Trent had liked Lauren before the dinner at Magleby Mansion. But to watch her conduct herself with grace and charm left his pulse bouncing around his chest like one of those rubber balls Porter liked to get out of the machines at the grocery store.
He kept his palm pressed to her back to steady himself, and as the interviews broke up and Lauren started gliding through the room, she affixed her hand in his, claiming him in front of everyone.
He liked it. So much more than he thought he would, and he tried to push back the biting guilt that suddenly chomped on his gut. Savannah would’ve loved an event like this, the robin’s egg blue paint color on the wall, the intricacy of the sculptures, the mirror frame, the doors on the cabinetry.
She’d loved everything about design, and as he shadowe
