Page 40 of Well Played

“Sorry. I was just going to head out to grab a bite to eat.”

“Oh…there are leftovers from lunch in the fridge, if you want. I made chicken pot pies this morning.”

Levi held my eyes for a moment. “Thanks, but I think I’m going to go out.” He walked over and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “I have a real hankering for peach cobbler.”

Oh.

My.

God.

My jaw dropped to the ground. I had no idea what to do or say.

Levi winked as he walked to the door. “Get some sleep. I wouldn’t want you to be too tired to work on that to-do list.”

***

Late the following afternoon, I took advantage of the fact that Alex was at a friend’s house and decided to sit out on the porch to enjoy the cool breeze.

Harper had gone back to New York this morning, and I’d been anxious all day, wondering when I might run into Levi and have to address what he’d walked in on and clearly overheard yesterday.

I’d brought one of my books to read, but soon after I opened it, Levi came out of nowhere holding a beer. He looked so amazingly good in his ripped jeans and a plaid shirt rolled up to his elbows, showcasing the prominent veins of his strong forearms.

My heart sped up as he sat down next to me.

Levi settled into an Adirondack chair. “Your friend went back?”

“Yeah. I drove her to the airport this morning.”

“Glad she had a chance to come visit.”

We sat in awkward silence for a bit. He took a long sip of his beer, and I didn’t know if it was my imagination, but his tongue lingered in the opening of the bottle before he slowly pulled it out. It almost looked like…yeah.Is he messing with me?

He turned to me and smiled. Suddenly burning up, I quickly looked away.

Then Levi reached out and handed me his beer. I took a long sip—a really long sip. Maybe he sensed that I was going to need alcohol for the conversation that might ensue over the next couple of minutes. But it unnerved me to have my mouth on the same spot where I was pretty sure he’d been simulating oral sex just a few seconds ago. At the same time, I could’ve been so on edge that I’d misinterpreted that.

The next thing he said freaked me out for a moment.

“It’sreallyhot…”

“Hmm?”

“In the house today,” he clarified.

I realized he was referring to the AC—which was indeed broken. I hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet since I’d only discovered it after I got back from taking Harper to the airport.

“Yeah. The AC is broken again.” I handed him back the beer and rubbed my eyes. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we should sell this place.” My shoulders sank in defeat.

Levi gave me a surprisingly empathetic look. “Let’s not have this discussion now, okay? I’ll get someone in to fix the AC tomorrow. I know a guy.” He sighed and took another sip of his beer.

If we weren’t going to be arguing about The Palm Inn, there was only one thing left to talk about. I needed to get what I wanted to say over with.

I cleared my throat. “About what you overheard…”

“Yeah.” He smirked. “That was completely crazy.”

My heart skipped a beat.

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