her eyes confirmed it.
“Savannah—”
“Right,” she said, waving her hand. “Because we’d hate to pierce this beautiful little bubble. Heaven forbid you have to think that anything new, or different, or challenging, right?”
“You think I don’t like new, or different, or challenging?”
“I know you don’t. You basically told me that last Friday. You like things right here, the way it’s always been.”
He leaned in until their noses were nearly touching. She couldn’t back up because the car was right behind her, but she leaned back as far as she could go.
“Well, City Girl, I like you a lot. And you are definitely new, and different, and challenging.”
She swallowed, staring up at him.
Then she wet her lips. “And I’m safe because I won’t be sticking around, right?” she asked softly. “You might be into new and fun things for the short term, but you wouldn’t want anything to shake up your world for anything lasting.”
His heart thumped hard against his ribs. “You offering to give me something lasting, Savannah?” His voice was low and gruff.
He should not want that. He should not believe it. She wasn’t going to stick around down here. They both needed to remember that.
But something flickered in her eyes. Was it desire? Was it longing? Or was it just an urge to slap him hard across the face?
“You say you don’t want people coming down too deep into the trees with you, but I think it’s that you’re afraid of coming out of those trees for too long.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Why would I be afraid of that?”
She studied him. “Because you might like it out here. Outside of Autre once in awhile. Outside of what you know. And that would shatter your whole worldview.”
Then she pushed him back, yanked her car door open, and slid behind the wheel.
Theo watched her drive off in her little white Audi before he turned and stomped to his truck.
Savannah may think that she’d just gotten the last word and that this was over.
And it should be. He should let her go now. It would be less painful than letting her go later.
If he was a smart man, he would let it be.
But, as Zander never hesitated to remind him, he wasn’t always as smart as he liked to pretend he was.
He didn’t feel like this was over at all.