After another minute, I’ve convinced him that I’d love nothing more than to throw my daddy’s money away on a pool match, telling him I’ve always wanted to play a game for money.
Mikki personally delivers my calzone, throwing another dirty look my direction when I force a giggle at something Big Georgie has said. I take a ravenous bite before returning to the game. My eyelids flutter closed. Mercury Slice really does have the best food in town.
I throw the first game and suggest we play again. “Double or nothing?”
The man grins. “Are you sure you want to give me more of your father’s money?”
“He doesn’t need it,” I say coyly.
I’m leaning over the table to line up my shot when a voice from behind says, “Well, what do we have here?”
The voice is as rich as melted caramel and twice as smooth. And deliciously familiar.
Fucking hell.As always, my body immediately reacts to the sound. My cheeks flush. Goosebumps erupt on my skin. Liquid heat pools between my thighs. I want Levi Beshear with every fiber of my being.
He’s been my brother Romeo’s best friend since they were in elementary school. And now,allmy older brothers work side-by-side with him at Mercury Ridge Search and Rescue. As far as Romeo, William, Hamlet, and Theo are concerned, he’s an honorary Jones brother.
I’ve known Levi my entire life, and I haveneverseen him as a brother. When Holly and I played with dolls as kids, I always imagined that Holly’s Ken doll was Levi, and he was only allowed to kiss the brunette Barbie—the doll that looked most likeme.
Big Georgie must notice my reaction to Levi because his eyes narrow, sending an obvious message tofuck off. “Hey, man, we’re having a good time here.”
“I’m sure you are,” Levi says. “But you’re not sleeping with her tonight, just so you know.”
Big Georgie’s face turns crimson, and I’m sure mine is just as red.
I furiously spin around to face Levi, prepared to tell him off. But at the sight of him, my mouth goes dry.
God, he’s beautiful. He’s wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt that stretches tightly across his broad shoulders. He folds his arms across his chest, stretching the fabric even more, and for the briefest of seconds, I hope that it’ll burst open in Hulk-like fashion.
Alas, it does not.
The worst thing about winter is that I must wait until summer to see Levi without a shirt again. I love watching him swim at Lake Mercury, every muscle rippling as he moves in the water.
I peel my eyes away from his body to focus on his face. A tidy, oh-so-sexy beard covers his jaw. He grew it last month and I’m dying to run my fingers through it.
Thank God for No Shave November. To whomever invented it, I owe you a nice fruit basket for Christmas. Oh, hell, Iowe you more than that. How about the keys to my car? My firstborn child?
I shake my head to clear my thoughts. “Which of my brothers sent you to spy on me?” I demand.
Cock block, more like. My brothers are determined to eliminate any man that gets within twenty feet of me. It doesn’t matter that I’m well into my twenties. To them, I’ll always be their baby sister in need of protection from the big, bad wolves of the world.
Little do they know that the only man that’s ever remotely tempted me is standing in front of me now.
Levi smirks. “I’m not here to spy, Baby Jones.” The nickname sends a thrill through my body, as it always does. It feels like an acknowledgement that I’mtheirsister, not his. I’m a Jones sibling. And he’snot.
Like maybe, just maybe, he doesn’t see me as a surrogate little sister, after all.No matter how my brothers feel about it.
“Then why are you here?” I demand.
He raises an eyebrow. “I was hungry and wanted a pizza.”
Oh. Of course.I say a silent prayer that the ground will open and swallow me whole to spare me from the humiliation of asking the dumbest question in history.
Behind me, Big Georgie clears his throat. “Beth? Are we playing or what?”
Levi smirks, gesturing to the pool table. “Want to wrap that up, Baby Jones?”
With a sigh, I turn back to the table. “Corner pocket,” I announce, lining up my shot and sinking the ball. One by one, I call the rest of the shots, running the table in record time.
