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  Standing here in the middle of the living room, he holds me as I cry. This man who has been by my side since I can remember, this man who loves with his whole heart, this man who I would do anything for. “I’m sorry that I ruined your big night,” I say into his soaked shirt. My ear rests on his chest, and I listen to his heart beating. “I never wanted you to find out like that.” He just rubs my back. Neither of us says anything when his phone rings in his pocket. He ignores it, but then it rings again, and I step out of his arms.

  “You should get that,” I say and try to smile. “You’re the mayor now.”

  He shakes his head and takes the phone out of his back pocket. “Fuck that,” he says, declining the call. He looks at me. “It’s my father.”

  “You should answer him,” I say, and his phone beeps in his hand.

  He looks down and then up at me. “Emergency family meeting. Tomorrow morning.”

  “Oh my God,” I say, putting my hand to my stomach. “Do you think they know?”

  “I have no idea,” he says, tossing his phone on the couch. “Regardless of that, I’m going to tell him I know tomorrow,” he says, and I suddenly get nervous because I didn’t tell him everything. “What?” he asks me, putting his hands on his hips. “Don’t tell me there is more.”

  “Well …” I look down and then look up. “There is only one more thing,” I say but think to myself, Well, two if I tell him I love him.

  “Should I sit down?” he asks, and I wonder if he should or not. “Savannah, you being quiet is not helping anything.”

  I shake my hands now to stop them and walk away from him. “Well …” I try to think of a way to tell him this next part. “I kind of …” I rub my face. “I blackmailed your father.”

  He looks at me in shock. “What?” He shakes his head. “What did you just say?”

  “Well, when I couldn’t go through with the abortion, and Jacob took responsibility for it, he came to see me.” I look at him. “And he told me that he knew I was lying and all this shit.” I get so aggravated. “And then he might have, you know, called me a whore.” I roll my eyes now while Beau hisses. “Anyway, he got me mad, so I told him that I would tell the whole town, and I would sue Liam for paternity, and with that, I’d make sure he paid for the rest of his life.”

  “You didn’t,” he asks, almost in a whisper.

  “Oh, I did, too.” I fold my hands over my chest. “I had nothing to lose. The town hated me, Jacob secretly blamed me for Kallie leaving, and you …” I shrug. “You stopped talking to me. I had nothing to lose.”

  “So what did he do?”

  “He wrote me a check for three hundred thousand and made me sign an NDA and also made Liam sign a paper relinquishing his rights as father.”

  “Incredible.” He rubs his face and sits down on the couch. “He basically sold his kid for three hundred thousand dollars.”

  “Enough for me to buy the bar and this house,” I say, looking around, “and some of the furniture.”

  “My head is spinning,” he says, leaning back on the couch. “This night isn’t ending like I thought it would.” I try not to let his words hurt me or wonder what he means by that. I know that he dates, and he goes out often. The girls he dates are not quiet about it either. I’ve gotten drunk many nights while a couple of them were sitting at the bar talking to their friends about him.

  “I’m going to wash my face,” I say and avoid his eyes. I walk to my bedroom and go straight to my master bathroom and turn on the water. I shouldn’t have looked at myself in the mirror because when I do, I see that my eyes are puffy, my nose is red, and my hair looks ragged. After I wash my face, I slip out of the dress and hang it up, then put on my yoga pants and a tank top.

  When I walk back out, I see he hasn’t moved from the couch, and when I walk around the couch, I see that he’s sleeping. I grab the cover that I was wrapped up in before and place it over him. He stirs for just a minute, and when I turn to walk away, he grabs my hand and pulls me down to him. His eyes never open, but he puts his arm around me and pulls me to him. My head falls on his shoulder, and he kisses the side of my head. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles. My eyes fly to his, and he wraps his other arm around me. He mumbles something else, and then he falls back asleep. I put my arm around his stomach, and my eyes slowly close.

