The Plan (Capitol Love Series Book 1) Read online

  “What would you like to know?” he asked, hoping to distract her by nibbling her neck.

  “I don’t know. Do you have any other siblings besides Chase?”

  “I have an older sister and a younger sister who is still in high school,” he answered carefully.

  “I have a little sister who’s in high school, too. In Fairfax. Where does your sister go?”

  “She’s here in D.C. My whole family lives in the District.”

  “Oh, you’re one of those rare species that isn’t a transplant? I thought that was a myth.”

  “Does this feel like a myth?” Colin teased as he took her hand and moved it to the hard ridge that had formed under the sheet.

  “Again?!” Savannah asked with surprised laughter.

  “What can I say? You have that effect on me,” he said with a smile before covering her mouth with his.

  Chapter 18

  Savannah opened her eyes from a wonderful dream to an unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar, but not unpleasant, warmth surrounding her. Turning her head, she realized the warmth was coming from Colin’s body curved around hers and that it hadn’t been a dream at all. It had been very, very real. And perfect. She smiled as she snuggled deeper into Colin’s arms. A little voice in her head kept asking her what would happen next, but she decided this was still pretend time and The Plan was still on hold. Colin murmured something in his sleep and tightened his hold around her, and Savannah closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

  When she awoke again a few hours later, the early-morning sun was peeking through the window blinds and she was desperate for a glass of water. Carefully sliding out from under Colin’s arm, she reached around on the floor for her clothes but couldn’t find them, so she threw on Colin’s T-shirt, which hung halfway down her thighs, and tiptoed out of his bedroom.

  As she was crossing the living room toward the kitchen, the front door swung open and Chase walked in. Savannah froze, but when Chase saw her, he smiled calmly as if finding a half-naked woman in his living room at 6 a.m. on a Sunday was a regular occurrence. But then, maybe it was?

  “Good morning,” he said with a smile as he set down his duffel bag and tossed his keys onto the table by the door.

  “Good morning,” Savannah said and, not knowing what else do, continued into the kitchen but then stopped again because she realized she had no idea where the glasses were.

  “Bottled water in the fridge,” Chase called from the living room. “Help yourself.”

  Savannah opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and was about to make a hasty retreat when Chase said, “Sarah, right? Colin’s been hung up on you for a while. Finally gave in to his charms, huh?”

  Savannah’s insides turned to ice. Clearly, this was indeed a scene Chase was used to seeing—he couldn’t even keep the names of all Colin’s women straight.

  “Yeah, something like that,” she said.

  Chase slipped a bulky camera bag from his shoulder and stifled a yawn. “So I take it he finally let you in on his little secret. I told him you’d be cool with it.”

  That icy cold feeling turned to a flush of heat, and she wanted to ask, “Which secret?” because Colin seemed to have so damn many, but Chase had already turned away, and a second later, he closed his bedroom door behind him.

  She hurried back to Colin’s room and gathered up her clothes as quietly as possible, desperate to get out of there before he woke up, before the tears that were building behind her eyes started to spill over. Pretend time was over.

  When she reached the sidewalk, she realized she’d been so distracted on the cab ride over that she didn’t know exactly where she was. But she was pretty sure Colin didn’t live far from her place, so she picked a direction and started to walk, assuming she’d see something familiar soon. As she walked, she berated herself: “This is what happens when you deviate from The Plan! The Plan exists for a reason!”

  Yesterday she’d convinced herself that she could do casual, that she could do temporary. But by the time she’d fallen asleep in his arms last night, she knew she was way past casual. She’d fallen hard for him, and if she was going to be honest, she’d started falling for him weeks ago. And the things he said, the way he acted had made Savannah think he was falling for her, too.

