Page 29 of Kiss Me Tonight

A weak man would drop the pizza and send Tweety flying to the ground, all so he could get a glimpse of paradise under that shirt.

I’ve never been weak.

But I’d be lying if I say I don’t feel a hint of annoyance that Tweety is smirking at me like a smug, little asshole from its vantage point across Levi’s breasts.

This . . . this is a new low.

No fucking shit.

Levi’s grasp on the door slips down a notch, like she’s fully prepared to sling it back in my face and call it a day. “What are you doing here, Dominic?”

Just looking to spend some time with a person who hates my guts.

I bite back the caustic response and lift the goods for her to see. “I come bearing peace offerings. Topher mentioned pizza.”

“Topher’s not here.”

She doesn’t move, not even an inch.

Even though her pert, unconstrained nipples are doing a solid job of answering my question all on their own, I ask, “Are you heading somewhere?”

Her lips purse when I flick my gaze up to the damp, turban-style towel wrapped around her head. “Does itlooklike I’m going somewhere?”

“Didn’t want to presume anything.” I drop my shoulder to the doorframe, getting comfortable under the watch of her icy stare. “Who knows? That tank top could be your most prized possession.”

As though remembering what she’s wearing—and everything that she’s not—she drops her hand from the towel to link her arms over Tweety Bird’s face. Only, the towel’s lack of support guarantees her nothing but a few precious seconds before she’ll have to make a decision.

Bend over to pick the towel up off the floor once it falls—and risk the chance of giving me a full-on, braless peep show—or accept defeat in the form of me getting an eyeful of her puckered nipples by raising her arms and keeping the towel in place.

My vote is for the former.

She chooses option number three: ripping the damn thing straight from her head and letting her blonde hair fall down around her shoulders, completely untamed. “I liked you better when you were a nameless jerk at the bar.”

I meet her gaze. “I liked you better before I realized we weren’t just coworkers.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Debating my next words, I rap my knuckles on top of the pizza box. “Back in L.A., I used to think about what it might be like to move to a small town. I figured there’d be cookies on my doorstep with a card saying something like,howdy neighbor. If not that, then at least a welcome to the neighborhood-block party.”

Levi’s blue eyes flash. “Your ego is limitless.”

“My point being, Coach”—I drop my face so that we’re nose to nose—“is that I’ve come with neighborly tidings, and the least you can do is welcome me inside.”

8

Dominic

“Goddammit.”

Sardonically, I cock one eyebrow. “I’ll be honest, I was expecting more of a freak-out.”

Levi mimics my brow lift, then, without asking, snags the pizza out of my grasp. “In my defense, I thought I was hallucinating when I saw you next door on Friday,” she says, her back to me as she saunters past the entryway and deeper into her house.

With a kick of my heel, I close the door behind me. “Hallucinating?”

“Don’t you dare suggest your presence left me scatterbrained.”

“You said it, not me.”

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