  Chapter Five

  Beau

  Something tickles my face, and I reach out and brush it away, but then I feel a heaviness on me, so I slowly open my eyes. I’m on my back on a couch, and when I look down, all I see is brown hair. Savannah’s sprawled over me, and my cock is happy about this. She moans, and when I look down, she hitches her leg up around my hips. I swear my cock is going to break down the zipper to get at her. Closing my eyes, I try to think about anything but her, but when she moans and then stretches, I almost toss her off me and jump up. We’ve fallen asleep on the couch together before, but I’ve never woken up with her in my arms.

  “Morning,” she mumbles. I look down at her, and she’s blinking her eyes open and then closing them again. Yesterday was a day I would love to forget. Apart from the time I thought she slept with my best friend, this was the worst day of my life.

  “Morning,” I mumble. I wait for her to get up and take her hand off my waist. I also hold my breath, waiting for her to drag her leg off my hip. I’m hoping when she does that, she doesn’t feel my cock.

  “Are you stiff?” she asks, and I look down at her, my palms suddenly super sweaty. Her head moves from my chest as she looks up at me. “Is your neck sore from sleeping with no pillow?”

  “Oh.” I let out a sigh of relief that she isn’t asking about my other stiff member. “No, it’s fine.”

  When she gets up off me, her legs gently brush my cock, and my eyes fly to hers to see if she felt it. I start to come up with excuses in my head, but what excuse could I come up with?

  “I’ll make coffee,” she mumbles, and I lie on the couch, watching her perfect ass walk away. I put my hand over my head and stare up at the ceiling that I helped paint last year. I then turn my head and see her standing in the kitchen just off the family room. She opens the cabinets and takes down two mugs, and I have to smile. Last year when we took Ethan to Disney, she bought me the Beast mug from Beauty and the Beast. I kept forgetting to grab it, so it’s been here ever since. Every time she makes me coffee, it’s in that mug. I sit up on the couch and rub my hands over my face and stand. My body screams as my muscles feel tight. Fuck, I guess sleeping on this couch did leave me stiff, and I groan.

  “Did you want to take a shower?” she asks over her shoulder.

  “Yeah,” I say, walking to the kitchen, and the smell of fresh coffee fills the air.

  “I still have your clothes from last time,” she says, going to the fridge and getting her hazelnut creamer. “They are in my closet.”

  The last time I came over, it was right after one of my meetings, I was dressed in a suit and Ethan wanted to go to the park. Luckily, I had my gym bag in the car, so I changed and left my clothes here by accident. “I washed and ironed them.” She hands me the cup of coffee, and I sit down at the island. She stands on the other side and holds her own cup of coffee in her hand, taking a sip and then putting it down. She grabs her hair and ties it on top of her head, leaving her tanned neck open, and I know exactly where I would want to kiss her. “What time is your meeting?”

  “Ten,” I say. “But I’ll get there when I get there. They can both fuck off.”

  “Um.” She looks down, and I see that she is blinking fast, which means she is about to cry. I can’t take her crying anymore. She’s cried enough to last two lifetimes; it’s time for her to smile. “I don’t want to get in the middle.”

  “Savannah,” I say her name, but she doesn’t look up at me. “Look at me, sweetheart.” Her head slowly comes up, and I see the same look she had last night. The turmoil, the hurt, the pain, all of the stress on her shoulders. “You did nothing wrong.”

  “I can’t do
it.” She blinks and then swallows slowly. “I can’t regret it. Ethan, he’s …”

  “He’s the best kid there is, and he’s got the best father,” I say, and she just nods. I get up, grabbing my coffee. “I’m going to head to the shower.”

  “Okay,” she whispers. “I bought you new shower stuff.” Say what you want about her, but she has to have the biggest heart, and she takes care of the people she cares about. We’ve been best friends forever, and in the past seven years, we’ve gotten even closer. I’ve been around for the colic and the teething. I’ve spent more nights on her couch than I can count, and we’ve eaten dinner together most nights of the week.

