"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I have no choice."
"Why not?"
Promises made.
Ah. Neva lightly squeezed Savannah's hand. You want me to touch his thoughts and blast away any memory of the promise?
No, because this promise is an unfilled moon promise.
Well, shit.
Exactly.
Neva leaned back in her chair and rubbed her belly with her free hand. I'm here if you need me, Sav. Anytime, night or day. Just reach for me.
She knew that, but hearing it said was comforting all the same, which in some ways was almost amusing. Most people considered her the stronger of the two of them, but that had never really been the case. Neva had shown more gumption and courage last year than Savannah had ever shown in her entire life. Walking into the Sinclair mansion during the moon dance, tying herself to the wildest of the Sinclair brothers, and finally, inevitably, rejecting their father's demands—that took nerve and strength. Hell, when Savannah had rebelled, all she'd done was leave town. And while she may have joined a left-of-center commune and done things that would have given her old man a heart attack, in the scheme of things they didn't really count, because no one here knew about them. And while she'd played the hard woman, forcing the final confrontation between her sister and her parents so that Neva could claim the man she loved without fear of a parental backlash, she had no such courage when it came to her own life. Not when it came to Cade and the history between them.
There's no shame in being scared of confronting your past, Sav.
I'm a ranger, she said, mind voice dry. We're supposed to be able to control fear.
But you're also a woman, and you seem to have forgotten that. Neva frowned. Why not just enjoy the sex and to hell with the man? If worse comes to worst, pretend he's Ronan or something.
Savannah almost choked on her bread, and Neva grinned mischievously. How did you ever think you'd keep a secret like that away from me?
No one else knows, do they?
Hell, no. In this town, gossip like that would be all over the place in an instant.
That was all too true. There was nothing this town liked more than a meaty bit of news, which made the fact they'd kept a lid on the murders all the more amazing. Even Matt had kept his mouth shut—a miracle in itself.
Neva glanced back at the crowded café and sighed. “I guess I'd better start helping again.” She hesitated. “You're seeing him tonight, I gather?"
Savannah nodded.
"Then come for breakfast tomorrow morning, and we'll have a bitchfest about the man. That's always good for releasing residual tension."
Savannah grinned. “I'm sure Duncan's going to love that."
Neva airily waved a hand. “What he wants is irrelevant in this instance.” She hesitated, her expression suddenly serious. “Remember that when you're dealing with this man. It's what you want that's important. Not the past, and not him. You. And remember, too, that while you may be forced into the dance, in this case you can probably control the way events unroll."
"Oh, I've already laid down the rules."
Neva grinned and squeezed Savanna's hand again. “That's my girl.” She quickly finished the rest of her coffee and pushed to her feet with a groan. “No one told me pregnancy was a back breaker."
As she waddled away, Savannah sipped her coffee and considered her sister's advice. As usual, Neva was right. To get through this, she not only had to keep to the ground rules she'd already set, but she also had to keep it just about the sex.
Not emotion, not memories, just sex. Hard, fast, long or slow, it didn't matter, as long as it remained detached. All about body and lust and satisfaction, not about feelings or emotions.
He'd done it the first time, and he'd done it so well that she'd thought it had been real. Until the last night. Until he'd shown his true colors with that one, unforgivable act.
Now it was her turn to play the cad. To treat him as nothing more than a means to an end—or, in this case, a surefire cure from the moon fever.
A bell chimed as the café door opened, and she looked up to see Ronan walk in. Though he didn't often dine here, she wasn't entirely surprised that he'd come here tonight. She'd been avoiding him most of the day, but it was inevitable he would catch up with her. Inevitable that he would demand answers.