Kasi waved her hand. “On the house. For catching me,” she said with a grin.
Levi grunted, another part of his unique communication skills—like the nods—that she’d come to understand. This grunt meant no. And he proved her right when he pulled a twenty from his pocket and put it in her hand.
“Do you want to do the dance where I ask if you want change, and you say keep it?”
Levi grunted again. This one amused. “We can skip that today.”
“Suit yourself, but it seems a shame to break the streak, big guy. I thought we really had something going.”
“Have you always had such a smart mouth?” he asked.
She laughed. “Hell yeah. You seem to be forgetting my best friend is Remi Storm.”
Levi nodded, probably because that response made sense. “I didn’t forget.” Remi was the reigning queen of sarcasm and quick quips, with Kasi coming in a very distant second.
“Besides,” she continued, wondering if she hadn’t hit her head at least a little bit because normally she wasn’t quite this chatty, especially with Levi. “You’ve never paid much attention to me. Let’s face it, for most of my life, you saw me as the tomboy running around your family’s farm, causing havoc with Remi.”
“You were a kid,” he pointed out.
“Yeah. Iwas.” Kasi didn’t have a clue why she stressed the wordwasso hard. That certainly hadn’t been her intent, but when Levi narrowed his eyes, taking a harder look at her, she wasn’t sorry she had.
Score one for passing out.
Or maybe it was utter exhaustion causing her loose lips.
“Well, I hope you enjoy your pie,” she said dismissively, feeling a bit awkward under his too-intent gaze. “See you tomorrow.”
She spun around, not bothering to wait for his goodbye nod, and took a minute to grab the trays she used to transport the baked goods from the farmhouse to the fruit stand. She was surprised when she turned and realized Levi hadn’t left. Instead, he grabbed the empty baskets she’d stacked earlier to replenish with produce back at the farm.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“You’re closing up, right?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well,” Levi said, like she was six eggs short of a dozen. “I’m helping.”
“Why?”
Levi rolled his eyes, then jerked his head toward the doorway. “Come on, Kasi. We’re losing daylight,” he said sarcastically.
He led her out of the stand and over to her truck, helping her load it with the trays and baskets. Today had been a good day, so they each had to make a couple of trips. Once the truck was loaded, Levi remained where he was.
Kasi hesitated when it was clear he wasn’t leaving. “Shouldn’t you be getting home for dinner?”
“What else do you need to do?” he asked, instead of answering her question.
“I just need to turn off the fans, grab the cash box and iPad, and lock things up.”
“Okay.” He nodded, returning to the stand—and stopping at the door when he realized she was still by the truck.
Kasi frowned, confused. “What are you doing?”
“This would go a lot faster if you actually helped.”
She smirked, walking past him and into the stand. “Nowwho’s got a smart mouth?”
Kasi wasn’t sure, but she thought for a second she heard Levi chuckle. However, when she turned to look at him, his face was just as solemn and serious as always, so she decided it was her tired brain playing tricks on her.