Perfect Kiss (19 page)

Which brought him back to square one—the reason he knew that alone time with Shelby was not a good idea. He’d even given her the shitty task of refinishing the kitchen cabinets today when she’d insisted on helping him, because if he was going to be working on the house with her, there needed to be at least a floor separating them. Otherwise, Levi couldn’t be sure that a rerun of last night’s episode would not happen, and this time, he was pretty sure it would have a much different ending.

“Hey.” The melodic tone of Shelby’s soft voice drifted into the room.

Levi’s body tensed at the sound of her voice, and he felt beads of sweat forming again at the base of his neck. “Hey.” He wiped his bandana across his neck as he turned around and tried to prepare himself, mentally and physically, for the optical assault his senses were about to encounter.

This morning, when he’d shown up and seen what she was wearing, he’d been rendered momentarily speechless. Today, she had on cut-off jean shorts so short that the lining of the side pockets peeked out from the frayed bottom. Her toned, tan legs looked a mile long and had his mind picturing what they would feel like wrapped around him as he pumped into her wet, willing body. Then, as if
that
visual weren’t hard-on-inducing enough, she was wearing a thin, red tank top that revealed so much cleavage that it would make a Hooter’s girl blush.

Levi had felt Shelby’s breasts pressed against him, so he had an idea of what she was working with, but seeing them pushed up like an offering to the cleavage gods was a totally different experience. The full curve of her upper breasts as they dipped into the valley between them had all kinds of thoughts running through is head. Touching her there. Licking her there. Sucking her there.

Her clothes might technically cover her up, but to him, all they were doing was highlighting her assets with a neon pen.

The second he laid eyes on her, his heart flipped in his chest. She’d pulled her hair up haphazardly on top of her head, exposing the graceful line of her delicate neck. Her face was flushed from work. His mind knew that, but his body registered the flush as being from something else entirely.

He had enough sense, or self-preservation, not to let his eyes drift lower than her face, knowing that, if he did, the thin thread of self-control he was hanging onto would snap. Any attempt to keep the reaction he was having to her to himself would be futile. He was already in a constant state of half-chub, so one glance down at her body would raise the sails and have his sailor standing at attention and saluting—no doubt about it.

“I heard the sander shut off, so I thought you might be ready to take a break for lunch—”

“I’m not hungry,” he interrupted gruffly. “I was just taking five to cool off.” Not that it mattered now, considering he was so hot from being near her that he was surprised he hadn’t gone up in flames. The last thing he needed was to be in the small kitchen, which had even less room than usual because of the renovations.

Levi didn’t really know what he’d expected Shelby’s response to be when he’d shot down lunch, but it damn sure wasn’t what she did next.

She crossed her arms, her eyebrows rising as her lips turned up in a knowing smile that suddenly made Levi feel as though there had been a change in the atmosphere’s pressure.

In an authoritative tone he’d never heard her use before, she said, “You’ve been up here for hours and you need a break. I made us sandwiches. You can either come downstairs and eat lunch like a normal person or stay up here,
hungry,
and keep hiding out. It’s up to you.”

With that, she turned, and Levi heard her heavy footsteps as she made her way down the stairs.

Damn
. He had no idea where that spitfire attitude had come from, but he did know he liked it. A lot. It was sexy as hell.

*

Shelby rounded the corner of the kitchen and felt so exhilarated that she had to stop herself from jumping in the air and clicking her heels together. Her heart was beating a thousand beats per minute, and this time, it had absolutely nothing to do with nerves. Her rapid-fire heartbeats could be solely contributed to the fact that she was back. The real her.

Last night, she’d known it, logically. She’d even felt it in her bones, in her blood, in her soul. Still, there was something to be said for “seeing is believing.” There was no substitute for experience, actions speaking louder than words.

