Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
NATE
It’s been six days since Savanna told me she was an accountant, five since she started working in the office to get all the financial documents up to date. In those six days, I’ve worked two shifts at the firehouse, the rest of my days and evenings behind the bar.
The first day I came back after a shift at the house was the day after she started, and I was astonished to see how much she had gotten done in the office over the course of a twenty-four hour period. She had everything organized into neat piles and there seemed to be some order to the chaos.
For the first time since I found out about the tax situation, I took an entire breath. The fear that I wouldn’t admit to, the one that was sitting not only on my shoulders, but on my chest, weighing on my heart, eased. I had hope. Hope that I wouldn’t lose the bar. Hope that my employees would keep their jobs. Savanna had given me so much hope.
I couldn’t believe my luck when she sat me down to talk to me that night. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t hoped her “needing to talk” had something to do with the two of us, but I can’t say I was disappointed when I found out what it was really about.
I learned a lot that evening over sandwiches and fries.
She opened up to me about the job she quit, and what it had been like to work with people who seemed to hate her. I learned how she ended up in Santa Rosé by flipping a coin, and how her first stop was the pier where she fell in love immediately. There were stories of her dad and her brothers, and I found out that her mother passed away when she was giving birth to Savanna, but that her family did a great job at making her feel like she knew her mom growing up.
The most interesting pieces of information were the ones she wouldn’t share with me.
Since the day we met in the elevator, I’ve never seen Savanna as someone who has a hard time talking with people or making friends. Everyone that has encountered her in my presence has been nearly as taken with her as I am, and yet that day in the hospital, she didn’t have anyone to call to pick her up. I’ve always thought that was strange, but I never pried because I figured if she wanted to tell me, she would.
The pieces started to come together last week when I point blank asked her if she was in trouble. It took me a minute to figure out her answer, and since then I’ve had a lot of time to think it through.
Based on the disgusting, filthy pigs comment, coupled with how affectionate and happy she looked when she talked about her family, I’ve deduced that it has to be an ex. That or she’s a gambling addict and hasn’t paid her debts. If I find her with a couple of broken legs, I’ll know it was my second theory.
I haven’t seen her in over twenty-four hours. In fact, I think we’re closer to the forty-eight-hour mark, and I’ve determined it’s far too long for my liking, even if we’ve exchanged a few texts and a couple of work-related phone calls.
Savanna had left this morning before I got home from my shift at the firehouse. I’d even forgone my usual breakfast with my mom just so I could see Savanna before she went in, so I was more than a little disappointed to find her up and gone. I don’t think she’s put in less than ten hours of work a day since she started last Sunday, but now it’s Friday evening and I’m cutting her off for the weekend. The last thing I need is for her to burn out.
There might also be a couple of selfish reasons I don’t want her to work all weekend.
Entering through the back, I’m whistling a tune as I nod at the guys working the kitchen tonight, and head straight for the office where I’m sure I’m going to find a beautiful blonde haired, gray eyed woman for whom I have a question. Not one of the guys says a word to me, though I feel their eyes following as I stride by.
I’m not wearing my usual faded jeans with a t-shirt tonight, so I’m sure that’s raising some eyebrows. Tonight I decided I needed to look my best if I wanted the best, so I threw on my darker denim jeans and a crisp black button down that I’ve been told makes my eyes stand out.
I’m not generally the type of guy that will dress up for much, preferring jeans and a t-shirt to anything, but I can clean up when it’s appropriate. I’m not ashamed to admit that Jordan and Bryn previously approved this outfit for a night out.
I feel alive. Exhilarated. The hope in my chest has grown over the last few days. I’ve found myself smiling and laughing more. I even put up with everyone poking at me about Savanna while I was at the firehouse. Liam even slapped me on the back and gave me a grin that said, “Hey man, glad to see you happy.”
I round the corner to the office and stop dead in my tracks. Savanna’s there, and while I know she’ll take my breath away the moment I give her my full attention, I’m floored by the state of my office.
I haven’t seen the desk or the floor in months, and both are currently devoid of anything. Against the far wall, boxes are stacked, and they’re all neatly labeled in Savanna’s flowy lettering, organized by the year and contents.
The filing cabinet doesn’t look like it has a speck of dust on it. In fact, nothing in the office does. There are also a couple of plants on top of the cabinet, and one sitting on the desk beside the computer monitor.