  Walking down the hall to the door right next to Ethan’s bedroom, I enter the bathroom and close the door behind me. I spend extra time in the shower, letting the hot water run down my neck, and when I get out, I grab a towel and then wrap it around my waist. As I open the door, I hold the towel at the side to make sure it doesn’t slip down. I smell bacon as soon as I head to the kitchen, and when she sees me, her mouth falls open. “I forgot to grab my clothes.” Walking to her room, I go into her small walk-in closet and spot the white button-down shirt hanging over the pair of blue pants right away. I walk back into the bathroom, then slip on my boxers and finish getting dressed.

  When I walk back out, she’s sitting at the island eating, and a plate is right next to her with food piled on it for me. “You didn’t have to make breakfast,” I say, sitting down next to her, and she looks over.

  “I figured you would need your strength.” She tries to joke, but it comes out with a sob, and I take her in my arms.

  “Why are you crying?” I ask her as she lays her head on my shoulder.

  “I don’t want to lose you,” she says so softly that if she wasn’t whispering in my ear, I wouldn’t have heard her.

  “You won’t lose me,” I say. I don’t add that she’ll never lose me. You won’t ever lose me because I love you right down to the depth of my soul. She pulls away from me and gets off her stool.

  “You should eat.” She grabs her still full plate and walks to the sink, throwing it out. “I’m going to get in the shower.” I want to go after her, but how do I do that without telling her how I feel? I get up and grab my phone from the coffee table. I send Jacob a text.

  Me: Family meeting at the mayor’s office.

  He answers right away.

  Jacob: Do you need backup?

  Me: Not sure, but you’ll be the first one I call.

  Jacob: I’ll be here.

  When she comes out of the bathroom wearing her jean shorts and a white tank top, I’m just putting my dish in the dishwasher. “Can I borrow your car?” I ask. “I can come back after so you can go to work.”

  “That’s okay. I can get a ride to the bar,” she says. My stomach burns with nerves. “Will you call me?”

  “As soon as I can,” I say, and she hands me the keys to her truck. “Don’t worry, nothing is going to touch you.” Reassuring her, I lean in and kiss her cheek, but it’s very close to her lips, which is where I really want to kiss her. When I walk out of the house, the sun is high in the sky, and the heat is starting to fill the air. I make my way over to my new office in Savannah’s truck, and when I pull up, I see that my father and brother are already there. I get out of the truck and walk up the steps to the front door. When I walk into the house, the cool air hits me right away, and I look over at my new secretary. Well, the secretary I inherited from my father.

  “Morning, Mayor,” Bonnie says and smiles at me. She must be in her early thirties, and she looks like a debutante for sure. Southern to a T with her hair curled perfectly and her nails an acceptable length with a nude color on them. “Your father and brother are already in there. Would you like coffee?”

  “No, thank you,” I say as I walk to the office door and open it. Stepping into the room, I see that my brother is wearing khaki pants with a white polo and a khaki jacket. He even looks like a douche sitting there on the couch. I see a tumbler in his hand already, and I have no doubt it’s not his first drink this morning.

  He turns his head to look at me. “Nice of you to show up,” he sneers and takes a sip of his drink. Looking toward my desk, I find my father sitting behind it. At one time, I wanted to be like my father because I thought he was the perfect father.

  The three of us look exactly the same except my father’s black hair has now turned white. He looks at me with narrowed eyes, and I see in front of him the paper that I had clutched in my hand last night. Then I look over at the wall but find the mess of the bottle from last night has been cleaned up.

  “You’re sitting in my chair,” I say, and he just looks at me.

  “That is the least of my worries today,” my father says, pressing the button on the phone.

  When Bonnie answers, he says, “We are having a meeting, and there are to be no interruptions,” and releases the button.

  “No interruptions.” I laugh bitterly now. “What’s the matter? You don’t want to tell the whole town that your sorry excuse of a son isn’t man enough to take responsibility for his actions?”

  “What did you just say?” Liam says as he gets up and walks to me. I can smell the whiskey on him as if he bathed in it.

