Adam took off in his truck as she and Levi entered the house.
He shut the door and picked her up beneath her butt.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He was looking at her as though she were beautiful, when she’d never looked so bad in her life. Certainly not in front of him. He kissed her lips lightly and carried her toward the back of the house, a million thoughts spilling from his heated gaze. Naughty thoughts…if she was reading it right.
A shiver of excitement slid down her spine. “I should probably go back to my place. Get my purse. My phone…” she said, suddenly nervous as he opened the door to his bedroom.
Were they really doing this? After he’d hurt her so deeply?
He kissed her softly. “First of all, you have no front door. I kicked the last one in. The firefighters are boarding up the hole. Second, your fire alarm wasn’t going off when I arrived, which means that place you’re renting really isn’t safe, if the fire wasn’t a big enough clue. Lastly, you won’t need your purse or phone for twenty-four to forty-eight hours anyway.”
She lifted her eyebrow, giving him her best stern expression. “And why is that?”
“Because.” He squeezed her ass. “I plan to keep you”—he gave Grace a gentle nudge so she wouldn’t enter the room—“very”—he closed the door with his foot and tossed her on the bed—“busy.”
Levi followed her onto the mattress and leaned over, covering part of her body, his large hand cradling her face. And then his lips were on her mouth, coaxing and unraveling her.
He lifted his head and brushed her chin with his thumb. “I could have lost you.”
“From the fire?” She shook her head. “They so had that under control.”
“Maybe, but I also could have lost you because I was an idiot, making other things a priority and trying to protect myself.”
She ran her fingers through his soft hair. “You came around. That’s what’s important.” She gave him a saucy smile to lighten the mood. “What will you do with me now?”
His mouth cocked back with wicked intent. “For starters,” he said, then sat back and yanked off her sweatpants in one smooth move, “taking these things off.”
“You didn’t remove my shoes!” She looked like a dork in her undies and canvas sneakers.
He smirked and worked on the laces of her tennies, carefully untying them, then tossed each one over his shoulder, watching her as he did. He jerked his chin up. “You won’t be needing that sweatshirt anymore. How about you strip it off?”
“But I’ll get cold.” She was holding back a smile, mostly because she loved this side of him. The confident, lusty side he’d restrained, the tease.
“Can’t have that.” Levi pounced on her and she let out a yelp. He smiled as he grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt, tickled her waist, then lifted the clothing over her head.
His gaze fixed on her chest, and his nostrils flared. “No bra?”
“I was exercising,” she said indignantly. “Which normally would require a bra, but I was indoors…and I might still be wearing what I slept in last night.”
Levi’s hand was already palming her, his mouth finding its way to her nipple. “Mmm. You should never wear a bra around me. At least not at my home.”
“Does that mean I’ll be coming here again? Or are you going to pull away after this time too?” She didn’t want to break the mood, but she needed to know.
He stilled and looked in her eyes. “I want you.”
She swallowed. His blue gaze was more sincere than she’d ever seen it. “You’ve said that before.”
“Not just in my bed. I want you in my life.” He frowned and grabbed her hands, raising them lightly above her head. “From the moment you walked into my office, I knew you were trouble. You were going to tempt me and complicate my life. What I didn’t realize was that you’d make every waking moment so much better. I’d be lucky to have you as my girlfriend. If you’ll still have me.”
His girlfriend.She wanted, but… “You hurt me.”
His jaw tensed and his eyes grew pained. “I was…trying to do everything right, and it came out all wrong.”
“Not everything. You’re doing better now. And you’re doing a great job running Club Tahoe, though you don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“Working at the club isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” He released one of her hands and pushed a lock of hair off her face. “Though I’ve realized since you’ve beensick”—he gave her a knowing look, because obviously she’d been hiding and not actually sick—“that it’s all crap if you’re not around. I don’t care if you work at Club Tahoe, but I want you in my life. You’re nicer than me, more thoughtful, and you make me want to be a better man. And I can’t keep my eyes off you.” He kissed her chin. “You also call me out on my shit, which I find amusing because no one else except my brothers does that.”
She was smiling until he reached that last point. “Speaking of calling you out on your shit, you need to repair things with Hunt. He made a mistake when he was eighteen. He didn’t mean to hurt you. I think he genuinely cared for Lisa. How smart were you at that age when it came to women?”