The place has been completely transformed since I saw it two nights ago, and I’m blown away. It looks amazing, but it’s not just the paperwork being organized and sorted, it’s that Savanna has walked in here and made it her own, which has warmth spreading from my chest outward.
“Wow,” I say, incredulous. It’s not enough to describe what I’m feeling, but I’m not sure there are words to do that.
My eyes land on the beautiful woman at the desk just in time to see her start at the sound of my voice. I smile as she brings her hand to her chest, her eyes darting to me, and I’m right—she does take my breath away.
Her blonde hair isn’t curled today, but lays straight and falls over her shoulders, touching the swell of her breasts where my eyes are drawn by the flutter of her hand. She’s wearing a black flowing top with tiny cutouts all along the neckline, right down to the top of her cleavage, her skin playing peek-a-boo through those little holes.
The top does what I’m sure it’s meant to, draw the eye there, and Christ, I’d love to stand here and stare for the rest of the night.
But I’m a man on a mission so I force my eyes back to hers as she laughs.
“You scared me,” she admits, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
I’m pleased when I see her eyes slide down the length of my body, taking in my choice of attire. It’s the same way she looked at me in the elevator, and the other night when I caught her staring. Full of appreciation, and it makes my dick twitch.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I lean against the doorframe and grin at her. “Couldn’t help it. I’m a little in awe right now. Where did my office go?”
Now she gives me a full laugh. My pulse races at the sound, my stomach clenching with anticipation. I’ve never heard such a beautiful sound. I’m really hoping I’ll hear a lot more of it tonight, and the rest of the weekend.
“Don’t let the organization fool you. It might look better, but there is still so much to do.” Savanna glances at the wall full of boxes. “I’m only three boxes into all the data, and I need to be a lot further than that, but I couldn’t work in the chaos anymore so I may have gone a little overboard in cleaning yesterday.”
“No, not at all. This place looks amazing, Sav. It looks like you,” I tell her, my eyes dancing along her face. Warm, inviting, beautiful. Effortlessly beautiful. I’ve never seen her with much makeup on, but she doesn’t need it, and I like that about her. I like a low-maintenance kind of woman, and Savanna is definitely that. “I like the plant addition, but you don’t think they’re going to die in here? That window doesn’t offer a lot of sunlight.”
“Oh, Nate,” she giggles, shaking her head at me, and damn it if I can’t help but grin wider at her. “So much to learn. You’ve got to pick plants that don’t need sunlight.”
She points at one of the plants on the filing cabinet. I think she’s referring to the one that looks viny and has big green and yellow leaves attached to it. It’s pretty nice and looks good with the vines hanging over the side. “That’s a devil’s ivy. It doesn’t need much sunlight. The one beside it is a snake plant, doesn’t need a bunch of light, and it purifies the air.”
“Then this guy,” she says, pointing to the one on the desk, and I realize there’s actually more than one plant in the big bowl that it’s in and looks more like a miniature garden than a plant, “is a succulent. Or a few different succulents all mixed together, and they’re okay without the light. I like him on the desk because it adds some life to it.”
She glances at the big round pot on the desk then lifts her gray eyes to me, looking like she’s about to frown. Instead she starts picking at her nail. “You don’t mind they’re here, do you?”
“Not at all. I think they’re perfect.” Pushing off the doorframe, I move to take a seat at the visitor’s chair across from her. To see her talking about the plants, watching her eyes light up as she explained each of them to me, makes me light up inside. She loves her plants far more than I realized, and I’m glad that Liam and I saved them from her apartment. “I like that you’re making it your own in here. Maybe I’ll get lucky and you’ll want to stick around once all of this is done.”
Savanna grins back at me. “You haven’t scared me off yet.”
Leaning back in the chair, I cross an ankle over one knee and clasp my hands in front of my stomach, quietly studying her for a moment. Her skin is kissed by the California summer with all the time she spent at the beach over the last few months. It looks silky smooth, and it’s not the first time I’ve noticed. There have been more than a few nights this week that we’ve sat on the couch together, watching movies or just talking, her at one end and me at the other, her legs sprawled out for my eyes to enjoy. I try not to stare, I swear, but I’ve got a thing for a set of toned legs and hers are as perfect as those beautiful breasts.
