Free All I Need (Hearts of the South) by Linda Winfree Page B

from the cup Savannah cradled in both hands while Amy flipped through a sale rack outside an upscale boutique. Savannah tried to enjoy the evening shopping event, something she and Amy had planned for weeks, but the uneasy distance between her and Emmett kept pushing into her thoughts. The fact he occupied so many of her thoughts, that she had actually wanted him to kiss her, made it worse, deepening her irritation.
    “What is with you tonight?” Amy held up a filmy ivory tunic before the ornate mirror leaning against the brick wall.
    “There’s…” She bit the words off. Maybe confiding in her sister would help her sort through the whole mess. “I tried to sleep with my neighbor, and it didn’t work out.”
    “Didn’t work out how?” Amy slanted a glance full of intrigue at her.
    “I basically seduced him and tried to stay as emotionally neutral as possible. I was only looking for something physical.” Savannah sipped her cider. She recoiled from the memory of Emmett stilling beneath her, his slightly sickened expression as he’d separated them and put her away from him. “Anyway, he, um, he stopped us right in the middle. I went home, and we didn’t talk again until today.”
    “Wow.” Eyes wide, Amy looked at her over the rack. “What a totally bitchy thing to do to someone, Savannah.”
    “Thanks.” She injected a heavy note of sarcasm into her voice, although she acknowledged that Amy was right to call her on the behavior.
    “Sleeping with him won’t get you over Gates.”
    The simple statement sent her irritation into anger. She narrowed her eyes at her little sister. “Like you would know. You’ve only been with Rob.”
    “That doesn’t make me stupid.” Amy didn’t give at all, her expression intent. “I love Rob, the way you loved Gates. If I lost him, going to bed with some other guy would not fill the void. That is stupid. What were you thinking—never mind. You obviously weren’t.”
    “Are you finished?”
    “Temporarily, yes.” Amy lifted the ivory top along with a skinny, spangled tank in turquoise. “I need to pay for these.”
    The transaction provided only a temporary reprieve. On the sidewalk, Amy fixed her with a stern expression. “Why were you seeing him in the first place?”
    “I don’t know anyone here—”
    “The real reason.” Amy paused, waiting. “What were you looking for?”
    Savannah dropped her half-empty cup in the nearest waste receptacle. “Stop doing that.”
    “What?”
    “Interrogating me.” She glared at her sister. “I’m not one of your suspects.”
    “I don’t have to interrogate you.” Amy sketched an airy gesture between them. “I already know why. You’re lonely, the way I’d be without Rob.”
    “That is—”
    “Right and you know it. You can bullshit him and you can bullshit yourself, but you can’t snow me. Losing Gates changed you, and not necessarily for the better.” Sudden sympathy softened Amy’s eyes. “You saw something in him that would give you back part of what you lost—not Gates, but yourself. You’re simply too stubborn to admit it.”
    Savannah sucked in a shaky breath. “I hate you.”
    “I hate you more.” A gentle smile curved Amy’s mouth.
    “I cannot be in another relationship, Amy.” The panic tried to take control of her breathing, to constrict her throat, and she shoved it down, breathing through it. “I can’t.”
    If anything, the sympathy in Amy’s gaze glowed brighter. “I think you already are.”
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Savannah spun on one heel and walked into the nearest shop, blind to the merchandise and people around her. This conversation was definitely over. Amy didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, and Savannah could prove it. She wouldn’t make the same mistake with Emmett twice, but she could definitely keep him in his designated spot in her life. Phone in hand, she tapped out a dinner invite for the following evening.
    “What