She shrugged. “I don’t know, Lee. Yes. And sometimes, no. I was up all night thinking on it, and I’m exhausted. So much has changed since you came home. Some of it good, some of it not. And hearing you call it the biggest mistake of my life kind of struck a nerve. Is there something you’re not telling me?”
Really wanting to avoid a fight, or watch her heart shatter into a million pieces, I plastered on a fake smile and said, “What about it isn’t so good? Frankly, I’ve been having a good time since I came home, Maggie.”?
She sighed, took her drink from my hand, and then turned to face me. Her stare was intense as she licked her lips and looked straight into my eyes, as if she could see into my very soul. Putting the cup down, she grabbed my face, watching for a reaction. I didn’t move. I’d stay in this spot my whole life if it meant she kept looking at me like she was. Finally, she leaned in and pressed her lips against mine, gently pushing my lips open with her tongue as her warmth spilled into my mouth and through my whole body.?
The kiss lasted for all of fifteen seconds, but when she pulled away, her touch was still humming through my veins. It was the kind of kiss that leaves a mark, one I knew I’d feel for the rest of my life.
I fought back the carnal urge to pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and carry her down the street to my hotel. I imagined throwing her on the bed, ripping off her clothes, and running my tongue up and down her body, listening to that perfect, sexy moan of hers as I made her mine once again.?
Instead, she gently cupped my face and caught my gaze once again. “That’s the last time we ever share a kiss, Leland Wilder. From here on out, we’re business partners. We’re just friends. We both needed to get that out of our system, and now we can move on.”?
She climbed off the picnic bench and wiped the crumbs from the table off of her behind, squinting in the warm, bright Savannah sun. “I’ll see you around, Lee.” She smiled playfully before darting off up the cobblestone ramp and away from all the dirty, filthy things I wanted to do to her.
Chapter twenty-six
MAGNOLIA
“You can’t just go around kissing your ex-boyfriend to get it ‘out of your system,’ you idiot,” Sutton said, a platter of fried chicken between us.?
As usual, we were nursing some hangovers and watching shitty TV. Pickle jumped up on the coffee table and swatted at Sutton as she grabbed a piece of cornbread.?
“Get this cat away from me. Seriously. I dry-heaved over this meal all afternoon, and here she is, trying to muck shit up, per usual.”?
“Down, Satan,” I laughed, and the cat hissed and leaped off the table, perching herself on the back of my loveseat to glare at the two of us.?I grabbed a drumstick and contemplated for a moment as I chewed. “No, it had to be done. Now, I can accept Dane’s proposal, become an actual Wilder, and we can move on from this drama. All of us can move on from it. And I’ll have full reign over my bar. Easy peasy.”?
Sutton looked uneasy. “Magnolia, what kind of wild, twisted logic is that? Come on now. You can’t marry someone just for a business deal.”?
I snorted. “If Eunice can do it, I can do it, too.”?
Sutton spit pieces of chicken across the room, and Pickle went diving down like a seagull to hunt them. She caught one midair and hissed at Sutton.?“What did you just say?”?
I slapped my hand over my mouth and mumbled, “Nothing. I said nothing.”?
That was what I got for shutting down the bar at 5:00 a.m., chasing the night with a spiked coffee, kissing my ex, feeling invincible, and then skipping sleep. What the hell was wrong with me?
“Holy frickin’ shit.” Sutton scrambled to her feet, scaring Pickle to thepoint where she started howling like a wolf. “Iknewit!”?
“You knew nothing, Sutton. Sit down. I didn’t mean it. I don’t know what I’m talking about.”?
“Yes, you do! The day you told us about Cole and Eunice, you conveniently left out the part about Vance and Eunice having some sort of deal between them. But I knew it! There’s no way she would have willingly married that snake. She’s kind, loving, and smart. And Vance is…” Sutton shuddered. “Ugh, what the hell, Magnolia?”?
She was hovering over me, waving a fried chicken breast around in her hand like a baton, letting the shreds of chicken fry fly all over my apartment that I had vacuumed at about 5:30 in the morning during a whiskey-induced sugar fit.?
?I put my hands up in a defensive stance. “Hi, Captain Crumbs, can you calm down?”
“I willnotcalm down. I don’t feel good. I’m stressed out! I got up early to make you stupid chicken, and now you’re kissing Lee and dropping bombs. Do you know howhardit is to be your friend sometimes?”?She chucked her chicken at me, and Pickle wasted no time jumping up and snacking on it. Sutton took a seat across from me and glared.?
“I’m sorry. I should have told you. I just… it wasn’t my story to tell.”?
“Right, but it’s your story to live?”?
We stared each other down for a moment before she kneeled in front of me, putting her hands on my knees.?“We’ve been friends for a long, long time. I have been with you through everything. Through puberty, through Lee round one, all the bad dates, your uncle dying, the Wilders basically taking control of your life. I love you, Magnolia. More than a sister. But I can’t watch you throw away your life for a fucking bar.”?
I kept my steely gaze trained on Sutton. I wanted to hug her and tell her that I love her, too. Instead, I spit out, “The barismy life, Sutton, and I’ll do anything and everything to keep it in my family.”?
She rose, shook her head, grabbed her purse, and slammed the door behind her.?
***
