3. Savannah

3

SAVANNAH

I run around the auditorium to take one last look over everything. The catering company we hired has set up all the food service items. After a few years of putting this fundraiser on, it has become like second nature for Liz and me to put on a well-run evening. People are arriving, as cocktails will be served in about ten more minutes.

“Where did this table come from?” I holler at Liz. I wasn’t aware we needed a table for nine, if the place settings indicate anything.

“It was a last-minute addition today. Some special guests who reached out about coming,” she says coyly. “I knew you were busy, so I just took care of it.”

“Sure, you did. Why do I get the feeling you’re hiding something from me?” I give her a once-over, trying to use my teacher eye on her to get the truth to come out. Unfortunately for me, it doesn’t work. She reveals nothing.

“Savannah.” One of the waitstaff calls for me over the radio.

“You’ve been saved by the radio,” I tell Liz before tapping my microphone and answering the call.

“This is Savannah,” I say into my microphone piece clipped to my dress.

“Is it okay if we start serving drinks a little bit early? We have a decent crowd forming out here.”

“Yes, that is fine,” I answer. I make an about-face and head for the lobby area, where the cash bars are set up for the cocktail hour and guests are mingling.

“Would you like a glass of champagne?” a server asks as I walk past. He lowers the tray of glasses he’s passing out.

“No, thank you,” I say as I keep moving past him. I take in the room, and immense pride fills me as I envision tonight’s success. This is our largest turnout ever. Hopefully, that also means that it will be a record fundraiser.

I mingle among the guests, greeting people as they say hello to me. The first part of the cocktail hour has flown by. Guests are still pouring in, which is a great thing. The more people who show up, the more money we potentially make from the silent auction items.

I make my way from the open foyer to the conference room we have set up with the silent auction baskets. We also have them along the hallway and into another room due to the number of items we ended up with. I make a quick lap around all the items, some already getting a lot of attention.

“Savannah, you’re needed in the kitchen,” someone says over my earpiece.

“On my way,” I tell them and beeline it to the kitchen. “I’m here.” I push through the doors. “What can I help with?”

“We’re ready to go when you are,” Joyce, the kitchen manager, tells me.

“Perfect, I’ll make an announcement and let everyone know they can enter for dinner.”

I snag an appetizer from a tray and pop it into my mouth as I make my way back out to the foyer. I stop at the podium and grab one of the microphones so I can get everyone’s attention easier.

“Good evening,” I say loudly into the microphone, as well as sign. The crowd quiets and turns in my direction. It is a good thing I don’t shy away from public speaking because hundreds of sets of eyes are on me. “I’m Savannah Rhodes, one of the teachers here at Austin School for the Deaf. I wanted to welcome each one of you and thank you for attending this fundraiser night. Your generosity will allow us to give our students the best possible education. You’ll hear more later on our goals and plans with the funds we raise tonight. With that said, I’ve been given the green light to let you all into the main hall, as dinner is ready. Two identical buffets are set up on each side of the room. Both can be served from either side, so please help yourself. If you haven’t had a chance to check out all the amazing silent auction items, you will have plenty of time to do so after the dinner service before they close. We will also have a few live auction items during our presentations. Thank you!” I lower the microphone and nod to the volunteers stationed at the doors. The crowd seems to disappear through them as soon as the doors open. Everyone goes every which way as they make their way to the food.

“Savannah,” a deep voice says my name from behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the sound of my name, as do my lady bits. I suck in a breath and slowly turn to see who is behind me.

“Graham.” I gasp his name as I look up at the handsome man standing a few feet away from me in a suit that looks like it was made especially for him. His pictures don’t do this man a lick of justice. His dark beard, which he keeps trimmed short, makes me wonder what it would feel like between my thighs. Get it together, Savannah, I chide myself.

“You look gorgeous tonight. It's good to see you looking so grown-up,” Graham says, and I swear his voice cuts straight to my clit.

“Thank you,” I breathe. “How…? Where…?” I stumble over my words.

“Liz sent me an invitation on Instagram. A few of the guys and their significant others all decided to join me. I hope that’s alright. I take it from your shocked expression that Liz didn’t tell you we were coming.”

“I see you’ve found one of our surprise guests,” Liz says as she saunters up to Graham and me.

“Let me guess, he’s part of your table of nine that you slipped in today?” I ask Liz.

“Guilty as charged.” She smiles at me. “ Damn, girl, he is fine as hell,” she signs to me, and I just roll my eyes at her.

I turn my attention back to Graham. I take in the tattoos that peek out the top of his dress shirt. I knew he had ink, but from the looks of things, he’s added many more since the last time I saw him with a few on his arms. Now, it appears he’s got them on his neck, and I can see at least one around his wrist where the cuff of his suit jacket cuts off. “Thank you for coming and bringing others with you. We really do appreciate it.”

