Whisper's Edge (22 page)

It took all the willpower in the world not to look over her shoulder to see if Tristan was still there as she headed back to the table but Savannah somehow managed. Kate, bless her heart, gave her a discreet he’s-still-here nod, making Savannah’s heart skip a beat. The wings and skins had arrived, and although she really didn’t want any food, she accepted the little white plate that Jeff handed to her. “Thanks.”

“I didn’t know if you wanted bleu cheese or ranch with the celery so I ordered both.”

“I like it all as you can probably already tell.”

“What do you mean?” He unscrewed a beer and placed the bottle in front of her.

“I’m short but certainly not tiny.”

Jeff leaned in close to her ear. “I think you look amazing, Savannah.”

Savannah felt a blush warm her cheeks. She could certainly get used to this kind of attention.

“I’m just stating a fact,” he said before biting into a wing.

“Whew, holy cow these are spicy hot!” Kate reached for a stick of celery and dipped it in the cup of bleu cheese dressing.

“Just drink more beer,” Ben advised and got a laugh from them all. Savannah was amazed at his recent transformation. He now smiled often instead of frowning all the time and Savannah said a silent prayer that it continued.

“I like how you think.” Jeff clinked his bottle to Ben’s.

Maybe it was the beer or the laughter but Savannah willed herself to stop thinking about Tristan and to just relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. She even tried to flirt with Jeff, but just when she thought she was succeeding his name was called to head up to the mic again.

“Aunt Kate, did you put my name in?”

“Who me?” She innocently put a hand to her chest. “And would I have you singing ‘Honky Tonk Badonkadonk’?”

“Are you kiddin’ me?”

Kate shrugged. “What can I say, I like that song. And you have that Trace Adkins kind of voice.”

“I’ll get you back for this,” Jeff promised, but the crazy song got the crowd singing along. Savannah laughed and joined in. Jeff followed up by singing another Trace Adkins hit, “Just Fishin’,” before heading back to the table.

“That was fun,” Savannah told him. “And you had the audience eating out of your hand.”

“If you have something you want to hear, just let me know, okay?” Jeff gave her a big smile when she nodded and his gaze lingered on her lips. “I’ll sing it just for you.”

“Why, thank you.” Savannah hoped that he was thinking that he’d like to kiss her and not that she had sauce on her lips. She’d just go on with her earlier plan and let him. Surely a kiss from someone as cute and sexy as Jeff Greenfield would make her toes curl like they did with Tristan. It
wasn’t like she had a lot to compare to anyway. Maybe her reaction to Tristan was merely her annoying biological clock causing her to melt like cheese on a burger and want to drag him into bed and have her way with him. Well, she damn sure was going to find out if Jeff could make her hot and bothered too. With that thought in mind she vowed to devote the rest of the evening to enjoying Jeff’s company and to do her best at flirting.

Savannah found herself relaxing and tapping her toes to the music. Kate kept them in stitches, and it did her heart good to see Ben smiling. When Jeff leaned in closer, pressing his arm against hers, Savannah smiled. “I’m having a great time.”

“I’m glad.” His grin showed off his sexy dimple. “I’m having a blast too.” He leaned in closer to her ear. “And I’m glad that Aunt Kate is getting out. When she moved back here we thought we’d see her more often but she’s always kind of kept to herself. I hope that is changing.”

“Oh, I think we all needed to get out and have some fun.”

“You got that right,” Jeff agreed, and clanked his bottle to hers. A moment later someone got up and actually started singing a pretty good rendition of George Strait’s “If I Know Me.” Savannah was swaying to the song while Kate tried to talk Jeff into singing an Elvis medley.

And then Savannah’s heart suddenly dropped to her toes and bounced like it was on a bungee cord.

There was Tristan…
slow
dancing with a tall, willowy blonde wearing painted-on jeans. She was clinging to him like Saran Wrap on a tuna sandwich. Savannah wondered if they were going to have to pry her off Tristan, not that he seemed to mind one little bit.

Savannah’s teeth ground together. Jealousy ripped through her like a tornado and she gripped her beer bottle so hard that she was sure it might shatter. She dearly wanted to take a healthy swig but her body felt frozen to the spot while she positively seethed. Savannah knew she had absolutely no right whatsoever to feel that way.

