Page 6 of Taken By Storm

“Walking you to your door.”

“Why?” It was a stupid question, but she couldn’t quite keep up with this version of Levi. She was used to the strong, silent type who barely spared her a sideways glance. This guy seemed to be in no hurry to leave. And while she liked it, she was struggling to understand his motivation.

The crush she’d harbored for too long wanted to interpret his actions as interest. The pragmatist figured it was just Levi being a good guy and a good neighbor.

Le sigh.

He crossed his arms. “You ask a lot of questions. Or actually just the same one. Over and over.”

She grinned, amused by his observation. This Levi, the one who talked, made her want to push his buttons just to see how he’d respond. “Not that’s it’s doing me any good. You’re only answering about half.”

Levi walked back to her, not stopping until he was about a foot away. He was so close, she had to tilt her head back to look at him. She wasn’t sure she’d ever been this close to Levi in her life—with the exception of when she’d just had her head in his lap—and the way he was gazing down at her meant their faces were close together.

Close enough that she could see the flecks of green swirling within those deep mahogany eyes of his.

“I’m walking you to your door because that’s what a gentleman does.”

She detected the slight scent of peppermint on his breath, and she wondered if it was from toothpaste or mints. Not that it mattered. Peppermint had just climbed to the top of her list of aphrodisiacs. She licked her lower lip, her heart fluttering when Levi’s gaze slid down, watching her tongue swipe across it.

“Oh,” she replied, cursing how fucking breathless she sounded. It took her a second or ten, but Kasi finally managed to break herself from the spell that was Levi, taking a step back.“You don’t have to walk me. I’m perfectly capable of getting to the house on my own.”

Levi’s scowl was back, and this time, it wasn’t concern but annoyance driving it.

Yeah. That felt more normal.

She and Remi had been twin tomboy tornadoes when they were kids, so she was no stranger to the countless exasperated looks Levi had flashed her way over the years. Clearly, he still viewed her as his baby cousin’s friend. The idea that he would forever see her as a kid rather than the woman she’d grown to be, hurt a little. But it was also a good reminder that her crush was destined to always remain just that.

A crush.

“Okay, well. Goodbye,” she said, infusing her words with as much cheer as she could manage before turning and heading back in the direction of the barn, wishing it wasn’t so hard to walk away from him.

Chapter Two

Levi watched Kasi walk away, trying to decide if he was more annoyed or turned on.

She wore denim cutoffs that framed her peach-shaped ass to perfection, which swayed as she walked. The fact that he was noticing anything sexual about Kasi, whom he’d known since she was a kid, should have had him averting his eyes.

But it didn’t.

Not at all.

Because she was all grown up.

Of course, he knew that. He’d seen her pretty much daily for the past few years when he stopped by the Lucky Penny stand for one of her pies. The pies had become his and his brothers’ guilty pleasure, and he’d caught enough shit from the guys early on whenever he failed to bring one home that he’d gone ahead and included the trip to the fruit stand as part of his daily routine.

Once it was sliced and divvied up after dinner, Levi only got one piece of it. And it wasn’t even a big piece. Never anywhere near enough for him. He’d considered, on more than one occasion, buying two pies and hiding the second from his brothers because sharing sucked.

So yeah. He knew Kasi Mills was no longer a kid, but what he’d failed to let himself admit was that she was a very beautiful woman.

Her long chestnut-brown hair hung straight down her back, reaching down to where her T-shirt ended, and the tiniest bit of her bare skin showed.

She was nearly back to the barn when he realized she was walking away from the house.

“Where the hell are you going?” he called out to her.

Kasi glanced over her shoulder, and he saw yet another glimpse of surprise in her expression. Apparently, his actions were as shocking to her as they were to him. He didn’t have a clue why he’d followed her from the stand to her farmhouse. Though considering she’d just passed out, he figured it was common courtesy to make sure she got home okay.

But that hadn’t required him to get out of his truck and help her unload. Or stick around to see what she did next.

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