  But now Chase had confirmed that Colin had indeed been keeping a secret from her. All her questions around his relationship with Crystal, plus that thing with the security guard and the woman at the stadium, made Savannah think it was something bigger than him just being a playboy—though that was bad enough. She started to wonder if maybe he’d bribed the guard at the game because money never seemed to be an issue for him. Aside from the fact that he never let her pay at Zipped, he wore a really nice watch that Savannah was fairly sure was a Tag Heuer, and she knew those weren’t cheap. And his apartment building was one of those rehabbed historic buildings near the water. How could he possibly afford all that on a bartender’s pay?

  She came to a stop in front of her house, though she had no memory of navigating here. Now that she was home, the tears she’d held back started to fall, and she ran through the front door and up the stairs to Rayne’s room. Savannah threw open the door to find Rayne sitting in bed typing on her laptop.

  “Hey there party gir—” Rayne stopped when she saw Savannah’s face. “What happened?”

  “I’m such an idiot!” Savannah said before launching herself onto Rayne’s bed. The trickle of tears turned to a river, and she just let them come.

  Rayne stroked her hair for a few minutes before saying, “Nanna, tell me what’s wrong. The text you sent me at 2 a.m. said With Colin, with a smiley face. What happened between then and now? And what happened to Steve? I thought you had a date with him, not Colin.”

  “I made a terrible mistake,” Savannah said.

  Rayne smiled. “Honey, I’ve told you all along that you should go for Colin. You never really were all that excited about Steve. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with revising your Plan a bit.”

  “This isn’t about The Plan. Well, maybe a little.” Savannah sat up, and Rayne handed her a tissue, which Savannah used to wipe the tears from her face. She didn’t know if she was ready to tell Rayne what she’d been thinking.

  “So what happened?” Rayne asked again.

  “Steve blew me off, and then Colin and I had this amazing day together. We went to the Nationals game and stayed for the concert afterward. And everything was so...perfect. And then we went back to his place.”

  Rayne was grinning. “And?”

  “And the sex was perfect, too. Beyond perfect.”

  “So why do you look so miserable?” Rayne said, giving her a playful punch in the arm.

  “I ran into Chase this morning when he was coming home from whatever trip he’s been on.” She saw a flicker of interest in Rayne’s eyes but kept going. “And he called me Sarah. I thought Colin was being serious, I thought he really liked me, but clearly, I’m not the only woman in his life.”

  “Oh, honey. I think you’re overreacting. I mean, Sarah isn’t that different from Savannah. And you said yourself that Chase isn’t the most reliable of people.”

  “He was completely unfazed to see me in his living room at 6 in the morning wearing one of Colin’s shirts. It was obviously a familiar scene.” She pounded a fist on the bed. “I knew I was being reckless, and I did it anyway.”

  Her eyes filled with tears again, and Rayne handed her another tissue and said, “Colin doesn’t strike me as a player. I think he has real feelings for you. You should talk to him before you make up your mind.”

  “There’s more,” Savannah said, sniffling.

  “What else is there?”

  “He’s been keeping some sort of secret from me,” Savannah said. “I don’t think he’s who he says he is.”

  Rayne went still. “He’s not married?”

  “No, not that,” Savannah said quickly. “I think...I mean, I’m not sure, but...I think he might be…sel
ling drugs.”

  Rayne drew back in shock. “Colin? Drugs? No! What makes you say that?”

  “Think about it: He pays for our food and drinks all the time, like it’s no big deal. Plus, he has these weird conversations with Crystal over at Sweet Happens, and she looks seriously strung-out until he agrees to get something for her. And he handed something to the security guard to get him to let us into the baseball stadium yesterday, but he purposely made sure I didn’t see it, and I’m not sure if it was cash or…something else.”

  “Savannah, I think you’re—”

  “And we ran into this woman at the game. He said she was some kind of ‘business associate,’ and I heard them talking about ‘missing inventory,’ and Colin was really rattled. And then this morning, Chase said he was glad I was cool with Colin’s secret.”

  Rayne was silent for a moment, looking stunned. Finally she said, “I did worry that he was going to go broke feeding both of us and buying us drinks. But drugs?” She looked up at Savannah. “Like, what? Pot?”

