Page 30 of How Sweet It Is

The words are out before I can stop them, and I worry I pushed it too far. She’s the one insisting that she can’t date me. That we stay professional.

But those lines are blurring, and I’m afraid I’ve started liking Amelia a little too much.

CHAPTER 15

CLAIRE MATTHEWS — TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1

Iswallow, unsure what to say to Levi. He’s not being his usual flirty stay-on-the-surface self. He’s actually being real with me, but I can’t be real back. My name isn’t even Amelia Bishop. Everything he knows about me is a lie, and my life isn’t here, it’s back in Ohio. So even though I know he’s not joking, I do the only thing I can think of to save both of us from humiliation—I shove him and laugh.

“You flirt. Stop it. You know my rule. No dating the boss.” I scoff and act like he’s just being his usual self, joking around with me.

Levi grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t worry, Spreadsheet. I know the rules. Just testing the alarm system.”

“Yeah? Well, keep your cheesy lines to yourself.”

He gently touches my cheek with his index finger then traces the contour of my face. “You couldn’t handle the full force of my lines on you. But I got it. Boss mode activated. All flirt settings are off.”

He’s making my insides quiver with his touch, but I pretend he’s not affecting me, and I force a laugh. “You couldn’t shut off your flirting even if your life depended on it.”

He thinks about that for a second. “You might be right.”

I tug him toward the door. “Come on. It’s eight o’clock and past my bedtime.”

“You go to bed before eight?”

Not really, but I’m feeling way too into Levi right now, and I just want to get home and sleep it off. “I do when I’m getting up early to help at a bakery.”

“All right, grandma.”

I click my tongue at him. “Didn’t you get up at, like, four o’clock this morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you’re already late for bed. You should get eight hours of sleep every night.”

Levi shakes his head at me, even though he’s grinning. “Living life on the edge is what I do.”

“All right. Edge that life of yours home.” I shove my purse in his saddlebag and put on the helmet. I didn’t notice it before, but the helmet smells like Levi, and for some reason, that makes a tingle of attraction zing through me.

Focus. I’m just here to wait for the trial. Once Deluca is behind bars, I’ll go home and back to my old life. My parents need me back home. Their flower shop needs me. When I leave, Willow Shade Island will be just a bad memory.

I hop behind Levi on the motorcycle and grab onto him, hugging him to me. The ride home is even better than the ride to The Last Dance Studio. I know what to expect this time, and I let myself feel every movement, every vibration, every shift of Levi’s muscles. The feeling of giving up total control to him is dangerous but freeing. It’s wild and not something I thought I would ever enjoy, but it makes me feel alive.

He pulls up next to my car, sitting in the alley behind the bakery. I climb off the bike, my legs shaking. Levi swings his leg over and removes his helmet. I do the same and look up at him.

He curls a strand of my hair over my ear. “Thanks for making my birthday memorable, Spreadsheet.”

I don’t know how he can make that ridiculous nickname for me sound sexy, but somehow, he does. And his touch is making my heart do a crazy dance in my chest. But I need to put the brakes on this right now, before I fall for Levi even more. I fake punch him in the arm. “There you go, flirting again. I swear, you just can’t turn it off.”

He chuckles and takes a step back. “You like it.”

He’s right, but I scoff anyway. I grab my purse out of his saddlebag and walk backward to my car. “Keep it professional, boss. This was not a date.”

He lifts his hands in surrender. “Of course not.”

I climb into my car and head to my apartment. When I get inside, I text Rafe so he knows I’m back and safe at home. I get a text back immediately.

I’m glad you’re home safe. Next time, you need to get pre-approval before leaving the island. You need to obey the rules, or you could get kicked out of the program.

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