by Rebecca York
“Is everything okay?”
“The doctor was concerned with something in her blood work. We’re scheduled for an ultrasound next week, so we won’t know anything until then.”
Levi placed his hand on his buddy’s shoulder. “It’s going to work out.”
“I hope so, for her sake. After the last miscarriage, I thought she was done and didn’t want to try again. It nearly killed me to watch her go through that.”
“It was just as hard on you.” Levi snagged a couple of beers. “This is your child too.”
“Not that it wasn’t devastating for me, but it’s different. It doesn’t happen to my body. I’m not as attached as she is, and the pain in her eyes is worse than losing something I didn’t have yet.” Liam ran a hand across his scruffy face. “But enough about that. I’ve got some news about Scott Rollins.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“My PI buddy found out he’d done some work for Craig Williams.”
“Who is Craig Williams?” Levi asked.
“He’s Stephanie’s client. The man who’s trying to buy up all the property down here, and someone saw him at Captain Pete’s having a heated discussion. Two days later, Scott was nowhere to be found.”
“That can’t be a coincidence, especially when Scott was working on three places on the waterfront.”
“Exactly,” Liam said. “My buddy thinks that this Craig guy paid off Scott to take a hike. And get this. Craig is offering to purchase those business that Scott scammed for almost the exact price that Scott took the owners for.”
“That’s fucked up.” Levi couldn’t help but wonder what Stephanie’s client had offered Eliana.
“My PI also told me that Stephanie stopped by here today. Did she make Eliana another offer?”
Levi coughed on the bubbly liquid flowing down the wrong tube.
“I guess that is a no.”
He had no reason to be upset over the fact she neglected to mention Stephanie’s visit. Levi wanted to assume that Elaina turned whatever offer had been presented down flat. Otherwise, why were they still working?
Unless they offered her some kind of partnership or management deal.
No. Stop jumping to conclusions.
Chapter Seven
Eliana had managed to put Levi off until dinner. Of course, inviting him over had probably been the dumbest thing she’d done all year. She should have just asked her questions and given him a yes or no. She fluffed her hair and stepped from her bathroom just as the call button rang.
She buzzed Levi in and waited by the elevator. He sauntered across the catwalk with a smile, a box of chicken wings, a pizza, and a six-pack of beer.
It proved impossible not to smile back. “Thanks for bringing food.”
“Any time. Nice place,” he said as he stepped over the threshold and set the food on the counter.
She let her gaze glide over his body, from his broad shoulders, narrow waist, tight ass, right down to his sexy feet which sported a pair of manly flip-flops. “I actually live across the street.”
“In the townhouses on the beach?”
He nodded. “I got lucky and bought one for dirt cheap, and I’ve been slowly renovating. I figure in a few years I will sell for a lot more than I paid or put into it and move again.”
“Well, if Castaways is a huge hit, consider me your buyer. I walked through an open house the other day just for shits and giggles and holy crow, amazing.”
Levi made himself comfortable on one of the stools while she set out some paper plates. The decadent aromas of cheese mixed with the wing sauce sent her taste buds on a wild craving. Before she’d met her ex-husband, she’d been a simple girl and preferred an old-fashioned backyard barbeque over a night at the stuffy country club any day of the week.
“Oh, my God,” she said with a slight moan as she stuffed half a slice of pizza in her mouth. “This is fabulous.”
“It’s a little local place across the bridge. Best pizza and wings in all of South Florida.”
She took a few moments to enjoy the little party going on in her mouth before getting down to business. “Stephanie told me that the two of you are in a complicated relationship.”
Levi coughed. “Complicated yes, relationship no. I did make the mistake of taking her out once, and I’ve regretted it ever since.”
“She seems to think the two of you are an item.”
“That woman thinks a lot of things that aren’t true, and everyone knows it. She is a good real estate agent; I will give her credit for that, but nothing else.” Levi wiped his hands with a napkin and tossed it on his plate. “But you didn’t bring me here to find out about my love life.” He winked. “Or did you?”
Trying not to laugh, she bit her lower lip. “I just want to figure out the dynamics and know more about you. To be totally transparent, I’ve Googled you ten times, and every time I come up with nothing.”
“You won’t find me on the internet unless my ex-wife still has a picture of us on her Insta-whatever, but I doubt that she does. For the most part, I’m an open book. What do you want to know?”
“All the things you would never tell me, like are you a crazy person who is going to make my life miserable or put me six feet under.”
“Would you like a list of references? I can provide a few if you want. Hell, I can give you my last commander’s name and phone number.”