  “I have no idea. Pot maybe, cocaine—could be anything!” She twisted up a handful of Rayne’s bedspread, and the enormity of it all finally hit her.

  “I could lose my job,” she said. “The foundation has a zero-tolerance policy for drug use.”

  “But you’re not using drugs,” Rayne protested.

  “I’m pretty sure the policy extends to dating a drug dealer.” Her shoulders sagged. “Oh god, Rayney, how did I ever let this happen?”

  Rayne put her arm around Savannah’s shoulders. “What do you want to do now?” she asked. “What can I do to help?”

  “I don’t know. Distract me? I need to take a shower, but then maybe we can go out to breakfast or something?”

  “You’ve got it,” Rayne said with a smile. “I’ll meet you downstairs whenever you’re ready.”

  Chapter 19

  Colin opened his eyes and glanced at the alarm clock by the bed. It was a little after eight. Then he rolled over to snuggle up to Savannah, but she wasn’t there. Reaching over the side of the bed for his clothes, he noticed that her clothes were gone, and there was an unopened bottle of water on his dresser.

  He was puzzled and more than a little disappointed that she’d left without waking him. Last night had been amazing, and it seemed like she agreed, too. He thought he’d finally gotten a toehold against the wall of The Plan. Maybe she’d gone out to get them coffee and donuts...?

  He picked his pants off the floor, dug out his cell phone, and dialed Savannah, but it went straight to voicemail. At the beep, he said, “Hey, Red. Just woke up and saw you were gone. Give me a call, OK?”

  As he dropped the phone onto the bed and pulled on sweats and a T-shirt, he started to get a sinking feeling. Maybe it had all been too fast for her after all? Maybe the morning light had brought regrets?

  He picked up the bottle of water and drank it down in one long swallow. Then he headed to the kitchen to throw the bottle away and noticed Chase’s duffel bag by the door. He briefly wondered when his brother had come in but was too absorbed in trying to figure out what to do next to even think about what Chase might have heard going on last night.

  Colin tried Savannah’s cell again, and again, it went straight to voicemail. So he sent her a text: Hey, missed you this morning. Call me.

  He took a long, hot shower and went over the events of the previous day—and night—and couldn’t figure out any reason for Savannah to take off, other than getting cold feet over that ridiculous Plan of hers. He reminded himself that he’d known this would take more patience than he was used to, but he was determined to talk to her. And the sooner, the better.

  When he walked out of his room with his hair still wet from the shower, he found Chase sprawled on the couch channel surfing.

  “Yo!” Chase said without taking his eyes from the TV.

  “Hey. When did you get back?” Colin asked.

  “Early this morning.”

  “Cool. Well, I’ll catch you later.” Colin headed for the door, thinking he’d go to Savannah’s place and take her out for brunch somewhere fancy, thinking that maybe now was the time to tell her that he didn’t just work at Zipped, he owned it.

  “Oh hey!” Chase said, sitting up and looking at Colin for the first time. “I met your friend this morning when I got in. The chick you’ve been hung up on for weeks. Sarah? Way to seal that deal, bro.”

  Chase held out his fist for a bump with Colin, who kept his hands at his sides.

  “Savannah,” Colin said as a sick feeling started to creep through his body.

  “Huh?”

  “Her name is Savannah. What time did you see her?”

  “6 maybe? And I don’t think that’s her name. She didn’t correct me when I called her Sarah.”

  Colin wanted to vomit. Or punch Chase. Instead he turned toward the door with renewed urgency.

  “You are a serious asshole,” Colin said.

  “I should have stuck with ‘Sunshine,’ huh?” Chase said, still not getting the seriousness of the situation. “Relax, bro. I’m sure you can make everything right...as rain.” He snapped his fingers. “That’s her name—Rayne! That hot chick from the bar, right?”

  Colin was halfway down the hall, but he suddenly turned back. “Did you say anything else to her this morning?”

