Page 57 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
She laughed, the sound shaky to her own ears, and turned to slip the earrings into her lobes. Shining with fire and light, they swung against her artfully disheveled hair, a careless style that took her longer to create than she would ever admit. She turned to him. “Thank you.”
He moved to edge her hair behind her ear, and she caught his wrist. “Nope. You touch me now after giving me these, and I’ll jump you right here, then Troy Lee and Clark will have to play without you.”
“I’m good with that.” A muscle flicked in his stubbled jaw, his blue eyes smoldering. “Go ahead and jump me. Clark would bitch for weeks, but it would be worth it.”
“Later.”
He lifted the violin case again, muscles shifting under cashmere. “What are the odds later would involve you wearing nothing but those shoes and maybe those earrings?”
“Better than you’d get in Vegas.”
“Oh, I’m in then.”
* * * * *
Patrons packed the Cue Club, and he hadn’t been far off—she wasn’t underdressed and she came darn close to being overdressed.
“Is it always this crowded?” Pressed to his side, she spoke close to his ear.
“Sometimes.” He steered her toward the tables set to one side of a scuffed dance floor. “A lot of people are here just because of Beau and Andy. There’s Bennett and your sister.”
She peered through the crush and found Amy, clad in a sparkly turquoise tank and black slacks, standing with Rob near the bar. Hand linked with hers and violin case in his other, Emmett urged her in their direction. “Come on.”
The curious looks they engendered didn’t fly under her radar, and a hefty dose of jealousy simmered in some of those glances. He’d not been kidding about the gossip mill around here.
“Hey.” Amy greeted her with a bright smile and a hug, touching their cheeks together. She looked around at the crowd. “Can you believe this?”
“It’s amazing. Like one of Mom’s fundraising shindigs.” Savannah felt the loss of Emmett’s warm hold on her hand as he released her to shake Troy Lee’s hand when he joined them. Emmett leaned down to hug the pretty blonde accompanying Troy Lee.
“It is so good to see you here.” The blonde kissed his cheek.
“I didn’t think you were coming.” Troy Lee clapped his hand on Rob’s shoulder. “Who’s with the baby?”
“My mom and daddy took her back to Valdosta so they could have her to themselves tonight.” Amy linked her arm with Rob’s and smiled at him. “So we get to celebrate our first date night as parents.”
“You guys are going to start soon, right?” The blonde gestured toward the stage, where Clark Dempsey fiddled with wires. “Before this crowd gets restless?”
“Yeah.” Troy Lee started to drape his arm across her shoulder, and she ducked out from under it.
“Great.” She patted Emmett’s chest with one hand and whirled away toward the bar. Rob and Emmett watched her go, both bearing similar expressions of shock.
Emmett tagged Troy Lee’s arm. “Is she mad at you?”
“That’s one way to put it.”
“You didn’t compare her to a Caddy again, did you?”
“No.” Mouth set in a grim line, Troy Lee jerked a hand through his short hair. “She’s pregnant, she’s not happy about it, and somehow it’s all my fault.”
Emmett shook his head. “Told you to get a vasectomy when I did.”
“Can we just go play?”
“Yeah.” Emmett leaned down to brush his mouth across Savannah’s. “See you later.”
“Well.” An impish grin lit Amy’s face, and she grabbed Savannah’s hand. “Come sit with us. There’s an extra chair, and you’ll save me from having to converse with my bitchy partner or listen to Rob talk shop all night.”
Grateful for time with her sister, Savannah complied, even smiling through the handful of selfies Amy snapped once they’d placed drink orders. The large tables scattered about the room seated ten, and she found herself with Amy and Rob along with Amy’s partner and her husband as well as the rest of Chandler County’s investigative team.
