Page 11 of For the Birds

His eyes lit up with happiness, but it faded slightly as he walked out into the waiting room, the kitten still in his hands. Goodness, the man belonged on a calendar. “You have no idea how thrilled I am to see you, but I can’t get away for anotherhour.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” I waved a hand in dismissal. “I can’t stay. I’m just the delivery person.”

He stopped in front of me, close enough for me to notice how good he smelled despite the fact that he’d been handling animals all day. His gaze dropped to my exposed chest, but it lifted to meet my eyes just as I was starting to feel self-conscious. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you,” he said in a lowered voice. “After our last date, I was certain you were giving me the brush-off.”

The date had gone well, but he’d leaned over to kiss me after parking next to my truck in front of the landscaping office. I’d panicked and turned my head at the last minute, then dashed out of his truck so quickly he was still leaning in for a kiss when I slammed thedoor.

I gave him an apologetic grin. “I know. I’m sorry. I told you I’m still workin’ through some things from my previous relationship. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea afterall.”

The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. He didn’t need to be at the mercy of my issues.

“No.” He put his hand on my arm, cupping it lightly while still holding the kitten in his other hand. “I knew what I was getting into. I told you that I was willing to take it slow.” His brow lifted. “We’ve been taking it slow, right?”

“Yeah, but you justsaid—”

“What I just said doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it does! Why on earth would you want to keep seein’ a woman you think is about to give you the brush-off?

He laughed. “Oh, Rose. You have no idea how refreshing you are. I like that you keep me on mytoes.”

I cringed. “You’re makin’ me soundcold.”

“No!” He shook his head. “That’s not it at all.” He pressed his lips together, looking thoughtful, then finally said, “You know Mary fields off a few women who make appointments just to seeme . . .”

Mary snorted from her desk. “Afew?”

Levi rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder. “Isn’t it your break time, Mary?”

“No,” was her curt response.

“Take one anyway,” he said good-naturedly. He grinned at me as she grumbled her way up out of the chair. “Here. Take Oscar back to the exam room, will you?” He handed the kitten to her, and if looks could kill, she would have committed a violent double homicide on the spot. I was a little worried about Oscar, truth betold.

After she disappeared into the back, Levi grabbed my hand and tugged me over to sit in one of the waiting room chairs. “Rose, I like you. A lot. You’re different from the women I usually date. I know that we’re taking this on a day-by-day basis, and I’m okay with that. Areyou?”

“I am, but I want you to know that I didn’t bring you lunch to string you along,” I said, feeling guilty.

He took the bag from my hand and set it on the chair next to him. “No, I am thrilled you brought me lunch. Not only do I love Homer’s Diner, but you took time out of your busy day and thought of me. That’s enough for me rightnow.”

That made me feel better.

“I want to go out with you again,” he said. “What do you say? How about tonight?”

“Neely Kate and I are goin’ to the carnival tonight. I’m not a huge fan, but I promised.” It occurred to me that he might think it was another brush-off, so I added, “Would you like to come with us? I don’t think she’dmind.”

“To the carnival?”

“Yeah,” I said trying to sound nonchalant. “You don’thave—”

Levi leaned forward and gave me a soft kiss, then sat back and grinned. “I would love to go to the carnival with you and Neely Kate tonight.”

I paused, completely caught off guard by his kiss. We’d been out three times and this was the first time he’d kissed me. I took a second to process my feelings. Something seemed off, and I realized what it was: I felt that I was cheating. But cheating on whom? Mason? We’d been broken up for nearly six months, and his mother had told me that he was dating a bit in Little Rock. Cheating on James? I nearly laughed. We’d never had anything approaching a relationship, so cheating would be impossible. The man in front of me was every woman’s dream. I was crazy to think of giving that up. I just needed to get used to the idea wasall.

I waited for Levi to acknowledge our first kiss, but he just sat there and grinned.

I needed to pull myself together.

“Are you sure you want to go?” I asked. “I’m sure the carnivals in Kansas City would make this one seemlame.”

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