Perfect Kiss (28 page)

After the last spasm hit his body, he collapsed over Shelby. He was only vaguely aware that she wrapped her legs around his back as she trailed her fingers up and down his back.

“I love you,” she whispered against his neck.

“I love you,” he told her, already feeling his body stirring back to life while still buried deep inside her. Gathering his strength, he pushed up on his elbows. “I hope you weren’t planning on getting any sleep tonight.” He was only half joking.

“Who needs sleep?” Her smile brightened up the entire world as she lifted her hips and seductively ground against him.

This girl was going to kill him, but he’d die happy.

Chapter 25

‡

S
helby could hear a loud buzzing, but she didn’t know where it was coming from. When she tried to move, her body felt…heavy. Deciding to ignore the sound, she snuggled back into her soft, cozy pillow. Then, right when she was about to drift back into blissful slumber, the annoying buzz sounded again.

Somewhere in her subconscious, she knew she had to open her eyes and deal with the offending noise. Otherwise, she’d never get any peace.

After she forced her eyes to open up, it took her a minute to adjust to her surroundings. She was in her bed. At the cabin. Alone.

Once her eyes focused, she saw a light shining off her nightstand and realized that the buzzing sound was coming from her phone. She figured it was just one of the inspirational sayings or funny memes to start her day in the wee hours of the morning—a.k.a. eight a.m. or earlier—that her sister liked to text. Sara was a morning person. Shelby was
not
.

When she picked the phone up, she was expecting to see something like an ocean with the words “Life is so much brighter if we focus on what really matters” or a dog with a funny hat. Instead, the picture on the screen was of her and Levi behind the bar.

Her first thought was that he’d sent it to her, but when she saw the number it had come from, she didn’t recognize it. And it had an Arizona area code. She felt sick to her stomach as she tapped the picture and saw that she a ton of texts from that number. Flipping through her phone, she saw that the pictures were all of her and Levi, even some of them working on the cabin.

It was Kevin. She knew it. Was he here? Had he followed her?

No, that couldn’t have been possible. Just yesterday, she’d talked to Sara and she’d said that she’d run into him at the grocery store and he wasn’t looking so well.

How could he still be in Arizona and have taken these pictures?

The final picture was of Levi and Shelby coming out of Matt and Amy’s house. Last night.

What the fuck was going on?

What was she going to do?

Her phone buzzed in her hand. Another text message from the unknown number read:

You can run. You can hide. But I’ll always find you!

Then her phone started buzzing like crazy and her inbox was filled with the same pictures she’d just looked at, except now, the words “slut” and “whore” were written over her face. That was upsetting enough, but when she got to the photo that had “R.I.P.” written over Levi, she started shaking and tears poured down her face.

When Kevin had shown up at Sara’s, Shelby hadn’t been worried that he would do anything to her sister or the kids. He was abusive, but she hadn’t thought he was crazy—until this.

She dialed her sister’s number, needing to warn her. To tell her that her ex might actually be certifiably crazy.

“Hey stranger,” her sister said after the third ring, the sound of wind so loud in the background that Shelby could barely hear her.

“Hey, are you driving?” Shelby didn’t want to give her sister upsetting news if she was behind the wheel.

“Jack is. We’re heading up to Lake Havasu,” Sara said before her voice rose and she yelled, “Don’t hit your sister!”

Relief rushed through Shelby as she remembered that Sara had told her that Jack had rented a lake house for the summer and they were taking the kids up there for six weeks. They weren’t home. They were safe.

“I’ll let you go. I just wanted to say have a fun trip.”

“All right. I’ll call you when we get settled in. Love you.”

“Love you.” Shelby disconnected the phone and tried to think about what she should do.

Go to Henry? Go to Levi? She was scared that they might actually kill Kevin. She’d seen the look in their eyes.

She looked around the room as if it would somehow give her a clue as to what her next move should be. On her first scan, she saw a note lying on the pillow beside her. Picking it up, she saw that it had Levi’s handwriting.

Hey, Beautiful,

I had to go open the bar and didn’t want to wake you. I made pancakes. Eat. Sleep. Relax. I talked to your boss and got you the day off.

I love you!

Levi

Shelby held the note to her chest. Levi was the best thing that had ever happened to her. Thinking about how upset he would be when he found out about the pictures made her sick. He’d been nothing but amazing, and all she’d brought into his life was drama.

He didn’t need this.

Throwing the covers off her bed, she got up and decided that she needed to come up with a plan before telling Levi about the pictures. Amy’s brother, Eric, was in law enforcement. Her afternoon would not be spent eating, sleeping, and relaxing as the note had instructed. It would be spent sitting in a police station.

*

“Well, I’m happy to see that you and Shelby worked everything out.” Sue Ann patted Levi’s hand as he set her chicken strips down.

He knew that the gossip train in Hope Falls was fast and all tracks led to Sue Ann’s café, but still, he had a feeling that, half the time, her comments were really fishing expeditions.

“Enjoy your lunch, ladies.” He smiled as he handed Sue Ann and her lunch companion, Eric and Jake’s mom, Rosalie Maguire, utensils wrapped in a napkin.

“Oh, you’re a big ol’ party pooper.” Sue Ann swatted his arm. “You’ve been strutting around here with a smile on your face that only a man in love wears.”

Levi had to give credit where credit was due. Sue Ann had mad perceptive skills. Still, he wasn’t about to feed the gossip beast.

“Let me know if I can get you anything else.” He flashed his dimple and doubled down with a wink, causing the ladies to giggle and blush before he left their table and made his rounds on the dining floor.

