Page 38 of Taken By Storm

“Didn’t realize you were such a perv,” she retorted.

Levi laughed, then offered his hand. She took it, climbing out of bed, allowing him to lead her to the kitchen. His shirt hung to mid-thigh, so she didn’t have to worry about flashing her panties. She started to ask where her bra was but decided fuck it. She wasn’t so well-endowed that she couldn’t walk around without it, especially since she’d lost a bit of weight. It figured she’d lose it the one place she didn’t want to.

“Jace also dropped off some food. I wanted to feed you something as soon as you woke up.” He opened the refrigerator, pulling out some sliced cheddar cheese and ham, as well as a stick of butter. Grabbing a loaf of bread from the counter, he put together a couple sandwiches, buttering the bread before plopping them onto a griddle on the stove. Her mouth watered as the smell of melting cheese and butter permeated the air.

While the sandwiches were grilling, he opened a can of tomato soup, dumping it into a pan to heat as well.

“Want something to drink?” he asked, opening the fridge once again. “We have water, soda, and Rain or Shine IPA.”

“Water, please.”

Levi grabbed a bottle for her and one for him, placing them on the table before he finished cooking and plating their midnight feast.

It wasn’t until he’d placed the soup and sandwich in front of her that she realized she hadn’t even offered to help. She’d been too distracted by his six-pack abs and the strong muscles in his back.

“This smells delicious. Thank you,” she said, picking up her spoon just as her stomach let out a loud rumble. “I’m starving.”

“Did you eat at all today?”

She considered lying, but decided against it since Levi seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to her truth telling…or lack thereof.

Kasi shook her head. “I wasn’t hungry when I woke up.” She didn’t bother to add she’d gotten out of bed at three a.m. “Then I got busy with baking.”

Her stomach had been tied in knots lately over the farm’s finances and the extreme lack of money coming in. In addition to the tax debt, they were still making payments on the new tractor her father had bought just a few months before the fire. The tractor—like the corn—had been a casualty of the blaze. There was nothing more painful than making monthly payments on a useless hunk of charred metal.

The meager amount of savings her family had in the bank had been used to pay for Mama’s funeral, a shockingly expensive endeavor. Between the service, the casket, the plot, and the headstone Daddy had insisted they order immediately, that nest egg, which had been pitiful to start with, was completely gone.

While Kasi was relieved they hadn’t lost a day’s worth of earnings from the fruit stand, she knew it would be nowhere near enough to pay off their personal property tax debt. If she didn’t find a solution soon…

No. Fuck that. She was NOT marrying Scottie Grover.

This was all her fault. They should have plowed the burned fields and planted corn in the spring, but at the time, Daddy had been lost in his grief, hunkered down in his room. Keith had been running wild all over the county, trying to escape from his own misery, like he could outpace it if he just drove that motorcycle fast enough. They were down to the one tractor—the old one that was on its last legs. And she hadn’t known enough about the farm side of her family’s business at the time to make any decisions. She’d always helped her mother with the baking and the stand. Keith took care of the animals and helped atharvest time. But the actual choices of what to plant when and where had always been something Mama decided, and Kasi had never cared enough to pay attention.

Levi grunted, clearly annoyed by her poor eating habits. “By the way, Jace headed over to your farm after dropping off the clothes and food.”

“Why?”

“He offered to help with a couple of things on that honey-do list you made me.”

Kasi put her sandwich down without taking a bite. “He didn’t have to do that. Shit, Levi, I told you thatyoudidn’t have to do it. I can take care of those things.”

Levi wiped his mouth and hands, then leaned back in his chair, his legs kicked out in front of him. “I asked him to take a look at the tractor because Pete said you’d been having some trouble with it. Jace is a good mechanic. He replaced the transmission belts, filter, and pads, tinkered with the gearbox, and changed the oil. Sounds like whatever he did was just the trick because Pete said it hadn’t run that well in years.”

Dealing with the old tractor had been one of the major items on Kasi’s to-do list, but she’d kept shoving it down because she feared getting it fixed would be costly.

“That was…” Kasi was overcome with relief. “I’m baking him a pie too.”

Levi laughed.

“And please tell him to send me the receipts so I can reimburse him for all the replacement parts.”

Levi shook his head. “I already took care of that.”

Kasi narrowed her eyes. “Thenyousend me the receipts.”

He laughed again, acting like she’d made a joke.

“I mean it, Levi.”

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