  I go toe-to-toe with him. “How could you just walk away from your own flesh and blood?” I ask. “How could you?” Then I turn and look at my father. “And how could you live in a town and see him all the time and not want to get to know your own grandson?” I shake my head. “How the fuck can you do it?”

  “Please,” Liam says, rolling his eyes. “We don’t even know for sure it’s my kid.” My hands flex into fists, but I try to keep my cool. “For all I know, she spreads her legs for everyone.” I don’t even think before I grab his shirt in my hands and yank him toward me. He’s taller than I am, but he’s lanky whereas I’m built like an ox thanks to the time I spend in the gym lifting weights.

  “Let him go,” my father says, getting up and coming over to us. “This is exactly what she wants,” he hisses. I let go of my brother and turn to look at my father.

  I hope he sees the hatred in my eyes. “You think she wants anything?” I ask him. “You think after you threw two hundred dollar bills in her face that she would want anything to do with you?” I laugh.

  “Well, then I see she told you all about it,” my father says, and he puts his hands in his pockets. “She signed an NDA.”

  “Who the fuck cares what she signed? She gave birth to your grandson. Does that not even register in your head?” I say, my voice getting louder. “How can you do that?”

  “Oh, please,” Liam says. “If you ask me, she got the better end of the deal.” He walks back to his drink and takes it down in one gulp. “She wasn’t even that good.”

  Yup, whatever control I had has snapped. I charge over to him, and my fist flies before he can register what is happening and falls back onto the couch. “You hit me!” His hand comes to his nose that is now pouring blood. “You broke my fucking nose!”

  “Be happy I didn’t break all your fucking teeth, you worthless piece of shit,” I hiss, then turn to my father, who looks shocked by my behavior. I’ve always been the calm son. The son who did what his father said and never asked questions. “And, you.” I look at my father, shaking my head. “You’re even worse than he is.”

  “Tread lightly, son,” he orders me. “I would hate to have to do something that you would regret.”

  “Fuck you,” I tell my father, and he just glares at me. “You think you can stand in front of me and threaten me?”

  “She is in default of her NDA agreement,” my father says calmly, thinking he has an ace up his sleeve.

  “Good. Fucking sue her then. Let the whole fucking town know that my drunk and sorry excuse of a brother fathered a good kid. That she blackmailed you”—I point at him—“into keeping her silence. I’m sure the town would love to hear all of the secrets that you have buried in your closet, Father,” I say with dis
gust. Before I can say anything else, there is a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” I say, looking at my father. “This is my office after all.”

  When the door swings open, Jacob stands there, and I can see the rage on his face. “Savannah’s bar was vandalized,” he says, and I turn to look at my father, who stands there saying nothing.

  Chapter Six

  Savannah

  I knew something was off the minute I got out of Jacob’s truck and saw the two potted plants that I keep beside the door tossed over. “What the heck?” I say, getting out of the truck and walking through the gravel parking lot. Only when I get close enough to the front of the door do I see the red spray paint.

  TOWN WHORE

  “What the fuck?” Jacob says from beside me. I look over at him, then I see what looks like a broken window at the end of the bar. I bought this bar seven years ago. It was half the size and in disrepair. When the owner asked for ten thousand dollars, I knew he didn’t even make that in revenue that year. But I saw things he didn’t, and I had a plan for the small twelve-by-twelve bar. He sold the land to me for an extra ten thousand and thought he was robbing me blind. But little did he know that five years later, I would be raking in close to half a million dollars a year, and that my country bar would be the place to be.

  I take the keys out of my pocket and unlock the big blue door, gasping when I open it. “Oh my God,” I say, stepping in.

  All the bottles behind the bar and the glasses have been smashed on the floor. The stools that sit in front of the long bar are tossed over and all over each other. The wooden tables look like they’ve been thrown around. I take a step in, and the sound of glass crunches under my cowboy boots.

  “Don’t touch anything,” Jacob says. He walks to the side, taking out his phone and calling Grady, his second in command. “Yeah, get the crew together and meet me at Savannah’s bar.” He listens and then looks around. “It’s been trashed.”