Play Me (28 page)

OK,
maybe not terribly poetic or imaginative, but hey, he was young.

And
for me, a rule-following, straight-A bookworm whose teen years were
full of guys telling her how hot her sister Skylar was, and whose
Saturday nights were usually spent doing laundry, reading a bio-chem
textbook, or binging on Sex and the City, broom closet sex with a hot
guy was a pretty erotic experience. Until that point I’d only
had missionary sex in dorm room beds with two other guys, neither of
whom had said anything except “uuuuuuuhhhhhhhh” the
entire time. And by “the entire time,” I mean all five
minutes.

But
with Levi, it was different. Not that it was much slower—in
fact, in may have been faster—but it was more illicit. More
unexpected.

Hotter.

Dirtier.

Rougher.

And
I’d liked it.

In
fact, it was one of my go-to fantasies when I was alone with my Magic
Wand (although I left that part out when I told my sisters about
him). Hmm, maybe I’d get the Wand out later.

Stop
that. He’s a married man now.

I
cleared my throat in the effort to clear my head. “You were a
young father.”

“I
was. It was…” He hesitated, then seemed to change his
mind about what he was going to say. “We were young. Too young,
probably.”

I
smiled. “It happens. Is your wife here?”

“We
aren’t together anymore.” He didn’t look or sound
particularly sad about it.

“Oh.”

Trying
not to let my elation show—I was never sure what to say when
someone told me they got a divorce…I’m sorry?
Congratulations?—I bent over and adjusted the ankle strap on my
shoe, hiding a mischievous grin.

Because
my night just got a whole lot better.

Jillian

I
straightened up and changed the subject. “So tell me how you
know Sebastian. Skylar is my sister, you know.”

He
cocked his head. “Is she? Sorry, I probably would know that if
I hadn’t been so late I missed the ceremony. I never saw a
program or anything.”

“That’s
OK, most people wouldn’t guess it. We don’t look much
alike.” Skylar and Natalie had our mother’s blonde hair
and petite, curvy bodies. I had our dad’s tall, thin frame and
darker hair, although we all had the same blue eyes. “And we,
um, might not have exchanged last names that night.”

Levi
laughed, a deep throaty sound that heated up my insides. “Maybe
not.”

“Jillian
Nixon.” I held out my hand.

He
took it. “Levi Brooks.”

I
have a bit of a hand fetish and couldn’t resist glancing down
at his. It was solid and strong, with long fingers, nails neatly
trimmed. A thick black watch peeked out from the crisp white cuff of
his dress shirt. His grip was firm, and he gave my hand an
affectionate little squeeze before letting go. How I felt that
squeeze between my legs was a mystery.

“To
answer your question, I met Sebastian at the gym a couple years ago,
and we sometimes work out together, but I’m also his
architect.”

“You’re
an architect? Did you design his cabin?” I asked, impressed.
“It’s beautiful!”

“Thanks.”
He shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. “That was a
pretty simple project, really. And Sebastian had a lot of input. He
just needed someone to draw up the plans and supervise the
construction.”

“I
hear they’re adding on, though, right? I knew my sister
wouldn’t be able to live with so little closet space.”

Levi
chuckled, and I raised my eyebrows. “Sorry,” he said.
“It’s just…” He glanced sideways at me, a
crooked smile on his face. “Closet space.”

My
face warmed, but I couldn’t help smiling either. “Ah.
Yes. Ahem.”

The
group in front of us moved away from the bar, and Levi put a hand
lightly at the small of my back as we stepped forward. It wasn’t
suggestive or flirty, just courteous and attentive, but it sent a
flutter through my belly all the same.

I
ordered more champagne, Levi asked for an Old-Fashioned, and while
the drinks were being poured, Levi dropped a five dollar bill in the
glass tip jar, which prompted me to add
generous
to a list of
attributes that included
educated, professional, polite, handsome,
deep laugh, great hands, taller than me, fills out a suit like
nobody’s business, wears wrist watch
. Even his crooked tie
was sexy.

