Page 49 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
They’d played in the water for over an hour during the last half of the party. Somebody introduced a volleyball, and the competition had begun. Not only was it the three guys against the three girls, as it had been during the bowling outing, but now other guys had joined the team led by a very competitive Davon, and their partners had joined an equally-as-competitive team led by Jamaica. It had been a super-fun time, but now, Aden was suggesting a solo swim.
He eased into the pool first, reaching his hands up for her like he really expected her to jump into them. With a shake of her head, she knelt down and put one leg at a time into the pool, just as she’d done before. His hands were at her waist again the moment she was submerged up to her breasts.
“I had a great time at your pool party, Savannah,” he said, then lowered his face to nuzzle her neck.
She closed her eyes, loving the feel of being in his arms, combined with the buoyancy of being in the water. It really seemed as if she were floating, even though her feet touched the bottom—at least, they had until he lowered his arms and cupped his hand beneath her thighs. He lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist.
A tiny yelp of surprise escaped her, and she asked, “Why do you call me that? Nobody calls me by my full name.”
“You answered your own question,” he said, walking them to the farthest edge of the pool, where he pressed her back against the wall. “I like being the only one who calls you that. Makes me feel special.”
His touch was making her feel more thanspecialat this moment. “Oh, so you want to be special in my life?”
He traced a slow, heated line down her neck with his tongue. “Absolutely,” he whispered. “The same way you’re special in mine.”
“I am?” she asked with genuine question in her tone.
He must’ve picked up on that too, because he lifted his head and stared into her eyes. “You don’t believe me?”
In his eyes, she definitely saw sincerity and lust and something else she wasn’t quite sure she could decipher. But in her heart, she felt trepidation. She wanted to be all in with this new thing, which was checking a lot of boxes on that nonexistent list, but her mind was too weary of the try-and-try again motto. “I want to believe you,” she admitted quietly.
Because she really did. She wanted to believe and to take one day at a time, to follow the budding feelings of happiness brought on by being with him.
“Then believe, Savannah,” he said, bringing his lips close to hers. “Let go of all that other bullshit clouding your mind, and believe.” The kiss that followed his words was every bit as deep and delicious as the quick strokes he eventually gave her before they both found release.
Now, sitting in her office alone, Vanna shivered at the thought. It felt like the same pleasure she’d experienced in the pool at that moment on Saturday night was still present in her body on Monday afternoon.
“Damn,” she muttered. What the hell was this man doing to her?
The loud shrill of the phone on her desk had her jumping in her chair like she’d been caught doing something illicit—if recalling a greatorgasm could be considered that. With a frown at the interruption, she reached for the phone and answered, “Hey, Neshawn,” because she could see that it was an interoffice call.
“Hey, your grandmother is on line four, and she’s yelling and screaming. I can barely understand what she’s saying,” Neshawn told her.
“Okay. I’ll grab it now,” Vanna said, and pressed the button to end the call with Neshawn. Then she pressed the blinking number 4 button.
“Granny?”
“Vannie, baby! You gotta come quick! Come right now, baby! The police are here tearing up your house!”
When Vanna turned onto her block, she saw the flashing lights from the police cruisers. Her heart had been thumping on overtime the moment she’d hung up the phone and shot up from her desk. Her call to Jovani had gone to his assistant because he was in court, but she promised she would get the message to him as soon as he was out. Her next calls had actually been text messages to her J&R thread:OMG! They’re searching my house!And to Aden:I can’t believe they’re searching my house!
Her phone had been buzzing as she drove, but she’d only looked at it when she was at a stoplight. Jamaica and Ronni were both shocked. Aden hadn’t responded yet. She couldn’t even think about why that was—not now, when she saw an officer run up the steps to her front door with huge brown paper bags in his gloved hands.
She had barely brought her vehicle to a stop before she opened the door and jumped out. About three steps away, she remembered her purse and phone and ran back to grab them off the passenger seat. Then she headed for the house again. The second she walked inside, she heard the commotion. Frito barking, Granny fussing, and the project manager, Jack, trying to calm her down.
“They just need to get out; my granddaughter is innocent,” Granny was saying as Vanna walked into the living room.
“I understand, ma’am, but it’ll be over soon. And it’s better if you and I just stay out of their way.” Jack was probably in his late fifties, a handsome man with curly salt-and-pepper hair and gold-rimmed glasses.
“Thanks, Jack,” Vanna said, moving closer and taking Granny’s hand. “I’m so sorry this is happening while you’re here trying to work.”
Jack shook his head. “No, don’t you apologize. I’m glad me and my crew were here with your grandmother when they arrived.”
She sighed heavily. “How long have they been here?”
“Just about an hour now,” Jack said. “Haven’t found anything yet, as far as I can tell. But one of ’em just ran out of here to grab an evidence bag, so ...” He let his words trail off, and then he looked away, as if wanting to give Vanna the space to be even more embarrassed without an audience.
“That’s not possible,” she said, shaking her head. “What could they possibly have found?”
