Page 10 of How Sweet It Is

Levi tosses the mop and grabs me around the waist, pulling me to his chest as pastries rain down on us.

“Oh!” I hear myself say.

“Are you okay?” Pretty Boy asks, his arms tight around me, concern on his face, which happens to be just inches from mine.

I stare up at him, my heart going crazy in my chest. He’s leaning over me, almost like he’s about to dip me, as if he’s continuing the dance.

I shake my head, because words won’t come to me at the moment. I’m too close to him. Too wrapped up in his smell and the way his arm muscles are bulging. Levi pulls me upright and lets go of me. He looks me over. “You’re not okay? What’s wrong?”

I take in a gulp of air, trying to get rid of all the insane feelings that enveloped me while he held me in his arms. “I’m fine.”

Pretty Boy hooks his thumbs in his jeans pockets. “You should be careful. The floor is slippery when wet.”

I snort.

He raises an eyebrow at me, questioning me with a look.

“You’re acting like the slippery floor was what knocked me over, not you wildly dancing around with a mop.”

His face flushes for a second, but then he chuckles and takes a step toward me. “You were checking out my moves, weren’t you?”

“No.” Lie. I was totally checking out his moves. And his butt. For some reason, his ballroom dancing was quite sexy, which is not something I should be thinking because I’m not at all attracted to him.

His gaze travels over me. “You’re a terrible liar.”

I know he’s flirting, but that seems to come naturally to him and hardly means anything. He can’t possibly be attracted to me.I decide to change the subject. “I’m sorry about your pastries. We could have sold them as day-old, but now they’re ruined.”

He shrugs and leans over to pick up a soggy cinnamon roll. “It’s okay.”

I retrieve the box from the floor and help him pick up all the fallen treats. I take them out back and deposit them in the dumpster. When I get back inside, Levi is once again mopping the floor, although without his sexy ballroom dancing. But I still get a nice view of his backside, which I admit I enjoy for a minute.

I go into the office and set up my laptop. I pull up the software I use for accounting and get ready for him. He comes in a few moments later. “All clean. You can breathe easy now.”

He’s unaware how true his statement is, because I really shouldn’t be inhaling a bunch of gluten-infested flour, but I simply smile at him and nod. “Thanks.”

He pulls a chair beside me and plops down, slinging his arm over the back and stretching out his legs. “Okay. What do you need from me?”

I push my laptop toward him. “You’ll need to log into your bank account, the one you used to purchase everything for your business.”

He pulls up his banking website and logs in. I turn the laptop so I can get a good view of his transactions. I do a double take at all the zeros in his balance, my spit drying up.

I point at the screen. “Is that number right?”

CHAPTER 6

LEVI BARRETT — SUNDAY, AUGUST 30

Alaugh bubbles up from my chest. Her reaction was great. She was going to find out about my money eventually, so I decide to rip the Band-Aid off. “Yeah.”

“You have over two million dollars in achecking account?” Her voice squeaks, and I find it adorable. She’s normally a stuffy little auditor, but I love it when I can fluster her.

I lean back in my chair and put my hands behind my head and give her a flirty smile. “Yep.”

She looks at me like I’m crazy. “Where did you get that kind of money?”

A ping of sadness runs through me, and I look down at my lap. “My parents left me an inheritance when they died.”

Amelia sucks in a breath and puts her hand on my arm, which causes warmth to travel across my skin. “Oh, Levi. I’m sorry.”

---