“Very subtle, Bill,” Savannah muttered, glaring at his back.
Harlan laughed. “Saves me having to ask.”
Savannah was certain her boss thought he was doing her a huge favor. Some favor.
Thank God she’d finally found her voice. “Are you back for good or are you just here for a little while?”
“That depends.”
While they were talking, the music had picked up. The band was good, but new and not yet well known. But they’d agreed to perform for free, which was important so as to have the most money possible go to the beneficiaries.
“Let’s dance,” he said as the volume pumped up. He didn’t give her a chance to refuse, but swept her out onto the dance floor.
She soon realized that here was a man who obviously knew what he was doing. Couldn’t he at least have the decency to be a lousy dancer? He hadn’t been so capable when they were young, but they’d only been eighteen and hadn’t danced together much. Some time in the intervening years Harlan had learned the art extremely well. He held her firmly, but not obnoxiously so. Instead of shoving her around on the dance floor, he guided her steps, almost imperceptibly. With one hand on his shoulder and the other clasped in his hand, she was closer to him than she’d been in over a decade.
She glanced up to find him looking down at her with an almost rueful smile. He still had those dimples she’d loved when she’d been a teenager. And his eyes were the same deep green with dark lashes. Eyes that could speak volumes. Eyes that had turned her susceptible teenaged heart to mush.
Realizing she’d been staring at him, she jerked herself back to the present. “What does it depend on?”
“What does what depend on?”
“How long you’re staying in town. You said it depended.”
He smiled again and said, “I’ll be here at least as long as it takes me to finish one project and build another for some friends of mine. Assuming everything works out well, I might move here permanently.”
Permanently? Oh...crap.“I’m surprised. You hardly ever come to town and now you’re thinking of moving here permanently?”
“I come to town more than you seem to think. I do have family here.”
That’s right. His brother and sister and her two kids lived in Whiskey River. “Oh, I guess I just haven’t seen you.”
“We never ran in the same circles, did we?” Harlan said.
“No, we didn’t.” Not that they’d cared. Then.
Being in Harlan’s arms, even for something like a dance, brought back far too many memories. She remembered the excitement of seeing him, of being with him. Looking up into his face, she saw that gorgeous, talented mouth curving upward, reminding her of how he’d looked after he kissed her to within an inch of her life.
Oh, boy. What the hell is wrong with me? And why do I smell lavender? Are they pumping it in through the vents?
They danced in silence for a moment, then she asked him the question she’d worried about since she first heard rumors of the sale. “Are you going to fire me?”
“Why would I do that?”
“That’s what happens in a takeover.”
Harlan looked down at her and laughed, sending her out to twirl and return. “Hardly a takeover. I wouldn’t fire anyone who does his or her job well. And I don’t need Bill to tell me you’re good at your job.”
“Why not?”
“You were always smart and capable. I don’t see why that would have changed. Besides,” he added with a grin, “I checked out your work history. That’s easy enough to do with the Internet.”
So, he probably wouldn’t fire her. But could she work with Harlan Sullivan? Seeing him in from a distance once every few years was a whole lot different than being up close and oh so personal with him. Could she let the past stay in the past and not let it interfere with a purely business relationship?
Purely business. Damn. Shallow woman that she was, the fact that he was all grown up and sexy as sin appealed to her. Hell, she’d have to be dead not to notice that.
Avery, who was handling the silent auction, signaled her.
She breathed a sigh of relief. And, if she were honest, disappointment. “Sorry, Harlan. I need to see what Avery wants.”
