Page 41 of Taken By Storm

“Another rain check.”

She sighed.

Levi shifted next to her, wrapping his arm around her middle and pulling her back against his chest. She’d never been held by a man in bed in her life. That was the first thought she had when Levi’s breath evened out, sleep coming for him quickly.

Her last thought before she joined him in dreamland was a simple one.

He was going to win yet another argument.

Because she was totally giving him that rain check.

Chapter Seven

Levi walked inside the fruit stand just as Kasi was closing. As had become their routine, he helped her load the baskets and trays into the truck, then waited while she locked the stand.

Since Keith was using the Lucky Penny Farm’s ancient truck as he continued to chisel away at the list Kasi made them, Levi drove Kasi to the stand right after lunch, helping her open then promising to pick her up at closing time.

Waking up this morning with her nestled in his arms was the best thing he’d ever experienced. After their midnight dinner, they’d crawled into bed and fallen fast asleep. Levi had anticipated a restless night, his body clamoring for things Kasi simply wasn’t physically well enough for. Instead, he’d wrapped his arm around her and drifted off in record time. He was convinced his good night’s sleep was the result of Kasi being exactly where he needed her to be.

Safe and sound in his arms.

Unfortunately, after fourteen hours of deep sleep, Kasi had awoken with the birds, asking to return to the farm. Given the lack of dark circles and the sunny smile of her face, he gave in to her wishes. He’d made some calls yesterday afternoon,arranging for his brothers to cover his daily chores for the next few days because he refused to allow Kasi to relapse.

He was going to owe his brothers a hell of a lot more than pie for their help, but when he’d explained that Kasi had passed out and the family needed help around the farm, they insisted the Millses needed him more than they did, and that they’d keep things running smoothly in the meantime.

His family was the greatest. And the icing on this cake was the fact they all knew and loved Kasi already, given her close friendship with Remi. She’d been a permanent fixture on the farm when she was younger, an honorary Storm for most of her life. He couldn’t wait to change that status from honorary to official…but he suspected Kasi would laugh him out of town if he tried proposing to her after only a few days.

After driving Kasi home, they’d spent the morning together in her kitchen, baking. Then they shared breakfast with her father and Keith.

Levi had been pleased when Kasi insisted on her father joining them at the table. He’d noticed last night how shocked she’d been by Mr. Mills’ willingness to eat dinner downstairs with Remi. Apparently, Kasi had taken it as a sign the man simply needed a push to emerge from his room. While breakfast was a quiet affair, Levi noticed how happy Kasi had been to have her family sitting around the table together.

With the breakfast dishes washed and put away, Levi and Keith sat together going over Kasi’s honey-do list, each taking a couple items apiece to tackle.

While he hadn’t offered to chip in, Mr. Mills sat at the table listening to their plans. Levi had hoped he might want to join them, but as they rose to head outside, Kasi’s father had climbed the stairs, returning to his room.

Levi tried to tell himself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. The fact Mr. Mills had eaten dinner with Remi last night, andbreakfast with them this morning, gave him hope that perhaps he was turning a corner on his grief.

“Keith still working on the fences?” Kasi asked as he shut the tailgate of the truck once it was loaded.

Levi nodded. “Yeah. Y’all have a fair amount of fenced property, so I suspect it’ll take him a couple days at least if he needs to do a lot of mending.” Lucky Penny Farm was surrounded by wooden fencing that hadn’t been tended to for a few years at least. As such, there were a lot of broken and fallen boards. It was a big job, and a hard one, so Levi had expected it to fall to him. He’d been pleasantly surprised when Keith offered to take on the hefty chore.

“I’m glad he’s doing it. Mr. Grover’s made more than a few comments about the state of our fence over the past couple of years. Maybe this will get him off our backs.”

Levi scowled. “Never will understand how a family can have so much and still be miserable.” The Grover family had moved to Gracemont over two decades ago, bringing with them a big pile of old money. With it, they’d bought up a huge plot of land and started a farm, where they bred high-quality horses. They were also looking to start a training facility, with hopes that one day a Grover Farms horse would compete in and win one of the Triple Crown races.

“They really are unhappy, aren’t they?” Kasi agreed.

“Yeah. I typically try to give them a wide berth. Of course, it’s not that hard nowadays. Not since I kicked Scottie’s ass. Since then, he’s greatly curtailed his visits to the brewery and winery, only showing up occasionally when we have a special event that he thinks the mayor should attend. As if anybody ever needs to see that blowhard,” he grumbled.

“Remi told me about the ass-whooping right after it happened.” Kasi giggled.

“The asshole was coming on too strong with Lucy. So I punched him in the jaw and threatened to call the sheriff if he didn’t get off our land.”

“I wish I’d been there to see that.”

Levi wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Not a big fan of the mayor?”

Kasi’s eyes darted away from his briefly. “Not really.”

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