Page 13 of Finding Her Strength

“How do you know where I live?” I ask, barely managing to speak above a whisper. The stranger keeps looking at me with wide eyes. Through the haze of apprehension, I can see he’s just as surprised as I am, which is odd since he’s the one who knocked on my door.

“Um… are you Hope?” he asks, but before I can answer, another voice sounds from the bottom of the open-air stairway.

“Levi! I’m surprised you’re here so early,” Quinn says, coming up the stairs. I guess that answers my question. I take a deep breath to quell the rest of my anxiety and smile when Quinn’s happy face finally makes it to the top of the stairs.

My stranger—whose name is Levi, apparently—clears his throat, then looks at Quinn with a smile and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Yeah, I woke up early this morning and decided to come get a jump on things. Sorry for startling you,” he says, looking at me, his eyebrows furrowed. I’d imagine it’s because this is the second time he’s had to apologize to me in just as many days. Again, I find it odd how quickly he throws out an apology. Even for something he didn’t do on purpose.

“Did I not tell you Cooper’s brother was coming to help?” Quinn asks, her eyes wide in remorse.

I shake my head, a small smile pulling at my lips. I don’t want her to feel bad since she’s been so helpful to me. Plus, normal people don’t freak out over a random person knocking on their door. “It’s no big deal. Just a bit of a shock to have a hulking man outside my door when I expected a friendly woman.”

Quinn grins at me. “Well, this is Levi. Levi, this is Hope. He’s not always so hulk-like. He probably needs some breakfast.”

“We’re in luck, then. I stupidly packed my coffee pot last night, so I went to the café around the corner and bought pastries and coffee.” I beckon them into my apartment, leading them to the tiny kitchen. I have to maneuver around all the boxes in order to reach the pastry box.

When I turn around, I run smack into Levi’s chest, smashing the pastry box between us, almost dropping it. Levi grabs the box, his hands landing on mine as we both attempt to keep it from falling. The surprise of his hands on mine has me jerking them back. I’m glad he already had a hold of the box, otherwise, it would’ve fallen to the floor this time.

“I’m usually a lot smoother than this,” Levi says, a sheepish smile on his face. All I can do is quirk an eyebrow at him. It’s not hard to imagine how smooth he is with the ladies. He exudes a confidence that I’m sure makes any woman around him swoon. I refuse to acknowledge the effect it has on me. He clears his throat again, and I almost laugh at how unbalanced he seems.

“Right. Quinn, I have creamer and sugar if you need it.”

“I’ll take both, please,” she says from across the room. “You’ve gotten a lot done. I thought we’d have more to pack up before loading the truck. We’ll be finished in no time today.”

“I don’t have much, so it’s made the process much faster.” I walk into the living room, handing Quinn a coffee, then turn back to the box I was taping before Levi and Quinn got here.

“Cooper is on his way with the truck. I have to be at Paint and Paper when we’re done, so I drove separately. We’ll have the boys start loading the big things when he gets here. What else do we need to get into boxes?” Quinn manages the art gallery in town and is a very talented artist herself.

I point to what’s left in the living room, and Quinn and I start putting the remaining items in boxes. Levi hangs out in the kitchen, eating a pastry, since there’s not much for him to do until Cooper gets here. I can feel his eyes on me the entire time I’m packing. It’s a little disconcerting. Why he would want to look at me right now is beyond my comprehension.

Between my ratty hair, leggings, and T-shirt, I’m not exactly stare-worthy. I didn’t know my handsome stranger would be here, so I dressed for moving, not for impressing anyone.

Myhandsome stranger?He’s notmyanything. Even if I thought I’d want him to be. Which I don’t.Why am I thinking about this?

It’s not like it matters if he’s impressed anyway. I still don’t need a man in my life just because he might like me.

Luckily, Cooper’s knock and subsequent entrance disrupts my thoughts. He crosses the room quickly with his long stride, holding out his hand to introduce himself.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hope.” His smile is warm, and I find myself blinking rapidly at his attractiveness. His light brown hair, golden hazel eyes, and strong jaw are intimidatinglybeautiful. My eyes find Levi’s, then bounce back and forth between the two men. They look so similar with the exception of their eyes. If Levi wasn’t wearing a backward navy blue baseball hat, they’d look like twins.

Oddly enough, Levi’s hat looks like the one that guy at the store was wearing. I wonder if they’re the same person, and I never realized.

“Yeah, nice to meet you, too.” I clear my throat, then look at Quinn, who’s grinning at me.

She leans in and whispers, “My reaction was pretty much the same when I first met him.”

Cooper winks at Quinn, and I think I may swoon. Jesus, this is too much to handle in one morning. “Let’s start with the furniture, then we can pack the boxes around it,” Cooper suggests.

I lead him and Levi into my bedroom, showing them what all needs to go. While they start loading furniture, Quinn and I finish packing the last boxes.

We get the truck and cars packed to the gills, but don’t quite get everything in one trip, which means we’ll have to come back. All things considered, I’m pretty happy. It’s been a surprisingly good day despite having to move all my stuff. Levi and Quinn’s relationship is hilarious. He treats her like a sister, constantly teasing her, which she returns in full. Then they’d team up to tease Cooper, which is equally hilarious.

There have been many times I’ve gotten distracted by Levi’s laugh or the way his eyes light up when he smiles. His joy fills the room to the point you have no choice but to smile with him. Each time he caught me staring at him, his smile would grow wider. I’m not sure what that means, to be honest, or what him staring back at me means, either. I usually ended up making the interaction awkward and then quickly moved on.

Carrying a box into my new rental house, I’m blown away by the beautiful space. Quinn is definitely letting me pay fartoo little for the house. There are French doors to my left, and the hallway continues toward the back of the house. Stairs are directly in front of me, and to my right are the living room, dining room, and kitchen, each room opening to the next. The sunlight flowing through the windows makes the space bright and airy. It’s perfect.

“Okay, Hope. How about you and Levi head back to your apartment to get the remaining boxes while Cooper and I get things organized here?” A little glimmer in Quinn’s eyes makes me frown. Her suggestion doesn’t make any sense to me. Shouldn’t I be the one to organize the boxes in my own place? Before I can argue with her, she turns around and walks back to the kitchen.

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