Perfect Kiss (6 page)

Jake and Tessa moved to the next diaper model to continue their judging, and when Levi’s eyes met Shelby’s, she mouthed, “Sorry.”

He simply shook his head, his Cheshire Cat grin slipping as his expression turned deadly serious. “We better win.”

She knew he was teasing. He wasn’t upset at what she was sure was unwanted attention. He was being a good sport.

Shelby had gotten nervous over nothing. It tended to be her go-to emotion these days. Another reason why she needed to leave the past in the past.

Taking a deep breath, she promised herself that, for this afternoon, she would try to have fun. Try to relax. Try to be herself. Try to just…breathe.

Oh, and try to ignore her body’s response to Levi.

She feared that the last one would end up being the most challenging.

Chapter 4

‡

L
evi flipped on the lights to the bar as a yawn claimed him. After wiping his bleary eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and sighed. It was clear that the two cups of coffee he’d already had this morning were not going to do the trick. The double he was working today was definitely going to require several more cups of Joe.

Normally, when he laid his head on the pillow at the end of the day, he was out like a light. Last night, that had not been the case. Levi had stared at his ceiling for six hours straight. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her.

Shelby.

Her aqua eyes, her silky brown hair, her intoxicating smell—he hadn’t been able to shake them from his memory for the past year and half. But now that he’d seen her again, spent the afternoon playing baby shower games—which they’d kicked ass in!—it was like her effect on him had gone from Bruce Banner to the Hulk. He couldn’t go a minute without thinking of her, replaying the party and every word she’d spoken to him, every touch, every look.

Taking a deep breath, Levi stepped into the small kitchen area of the Roadhouse and lifted the hood of the one and only improvement he’d made to the bar—the industrial power dishwasher/dryer. Since he’d purchased and installed that bad boy, his work had been cut in half. No longer did he spend hours a day at a sink, washing glasses and plates in scalding-hot water. Grabbing the glasses that had been washed and sanitized by the machine, he yawned once more and then made his way behind the bar.

Just as he started stacking the glassware, he was temporarily blinded. The door opened and the bright midmorning sun flooded the dark room.

Out of habit, Levi always unlocked the door as soon as he came downstairs from his apartment, which was located above the bar. He’d never had someone try to come in before he’d turned on the neon
Open
sign. Apparently, his four-year streak of no unwanted early patrons had just come to an end.

Lifting his hand to block the blinding rays, he said, “We’re not open for another half hour.”

“I have to say I’m a little disappointed that you’re not wearing the diaper,” Lauren teased as the door closed behind her. “You wore it so well.”

Yesterday, his diaper had been the talk of the shower. Levi hadn’t said much while everyone had taken their verbal shots, and he’d been in no hurry to remove the toilet paper, giving his friends and partygoers ample opportunity to not only get their fill, but also take about a hundred pics of him. It wasn’t just because he was a good sport—although he was. The main reason was because he’d known the truth.

Under all of that TP padding, he’d been sporting one hell of a boner.

He’d tried not to pop wood. Tried to think of every unsexy thing he possibly could. But the second Shelby had dropped to her knees and begun manhandling his hips and unintentionally rubbing her fingers across his denim covered package as she wrapped him up, he’d gotten hard faster than an adolescent boy seeing tits for the first time.

His mind knew that the only reason she’d been in that position, making contact with him below the belt, was because she had been in full competition mode. Unfortunately, his dick hadn’t got the memo, and it had shown up in full force, ready to party.

Thank God Shelby happened to be a gold-medalist-level contender in the toilet paper diaper competition. She’d had half the roll of TP wrapped around him before he’d
risen
to the occasion, saving him from any real embarrassment. He hadn’t rushed to take off the TP until he’d known he’d been able to get himself under control. That had proven difficult since his teammate was so damn sexy that, every time he’d looked at her, all the blood that should have been in his brain had raced south.

Luckily, as far as he knew, no one had noticed. They had been too busy laughing, mocking him, and enjoying the show.

Getting right down to business, Lauren pulled documents out of the black, leather tote that hung at her side. After she set them on the bar, she handed Levi a pen. “Okay, I need your signature here and here. And your initials next to each line on this page.”