“Nate?”
“Hmm?” I mumble, lazily looking back up to her face.
“You’re staring.”
I jolt upright, realizing she’s right, my neck and face immediately heating. “Sorry. You just look nice today. Your hair is different.”
Savanna smirks and I feel my face redden further. “You weren’t looking at my hair, Nate.”
“Sure I was,” I say, gesturing towards the ends of her hair where they tickle the tops of her breasts and grin. “I was looking at where your hair is.”
And thinking about how nice it would be to touch you there.
It’s her turn to blush. I love the way her cheeks tinge pink, and that I caused it. I’ve realized it’s not hard to do, and it makes my chest swell with pride.
“Well, you look nice too,” she states, waving a hand at me. “Hot date?” I don’t miss the cringe before she adds, “Sorry, that’s none of my business.”
Dropping my foot from my knee, I lean forward in the chair and cross my arms over the desk. A week ago I wouldn’t be taking the step I’m about to take, but I’ve had a lot of time to think about how this might work, or not work. After weighing the pros and cons, I’ve decided I need to go for it. I know Savanna is my employee, but I just don’t give a damn anymore.
I want to take her out. I want to kiss her. I want to touch all that gorgeous skin. I want to be able to pull her across the couch when we’re laying at opposite ends and have her body rest on top of mine while we make out for a while.
I want a hell of a lot more than that, but I’ll take what I can get to begin with. If she’ll let me.
“I’m giving you tomorrow off,” I say instead of answering her. “And Sunday.”
Savanna balks at me. “What? Nate, no! I can’t take tomorrow off, let alone Sunday too. I have so much to do here.”
“Are you saying that if you took the next two days off you wouldn’t be done by your deadline?”
She glances at the computer screen then narrows her eyes at me. “I would make sure I’m done.”
That’s what I was counting on. “Then as your boss, I’m giving you tomorrow and Sunday off, Savanna. You’ve been working non-stop the last week; I don’t need you burning yourself out. You can come back on Monday refreshed and ready to keep going.”
Sitting back in her chair, she crosses her arms over her chest. I swear to god she does it just to taunt me because her breasts rise higher and I’m finding it almost impossible not to look. But this is about work and if I’m going to do this, if we’re going to do this, we need to keep things separate.
“And what would you propose I do with two days off?”
“I was hoping you’d ask that,” I say, pushing away from the desk, though my gaze doesn’t lose its intensity as I watch her. “I have two questions for you.”
When she raises a questioning brow, I continue, starting with the first, easier, question.
“Some of the crew from the firehouse are coming to the bar tonight. In fact,” I glance at my watch, “I suspect some of them are here or they’ll be here shortly.”
“Liam.”
It’s not a question, it’s a statement. Savanna has learned in the week she’s been around that Liam is a constant fixture at the bar when we’re not on shift. It’s not like he gets wasted when he’s here, nor does he always find a woman to pick up. He hates cooking, I give him a discount, and more than that, I think he gets lonely though he’d never admit it. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll be the first one to show up tonight.
I grin at her, nodding. “Yeah, if he’s not out there already, he will be soon. Brody’s coming too, but there’ll be a few others that you haven’t officially met yet. Shawn is coming, Mac will be there with his wife Lynn. Hailey thought she’d show up, and Quinn too. Hailey and Quinn were the paramedics that took you to the hospital.”
“Hailey and Quinn… isn’t that a movie?”
I bark out a laugh. “It’s Harley Quinn, but don’t ever bring it up around them. Especially Hailey. I can’t tell you the number of calls they go on and she comes back fuming that she got called Harley the whole time.” I shrug with a smirk. “I don’t think it’s a big deal, but we all know better than to say anything around them.”
Savanna nods in acknowledgement. “Got it. No Harley Quinn comments.” Dropping her arms onto the desk, she leans toward me, an eyebrow raised expectantly. “You haven’t asked me a question yet.”
“Right,” I say, mimicking her by leaning across the desk again. I swear she’s close enough now that I can feel her heat, but maybe that’s just in my mind. “Will you join us for dinner? The rest of the crew wants to meet you.”
“Oh.” She chews on her bottom lip and glances towards the computer then at the boxes against the wall. “Well, I don’t want to intrude, and I really do have so much to do.”
