Page 15 of How Sweet It Is

“When’s the last time you let your hair down?” Levi asks me, ignoring Rafe.

“I let my hair down plenty,” I shoot back.

Levi’s gaze turns challenging. “When?”

“When I want to.” I lift my chin in defiance, but I can tell Levi isn’t buying it.

“Prove it.”

I give him a strange look. “How?”

“Do something you wouldn’t normally do. Go dancing with me tonight.”

Rafe clears his throat loudly and looks like he’s about to jump out of his chair and wrestle Levi to the ground. I give him a little headshake, then I turn to Levi. “I told you, I don’t date people I work for.”

A glint forms in Levi’s eyes, and I can see he doesn’t care at all about my no-dating rule. “It wouldn’t be a date. It would be proof that you let your hair down.”

“She said no,” Rafe growls, gripping his fork with white knuckles.

I pat Rafe’s arm, a signal to calm down. I can handle Pretty Boy. “It would be more responsible for us to work onyour accounting. We need to set a budget and figure out your expenses for the next six months.”

Levi snorts. “Oh yes. That sounds like the perfect Sunday evening.”

“You’re a business owner now. If you don’t start acting like it, you’ll end up losing everything you’ve worked for.”

This snaps him back to reality, and he sobers. “All right, all right. Have it your way. Even though I woke up at the crack of dawn to bake, we can go over more numbers tonight.”

“I mean, if you don’t want to do it tonight, we can work on it more on Tuesday.”

“Why not tomorrow?”

I give him a dirty look. “You said Sundays and Mondays are my days off, but you took Sundays away. You’re not taking away Mondays.”

Levi frowns. “But I don’t want to on Tuesday.”

“Levi,” I say, interrupting, irritated that he’s brushing this off as unimportant. “You have to start taking this seriously. You have a lot of money on the line.”

He huffs. “Fine. We can work on it Tuesday after the bakery closes.”

We get done eating, and the server brings the check by. Rafe picks it up, but Levi snatches it from him. “It’s on me.”

“I’ll pay for our meals,” Rafe says, indicating the two of us.

“No need.” Levi gives the server his card, paying for the whole table.

“Thanks,” Rafe says, although it sounds more like a grunt. He puts his arm around me. “Do you need a ride back to our apartment?”

Levi coughs and waves his hand at us. “Your apartment? You live together?”

“No. We live in the same complex.” Rafe pulls me in tighter.

I wiggle away from him. I don’t need to be coddled. I just needed Levi to stop asking all of those personal questions. “I’m fine. I have my car.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.” Rafe doesn’t accept no for an answer, and he tugs me away from the table before Levi gets his card back from the server.

We get to my car, and Rafe turns to me, leaning in close. “Is he bothering you? Do you need me to interfere? We can help get you a different job.”

I bite my lip, feeling foolish for calling Rafe in to help me. “I’m fine. Really.”

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