Levi’s Oscar the Grouch impression upstairs would have had her shrinking like a violet last week, maybe even yesterday afternoon. But today, there was no shrinking, no hiding, no wishing she could disappear. When he’d grumpily told her that he wasn’t hungry and was just “taking five,” she hadn’t been scared or worried at all. All she’d heard were cranky excuses from a man who was so afraid to be alone with her that he’d not only made sure they were as far away from each other as they possibly could be while they worked, he also decided to go hungry just to avoid the typhoon-force lusty winds that swirled around them every time they were within spitting distance of each other.

She was actually glad that he had been surly, even if it was frustrating, because it had given her an opportunity to spread her wings, to assert herself, and she’d taken full advantage of the moment and soared.

When she heard footsteps behind her, she grinned as she pulled two glasses out of the makeshift pantry she was using while she sanded and refinished the cabinets. She’d already plated the sandwiches, complete with some chips and a couple of cookies, and sat them on the table.

“Thanks,” Levi said, as he pulled a chair out and sat down.

“No prob, Bob.” Shelby glanced over her shoulder and saw that he had already inhaled half of one of the sandwiches.

“Not hungry” my ass.
Thankfully, she’d thought that that might be the case and made him two sandwiches. He was a big guy; she figured he needed the nourishment.

“Soda or water?” she asked as she opened the refrigerator.

“Water,” he said before munching on some chips.

After filling their cups, Shelby sat down across from Levi, and they ate in companionable silence. Well…if, by definition, companionable was Person A was scarfing food down and avoiding eye contact while Person B ate a regular pace and kept glancing up to see if Person A was actually going to engage in conversation.

When Levi was on his last bite of food, she figured she should speak up now or forever hold her peace. Because dollars to doughnuts, the second he was finished, he’d hightail it back upstairs so fast that her head would spin.

Leaning forward on the table, Shelby asked, “Soooo, are we ever going to discuss the not
one,
but
two
times your tongue’s been down my throat?”

Levi’s eyes shot to hers as he sucked in a surprised breath.

Good news: She now had his undivided attention.

Bad news: He was now choking on his sandwich. His eyes were watering as he coughed and made a fist, hitting his chest.

Solution: Wait to see if she needed to perform the Heimlich maneuver or a karate chop or something. Then, after he was no longer struggling for breath, go in for the kill.

Levi coughed several times before he started breathing normally. When she was sure there would be no maneuvers needed, Heimlich or otherwise, she stood and poured him some more water. After handing him the cup of H2O, which he downed in one gulp, she resumed her perch at the other side of the table.

“Damn,” he said while shaking his head. The corners of his mouth turned up after he wiped the excess water from his mouth. “You are full of surprises.”

Shelby smiled and raised her eyebrows. “You’re
really
surprised I want to talk about the fact that we’ve played the kissing game two times now and never addressed it?”

As he leaned back in his chair, the caramel swirls in his eyes danced with amusement. “No. I’d say it was your colorful description that was unexpected.”

“Fair enough,” Shelby conceded. “So, now that the shock of my ‘colorful description’ has worn off, what are your thoughts?”

Levi’s eyes narrowed. “My thoughts?”

“Yes.”

“About us kissing?” His voice grew deeper and more gravelly.

Shelby had no idea if it was intentional or not, but either way, it made her entire body tingle like she was a York Peppermint Pattie. “Yep,” she said, sounding a little more breathless than she’d intended.

He didn’t answer right away, just stared at her. It was like he was trying to read her mind. Which he was more than welcome to do. Maybe he’d get inspired by the naughty visions that she had of the two of them and
not
stop their kiss this time around. She wished his face were as easy to read as her mind apparently was; instead, it was entirely
un
readable.

After he took a deep breath through his nose, Shelby was actually starting to think that maybe what she was feeling was entirely one-sided. She guessed it was possible that it was all in her mind, but she doubted that that was the case. Maybe he was not emotionally in the place she was—which was green-light, pass-go, full-steam-ahead—but the physical evidence of how she affected him was undeniable. She’d felt it pressed up against her belly last night, and holy snickerdoodles, he was packing some serious
evidence
.

“What are
your
thoughts?” he asked slowly, turning the tables like a compass on a Tilt-A-Whirl.