“My pleasure. How have you been? I had no idea you were here in Austin. How long has that been the case?” he asks.

“I’m good. I'm a little busy with all this going on.” I motion to the room behind me filled with guests. “I’ve actually been here for about six years. I moved to Austin when I was hired here as a teacher.”

“All this time, and we’ve been in the same city. Such a shame I didn’t know before now,” Graham says as his gaze drifts down my body. I feel his eyes on me as if they were a heated laser cutting through steel.

I clear my throat, and his eyes fly back to meet mine. “All this time, I’m kind of shocked Lucas didn’t say anything to you.”

“Maybe he did, and I just don’t remember, but I definitely won’t forget now.” He winks at me. My insides quiver, thanks to that wink.

“I need to get inside, but it was great to see you again. Maybe we can grab coffee sometime soon,” I offer.

“Before you run away, what’s your number? I’ll text you later tonight, and we can set something up,” he offers.

He holds his phone out to me, and I quickly take it and type in my number before handing it back. “It was good to see you again. Be sure to say goodbye before you leave,” I say before heading off to my next task for the night.

I finally take a seat, kicking off the heels I wore tonight. My feet are officially killing me after being on them for the past twelve-plus hours. Granted, not all of that time was with my heels on, but it sure does feel like it.

“We did it!” Liz squeals as she takes a seat next to me. “We raised just over half a million dollars! I’m still shocked and almost speechless.”

“We sure did. Can we take at least a week’s break before we start planning next year’s event?” I ask.

Liz chuckles as she tips her head back. “I think we’ve earned at least that. We might also need to look into renting out a legit event hall. Maybe even an event planner could take over some things if this year’s turnout continues.”

“That sounds expensive and would eat into our fundraising quite a bit,” I counter.

“Not if we can get a venue to donate the use of their building as their contribution. Or maybe get a business to sponsor it,” she suggests.

“Both are good ideas and options.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Graham says from behind me. The hairs on the back of my neck stand back up, just as my heart starts pounding inside my rib cage.

“Not a problem at all. I was just about to leave. You can have my seat,” Liz tells him as she quickly stands and runs away. Traitor.

“I didn’t mean to run her off,” Graham says as he takes the seat next to me.

I look in the direction Liz ran off to, then back to him. “She didn’t want to be a third wheel,” I say.

“Third wheel?” he questions as he raises a brow.

“Since we know one another, she doesn’t want to get in the middle of that.”

“Ah.” He smooths a hand over his chin, pressing down his trim beard. “When are you getting out of here?”

“Hopefully, soon. My bed is calling my name,” I say, but regret mentioning my bed the moment it slips from my lips. No way do I miss how Graham’s eyes darken at my words. I swear his eyes are hypnotic swirls pulling me in.

“Care to go get that cup of coffee with me tonight?” he asks, and his voice has dropped a few octaves.

“Oh, um…” I stammer, looking around for an excuse I can use as an escape. The room is empty, except for Graham and me. There is no chatter on the radio I now have unplugged from the earpiece and sitting on the table in front of me.

“You can tell me no if you don’t want to go.” He chuckles.

“It isn’t that. I’d love to catch up, but I’m just ready to get out of this dress and into my sweats and then into bed.”

“You can go change. I have no issues with that.”

I worry my lip between my teeth, trying to will myself to make a decision on the fly. “What the hell? Let’s go,” I tell him before leaning down and grabbing my heels from the floor. “I need to stop by my classroom to grab my stuff, and then we can leave.”

“Lead the way,” Graham says as he stands. I follow suit and lead the way out of the multipurpose room and down the halls to my classroom. “What grade do you teach?” he asks when we enter my room. I look around, trying to see how he’s seeing it for the first time.

“This year is second grade; I do what’s called looping. Next year, I’ll go back to first grade, then loop up to second the year after, keeping most of my kids from year to year. It works well with younger kids. They get used to my teaching style, and I have them longer after discovering what methods work best for them to learn.”

“And all of your students are deaf?” he asks.

“Yes. Some have hearing aids or cochlear implants, but still use sign language as a main part of their daily lives.”

“I can tell you love it,” he says.

“How’s that?” I ask, nervous as to why he says that.

“You light up when talking about them. I don’t remember any of my teachers being like that.”

“I have a very special group of kids,” I tell him honestly. “They make it easy to love them and love what I do.” I move over to my desk and slip on my sandals, then open my bottom desk drawer and pull out my purse. I fish my keys out and head for the door.

“Is that everything?” Graham asks.

“Yep, I travel light.” I wink at him. He follows me out of my classroom and waits as I lock it up before we head down the hallway and out to the parking lot.