You’ve got to be kidding me.Levi’s grip tightened on the drapes.
“Come away from the window before you tear the sheers.”
His heart was beating hard. His chest squeezed painfully. Molly was right. A play-by-play was only going to drive him crazy.
He let go of the material and turned to his sister. An ache spread from the epicenter of his heart. “What if he wants her back, Molly?”
Her eyes softened. “Honey, you have to trust what you’ve built with her.”
“You mean over the two and a half weeks we’ve known each other? She was with him almost two years. They were engaged to be married.”
“But they broke up. There must’ve been a good reason.”
He wasn’t about to divulge Mia’s personal business, but that was something to hold onto. Still, he kept remembering the way Wesley had taken Mia’s hand just now. That didn’t seem like the action of a man who’d used her for selfish purposes. Nor did his traveling all this way to see her. He’d already gotten what he’d wanted from her. Why was he here?
He didn’t want to talk about this anymore. Didn’t even want to think about it. “I should get back to the front desk.”
Molly followed him down the hall. “I noticed reservations are still going pretty strong since you increased the rates.”
“It’s only been a week and a half, but yeah, I noticed the same thing.”
“That means an 8 percent increase in profit if it continues.”
“That would go a long way toward making the inn profitable.”
“And we have another wedding party coming later in the summer, so that’s good.”
“It looks promising,” he said.
They talked for a while about what the profit margins would mean as far as selling the inn went. That Molly was willing to talk numbers was a testament to her love for him.
A while later, when they heard a car start up out front, Mia peeked out the window. “He’s leaving.” She looked at Levi. “Why don’t I cover the desk awhile? Go on out and check on Mia.”
thirty-five
Levi spotted Mia down on the dock, sitting on the bench. He made his way down the sloped lawn, his mouth going as dry as Lone Creek Falls in August. He thought she might come inside once Wesley left, but she obviously needed time to think. He hoped that wasn’t a bad sign.
The wooden dock shimmied as he made his way down it. She must’ve felt the movement, but she didn’t turn.
“Can I join you?” he asked once he reached her.
She smiled warmly at him. “Of course.”
He lowered himself into the seat, keeping a respectful distance. He wanted to take her hand. But did he even have the right to touch her anymore? He hadn’t known how strong his feelings were until Wesley showed up in their lobby. Now he thought he might burst for fear of losing her. How had this happened so quickly? He wasn’t impulsive like Molly. He wasn’t a romantic. He sure didn’t believe in love at first sight.
Yet even though he’d known Mia fewer than three weeks, he couldn’t deny what he was feeling. His pulse throbbed at the realization.
He was in love with the woman.
It didn’t matter that he’d only known her a matter of days. It didn’t matter that she lived clear across the country. It didn’t even matter that she was a famous celebrity.
All that mattered was that his heart was full of this undeniable, inescapable feeling he’d never before experienced. And he didn’t know what to do about it.
“So...” Mia cut a look at him. “I guess you know that was Wesley.”
“I’m aware.” He stared at her profile, his gaze all but burning a laser into her skin. Tell me he doesn’t matter to you. Tell me you don’t have feelings for him. Tell me it’s me you want.
“He was working in Asheville and decided to come see me. He wanted to clear up a few things about our breakup.”