“You aren’t intruding, and you need to eat. You’ve been working all day. Time for a break.”
“You’ve been talking about me?” she asks, her voice quiet.
My dick twitches as she peers at me through her long eyelashes, hopeful and innocent.
There’s no denying it, though my first instinct is to say that Liam and Brody talk about her, but that’s not completely truthful.
Liam definitely brings her up a lot, but it’s because he’s been encouraging me to ask her out all week. Brody just sits there and silently eggs him on. Quinn has gotten into it now as well, while Hailey throws in a comment or two, but she tries to stay out of it to a certain extent, along with Shawn. Mac is old enough that he knows to keep his mouth shut, but I see the supportive looks he gives them, and the pointed looks he gives to me as if to say, “You’re not getting any younger, son.”
“I’ll answer that if you agree to dinner,” I finally respond.
“What’s your second question?” she asks, instead of agreeing to dinner.
I should have seen that coming. I’ve realized that when Savanna isn’t ready to give an answer she changes the subject, but if I wait her out she’ll usually circle back. I’m guessing this won’t be any different, though it makes my palms suddenly sweaty while my heart begins to race thinking about the second question.
“I, uh… well, I was… kind of thinking… maybe…”
Jesus. I’ve been doing so well around her the last week, but suddenly the thought of asking her out on an official date makes me feel like a teenage boy asking his crush to prom. The confidence I’ve been walking around with since I got home from the firehouse vanishes into thin air. I convinced myself that the only answer she would give me was yes, but now that we’ve arrived at the moment, I feel unsure. Awkward. What if she says no? She’s living in my house. Working in my bar.
I run my hand through my hair and take in a deep breath, blowing it out. My heart is thundering in my chest so hard that I can hear it in my ears. It’s not like this is the first time I’ve asked a woman out, but Christ, it feels like the most important. I like Savanna. A lot. Rejection will be crushing.
The way she’s looking at me now, amusement lighting up her face, isn’t helping, and she’s not even trying to contain it.
I rake my hand through my hair a couple more times, and then sit back, hoping that putting more space between us will help my nerves. “Tomorrow… I was thinking that maybe… you’d like to go out… with me.”
The amusement is still there, but the grin morphs into one that I can only describe as pure elation. It’s becoming on her, and my heart races faster as I take it in.
“Like a date?” she questions.
My stomach nosedives when she doesn’t immediately say yes, but I nod. “Like a date.”
An eyebrow arches, but her smile remains. “You’re asking me out on a date?”
Christ. Maybe this was a bad move. I’m trying not to panic here, because that look makes me think she was going to say yes, but her questions are making me think the opposite. “I am.”
“You’re my boss,” she says, and I can hear the hesitation in her voice, even though her expression hasn’t changed.
“I won’t be tomorrow. As your boss I’m giving you the weekend off, remember?” I blow out a breath, some of the nerves gone now that I’ve gotten the question out, though the rest will remain until she answers me.
“Look, I know the working thing complicates it a bit, but I get to make the rules, and there’s no rule that says we can’t go on a date. Maybe more than one if things go the way I hope.” I lean back across the desk, my gaze intent on her. “I like you, Savanna. I want to take you out. I want to keep getting to know you. If you’ll let me.”
She’s picking at her fingers again, casting her eyes down to the desk where her hands lay. The smile has faded some, and I can feel real concern trickling out of her. “I don’t want anyone treating me differently here.”
I can understand her apprehension. It’s something I thought about. When I went through the list of my employees, there isn’t one that I could see being upset about this, or who would change the way they treat her. My uncle never hired those kinds of people, and neither do I.
Reaching a hand out, I take one of hers and run my thumb over the back of it reassuringly. “They won’t. I know them, Sav. They wouldn’t do that.”
I don’t bother adding that if they did all she would need to do is tell me, because I know she wouldn’t. It would make her feel like a bigger outcast if she were to do that.
When her gray eyes lift back to me, I can see my answer, and I can’t help the grin that starts to spread across my face. I think she knows I’m right about everyone at work, but she had to say it out loud and get the confirmation before she said yes to my date.
“Well then, to my boss Nate, I’m letting you know that I will be taking the weekend off.”
My grin widens. “And to the Nate who asked you on a date?”
“I was starting to think you’d never ask,” she says with a cheeky smirk.