But she did. And it wouldn’t go away.

So she simply sat there and continued to seethe in sad silence. The only thing that made her feel a little bit better was when Ben and Kate headed to the dance floor and started swaying in each other’s arms.

“Do you want to make him jealous?” Jeff whispered close to her ear.

“What?” Savannah asked innocently but felt as if she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. With an effort she pulled her gaze away from Tristan and cling-on Barbie. “Who are you talking about?”

“The guy that you’re staring daggers at.” Jeff nodded toward the dance floor.

“Oh him? I’m not—” she began, but Jeff put a gentle silencing fingertip to her lips.

And then, next to her ear once more, said, “It’s okay. Look, you were staring so hard that you didn’t even hear me ask you to dance the first time I asked.” His smile held a hint of sadness. “So, sweet Savannah, do you want to dance with me and make that dude jealous?”

She managed a small smile. “The only thing that would actually do would be to make all of the girls in the room jealous of me. Besides, he’s the lawyer who is the new owner of Whisper’s Edge.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“Come on, Jeff, look at who he’s dancing with.”

“What do you mean?”

“A tall, slender, blond Barbie doll.”

Jeff shook his head. “Wow, would you do me a big favor and come out on the back deck with me? It’s not so loud out there and I’d like to tell you something.”

“Okay.” She’d had her fill of watching Tristan and cling-on Barbie anyway. Savannah grabbed her purse and then took his extended hand. Once they were out on the back deck the music was muted and the cool air helped to cool her anger. Because the night had grown a bit breezy, no one else was outside, giving them the privacy that Jeff had
requested. He walked over to the railing and then turned to her.

“Oh boy, Savannah.” He shook his head.

“What?”

“You really don’t understand how gorgeous you are, do you?”

“Oh, come on.” Savannah rolled her eyes. “On a good day when my hair behaves I can pass for…cute.” She frowned and then blew a curl away from her forehead. “Wait. My hair never behaves. Scratch the cute part.”

Jeff chuckled. “Why in the world would you
ever
want to tame those sweet-ass curls?”

Savannah shrugged and looked down at her shoes.

“Hey,” he said and gently tipped her head up. “Savannah, you might not be the Barbie-doll type, but girl, you are some kind of wonderful.”

She grinned. “Wait. Isn’t that a song?”

“Yeah, old-school Grand Funk Railroad. I can’t help it, my brain thinks in song lyrics. It would suit me just fine if life was one great big musical.”

Savannah laughed.

“Hey, the song could have been written about you.”

“Really?” Savannah snorted and then started ticking off all of her flaws while pointing to each one. “I’m short, I have freckles, wild hair, pale skin, a big butt—”

He whipped his cowboy hat off, pulled her close, and shut her up with a kiss.

Savannah was taken by surprise and, oh, the kiss was nice…warm and pleasant. Enjoyable, even.

But not knock-your-socks-off-bone-melting-head-spinning
awesome
.

Jeff drew back slowly. “Sorry, but I did that for two reasons.”

Savannah swallowed hard and waited.

“First, because you are definitely some kind of wonderful but some kind of crazy too. Savannah, look, whether you
believe it or not you’re gorgeous and supersexy. Not in a conventional way, but gorgeous nonetheless.”

Savannah didn’t know what to say. This was new territory for two very different but very sexy men to think that about her but she managed a soft, “Really?”

“Yeah, you remind me of that cool redheaded actress, um…” He paused and then snapped his fingers. “Emma…Stone. You even sound like her with that low, sultry voice and funny way about you. Damn, girl, don’t you get it? You’re the whole package and you don’t have a clue.”

All Savannah could do was shake her head.

“And all you women think you need to be skinny. Well, here’s a news flash for ya.” He grinned at her. “I
like
curves. So there, Savannah Perry.”

Savannah laughed softly. “Are you finished?”

“No, here’s reason number two.” But this time Jeff gave Savannah another sad smile. “Because I’ve wanted to kiss you from the moment I met you, and I figured this would be my one and only chance.”

“Now, just why is that?”

He tilted his head toward the building. “Lawyer guy in there.”

“I think lawyer guy in there might be a lost cause.”

Jeff put his arms around her waist. “Is it crappy of me that I hope so?”

