“You think this is funny?” he murmurs.
“A little.”
Mrs. Dottie beams at me. “Sadie! Sweetheart! You just got back from college, didn’t you? Such a bright young woman.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say sweetly.
She pats my cheek like I’m still ten. “And still single?”
Levi’s head snaps toward me.
I fight the urge to grin.
“Very,” I say.
Mrs. Dottie nods approvingly. “Well! The Mountain Debutante Ball is coming up. We’ll need volunteers.”
Levi mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like a curse.
The women cluster around him again, discussing charity auctions, baseball games, bake sales, and a car wash event titled Firefighters & Foam that makes my eyebrows rise.
“You’ll be auctioned for dinner dates, of course,” Mrs. Dottie informs him brightly. “It’s for a good cause.”
His shoulders go rigid.
I step closer, brushing my elbow against his. He’s solid. Warm. Real.
“They’re going to sell you,” I whisper.
“I gathered,” he says through clenched teeth.
“You’ll fetch a good price.”
He looks down at me slowly. “Careful, Hotshot.”
The nickname lands like lightning.
I stop breathing for half a second.
He notices.
His gaze flicks to my mouth before snapping back up.
“Still can’t help yourself, huh?” I say lightly.
“Still can’t stay out of trouble,” he shoots back.
Mrs. Dottie claps her hands. “Wonderful! We’ll put you down for the baseball game, the car wash, the dance lesson night, and—oh!—the maybe even the kiss cam fundraiser if we find you a match before then!”
“The what?” Levi asks flatly.
“Oh, it’s adorable,” she says. “Couples only, of course.”
Couples.
I glance at him.
He looks like he’d rather run into a burning building.