I can’t help laughing, giving her hand a squeeze before I link our fingers, enjoying the way that our hands fit together. “Believe me, I’ve wanted to ask for days, but I wasn’t sure if you’d say yes for the very reason you brought up.”
Her expression slowly falls and she turns pensive, releasing a sigh as if she’s just let go of a weight she was carrying. “I wasn’t sure either. I mean, I would have wanted to say yes even if I’d told you no. But with staying at your place, and now working for you, I didn’t know if it was a great idea.”
Slipping her fingers from mine, she turns my hand over so my palm is facing up, and runs a fingertip in a circle along my skin, making me shiver. “But I feel this,” she says in a whisper. “I’ve felt it since you introduced yourself to me in the hospital. Maybe even before that.”
I know exactly what she’s talking about, and right now, I want nothing more than to pull her straight across the desk and into my lap so I can kiss the hell out of her. The electricity that crackles around us every time we touch is nothing short of magic. I can only imagine what it might be like to put my lips on hers.
It’s not just when we’re touching, either. I can feel the hum of it whenever she’s near, and it drives me crazy in a way I didn’t know I could like. It might be a miracle that we’ve both been able to ignore it for this long.
“I feel it too,” I tell her, gazing at her as she watches her finger trace patterns along my palm.
With each stroke of her finger, I find it harder to resist dragging her across the desk to me. I take a deep breath to try and help keep my mind clear of fantasies I’ve dreamt up over the last week. I’m fighting a losing battle, though, my eyes dropping down to watch what she’s doing on my palm. Makes me wonder what else she can do with those fingers. I’d love to feel them running down my chest, my stomach, straight down to my cock where they could stroke me. And Christ, if she added that pretty little mouth of hers to it…
Fuck, I need to stop. I’m getting hard sitting here while she runs a finger over my palm. A finger! When did a single finger become sexual enough to get me going?
“Savanna?” Bryn’s unexpected voice sends both of us flying in our seats.
I whip around in my chair to look at her, knowing my neck is turning red as hell as her eyes dart back and forth between us. The smirk on her face tells me she knows she walked in on something.
“What’s up?” Savanna says, clearing her throat. She withdrew her hand when we both jumped. I know she has no intention of giving it back, so I pull my hand away, fighting the urge to reach down and adjust the semi I’m sporting.
I’m half turned in my seat so I can see both women when Bryn says, “There’s some guy asking for you at the bar.”
I glance at Savanna and watch the color drain from her face. It puts me on edge, and I turn back to Bryn, the conversation about Savanna running from someone flickering in the back of my mind.
“Who is it?” I ask sharply.
Bryn rolls her eyes, oblivious to Savanna’s anxiety. “He told me not to say, but his name might start with an L and end with an M.”
Liam. Christ. Sometimes I feel like punching him, and right now is one of those times. Not because he did anything wrong, but my protective instincts are flying high after seeing the petrified look on Savanna’s face.
“Tell him we’ll be there shortly,” I tell her. When she nods and leaves, I turn back to Savanna and reach out to take the hand that she’s picking at nervously. “You okay?”
The way her body relaxes almost immediately when I take her hand brings my own uneasiness down. Her lips still form a thin, tight line, but she nods. I’m not sure if she’s trying to convince me, or herself. “I’m good. I just don’t like surprise visits.”
I give her hand a squeeze, tucking that information, and her reaction to the situation, into my mind for later analysis. In the meantime, it sounds like the crew is arriving.
“So, dinner with the gang?”
“Yeah,” she says, her smile a little forced, but I can tell she’s glad for the change of subject. “As long as I’m not intruding on firehouse time, I’m game.”
“You’re not,” I retort, rolling my eyes as I release her hand and get to my feet. “I spend enough time with the knuckleheads. I’ll be happy for you to be a distraction.”
As she gets to her feet, I whistle low when I catch sight of her legs in a pair of jean shorts. Her ass doesn’t hang out of them, but they don’t cover more than an inch, two at best, of her thigh. “Very, very happy.”
She just laughs and comes around the desk, giving me a glimpse of those toned calves before pushing me towards the door. “C’mon, let’s go. Can’t keep Liam waiting, you know.”
Oh, we could. We definitely could. Lucky for Liam I’m too much of a gentleman.