  Chase had gone back to channel surfing, but he couldn’t miss the intensity in Colin’s voice, so he set the remote down and thought about it. “Maybe.”

  “Such as?”

  Chase actually looked concerned, though whether it was for Savannah or his own skin, Colin couldn’t say.

  “You didn’t tell her, did you?” Chase asked.

  “Tell her what?” Colin was trying to keep himself from shouting.

  “About not just being a bartender at Zipped?”

  Colin stared at him wildly, and Chase said, “How could I know? I was just trying to make conversation—you know, make her feel at home. I know how hot you’ve been for her.”

  “Chase! Tell me exactly what you said.”

  “I just said I assumed you had told her the truth and that everything was cool. But you didn’t, did you?”

  “No, I didn’t. And now she thinks I’ve been lying to her.”

  “Well, bro, you have.”

  “Shut up, Chase.”

  “Look, I know you’ve been playing out some fairy-tale fantasy about having a girl fall in love with you for who you are instead of your money, but she’s going to have to know sometime. And the longer you wait, the worse it will be. Trust me, chicks don’t get over that stuff very easily.”

  “I can’t believe you of all people are giving me relationship advice. You’ve never been with a woman for more than a month.”

  Chase smiled. “Not true. There was this woman in Bali.... Best six weeks of my life.”

  Colin rolled his eyes, then ran out the front door and let it slam shut behind him.

  Colin tried calling Savannah as he walked, but the call again went straight to voicemail. When he got to her house, he took the porch steps two at a time and banged on the door. When he got no response, he knocked again, louder. Finally a woman in yoga pants and tank top yanked the door open.

  “We don’t want whatever you’re selling,” she said and immediately started to close the door.

  “Wait!” Colin said. “I’m looking for Savannah.”

  “She’s not here.”

  He stared at the woman, knowing Savannah and Rayne had talked about her before, racking his brain for her name, and felt a pang of empathy for Chase that was quickly replaced with anger.

  “Carol, right?” To his relief, the woman nodded, though warily. “Do you know where Savannah is or when she’ll be back?”

  Carol stared at him for several seconds, so he added, “I need to talk to her about something, and it’s really, really important.”

  Carol shrugged. “I guess you’re too cute to be a stalker. She and Rayne went out to brunch a couple of hours ago
. But Savannah didn’t look too good.” She paused and frowned at Colin. “Wait...did you do that?”

  Colin sighed. “Maybe? Probably. But it’s a big misunderstanding. Which is why I need to find her as soon as possible.”

  “I don’t know where they went, so there’s not much more I can do for you.” Carol started to close the door again.

  “Do you mind if I wait on the porch?”

  “Knock yourself out,” she said.

  Chapter 20

  “Ugh, I’m stuffed,” Savannah said, pushing away the last bites of her Belgian waffle.

  “Already? After only eating sixty percent of the brunch menu?” Rayne teased as she sipped the tea that she’d switched to when Savannah had ordered her second mocha latte.

  “I’m self-medicating with carbs and sugar,” Savannah said.

  “Has it helped any?”

  “Well, now I can tell myself the sick feeling in my stomach is just from the food.”

  “That’s something, at least,” Rayne said, setting down her cup. “Have you turned your phone on yet?”

  “No, but it doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk to him.”

  “I think you should. Maybe there’s an innocent explanation—”

  “No.” Savannah cut her off and sat up straight. “This is good actually. He’s doesn’t fit The Plan. And I knew that the whole time. But I was having fun, and so I shut off my brain for the day. And this is the consequence.” She glanced out the window. “It’s just as well it happened now, before things went further.”

  Fresh tears pricked at the backs of her eyes as images of exactly how far it had gone flashed through her mind. Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she shook the images from her mind.

  “Actually the timing’s perfect,” she said. “The foundation’s donor event is only two weeks away, and I still have a ton of work to do on it. He would have just been a distraction.”

  “Savannah—”

  “Let’s get out of here. I’ve got to do laundry and get ready for the week.”