Perfect Kiss (15 page)

And it wasn’t even his body that, if made into a stone statue, women would come from all over the world to worship at the feet of. It wasn’t even the way he moved—with the confidence and grace of a lion on the prowl. Levi was tall, and sometimes, guys who were working with that kind of height were clumsy. Their movements were choppy and awkward. But not Levi. Every move he made seemed intentional and filled with purpose. It made all kinds of visions of what kinds of intentions (hopefully bad!) and purpose (hopefully X-rated!) he’d have in the bedroom, fill Shelby’s head.

But none of those things were the main cause of the sweet torture. That title was reserved for his eyes. First, the rich, milk-chocolate shade of his eyes made her want him to melt in her mouth, not in her hand. Then there were the long, thick lashes that surrounded them. But both of those things paled in comparison to the look in his dark-caramel-swirled stare.

When he looked at her, she felt it all over her body. It was tangible, like a physical caress. It made her feel things that were so much more than the Levi-tingles of sexual awareness. It made her feel safe. It made her feel happy. It made her feel…loved.

Projecting much?
Her inner
sarcastic
voice piped up as she cut both sandwiches in half and plated them.

Grabbing a couple of bags of chips, she rolled her eyes at the soap-opera-like scenarios that had been playing in her head all day. All of which starred herself and Levi. All of which had him declaring his undying love for her. All of which, after aforementioned declaration, had him ravishing her. All of which were as likely to happen as her becoming the Queen of England.

They’d been working together for about a month and he hadn’t come close to making a move.

“Thanks,” Levi said, the sandwich already halfway to his mouth.

Shelby had barely sat the plate in front of him before he’d picked up the sandwich and devoured the first half in two bites.

She grinned as she took her seat. “No problem.”

As he chewed, he let out a moan that had more than just her heart pitter-pattering. A stimulating tingle began pulsing heavily between her legs. She hadn’t been this turned on since…ever. Her body had a habit of filing every second she spent with Levi into the foreplay category. And no matter how many times her mind tried to convince her hormones otherwise, it was overruled. Apparently, lust trumped logic.

They ate for a few minutes in silence. Like a couple in a
normal
,
healthy
relationship—which took Shelby by surprise. Before Kevin, she’d only had short, extremely, casual relationships that had never really progressed past the “going out to bars, movies, and restaurants and hooking up” phase. What she’d had with Kevin, although it was her only serious relationship, was not a yardstick to measure anything against—unless it was to show what
not
to do.

Somehow, what she had with Levi felt like the healthiest relationship she’d ever had. She wasn’t delusional. She knew they weren’t a couple. Or even dating. Still, it just felt
right
.

“So, what have you been up to since graduation?” Levi asked, before popping a chip into his mouth.

“Oh, um…” Shelby had no idea how to answer that. She didn’t want to lie to Levi. But the truth was humiliating. “I was working at a pretty hot club in Phoenix for a while.”

“And you had a double major, right?” Levi asked, seeming genuinely interested.

Happy to gloss over the nine months she was unemployed and turn the conversation towards her education, Shelby explained, “Yes, I have an associate’s degree in business, specializing in advertising, and a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management.” Realizing she’d only mentioned that briefly at Matt and Amy’s wedding, she smiled. “I’m impressed. You have a good memory.”

He shrugged at the compliment. “I’m a good listener.”

Picking up her lemonade, she tipped it towards him. “Which makes you an amazing bartender.”

“The dimples and muscles don’t hurt, either,” he stated confidently.

Choking on her lemonade, she almost spit out her drink as laughter bubbled up inside her. “Well, I guess it’s always good to know your strengths.”

His grin had just enough bad boy sprinkled in it to send a shiver down her spine. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he shut it again. She saw the exact moment he changed his mind about whatever he wanted to say.

Suddenly, she felt like she was back in seventh grade, standing against the wall in the middle school gym, waiting for Jonathan Aldrich to come over and ask her to dance. The eighth grader had made it halfway across three times. Each time, he would lose his nerve and turn back again. She felt like that same nervous schoolgirl. Except, in seventh grade, she’d taken matters into her own hands by walking across the gym and practically dragging Jonathan onto the dance floor.