Levi couldn’t help but grin as he did as she’d instructed. If there was one person who stood out like a sore thumb in the small town—in his opinion—it was Lauren. She’d returned home a few years ago when Amanda, her childhood friend, had lost her father. Levi hadn’t grown up in Hope Falls, so he had no idea if, at one time, Lauren had blended in when she was younger, but she sure as hell didn’t now.

Her blonde hair was usually pulled up off her face. She wore clothes he was sure cost more than his truck, which, admittedly, was on its last legs. She walked as if she were on a runway—with an air of sophistication. And she didn’t have the warm personality most of the townspeople either naturally came by or had adopted. It wasn’t due to her semi-famous status for co-hosting the reality show
Home Sweet Vacation Home
either. Pop princess Karina Black, who had grown up in Hope Falls and was part of the Fabulous Four (as they liked to call themselves), had earned worldwide-superstar status through her music and was one of the most down-to-earth people in the town. Lauren just had a big-city vibe about her, and Levi had always appreciated it. She definitely classed up the joint.

When he finished signing, she handed him the keys to his newly acquired property. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” Levi felt pride, nerves, and anticipation wash over him.

“So.” Lauren stood in front of him and shifted from one foot to the other.

Levi could tell that she wanted to say something but was having a hard time coming out with it.

“Have you hired anyone to replace Tessa?”

Okay, that was odd. Levi knew for a fact that Lauren didn’t need a job. She had two. Realtor and host. Was she asking for a friend? If she was, why did she seem so hesitant about it?

He did need help. He was actually thinking of hiring several people so that he could spend more time fixing the cabin up. If she knew someone, he would love the reference.

“Not yet.”

Lauren cleared her throat, still visibly uncomfortable. “I heard Shelby asking Sue Ann about some part-time work waitressing.”

Oh. Okay. So that’s what this was about.

Levi grinned at his friend. “I never took you as the matchmaking kind, Lauren.”

Squaring her shoulders, she narrowed her gaze. “I’m
not
.”

“I also didn’t take you for a liar,” he teased.

“Fine.” She sighed as her shoulders dropped. “Amanda put me up to it.”

Ahhh
,
yes
. That made a whole lot more sense. Levi had always thought that Amanda should carry a bow and arrow around and change her name to Cupid. That girl seemed like she loved getting all wrapped up in people’s love lives. Not in a nosy kind of way either. It was more in the genuinely-caring-about-people, wanting-everyone-to-be-happy kind of way.

“Look. It’s none of my business what
happened
or
happens
between you and Shelby. But the fact remains that she did ask about a job, and since Sue Ann just brought on two girls for the summer last week, she doesn’t have any openings. Do with that information what you will.” Placing her oversized sunglasses on her head, Lauren turned and headed back the way she came.

As the door shut, Levi looked down at the keys Lauren had handed him. Wrapping his finger around the cold metal, he knew that all he should have been thinking about was the fact that he now officially owned the cabin he’d wanted since he’d laid eyes on it. It was his. He should be planning what his first demo project was going to be. He should be thinking of promotions he could run at the bar while the summer tourist season was in full swing.

That’s what he
should
have been thinking about.

But was he? Nope. His mind was filled with and fixated on one thing and one thing only. A blue-eyed, brown-haired girl who had hijacked his mind, body, and soul. And now, she was also, apparently, looking for a job.

Levi needed help. Now more than ever. He might have been the hardest worker in the world, but he couldn’t be in two places at once.

The question was: Should he offer the job to Shelby? He remembered her telling him at Matt and Amy’s wedding that she had bartended in Phoenix and was also going to school to get her degree in hospitality. She was definitely qualified. But if she accepted the job, would she only prove to be a distraction?

She already is,
Levi’s common sense piped in.

The truth was that, whether she worked there, at Sue Ann’s, at Two Scoops (Hope Falls’ ice cream parlor), or any other part-time work she’d be able to secure, as long as she was in Hope Falls, she would be a Grand Canyon sized distraction. Having her there seemed like the lesser of two evils.