It was a fairly slow Monday, which was good. He’d been able to catch up on some paperwork that had fallen through the cracks since he’d been putting so much time into the cabin. He’d been surprised to learn that, since Shelby had started, sales were up ten percent. Her first week here, she’d approached him about making some minor changes. Spicing up happy hour with a little more exotic drinks. Doing a karaoke night. Having two-dollar draft night.

They were all things he’d happily agreed to. He’d worked in this business so long that he’d become complacent in his running of the bar. Shelby had fixed that. He was already thinking of specials he could run for each season to coincide with tourist activities.

Shelby had opened his eyes to so much. She’d breathed life back into him when he hadn’t even known he was lacking oxygen. It was crazy, but Levi could not imagine his life without her at this point.

He would marry her in a heartbeat if she would have him.

As he flipped through the mail he’d let stack up for the past week, one envelope in particular caught his attention. The return address had the name Charlie Dorsey on it.

Part of him wanted to rip it up before he’d even opened it and toss it in the trash, and another part of him was curious about what the man had to say. Especially considering the information that he’d learned from his talk with Adam. Levi had thought he’d have to have a sit-down with his father, but maybe his questions could be answered without having to see his face.

After slitting the top of the envelope, he pulled the handwritten paper out and had to admit that he was nervous. Looking around, he glanced at the handful of people in the bar and saw that they were all happily eating and drinking. No one needed a refill or their check.

So he figured he might as well get this over with.

Levi unfolded the paper and was immediately struck by the fact that he and his father had such similar handwriting. Whoa. It was odd.

As he began reading, emotions he couldn’t name swelled in him.

Levi,

First off, thank you! If you’ve even read this far, it’s more than I deserve, and it means you didn’t shred or burn this letter.

Okay, that was the easy part. Now comes the real stuff.

I’m sorry. I’m sure that those are most likely empty words to you, but please know that I mean them from the bottom of my heart. I was never a father to you or your brothers. I can’t begin to express to you the shame and regret I live with every day knowing what I put you, your mother, Logan, and Lucas through. I know that you have no reason to believe me when I say this, but I loved your mother, and I love you and your brothers.

All the things you said to me in the bar are true. I am a con artist. I am a liar. I am a thief. I am also a drug addict.

I have been sober for seven years and nine months, but I am still an addict. I always will be.

The man you knew is not the man I am now. That was a man whose life was ruled by addiction. That’s not an excuse for my behavior. It’s just a fact.

Six months ago, I lost someone. She believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. She saw good in me when all I saw were the wrongs I had done. On her deathbed, I promised her that I would try and make amends with you.

Rena knew that I’ve stayed away from you and your brothers all of these years not because I didn’t want to know you, but because I didn’t want to upset you. To disrupt your lives. I don’t deserve to have any of you in my life. I know that and I accept that.

But here I am. I’ve signed a six-month lease in Hope Falls. I won’t bother you, won’t come back in the bar uninvited. But I’m here if you want to talk or yell at me. Whatever you need, I’m here.

Out of respect for you, I have not contacted your brothers. I have letters similar to this I would like to send to them if you agree to it.

I love you and am so deeply sorry for the pain and wounds I have caused you.

Charlie

Levi stared at the letter in disbelief. Well, damn. What was he supposed to do with that?

Chapter 26

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S
helby tried to smile as she served drinks. All night, she’d felt Levi’s eyes on her, and she knew he was worried. As much as she tried to act normal, she knew he saw that something was wrong. She wouldn’t have even been there tonight if Kensie hadn’t called in sick.

She’d spent the entire afternoon at the police station, waiting for Eric to come back from a call, only to be told after four hours of waiting that he had been called to another emergency. Exhaustion pulled at her as she filled an empty pitcher of beer. Not that the officers at the station hadn’t been helpful; they had. She’d been offered more water and snacks in those four hours than she ever had in her life.

The woman at the desk had also suggested that Shelby speak to a different officer. More than once. But she’d declined. By the end of her sit-in, she’d been worried that people were starting to think she was stalking Eric. The conversation around the station had (loudly) turned to Eric’s beautiful wife, Lily, and how happy the two of them were together. If Shelby hadn’t been such a ball of nerves, she would have actually thought that the whole thing was funny and sweet.

As it was, she was kind of irritated that they’d thought
she
would waste her time by hanging out in a police station to stalk a married man. But her frustration probably had more to do with the fact that
she
was being stalked.

The pictures had continued pouring in until around one. Then they’d suddenly stopped. Which had almost been as freaky as having received them in the first place. More than anything, she wanted to throw the stupid phone in the garbage, but she thought that it might be evidence.

“Hey, hun. Can I get a refill?” Eli asked, tapping the pitcher on the bar.

“Sorry. Yes.” Shelby was so turned around that she didn’t know which way was up.

Her head was not here, and the bar was wall-to-wall people thanks to some multibillion-dollar Internet company that was doing a “week in the wilderness” team-building exercise.

“Here you go. Sorry about that.” She handed the pitcher to Eli.

His brow furrowed. “Whose ass do I need to kick?”

Shelby laughed as she shook her head. “No one yet, but I’ll let you know.”

With a nod, he winked. Then he held the pitcher over his head as he made his way through the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd, back to the pool tables.

Eli was a good guy. Shelby was sure he knew that nothing was going to happen between the two of them, but he genuinely cared about her and noticed when things were off. And if she had to bet on it, she’d put money down on him kicking Kevin’s ass if Kevin showed up here and he saw that it upset her.