‘Because I don’t want you ploughing into any unsuspecting Aston Martins.’ I fire her a wink as she tuts.
We spend the next half an hour in relative quiet. My hand homes in on Savannah’s thigh while she taps the keyboard on her phone, pausing intermittently and biting her lower lip.
No matter how much I touch her, I still can’t get enough.
‘Everything okay?’ I nod to her mobile.
‘Yep. Just trying to find the words to articulate my new status.’ She exhales heavily.
‘You’re sending the email today?’
‘Yep. I’m sick of lingering in no-man’s land.’
‘Honey, you’ve never been in no-man’s land.’
Her fingers hover over the send button. ‘Are you one hundred per cent about us?’ she checks.
‘I am. Are you?’
In answer, she inhales deeply through her nose and hits the send button. Within thirty seconds, her phone is buzzing like a million bees in a meadow.
‘Holy shit.’
‘Yep.’ Her fingers thrum the dashboard as she stares defiantly ahead. ‘I’m going to ignore that until later. Cassandra, my agent, is going to kill me. Please distract me. Where are we going?’
‘Meath.’
I indicate to take the next exit towards the same lake her mother took as a child. The same place she incurred the trauma that rendered her afraid of the water in the first place.
‘Is this okay?’ I nod towards the sign for the waterfall.
She offers one curt nod but doesn’t say a word.
My thumb caresses the silky flesh of her thigh. ‘I’ve gotyou. I won’t let anything happen to you. In the water, and in life.’
She nods again but doesn’t say a word. As I pull up at a secluded spot by the lake, the sun chooses this precise moment to break through the clouds and illuminate the water. Savannah exhales slowly, surveying our surroundings.
‘I forgot how beautiful it was.’ Her neck cranes as she arches forwards to soak it all in. ‘I always remember it being so dark, so full of despair, but it’s so beautiful and bright.’ Her hand reaches for the door.
I set up a blanket by the water’s edge and we inch into the lake together, holding hands. Savannah’s face is pale as she slips her summer dress over her head. I don’t know if it’s the water, or the fact she’s basically just renounced everything she’s worked for. Either way, I’ve got her.
She’s wearing a new bikini, one I’ve never seen before. It lifts her pert, perky breasts even higher than usual and sculpts her ass to perfection. My cock stirs at the mere sight of her. I will him down. Now is not the time.
‘You okay?’ I check for what feels like the fiftieth time.
She slips her palm into mine and squeezes, tugging me towards the water’s edge. ‘I will be. Let’s do this.’
We inch into the cool blue water together, our fingers entwined. I walk a step ahead of her, to assess the depth, hissing as my balls hit the chill factor.
A snigger sounds from behind me.
‘We’ll see how funny you think it is when your perfect tits are so cold you’re begging me to suck them back to life.’
‘Oh, Ro,’ Savannah follows me in with a yelp of her own. ‘You’ve already sucked the rest of me back to life. There’s no point stopping now.’
We stand, hip-to-hip, toe-to-toe, chest-to-chest. Her gaze roams over the lake, lingering on the waterfall at the far side. Her expression is so solemn, so serious, but it’s not scared.
Her head tilts back towards me, her pupils bore into mine, fire flickering in her irises despite the chilly water. ‘You know, when I’m with you, I feel like I can do anything. Be anything, without the pressure of being this independent woman I’ve built up on social media.’
