Page 96 of Sheltered By Love

Garrett’s assigned a reserve to stop people from trespassing, Jim Kelly, thankfully, not Dave, or he might have denied me entry out of spite.

He waves me through and glares at the young reporter dumb enough to ask a question.

I know Levi will have the back door unlocked, so I head around back, looking up at the cameras I installed.

Now we’re winding things up, I’ll probably have to get back to cleaning up next door.

With a coat of paint and a tidy-up in the garden, I could get it ready for summer. That begs the question I’ve not had to ask myself.

Do I really want to go back to living on Dad’s boat? The Salty Dog was never meant to be home, just a place to sleep.

I step back inside the kitchen, now so clean I know Jax must have had a hand in it.

The kitchen stinks to high heaven of cleaning products and flowers someone has brought for Felicity.

There’s a lot of baking, cakes, and muffins, and when I open the refrigerator still mostly full of the groceries I bought, it’s so packed I have to rearrange it all just to close the door.

Levi has a tendency to get distracted, so unless he’s feeling incredibly guilty, there’s no way he’s scrubbed Felicity’s kitchen until it shines.

I’m proven wrong when I climb the stairs and find Levi on his knees, shirtless, cursing loudly, and covered in sweat as he scrubs at a blood smear on the wooden floorboards.

From the looks of him, he’s been here since sunup. Considering he’s probably still recovering from the night before, he’s probably feeling worse than I thought.

He looks up at me, rocks back on his heels, and winces. “Not sure which is worse, cleaning up his blood or yours.”

I reach for a brush, but he smacks my hand away.

I don’t push it. I know he wants to make it up to me, so I sit down. “Remember when I broke your nose?” I whistle. “You bled all over the living room rug and threw up. Cried like a girl too.”

He smirks, touches his nose, and keeps on scrubbing. “How’s Felicity?”

I lean my head back against the wall and look down the hall. I’ll have to check the damage inside, but from what I can see, Levi’s done a good job, and he’s airing out the room.

There’s no way I want Felicity coming back in here until it’s perfect.

“Worried about what people think of her.”

Levi laughs. “Have you seen the kitchen? And that’s not all of it. Jax had to take some to your place next door,” he says.

I smile and Levi eyes me. “Something’s wrong with your face…your teeth are showing, it’s been a while since I saw it, but it’s almost like…it can’t be…Zane Reid, are you smiling?”

I pick up the scrubbing brush and hit him square in the gut. He lets out an ‘oof’ sound but grins back at me. “I told you she was sweet,” he says.

“You did. And she is. Might be the first time in your life you were right about something.”

Rather than insult me, he just laughs.

I stretch my legs out as I watch him clean. “How was your date?”

He groans. “You ever tried satisfying three women all at once? At one point there, I considered joining the priesthood.”

I chuckle as I listen to the rabble outside. “Town’s looking empty. You might not have to worry about it anymore.”

He shakes his head, pausing to take a long chug from his water bottle before speaking. “We need to find a different way to fundraise then. One that will still bring Flatlanders to the area and make the guys who want the attention happy too.”

“Ayuh. Posers like you,” I say.

He leans back and lifts his arms so he can show off his bare torso. “And who wouldn’t want to show this off?”

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