She shifted on her stool and faced him, making eye contact. “Why do you want to help me? I mean, you let that place sit with rusted tables on the ground for months.”
“You don’t trust my motives.”
“You’re right. I don’t,” she said.
“I bet, because of your asshole ex-husband, you don’t trust men, or probably people in general.” He folded his arms across his impressive chest.
“And you have faith in the human race after what your wife did?”
“Actually, I do. I see it every day in good people like Liam and his wife. I might be cynical and don’t give a shit about much of anything other than my boat, but I do know there are a handful of good people in this world, and I want to put my eggs in their baskets.”
She let out a slight laugh. “What makes you think I’m a good person?”
He took out his phone and tapped the screen. “Because I Googled you before I made you that offer.”
She cringed. During her marriage, she spearheaded many fundraisers and organized more than one charity event. The wife of Gino Montero was expected to be a leader in the community, and she did her best to live up to that expectation, but she always fell short in the eyes of her husband.
“Most dishonest people don’t spend their time raising millions of dollars for the homeless or sick children. However, what pushed me over the edge was an article about your divorce. You could have taken that man for a lot of money, and I suspect the few times he ‘hit’ you,” Levi raised his hands and folded his fingers making quotation marks, “you could have pressed charges; which I think you should have, but since I know a few women who suffered the same injustice and did the same thing, I can understand why. That said, I’d love nothing more than to see you rise above what that asshole did and prove that you’re better than him. And you are, you know that, right?”
With her heart racing, she slipped from the stool and went about cleaning up from dinner. Tears burned her eyes.
“I didn’t say that to upset you,” Levi said with a soft caring tone that could soothe a screaming baby.
“I know.” She pressed her hands against the sink and sucked in a deep breath. “In the beginning, Gino was incredible, and I was madly in love with him. My mother adored him, but my father, he never trusted him, and my dad died two days after finding out that Gino had backhanded me, giving me a bruised and swollen cheek. My dad had been too sick to do anything about it. I managed to break free from Gino to go see my father in the hospital the day he died, and my father begged me to leave Gino. It had been his last words to me. I stayed in the marriage for
another five years, and things only got worse.”
“I’m sure your father is looking down on you now with a smile on his face. He would be proud.” Levi stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her middle. Tenderly, he kissed her temple. His lips were soft and warm, and the comfort they provided rippled from her head to her toes.
“My mother didn’t get to see me leave Gino either. I promised I’d do it. I even started the proceedings, but once Gino found out, he went nuts. I couldn’t leave the house for weeks. My mother died shortly after, but at least she knew I had both feet out the door, and I wasn’t going to let him control me or hurt me anymore. This isn’t about proving that I’m better than Gino or that I deserve more.” She turned and faced Levi, resting her hands on his strong, supportive shoulders. “At thirty-two, I’m finally being true to myself and living my life. My parents told me I was special growing up and that I could do or be anything. I believed them, and then I let Gino take it all away. This is about showing my parents, even if they can’t be here to see it, that I’m the woman they raised and not the shell they left behind.”
He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “That’s why I want to be a partner in this. Sure, I could loan you the money, and I would do that if it’s what you want. I know you can do this, and you don’t need me, but it’s always nice to have someone in your corner, and I can be that for you.”
“I’m a total stranger.”
Levi took a step back and lifted up his shirt. “I lost a kidney in the accident, and my other one was compromised. Someone donated theirs. I was told it was one of the locals in the undisclosed location I had been stationed at and that he or she did so because of what we did there, but I have no idea where it came from. I shouldn’t be alive, much less walking, but thanks to perfect strangers, here I am.”
She traced the thick scar that curved up the right side of his abdomen. His stomach flinched and tightened.
“My ex-wife all but shit on my recovery when she slept with our neighbor, and my friend, who is now her husband. I can honestly tell you that I moved to Florida for two reasons. One was because Liam talked me into it and two because everyone calls it God’s waiting room.”
Eliana gasped. “You don’t want to die, do you?”
He shrugged, tucking his shirt back into his pants. “I did when I woke up in that hospital half-dead and paralyzed and again when my wife left me. Had Liam not come to my rescue, I probably would have swallowed that bottle of pills. But today, I live my life on my terms, and I’m content with that.”
“I don’t want to be content.” She palmed his cheek. “I want to have the life I always dreamed about, and you should want that too.”
He took her hand and kissed it. “That’s the irony. I had it all. Being a Navy SEAL was what I wanted since I was a little boy. I had a wife, and I thought we’d have a family together. I was living the dream.” He snapped his fingers. “And in a blink of an eye, it ended.”
