Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(38)

“You’ve lost them both?”

“My mother and older brother were killed in the same accident that took my father’s life fourteen months ago. My younger brother, Reese, who’s in college to become a doctor in Oregon, is all I have left. And the kids, of course.”

“It’s been a rough year for you.”

She finished the last of her wine. “It’s been a rough nine years. That’s the weird thing. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t particularly happy. I just kept pushing forward, trying to make the most of the decisions I’d made. But now that Gordon is incarcerated, and the truth has come out, I’m wrecked but sort of relieved at the same time, if that makes any sense.”

“You’ve been released from a marriage that didn’t fulfill you.”

That was it. That explained the element of relief that occasionally surfaced despite everything—like when she’d seen the stars last night and experienced a sense of rebirth. “And now I’m wondering why anyone ever gets married.”

“Most people do it for love,” he pointed out.

“Love is what got me into trouble in the first place,” she grumbled. “As far as I’m concerned, love is overrated. Never again will I give a man that much power over my life. Not now that I understand you can never really know someone.”

“You’ll learn to love again,” he said gently.

“Not for a long time. Maybe never.”

“Your lesbian partner, when you find her, might take issue with that,” he teased.

She set her empty glass on a nearby box. “I’ve come to the conclusion that changing my sexual preference isn’t really an option.”

“That didn’t take long,” he joked.

“Thanks to you.”

He said nothing.

“You made me an offer at the creek,” she said. “Have you changed your mind?”

“No. I want what you want, Savanna. I’m just trying to be cautious. Relationships can get complicated.”

“I’m not asking for a relationship. That’s not what I need from you. I just need you to hold me, to help me forget my regular life for a little while.”

She could see his chest rising and falling rapidly, felt her own breathing grow short. “But I live next door. That pretty much means we’ll have some type of relationship. And I think you might need a friend more than a lover.”

This was why he remained friends with the women he dated, she realized. He put that first. “We’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

He chuckled at her bold pronouncement. “You’re not helping me walk out of here.”

“Because I don’t want you to walk out. I’m too curious.”

“About...”

She lowered her voice until it was barely audible. “What you’d feel like inside me...”

His nostrils flared as his gaze moved over her. “And tomorrow?”

“We won’t owe each other anything.”

“You won’t be embarrassed or reluctant to see me...”

“Not at all. We’ll be friends and neighbors again. This is for one night and one night only. A simple and quick escape.” She’d never dreamed she’d consider something like this, ever want something like this. But she’d never dreamed she’d find herself in her current situation, either.

“Aren’t you worried about your kids waking up?” he asked. “Should we go to my place?”

“I can’t leave them—even to go next door. We’ll lock the door and be quiet. Really quiet.”

He stood and offered her a sexy smile along with his hand. “Then you’d better not scream too loud when I make you come.”





10

Gavin sat on Savanna’s bed, which he’d put together when he helped her move in. “Take off your clothes,” he said.

A sudden wave of self-consciousness caused Savanna to hesitate. “This is how you’d like to start?” she asked nervously.

“Why not? I want to watch.”

Even after three glasses of wine, she wasn’t sure she had the nerve to strip down on her own. She preferred he do the honors—and that it happen in the dark, so she wouldn’t feel quite so exposed. She started across the floor, but he got up to intercept her. “What are you doing?”

“Turning off the light.”

“Because...”

“Because I have some imperfections I don’t want you to see.” Like the stretch mark that’d appeared on her lower right abdomen when she was pregnant with Alia...

“I’m not worried about your imperfections,” he whispered. “That’s not what I’m looking for. If we have only one night, I want to remember every detail. That’s all. Let me see you. Let go of your fear and inhibition and just...act on what you feel.”

It was unusual that she felt anything. She was grateful if only for that. With Gordon, sex had become as monotonous as vacuuming the floor. But it was the exact opposite with Gavin. She was so excited she could barely breathe. “I know it sounds strange, since I’ve been married for nine years, but...I’m not used to having a man look at me the way you’re looking at me right now,” she told him. “I mean...it feels like you actually see me. And that leaves me nowhere to hide.”