Levi
looked around. “Do you want to go back into the tent where the
band is? Or hang out here?” He glanced over his shoulder onto
the winery’s stone patio, where the ceremony had taken place
hours before. Since then, the rows of chairs had been replaced by
cocktail tables fashioned with giant oak barrels and round glass
table tops covered with ivory linen. Party lights were strung in the
trees above, and the table held small votive candles, which flickered
in the falling dark.

Hmmm,
let’s see. Crowded, noisy tent where relatives will eyeball us
suspiciously or cozy, quiet patio?
“Let’s stay out
here,” I said. “Fewer busybodies demanding we dance.”

“Good
call.”

We
headed for an unoccupied table in one shadowy corner, where we stood
next to one another, sipping our drinks and listening to the sounds
of an old Sinatra tune drifting from the tent. Normally, I felt a
little awkward when talking to a guy I didn’t know. But Levi
didn’t feel like a stranger.

I
glanced up at him over one shoulder. “Hard to believe we’ve
never run into each other before. Have you lived in this area long?”

“About
three years. Before that I was in Charlevoix. That’s where my
family is.”

Impulsively,
I reached over and fixed his tie, pulling the knot tighter and
straightening it out. “Sorry. This was making me a little
crazy.”

“Was
it crooked?” Grimacing, he took over the task, and a tingle
swept up my arms when his fingers closed over mine. “I was so
rushed tonight. My sitter was late, and then I had trouble getting
out of the house.”

I
picked up my champagne again. “Here’s what you missed: Do
you
? Yes. Do
you
? Yes. Here are some rings, kiss the
bride, presenting Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Pryce, applause, applause.”

He
smiled. “You’re not a romantic.”

Oh,
shit. Was that too harsh? I’d meant it to be funny, but maybe
it came out cynical. I didn’t want to sound like the bitter
spinster sister. “I don’t know if it’s that so
much…” I shrugged. “I’m more of a
pragmatist, I guess? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because
I’ve never been in love.”

“No?”
Levi looked surprised, and for a second I thought maybe I’d
said another wrong thing. Maybe he
was
a romantic.

“Nope.
Never.” I took two full swallows of champagne. “How about
you?”

He
sighed. “I don’t know. I think I was in love once. At
least, I
thought
I was, at one point.” Then he took at
least two full swallows of whiskey, so I didn’t feel so bad
about pounding my champagne. “Love can be so complicated. And
yet so simple. When I look at my son, or just think about him…”
Putting his hand over his heart, he gave me a helpless smile. “I
feel it right here. Like breathing.”

My
throat tightened. I couldn’t even say for sure why. “I
hope to have that someday. My sister and Sebastian are really lucky.”

Levi
lifted his glass. “To the bride and groom.”

“To
the bride and groom.” I drank to newlywed happiness, letting
the fizz linger on my tongue and refocusing on the here and now.
Actually what I focused on was Levi’s mouth. I liked the way
his beard framed it, calling attention to the fullness of his lower
lip. I even liked the worry lines that sometimes appeared between his
eyebrows, and the grooves that bracketed his smile. They spoke of
time and experience, and gave weight to his beauty. Maturity. I liked
that.

“So
who’s watching your son for you tonight?”

“My
sister, and she’s pretty good with him, but…she’s
not the usual sitter.” He swirled the ice and cherries around
in his whiskey. “Scotty has autism, and routine is really
important to him. He can be difficult at bedtime if the littlest
thing is different. I probably shouldn’t have come tonight, but
I wanted to be here for Sebastian.”

“Are
you guys close friends?”

He
thought about it for a moment. “I guess so. We’re similar
in that neither of us has a wide circle of friends. We work out
together a few times a week, do business together occasionally,
sometimes grab a beer.”

“I’m
sure he appreciates you being here.”

“I
haven’t even talked to him yet.”

“No?”

“No,
I was running so late, I barely made it in time for dinner, and he’s
been pretty busy tonight, taking pictures and everything. I haven’t
wanted to interrupt.”

Grinning,
I shook my head ruefully. “Skylar never misses a photo op,
that’s for sure. Want to find them and say hi?”

“Eventually.”
He sipped his whiskey again. “First I want to hear about you.”

“Well,
I’m a pediatrician. That about sums up the last ten years.”

“Are
you? I always wondered if you went to med school. I remember you
telling me you planned on it.”

