Page 45 of Covert Operation
Not wanting her to shift away.
Savannah finally stirs as we start to descend, pulling in a deep breath as her eyes lift to my face. “Are we there?”
She hasn’t moved away, so our faces are close when I answer. “We should be landing in a few minutes.”
I’m gifted with a sleepy smile. “Okay.” She still doesn’t move her head. If anything, Savannah cuddles closer, eyes going to the screen of my computer. “Did you get much work done?”
“Just responded to some emails.” I slowly lower the screen, putting as much attention as I can on the process, because the feel of more of Savannah’s warm body pressing against me is wreaking havoc on my conscience.
Spending time with her, I could explain away. Helping her pick out a car, unpacking her things, hanging curtains—all that was me doing what she needed. Helping her reclaim her life. But cuddling with her like this? That wasn’t included in our agreement.
Not that I mind. The issue is how little I mind. How much I like the way her scent surrounds me. How much I enjoy being the one she looks to not only for protection but also for comfort. Thank God we’re ready to land, because I’m getting dangerously close to letting myself enjoy this moment.
And that would be wrong. Real fucking wrong.
The seatbelt light clicks on and Rico comes over the speaker, letting us know there might be some turbulence. I make sure Savannah gets buckled in place before securing myself. As he promised, the plane starts to shudder, and Savannah stiffens beside me. I’ve flown with Rico enough times that I trust him implicitly to bring us down safely, but Savannah’s only experience with him at the controls was when she and Sadie went to pack up their belongings.
“This is normal. We’ll be on the ground in just a few minutes.”
Savannah nods, the movement jerky. When we’re jostled around again, she reaches for me, her small hand gripping mine tightly.
Again, I’m a fucking asshole, because I relish the way she reached for me. The way she knew she could rely on me to support her.
And it’s making me regret letting her come on this trip.
It’s not until we finally come to a stop that Savannah releases me, just as Rico comes out of the cockpit, greeting us with a smile. “That was exciting.”
“It was something,” Savannah grumbles as she collects her bag and coat.
I help her bundle up, then collect our suitcases before following her down the steps and into the hangar where a car is already warmed up and waiting for us.
Savannah turns to me as we cross the blacktop, breath fogging around her face as she says, “I thought it was supposed to get warmer as we went south.”
“I probably should’ve warned you that it’s been surprisingly cold here.” I’d been shocked when I first arrived in Nashville on Pierce’s snooping excursion. “Technically, it is warmer, but below freezing is still below freezing.”
I rest one hand against her back, juggling all our bags with one arm as I urge her to move faster toward the SUV. Once we reach it, I help her in first, then I load in our bags and get behind the wheel. It’s relatively late in the day, but neither of us has had anything substantial to eat, so I pull up the maps app on my phone. “What sounds good to eat?”
Savannah purses her lips, moving them from side to side as she considers. “I like just about everything. Did you eat anyplace good when you were here?”
“Actually, I did.” I tap in the name of the family owned restaurant I stumbled across. “As long as you like fried fish and chicken.”
Savannah beams at me. “Sounds amazing.” She tips her head to one side. “But I’m really hungry, so just about anything would sound amazing right now.”
“Then you’ll definitely like this place.” The serving style of this restaurant is different from anywhere I’ve been before, and since she’s really hungry, it’ll be perfect.
Uncle Bud’s is about thirty minutes away. When we finally arrive, I’m pleasantly surprised to find a few available parking spaces since the last time I was here the place was packed. It’s well after most people’s dinnertime here, so we’re on the right side of the evening rush, and get seated right away. I take the spot across from Savannah, watching as servers bring the automatic side dishes to our table and set them in front of her. Her eyes widen at the bowl of slow-simmered white beans and the pile of hush puppies.
“Here, you get unlimited beans, hush puppies, and coleslaw. You pick whatever main dish you want, and they keep refilling everything else.”
She grins at me, snagging one of the provided plates and scooping out beans. “I love it.”
Savannah orders chicken, so I order the fish. That way she’ll be able to try both. She spends the meal asking me all about Alaskan Security. It makes sense she’s curious considering she basically accepted Pierce’s job offer as we walked out the door, but discovering she hasn’t asked her sister makes me think their relationship is worse off than I thought.
“So what I’m hearing is, you like working there.” Savannah pops a bite of chicken in her mouth, chewing as she waits for me to answer.
“Alaskan Security provides everything I need. Income, insurance, a place to live. It’s the whole package.”
Savannah angles a brow. “You didn’t answer my question.”