Lisa scrunched her nose. “You really are tired. I’m not talking about Jared; that man is mine. I’ve got someone else for you. It’s why I came over today.”
Emily pulled the throw blanket over her head and lay down. “It’s too early to frighten me with blind dates.”
And then something occurred to her. She flipped the blanket back and stared at her sister for a solid five seconds. Was it possible her mom had been confused about Emily’s true father and she and Lisa weren’t actually related? Because that would explain so much.
Call it grasping at straws, but Emily was a tad delirious and a lot desperate at the moment. Lisa was everything Emily was not: vivacious, curvaceous, and sexually confident. If they shared no blood relation, it would make sense. And make Emily’s lusting after Levi less creepy.
But no, that couldn’t be right. Emily looked more like their dad than Lisa, and Lisa’s mom had been married to their father when Lisa was conceived. Dammit. “Why are you awake and harassing me? It’s Saturday, and before nine, for God’s sake. You’re never up this early, not even during the week. The boutique doesn’t open until ten.”
Lisa shifted in her seat. “Jared has me on an exercise routine.”
Emily might be slender, but the universe had been remiss in the boob department. Lisa, however, had a ridiculous metabolismandbig boobs. Not. Fair. “Please tell me Jared doesn’t think you need to work out. I might have to kill him.”
She grinned. “Why thank you, sister. The exercise isn’t for me. Jared wants a workout buddy. He doesn’t like running alone and says it’s too hot to go in the afternoons. He runs in the morning and I ride my bike beside him.” She shrugged. “It’s not so bad. He makes me a massive breakfast afterward.”
He makes her breakfast?“Jared’s pretty awesome.”
“Exactly, so why are you settling for guys who send you home?”
“Oh, he wasn’t someone I’mdating.”
Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “Emily, who exactly were you with last night?”
Emily froze like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights, except instead of a car coming toward her it was a giant truck-sized Lisa.
“Em?”
Emily pursed her lips and looked to the side. “Levi,” she mumbled, but her sister took that moment to exhibit super hearing.
Lisa flopped back in the comfy, yet ugly, red sofa chair that matched Emily’s equally ugly couch, both hand-me-downs from Lisa. “Son of a… I told you not to let him push you around.”
“I’m not! But Jesus, Lis. He’s my boss. I kind of have to listen to him.” Although Emily wasn’t convinced she’d needed to listen to himlast night.
“Who cares?”
Emily stood too quickly and her head spun. This was too much after only three hours of sleep. She didn’t need her sister pointing out what she already knew. That Levi still saw her as Lisa’s little sister, regardless of whether Emily was years older, had educational degrees under her belt, and had worn that sexy dress last night.
She made her way into the kitchen and took out the orange juice, drinking it straight from the container. “Did you come here for a reason?”
Her sister stared over the back of the red chair with a look of disgust on her face. “First, that was totally gross. Remind me never to drink anything from your fridge. Second, I already told you. I came over to invite you on a double date, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I confirmed with Jared just now. Too much time around Levi will ruin your self-esteem.”
Emily ground her teeth. “There’s nothing wrong with Levi. He’s a great guy.” When he wasn’t pissing her off.
“Sure, sure.”
“I’ll go on this date,” Emily said, “if you stop putting down my boss.”
“Does Tuesday night work for you? Jared says Zander is excited to meet up.”
* * *
Levi was listeningto calls go out on the police scanner and had just poured himself a cup of coffee when a knock sounded at his front door.
He turned the volume down on the scanner and padded over, mug in hand, with Grace bumping into his leg as she raced him to the door. Levi opened it to find Adam standing on the other side. “What are you doing here this early on a Saturday?” Hands tucked into the front pockets of his pressed khakis, Adam might have dressed nice, but his hair was weekend rumpled.
Grace licked Adam’s shoes, then turned back to her morning nap location where the sun beamed in through the dining room window.
“Gracie, that all I get?” Adam said. “Just one lick?”