Savannah chuckled. “No, flattering.” She went on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

“Oh no, not a cheek kiss!” He tilted his head up to the sky and groaned.

Savannah giggled and then said, “I must be out of my ever-lovin’ mind.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” He looked at her for a long moment and then stepped away and put on his hat. “I should get back in there and sing the Elvis medley for Aunt Kate. I told her no way but I’m sure she put my name in anyway. Do you want to make lawyer guy jealous first?”

“No,” Savannah shook her head. “I think I’ll just head on home.”

“I’ll walk you, then.”

Savannah put a hand on his chest. “Thanks, but I’ll be fine. There are streetlights the whole way through Cricket Creek, and Whisper’s Edge isn’t far.”

Jeff frowned. “I don’t like you walking by yourself.”

Savannah waved him off. “I do it all the time. And tell Kate not to worry. I’ll text her when I get home.” When Jeff hesitated she gave him a shove. “Get back in there and please your fans.”

He tucked a finger beneath her chin. “I’d much rather please you,” he said, but then backed away. “Pretend I didn’t just say that. Seriously, I’m not usually so cheesy, I promise.” He sighed. “I’m going to get back in there before I attempt to kiss you again.”

“Thanks for the fun evening, Jeff. I’m looking forward to having you sing at Whisper’s Edge.”

“Me too.” He looked at her as if he was about to say something else but then tipped his hat and then turned away.

When Jeff was back inside Savannah took a moment to gather her wits. She grabbed the railing and gazed up at the inky sky dotted with glittering stars. The moon was nearly full and the soft breeze carried the scent of honeysuckle with it. Her mood felt…strange. Jealousy slid into sadness as she started the journey toward Whisper’s Edge but then she shook it off when she reached her street.

This was home. People here really truly cared about her. It felt wrong to feel sad when she finally had so much more than she’d ever hoped for. How ungrateful was that?

Savannah shook her head but slowed her pace while she pondered why Jeff’s kiss hadn’t knocked her socks off. And when the image of Tristan dancing with the blond Barbie filtered into her brain she clenched her fists. She inhaled sharply, trying to control her emotions, but she just couldn’t. Odd, because Savannah had spent a lifetime exercising her
self-control and was pretty damned good at it. She’d learned to shake off hunger, stare down fear, tamp down anger, and live with loneliness. But white-hot jealousy was such a foreign feeling that she had no idea how to cope with it. Coping was usually her specialty. This felt weird.

Savannah sighed and wondered if she should have danced with Jeff after all. But then again, Tristan McMillan probably wouldn’t have cared one little old bit.

With that crappy thought in mind, she decided that as soon as she got into the house she was going to make a beeline for the fridge and get into her stash of ice cream. The thought had her picking up the pace so fast that she didn’t notice that someone was sitting in the shadows on her front porch until she was nearly on top of the intruder.

A scream bubbled up in her throat. She took a step backward and she was about to let the scream rip when the moonlight suddenly illuminated the handsome face of none other than Tristan McMillan.

“T
RISTAN!” WHEN HER VOICE SQUEAKED WITH TERROR
Tristan pushed up from the stoop and took two giant steps to her side.

“Savannah! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“W-what are you doing here?”

Tristan suddenly felt like a jackass. He raked his fingers through his hair and cleared his throat. How could he explain something that he didn’t fully understand himself? He decided to cut to the chase. “When I saw you walk outside with the crooning cowboy I decided to go home and brood but damned if my feet didn’t lead me here instead.”

“What if I’d been with Jeff when I arrived?”

Tristan didn’t like the sound of his name on Savannah’s lips. “I saw him come back inside Sully’s without you.”

“Oh. So you were watching me?”

Tristan looked down at her pretty face and sighed. “All night long with that country singer wannabe,” he said testily.

“He’s a great singer.”

“Do I have to admit that?”

Savannah shrugged.

“So I guess you like him.”

She nodded.

Tristan shoved his fingers through his hair. “Okay, I fully admit it. I’m jealous.

Her chin came up. “It didn’t seem like it when you were dancing with the Barbie doll in the painted-on jeans.

He groaned. “A move I instantly regretted. She was drunk and I had to hold her upright.”

“Oh…and were you trying to make
me
jealous?”