That was not going to happen today. Today, she was going to eat her sandwich and ignore the fact that Levi obviously had something he wanted to say. They would finish their lunch in silence and get back to work. No harm. No foul.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked hesitantly.

Or not. Well, at least she knew that she hadn’t missed her calling to be a psychic.

“Sure,” Shelby said, sounding anything but sure.

“Why did you come here?”

The look in Levi’s eyes made her feel like he could see down to her soul. Which should have bothered her. Instead, she kind of wished he
could
just read her mind. That way, she wouldn’t have to say the words out loud.

“I just needed to get away.” That was honest, and it didn’t reveal too much. She hoped.

He followed up with, “Why?”

As much as Shelby had told herself that she was prepared to be questioned about her sudden appearance in Hope Falls, she was quickly realizing that she wasn’t. Sure, she’d come up with several different scenarios, tales she could tell, yarns to weave that would explain her showing up. The only problem was that she didn’t want to lie to Levi. Not that lying to Uncle Henry, her sister, or her brother was high on her list, but she could live with that somehow. Lying to Levi felt…wrong.

“I just needed a change of scenery.” Again, it wasn’t a lie. In fact, both statements were very much the truth. She
had
needed to get away, and she
had
needed a change of scenery.

Levi leaned his elbows on the table. The look in his eyes told her that he was about to crown her the Queen of Avoidance, which was a reign she would gladly take on.

“Didn’t we just establish that I’m a good listener?”

“Yep,” she said with a little too much enthusiasm as she stood to clear their dishes.

Part of her wanted to tell him everything. Part of her wanted to run out of the cabin and never come back. And all of her wished she could just disappear.

“Shelby.” His tone was firm but not aggressive. “You need to talk to someone.”

Spinning around, she felt a defensiveness she knew Levi didn’t deserve rise up in her. “What are you—”

“Don’t.” Levi shook his head slightly. “I know that something happened to bring you here. I also have a pretty good idea what it’s about. You don’t have to talk to me about it, but don’t do
that
. Don’t act like you have no idea what I’m talking about. Remember, you can tell me that you don’t want to talk about it, but you promised not to lie to me.”

Shelby had almost forgotten when she’d shown up in town and Levi had turned the tables, asking her to promise that. She’d thought that it was significant at the time, but she hadn’t thought he’d be using her words against her so soon.

“Fine. I don’t want to talk about it.” She stood a little taller, trying to prepare herself for the inevitable back-and-forth they were going to have, knowing that it couldn’t be as simple as Levi dropping it.

But to her great surprise, he did. “Fair enough. What do you want to do?”

Oh boy. If that wasn’t a loaded question, she didn’t know what was. There were
so
many things she wanted to
do
with Levi. None of which she planned on sharing. Well, except one.

“I want to break down a wall.”

As soon as she said the words, she realized the symbolism. He was trying to tear her emotional walls down, while she was going to literally take his living room wall down. Thankfully, if Levi
did
see the irony in it, he didn’t comment on it. Instead, he stood and handed her a pair of safety goggles and a mallet hammer.

“Go for it.”

Chapter 13

‡

“S
o, how are things coming along?” Sue Ann asked, as she sipped on her cosmo.

“Good. Things are going good,” Levi answered her as he glanced over at Shelby at her end of the bar. She was filling drinks, joking around with customers; her movements were sure and confident with no hesitation. She was glowing and radiating with self-assurance.

Something had shifted this afternoon. Not just between the two of them, but in her. She’d beat the crap out of the wall they’d torn down. Then they’d pried the drywall off in pieces until the job was finished. He’d figured she would give it a few hits and then he’d do the heavy lifting. He could not have been more wrong. All he’d done was stay out of her way. She’d been a woman on a mission.

The sweet, melodic sound of her laughter filled the air, and Levi grinned. It looked like her mission was a success. Everything was different about her tonight. His mom would have said that she had a spring in her step.