“I asked you first,” she volleyed back.

“Ladies first. I insist,” he countered as he spread his hand out, giving her the floor.

Okay. He wanted to know what she thought. Done.

“Well, I think that the first time we kissed, after Matt and Amy’s wedding, I was the one who pumped the brakes because I freaked out and bounced. It was…intense.”

Levi let out a forced laugh. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Happy that, so far, they seemed to be simpatico, Shelby continued. “I wasn’t expecting it to be like that. I’ve kissed my fair share of frogs and that was the first time that I kissed a prince. I just never imagined a kiss could feel like that.” She grinned. “Then, last night, you shut things down because you thought things were moving too fast for
me
.”

Levi remained silent.

Dipping her chin, she tipped her head towards him. “Do you agree with that assessment?”

Narrowing his eyes, he slowly admitted, “I do.”

“Great,” she said, clapping her hands together once. Her lips turned up, and she was smiling so big that she wouldn’t have been surprised if the corners of her mouth were touching her ears as she stood and gathered their plates.

“Is that it?” Levi was staring at her, trepidation lining his masculine features. His eyes were searching hers as he tried to figure out what had just happened and/or where she was going with this.

No reason to keep him in suspense. Although she was pretty sure the writing wasn’t just on the wall. It was tattooed on her forehead. But hey, if he wanted her to spell it out for him, she would gladly oblige and break down the ABCs of it all.

“Yep. Now that I know we both agree with the reason we haven’t been able to take things past the PG phase of our relationship, I see no reason why we can’t move things along to”—she looked up thoughtfully, as if she were giving this some serious consideration—“mmmmm, at least the NC-17 phase.”

“Oh really,” Levi laughed, his brown eyes dancing with amusement. “NC-17, huh?”

“Yep.” She winked as she tossed the paper plates into the trash. Then she rinsed their cups out.

“And do I get any say in this?”

“You already did.” Shelby turned back around to face him as she wiped her hands off with a dishtowel before leaning back against the countertop. “You said you agreed with my assessment. Which means that you agree the reason that both of our encounters have been middle-school-level make-out sessions and not fun of the consenting adult variety was because of me. I was the unknown variable in the equation both times. And now, I’ve solved the problem, so we’re good to go.”

Resting his forearms on the table, Levi looked suspicious as he asked, “Do you care to share with me how you solved the problem?”

“Sure.” She held her pointer fingers up, indicating one then the other. “First, this time around, our insane chemistry is
not
going to send me heading for the hills. I expect it now. I know what I’m getting into and I’m looking forward to it. Second, you don’t have to worry about me not being ready. I am. I want you. You want me. Equation solved. One plus one equals two.” She wrapped both fingers around each other, and when she did, his eyes flared with need.

Levi stood, and Shelby felt herself holding her breath. Her inability to exchange oxygen was due to equal parts anticipation of what was going to happen next and her body’s natural reaction every time she was struck by not only Levi’s height, but also his presence. His frame was large, but not in a ’roided-out muscle-builder way; it was leaner, like a boxer or a fighter. He held himself with an innate confidence that made Shelby’s insides go to mush.

“I hate to disappoint you, but that’s not quite how I see that equation,” he rasped before stepping around the table and exiting the kitchen.

Bad news: That was not the way she’d seen that interaction playing out.

Good news: If the bulge in his jeans was any indication, that wasn’t how he’d
wanted
it to play out either.

Solution: Try a new tactic.

Chapter 17

‡

S
hit.

Levi picked the remote up after he’d dropped it on the floor when he’d been attempting to distract himself with some old-fashioned channel surfing. Since this afternoon’s discussion, he’d been all thumbs. He’d dropped his hammer on his toe. Run the sander over its own cord. And when he’d taken his tool belt off, it had slipped out of his hands and crashed to the ground. All because he couldn’t get his and Shelby’s lunchtime chat out of his head.

Who would’ve ever guessed that math equations and movie ratings could be so sexy?