Page 32 of Getting Wrapped Up

He nodded and grabbed the bag he’d tossed onto the bed, stuffed the two shirts and a sock that were spilling out back into it and headed for the door. The sooner he was a floor away from her the better.

Maybe.

He was to the top of the stairs when she said, “Hey, Levi?”

He turned. “Yeah?”

“Tonight was…really nice.”

It had been.

He could pull off nice. Good to know.

“Yes, it was.”

“So…I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He gave her a nod. “You will.”

He turned and continued down stairs before he could grab her and kiss her and toss all his good soul-saving intentions out into the snow.

He would see her tomorrow. And then she would see Tucker Bennett.

That made his newly revived heart hurt.

And he thought maybe he remembered why he’d stopped using it.

Kate wasawake at six a.m. and lying awake in bed debating the wisdom of going downstairs. Ever.

Tuck—no,Levi—was down there. The man that she’d made a total ass of herself over the night before. She hadn’t even known his real name but she’d been entertaining fantasies about how the next few days would go. And they hadn’t been limited to candy canes and sex by Christmas tree light. They’d included sleigh rides and cuddling by the fire and exchanging special gifts that represented something about their time together and even staying in touch after the week was over.

She was kicking herself. The fact that this Christmas disappointment hurt even more than the past three was her own damned fault. She’d built this thing up to being something so big, so wonderful, soperfectthat it had been doomed to fail.

Finally, the need for the bathroom and coffee urged her out of bed.

She tiptoed to the bathroom with her clothes and toiletries clutched against her chest. She showered and blow dried her hair and by the time she was dressed and on the steps, she’d decided that she was going to treat Levi exactly the way she would have if she’d known he was Joe’s brother last night. She’d be polite, friendly—they had Phoebe and Joe in common after all—and they would then go to town and find Tucker. And Hailey. Just as he’d suggested.

The fact that she hated Hailey Conner and had never even met the woman didn’t mean anything.

She managed to get past the couch where Levi was still asleep without stopping.

The inching she’d done through the living room still technically counted as moving.

But she was only human. He was on his back, shirtless, wearing only black silk boxers. How could the guy be warm enough? It was chillier down here than it had been upstairs, but he still had only a light fleece blanket twisted around his legs. Most of his muscular right thigh showed as did both of his big feet. His upper half was completely bare, the contours of the muscles of his chest, abs and shoulders made her eyes widen. Seriously? She’d had no idea what had been hiding under his winter coat. His dark hair was mussed and dark stubble shadowed his jaw.

He didn’t even snore.

Damn.

She kept her eyes off of his boxers—pretty much—and she ignored all of the memories from his truck the night before.

Except when she looked at his hand and noted how long and thick his fingers were.

She flushed and hurried the rest of the way to the kitchen.

Caffeine.

That fixed a host of problems.

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