Page 42 of Break Away
“Hey, we should hang out sometime. Do youhave a boyfriend? He could come, too.”
Even for a small town, this woman was overthe top.
The clerk called for the next in line. “Myturn,” Zoey said, trying to refrain from leaping for the counter toescape her new pal.
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later, Zoey.”
***
Zoey opened the door of Gio’s Pizza andstepped inside. On the left was a glass barrier to the kitchenarea, where a man with floury hands and a white apron tossed around of pizza dough to spin in the air. She wondered if that wasGio. Several families sat in the booths along one wall for aweeknight dinner of pizza, or like the group at the table nearesther, calzones. A couple of older kids were hanging out in apartitioned area playing old-school video games that made beepingand buzzing noises. She didn’t see Levi or his team. It hadn’toccurred to her until she’d accepted Levi’s invitation that she’dbe spending the evening with a bunch of cops.
A little uncomfortable with that thought, sheheard a loud chorus of laughter from a back room. She was crossingthe dining area to investigate when Levi walked out of a hallwayfrom the back. She gasped. He wore baseball pants and a sleevelesst-shirt that clung to his wide chest, and was all long-limbed andlean, his arms corded with well-defined muscles.
He must have gotten a haircut after their“interview.” The sides were tight, and the thick, dark hair on topwas shorter. He was the definition of eye candy.
His grin flashed and his eyes warmed when hecaught sight of her, and she felt an unnerving surge of happinessfrom simply seeing him. Her heart banged around her chest, and sheprayed she wasn’t blushing.
As he approached, she didn’t miss how hisgaze traveled from her hair, over her breasts and hips, and down toher feet, taking in the dressy pair of flip-flops. With her hairheld back from her face with a tortoiseshell clip, and a colorfulskirt matched to a linen blouse, she knew she’d dressed for him,and from his expression he appreciated the effort.
“Too bad a hello kiss is off limits. I’llstick with I’m glad you’re here.”
There he was with his talk about kissesagain, which made kissing him the only thing she could thinkabout.
“You don’t have to keep pointing out thatwe’re not dating.”
“Is that what I was doing?”
“Ah, yeah.”
“Hm. Seems I’ve got kissing you on my mind.Guess that’s my problem. I absolutely do want to go on a real date.But we’ll save that for another time.” He pointed to the back room.“We’re through here.”
When he turned, she saw his shirt had HLPDprinted on the back in big block letters, as if she needed anotherreminder he was a cop. He led her down the hall to a room withpicnic-style tables put together end to end in long rows. The Gunssoftball team took up half the space, most of them wearing shirtsidentical to Levi’s.
He motioned her to a spot next to EmmaGallagher, who sat beside her husband, Brad. Logan Ross, and hiswife, Maddy, sat across the table, and beyond them were Jack andDory Morgan.
Zoey stepped over the bench and sat, Levisettling beside her.
“Hey, Zoey.” Emma turned to face her.
“Hey back. Where are the kids?”
“Trish has them. The older two are stayingfor what they call a Gamma sleepover, but since I’m still nursingthe baby, we’ll pick her up. I’m glad Landon is lending a handsince Trish is also watching Mason and Keeley.”
“That’s brave of her to take on the brood soyou all could have an evening out.”
“I don’t know what I would do without Trish.She’s an awesome mother-in-law.”
Brad leaned forward to look around his wife.“Hey, Zoey. Glad you’re here. We need a team mascot and I thoughtof Lucy. She’s gorgeous and an unusual breed so she’ll get a lot ofattention. What do you think?”
Emma turned to her husband. “Why a mascot?We’ve never had a mascot before.”
“Blame the FD. Turns out the Hoses now have amascot and they’re bringing it to the game. A Dalmatian pup.They’re planning to make a big deal of it. They want to bring afire truck out on the field and let the dog ride along wearing ahelmet. We can’t let them get the crowd on their side because theyhave a puppy.”
Levi made a dismissive noise. He leanedforward, his arm brushing against Zoey’s and sending electric zingsbetween them. “A Dalmatian? Those guys have no imagination.”
“No kidding. What do you think, Zoey?” Bradasked.
Levi’s hand found hers under the table and hegave her fingers a squeeze.