This afternoon, when he’d asked her about why she’d come here…he had to admit that it was partly out of selfish motivation. He hadn’t wanted to keep things where they were. Stagnate. He had to do
something
. But it wasn’t all for purely self-serving reasons. He truly believed she
did
need to talk to someone. When she hadn’t opened up, he’d resigned himself to the fact that he’d struck out.

That was until he’d seen the fire in her eyes when she’d said that she wanted to knock his wall down. He’d watched her whack away at the wall like she was exorcising demons. And maybe she was.

He’d heard of people using all kinds of things for therapy. Dogs. Music. Scents. Maybe construction work could be added to that list. Whether or not it was clinically recognized, he’d definitely seen the proof in its effectiveness. Shelby seemed stronger. Confident. Empowered.

He wished he had ten more walls she could knock down.

“Earth to lover boy.” Sue Ann snapped her fingers, grabbing Levi’s attention. “I was asking about the cabin, but I am glad to hear
that
is going well.” She winked and tilted her head towards Shelby as she emphasized the word
that
.

Levi knew better than to address her not-so-subtle indication. In Hope Falls, anything he said
could
and
would
be used against him in the court of public opinion. He’d learned to keep his mouth shut a long time ago. People still talked, but they didn’t have any direct quotes to take out of context as exhibit A.

“The cabin’s coming along great. I’m ahead of schedule.” Which was hugely because of Shelby, but he decided to keep that little nugget of information to himself. Not that he didn’t want to give her the credit. Hell, he’d love to take out a front-page ad in the
Hope Falls Daily
. But he knew that mentioning her at all would only serve to fuel the rumor mill that was already running at full speed.

“I see.” Sue Ann grinned widely. With a very pointed glint in her eye, she asked, “So, Levi, how come
you’ve
never settled down?”

He had to give her credit. She didn’t drop things, but she also didn’t beat a dead horse. If one avenue wasn’t working, she had no problem trying a different tactic.

“I’m not sure.” Levi shrugged casually.

Of course, they both knew what she was getting at, and they both knew he was giving her vague answers. But conversations like this were classified as entertainment in a town as small as Hope Falls. People lived out the soap operas they watched on TV.

“You think maybe it’s just because you haven’t met the right person?” Sue Ann pushed on.

“I guess that could be it. Honestly, I never gave it much thought,” he lied. He’d given it plenty of thought. He’d thought of a million reasons why he never wanted to get married or have kids and a white picket fence.

At the top of that list was the fact that he’d basically been the only father figure his twin brothers had had since he was six years old.

Starting all over again had appealed to him about as much as getting a third degree sunburn.

“Well, lookie there.” Sue Ann made a show of looking at her watch. “It’s half past time you start thinking about it.” With a wink, she slipped off the barstool and moved to the table the other ladies from her bridge club were seated at.

Levi watched as one of his all-time favorite Hope Falls residents sat down and began filling the women in on something. He didn’t have to have supersonic hearing to figure out what it was. But between the “sly” looks in his direction and the few keywords he was catching, he knew he and Shelby were the topic of their gossip fest.

It didn’t bother him at all. In fact, he was happy to give the gals something to talk about.

Looking over at Shelby, he saw that she appeared to be blissfully unaware of the fact that they were currently the hot topic of discussion. He realized—as Shelby pulled a tap down and filled a glass of Guinness—that it didn’t even matter to him what the ladies might be saying about the two of them. Not one bit.

In the past, it had bothered him when the town tried to play matchmaker. He’d always felt pressured. Especially if the women they were trying to make the match with got the wrong idea. He wasn’t an asshole, and he hated hurting women’s feelings or having any part in leading them on.

Which would explain why Dina’s expression of gratitude over his “saving her”’ from something she would have regretted, had been weighing on him so heavily. Chances were there were at least a small percentage of women he’d been with who regretted it. It wasn’t that he felt guilty…exactly. Consenting adults could do what they wanted.