I
smiled, pleased that he’d remembered something about me. And
had he said
always wondered
? Did that mean he’d thought
about me over the years, the way I’d thought about him? “I
did. I finished up my undergrad at Michigan and then went to medical
school at Wayne State. I completed my residency up here and took a
job in private practice about six months ago.”

“To
you, then. Those are amazing accomplishments.” Levi raised his
glass, and I clinked it once more. We both drank, eyeing each other
over the rims of our glasses, and even though the temperature had
dropped and the night air was crisp, I felt warmth humming beneath my
skin.

“So
catch me up more with
you
,” I said. “If memory
serves—and there’s a good chance it does not, since I
believe there may have been some liquor consumed the night we,
um…
met
—“

“Uh,
yeah. A lot of liquor, as I recall.” Levi laughed. “Sometimes
I’m amazed my liver survived undergrad. OK, let’s see. I
think I met you my senior year, when I was at State, and then I ended
up in Boston for grad school. Scotty was born during my final year
there.”

“Wow.
That must have been tough, trying to finish school and care for a
wife and baby.”

He
hesitated. “Actually, Scotty’s mom and I were never
married.”

“You
weren’t?”

He
shook his head. “No. I offered to marry her when we found out
she was pregnant, but she didn’t want that. She said she
couldn’t handle grad school and marriage and pregnancy all at
once. Sometimes I wonder if she knew then she was leaving.”

I
gasped. “She left?”

He
nodded, lifting his drink again. “Shortly after Scotty was
born. Said she wasn’t cut out to be a mother and she’d
made the wrong choice.”

“My
God.” I tried to imagine what that must have been like for
Levi, so young and on his own with a newborn baby. “So you kept
him?”

“For
me, there was no choice. He’s my son.” He rotated his
glass slowly on the table, staring into it. “But Tara and I
were not prepared to be parents, nor were we getting along by the
time he was born. And Scotty wasn’t an easy baby.”

I
smiled sympathetically. “I’ve never had one, but as a
pediatrician who’s talked to hundreds of new parents, I don’t
think there’s any such thing.”

He
laughed a little. “Yeah. It was almost impossible to calm him
down. He’d just cry and cry, like he was in pain. And he never
seemed to sleep. We were exhausted and frustrated, and we took that
out on each other. Eventually, she’d had enough of both of us.”

“She
just took off?”

“Pretty
much. She wanted a career in finance, so she went to New York, and I
moved back to Charlevoix so my family could help out. My uncle had an
architectural firm and offered me a job, so we stayed.”

“Do
you ever see her or hear from her?” I hoped he didn’t
think I was being too nosy, but I was shocked by his story, and
baffled by a woman who could walk out on her newborn son and a man
like the one in front of me.

“No,
and that’s how I wanted it. That’s how we both wanted
it.”

“Wow,”
I said again. “Do you ever get angry?”

“Never.
She walked away with nothing. I got everything.”

My
jaw dropped. “You’re amazing.”

He
smiled, but he shook his head. “Hardly. Most of the time, I
have no idea what I’m doing and I’m just trying to get
through the fucking day.” He took another big gulp, squared his
shoulders, and set his glass down hard. “But you know what? I
rarely get out on Saturday nights—in fact, I can’t even
remember the last time—so let’s talk about something more
fun.” His dark eyes glittered. “Like broom closets.”

I
laughed, shaking my head. “That
was
fun. I still can’t
believe I did that.”

“Are
you saying you didn’t make a habit of luring innocent boys into
your lair with your pretty blue eyes and long legs and sexy Harry
Potter t-shirt?”

“Ha!
No, I certainly did not. And you were not that innocent.”
Despite my intention to slow down, somehow I was tossing back the
last of my champagne.

“I
wasn’t?” Levi cocked one brow.

“No.”
My cheeks warmed. “You knew exactly what you were doing, and
you did it very well.”

“Well,
thank you.”

“And
very fast.”

His
face fell as he groaned. “God, don’t tell me. All I
remember thinking is, ‘oh fuck don’t come oh fuck don’t
come oh fuck I came.’”

I
couldn’t resist. “That’s pretty much what you said,
too.”