Normally, he didn’t second-guess himself. He lived by instinct. He took control. He was decisive. So why was he standing at the bar, paralyzed by the thought of calling Shelby Kellan?

Well, for one thing…he didn’t have her number. So there was that.

*

“Are you sure you’re okay to watch them while I take a quick shower?” Amy asked in a soft voice, pulling her robe closed as she stood from placing a sound-asleep Paige in her baby swing.

“Yep. That’s what I’m here for.” Shelby infused as much sunshiny demeanor as she possibly could into her assurance.

When her niece and nephew were newborns, Shelby clearly remembered Sara hadn’t even had enough time to shower some days. Once she and Matt had started helping their older sister out, that was the first thing she’d always asked to do. Not take a nap. Not catch up on laundry. Shower. Sara had told her once that, the second you become a mom, showering is no longer a necessity. It immediately gets moved to the luxury column.

“Thanks! I’ll just be, like, five minutes.” Amy turned and rushed down the hall.

Shelby snuggled Peyton closer to her, leaning her head lower to kiss the baby’s soft, chubby cheek. Inhaling the sweet aroma of baby powder and sweetness, she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten how amazing babies smelled. Charlotte, now two and a half, still seemed like a baby to her. But, after having spent one twenty-four-hour period with the twins, she realized just how big Charlotte actually was.

Tears pricked the backs of her eyes, blurring her vision as she gazed down at the little angel in her arms. Wiping her eyes, Shelby shook her head slightly, trying to get rid of the melancholy cloud that had taken residence in her spirit.

She was in Hope Falls. She was safe. She was with family.

Sure, she was also broke and jobless, but this was the beginning of the summer in a town ripe with tourism. Her uncle was the mayor, and her brother had not only married into a family that had been in the small town for over fifty years, but he had also earned the Teacher of the Year title his first year at Hope Falls High. Shelby was sure she’d be able to scrounge up work before the meager three hundred dollars she had left in her savings was blown through.

Still, a tear slipped down her face.

Not wanting to face the true reason for her sadness, she pushed it down and chalked it up to missing her niece, her nephew, and her sister.

Peyton wiggled in her arms, and Shelby knew she was being selfish by holding her instead of putting her to bed, where she would be more comfortable. She stood up, walked over to the bassinet, and slowly lowered the little princess down, immediately missing the weight of the baby in her arms.

In Shelby’s book, there was nothing better than holding a sleeping baby. Well, there was one thing that was better—the act it took to
make
a baby. But, since she had no intention of engaging in
that
activity for the next, oh, decade or so, she figured she’d try to get her fill of her second-favorite activity.

At the brief thought of the baby making activity, Levi’s face popped up in her mind.
No, no, no, no, no
. She absolutely was not going to let herself go there. If she was going to take a comforting canoe trip down the River of Denial, she certainly wasn’t going to row to Reality Shore over
him
—especially after yesterday. It had been bad enough when all she’d shared with the sexy bartender was a night of dancing and a holy-hot-tamale kiss. Now, she had an entire afternoon of heart-stopping glances, oh-so-innocent quiver-inducing touches, and the perfect specimen in the form of the best baby shower teammate ever to add to the landscape of Memory Lane. Yeah, she had no hope of keeping her lust or feelings at bay.

Shelby sat on the couch and thought about the fact that Levi had shocked her more than the time she’d accidently touched an electrical outlet. He’d not only thrown himself into the competition, but he’d been good. When Nikki had announced the Blindfolded Diaper Relay, Shelby had been nervous. They’d been in the lead up until that point, having swept the Diaper Derby, the Guess the Baby Food, the Baby Price is Right,
and
Bobbing for Nipples.

But when it had come to changing diapers, she’d had zero confidence in Levi’s ability. She’d just hoped that he wouldn’t slow them down too much. As it turned out, she had nothing to worry about. Levi had diapered those balloons with more finesse and speed than anyone else at the shower, including her. In fact, she’d actually popped one of the balloons, accidently sticking the pin in it, but he’d picked her slack up and they’d managed to diaper eight balloons. The second-place team had only managed six.