But when he looked at Poppy... There was no doubt he was in love.
And no doubt that his wife was in love right back.
“Good morning,” Isaiah said.
“Did you know Faith had a meeting with one of the schools today to give some kind of community-service talk?” Joshua launched right in. The dickhead.
“No,” Isaiah said, looking at her. “You really need to clear these things with us.”
“Why?”
“That’s not on my schedule,” Poppy said, pulling out her phone and poking around the screen.
“Don’t start acting like my brothers,” Faith said to her sister-in-law.
“It’s my job to keep track of things,” Poppy insisted.
“This is off the books,” Faith said. “I’m allowed to have something that’s just me. I’m an adult.”
“You’re young,” Joshua said. “You’re incredibly successful. Everyone wants a piece of that, and you can’t afford to give out endless pieces of yourself.”
She huffed and took a drink of her coffee. “I can manage, Joshua. I don’t need you being controlling like this.”
“The company functions in a specific way—”
“But my life doesn’t. I don’t need to give you an accounting of everything I do with my time. And not everything is work-related.”
She spun on her heel and walked down the hall and, for some reason, was immediately hit with a flashback from last night. Levi didn’t talk to her like she was a child. Levi almost...flirted with her. That was what last night had been like. Like flirting.
The idea gave her a little thrill.
But there was no way Levi had been flirting with...her. He had been flirting with that pretty blonde.
Faith made sure the door to her office was shut, then she opened up her office drawer, pulling out the mirror she kept in there, that she didn’t often use. Just quick checks before meetings. And not to make sure she looked attractive—to make sure she didn’t look twelve.
She tilted her chin upward, then to the side, examining her reflection. It was almost absurd to think of him wanting to flirt with her. It wasn’t that she was unattractive, it was just that she was...plain.
She had never really cared. Not really.
She could look a little less plain when she threw on some makeup, but then, when she did that, her goal was to look capable and confident, and old enough to be entrusted with the design of someone’s house. Not to be pretty.
She twisted her lips to the side, then moved them back, making a kiss face before relaxing again. Then she sighed and put the mirror back in her drawer. It wasn’t that she cared. She was a professional. And she wasn’t going to...act on any weird feelings she had.
Even if they were plausible.
It was just... When she had talked to Levi last night she had left feeling like a woman. And then she had come into work this morning and her brothers had immediately reset her back to the role of little girl.
She thought about that so effectively that before she knew it, it was time for her to leave to go to Levi’s place.
She pulled a bag out of her desk drawer—her makeup bag—and made the snap decision to go for an entirely different look, accomplished with much internet searching for daytime glamour and an easy tutorial. Then she fluffed her hair, shaking it out and making sure the curls looked a little bit tousled.
She threw the bag back into her desk and stood, swaggering out of her office, where she was met by Isaiah, who jerked backward and made a surprised sound.
“What?” she asked.
“You look different.”
She waved a hand. “I thought I would try something new.”
