Clearly, she’s all business. Dressed in blue jeans and work boots with a green tattered hoodie spotted with old oil stains on the front, she looks like a hands-on type of person.
I like a girl who is willing to get a little dirty.
Focus Levi.
“Yeah, I know what I’m doing, don’t worry.” Holding out the coffee towards her, I say, “Coffee? I stopped to pick up some before I got here. Figured I’d give a peace offering for coming into your project uninvited.”
Those blue eyes squint at me, her face pinched. God, she’s so pretty. Blue eyes and dark hair are my kryptonite and she’s got the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen. Her hair is a dark brown; it almost looks black andt falls to her shoulder blades. And her skin? God, wouldn’t I love to caress every inch of it. She has the complexion of a person who spends time in the sun making those eyes stand out even more. She’s got the perfect amount of curves, from what I can see from her hoodie and jeans that is. It’s not going to be a hardship to wake up and see her every day.
After a few seconds, her hand reaches out to grab the cup I’m holding out to her. Our fingers brush, setting off sparks.“Thanks.” Her voice has softened, and I wonder if she felt the same thing I did. I’m close enough to see hints of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and there’s one on her neck that I’m dying to get my mouth on. “Let’s stop standing around and get to work.” She turns, closing her car door, before leading me up to the warehouse and stepping inside.
Musty air slams into my face as I enter the giant building, making me cough. “Holy hell, did something die in here?” I ask.
Sammie chuckles as she flips on the light. “So it seems,” she sighs. “They’ve lived a long, hard life, but their time has come. We’re thinking of hosting a funeral.”She’s funny too.“But this is also why you’re here. All of this has been left in here to disintegrate all year, every year for who knows how long. Most of it can’t be saved, so we’re going to have to rebuild it ten times better from the ground up.” She leads me down the aisle where I can see all the damage she’s talking about. It’s really sad seeing these decorations in such a state. No wonder they need me.
“I can see that.” Leaning close I examine Frosty, the once-jolly snowman. Now, his smile is droopy and that’s definitely mildew splattered across his face. “So what are you thinking? What’s the goal?” Knowing what she’s wanting to achieve will help with the designs and creativity.
She takes a sip of her coffee and I can tell the minute it hits her tongue. She tries to hide her surprise, but I catch that moment of recognition.I think I just did something right.Swallowing, she replies, “I’m looking to transform the town square into a Winter Wonderland, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. If that means working all day and night for the next three weeks, then that’s what I’ll do. If that’s something you can’t do, then I don’t need you. I’ll do it myself.” She’s full of determination, I’ll give her that.
Smirking at her I have to remind myself to thank my aunt for being such a busybody and setting me up with this magnificent spitfire of a woman.
Chapter Three
Sammie
This day calls for fast food. Greasy, fattening, and delicious fast food. Rose Prairie doesn’t have many options in terms of variety, so burgers and fries it is.
Spending all day with Levi was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausting. Lori Haverford failed to mention that her nephew happened to be tall, built, and gorgeous. He also seems to be a genuinely nice person, which made it difficult to keep that wall up. A few times I found myself slipping and I had to force myself to remember that he was a spy. Obviously not a real spy, but his aunt is my enemy. Not in life—that’s a bit dramatic—but in this project she’s my nemesis.
He’s just so good-looking. Honestly, I was expecting a middle-aged, receding hairline, burly type of man—someone similar to my uncle. Boy was I wrong. Levi is well over six feet tall, far from balding with no visible gut, and is in his twenties. He’s got these chocolate brown eyes, a strong jaw peppered with stubble, and chestnut brown hair. I’m a red-blooded straight woman and having him so close by all day was distracting.
Turning into the parking lot of my apartment, the headlights flash across a familiar truck. And the familiar face sitting in the truck? Levi. Confusion floods my body. Why is Levi in my driveway?
Pulling up next to him, Levi breaks out into laughter. A head thrown back, body shaking type of laugh. What could he possibly find so funny? Snatching the bags out of the front seat and grabbing my drink, I walk directly to the man laughing hysterically in the cab of his truck. Food bag in hand, I knock on his window. Levi lowers it, laughing the entire time. “What are you doing at my apartment?” I ask angrily.
This throws Levi into another fit of laughter, his deep baritone voice ringing out. “Oh, this is too good.” He actually slaps his knee. Sure, this is a real knee-slapper— my face says otherwise.
“No, seriously. What are you doing here?”
Levi takes a deep breath, placing a large hand on his chest as his cackling dies down. “Whew, your face was hilarious. Did you know your eyebrows get all crinkly and your nose scrunches up when you get confused?” I scowl at him as he cracks himself up again recalling my exact facial expression at seeing him here.
Fighting the urge to put my hand on my hip, I snap, “Will you just answer my question?”
“Alright, alright,” he concedes, hands raised in surrender. Coughing away the rest of his chuckle he says the last thing I expected. “I live here.”
Rose Prairie is a small town, but I couldn’t imagine it beingthissmall. What are the odds that the man I don’t want to work with, appointed by a lady who hates me, just happens to move in right next door? We literally share a wall.
Shocked, I’m in utter disbelief. “Here? You live here?” My voice sounds panicky and that’s because I’m panicking. First, I will be spending the next three weeks working closely with this man. Second, he looks like he just stepped out of a photoshoot for Hot Men Who Work With Their Hands Illustrated, which actually sounds like a good name for a magazine. And third, he lives right next door. I'll never be able to get away from him and that could be a bad thing. A very bad thing.
Yeah, for my lady bits. Not helpful Sammie.
Those deep brown eyes of his glide over my face, no doubt taking in the crazy lady standing outside his window. “Yep,” he says, his lips popping on the p. “Moved in last night.”
How in the world had I not known that he moved in? Thinking back to last night, I realize that I was at the City Council reporting on the state of the decorations. Sure, I saw the moving truck when I pulled up, but the lights were off and everything was quiet, so I figured whoever it was just dropped their stuff off. Never would I have imagined that Levi was my new neighbor.
Dumbfounded, all I can do is stare at him with my mouth opening and closing like a fish. Needing to say something, anything to get me out of here, I huff, “Well, you better keep the noise down. I won’t hesitate to complain to Jim.” Jim is the landlord. I’ve lived here for a year now and as landlords go, Jim’s a good one. He checks in regularly to make sure everything in the unit is running fine and that I’m not having any problems, plus the rent is reasonable.
“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” He rolls his window up in my face, removing his keys from the ignition and opening the door. Stepping back, Levi gets out of his truck and stands there looking down at me. This is when I realize that I didn’t step back far enough and my face is literally in his chest. How does he smell this good after walking around a musty warehouse all day?
