And So It Goes (Stevens Book 10)

Chapter 14

Agatha had spent the previous evening tossing and turning, trying to figure out the exact moment when she had fallen in love with Merrick while replaying every moment they had together because all of the memories were so much more important than they had been. She knew, without a doubt, that she had fallen in love with him while they had been serving together. Agatha had believed it to be attraction and admiration, but it had been so much more. After a restless night, her final decision was that having discovered the fact that she did love him, her focus should be on keeping it to herself.

Now it was the following evening, and Agatha was racing around the garden apartment of her family's Savannah home to get ready for her double date with Merrick and his brother. She wasn't sure what to expect, so she had been on edge since he had caught her at lunch and given her the details.

She had chosen a simple black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with heels and had decided to leave her hair down. Her makeup was always minimal during the day, but she put a little more effort into it for this evening because she wanted to look good for Merrick.

As she finished the final touches on her face, the bell to the back gate rang. Setting her blush brush down with a hand that only slightly trembled, she looked herself over once more before leaving the apartment and heading across the lush courtyard to let in Merrick.

"Hi," she greeted in a cheery voice as she opened the large wooden gate at the back of the courtyard.

"Hello," Merrick said as he brushed past her. He looked good in a dark suit and red tie. He looked powerful.

"I'm almost ready. I got off late," Agatha explained as she closed the gate behind her and then led the way back into the apartment. It all seemed so stilted, which was odd considering their history. Was it her fault because of her newfound love, or was it his because she would meet his family?

"This place is like Fort Knox," Merrick noted as he looked at the high ivy-covered walls.

"My family has always valued their privacy." Agatha had all of the doors to the apartment open since it was a nice night. "There's a bar in the corner if you'd like to pour yourself a drink," she offered as she moved back into the bathroom that was at the end of the hall to finish getting ready.

She watched Merrick in the bathroom mirror as he moved toward the sliding back doors in the back of the apartment that looked over the large pool. He stood looking at the silent scene with his hands shoved in his pockets.

It felt odd to have him in her personal space while she was getting ready to go out. It brought back memories of Paris, he would have been getting in her way while she was getting ready, and she couldn't help but wonder if he remembered the same thing.

The silence between them was broken by Sam entering the apartment with a knock.

"Aggie!" he called, looking around, and stopping short when he saw Merrick looking over his shoulder at Sam.

"Oh, hi, Roark. I didn't know you were here." Sam looked around for Agatha, noting her as she walked out of the bathroom while fastening an earring in her ear.

"Hi, Sam. What's up?" she asked as she stopped in the main room. The Evers family was always coming and going from the Stevens house as if it was their own. The families were so close that they installed a hidden gate between the properties years ago.

"Ummm, did you have a moment? There was something that I wanted to talk to you about?" Sam looked over at Merrick once again.

"I'll wait outside," Merrick suggested as he stepped out toward the pool. Agatha knew the property well enough to know that he would hear every word they said no matter where he went since she had all of the doors open.