“Okay, so maybe you can’t be a SEAL anymore, but you can find love again, and waiting to die is no way to live.”
He smoothed back some of her hair and stared at her with an intense gaze. “I gave my heart once, and she left it bleeding out on the floor. I’m not doing that again. I’m too old to start that song and dance over. I have a decent life, and right now, I wouldn’t trade it in for anything. It’s simple, and it works for me.”
She pressed herself against his firm body, clasping her hands around his thick neck. He smelled like the mountains as they kissed the blue sky with a dash of pine. Her mind screamed at her to take a step back while her heart begged her to walk away, but the rest of her couldn’t resist being in his powerful, yet kind arms. “Someday, when I’m on my own two feet and feel stronger and more confident in myself, I want to share my life with someone and maybe even have kids. Life is a risk and so is love, but if you never put yourself out there, you’ll never find the right person.”
“Ah, to be young and idealistic.”
“I’m only eight years younger, and I’m far from idealistic. But I refuse to let Gino continue to control my life, and if I hide in some kind of bubble, then he’s won.”
“You’re a breath of fresh air. You’re beautiful and smart, and I know you’ll have everything you want.” He tilted her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Let me help you get started on your new journey. It will help us both. I will have something to put my money in, and you will reach all your dreams.”
“It’s a deal,” she said with a scratchy throat. “I will have my parents’ attorney draw up all the paperwork.”
“That works for me,” he whispered as he leaned closer. His hot breath coated her lips with desire. He pulled her tight to his chest. “We’re muddying the waters if you let me kiss you.”
“You’ve made it quite clear that you have no desire for anything other than the physical, and while someday I want to give love a shot again, that day is not today. There are too many things I need to do for me, and only me, before I even consider letting a man into my heart.”
He pressed his hand between her breasts. “I can’t continue if this isn’t protected. I might not want a relationship, but I do care about you, and I wouldn’t want to hurt you.”
“The only way you could hurt me would be to run off with my business.”
He let out a laugh. “That’s never going to happen.”
“Then why don’t we take this to my bedroom?”
“You don’t have to ask me twice.” He smoothed his hands down her backside, lifting her feet off the ground. “Point me in the right direction.”
***
Don’t do it.
Stop.
She’s the kind of woman that will fall in love.
Worse, she’s the kind of woman Levi would fall in love with.
He sat on the edge of her bed with her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. His heart pulsed in uneven beats. His lungs burned with every breath. The background blurred, and the only thing he could see was the gorgeous woman sitting on his lap.
God, he hoped she’d been honest and that she’d be able to make this purely physical and a one or maybe two-time thing. He’d never be able to live with himself if he hurt her in any way. Of course, he knew it would take every ounce of courage he had to protect himself, but it was a price he was willing to pay.
Only that was being selfish.
He broke off the kiss. “I’m not sure we should be doing this. I don’t want to ruin our working relationship.”
“We’re both grown-ups who have set the boundaries.” She slipped her tongue between his lips.
He moaned as he fell back on the bed. Her skin felt like the most expensive silk that money could buy. His hands shook while he tried to unclasp her bra like a horny teenager about to cop his first feel.
“Need a hand?” She sat up and lifted her top over her head with confidence. She smiled down at him with lust gleaming from her aqua eyes.
He swallowed.
Hard.
He was in over his head and wasn’t sure he’d ever resurface. With every piece of clothing that was removed and tossed to the floor, a little part of his heart went with it. He thought he’d loved Maria with everything that he was, but being in this bed with Eliana, he knew that love could be so much more.
More powerful.
More passionate.
More fulfilling.
Making him a whole man, something he hadn’t been since long before the accident. It wasn’t that he hadn’t loved Maria, because he had, but she hadn’t loved him half as much. Their marriage had always been a struggle.
Kicking out of his jeans, he pushed his past life out of his mind. He’d trained himself to live in the here and now, and currently, he had the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful woman he’d ever met kissing his neck, making her way across his chest.
He fisted her soft hair, doing his best to maintain control. He hissed when her teeth grazed his sensitive nipple. “You’re driving me crazy,” he said betwe
en jagged breaths.
“That’s the point.”
“I’d rather make you go a little nuts.” He rolled her to her back and brought her breast to his mouth, rolling her nipple around inside his mouth. His hands roamed her decadent body with what he hoped was finesse and not pure desperation to claim every inch.
Her throaty moans glided across his ears. He brought her as close as he could without bringing her over the edge.
He wanted that to happen when he was inside her and feel her orgasm wrap around him and allow him the pleasure of releasing his own.
Settling between her legs, he started off slow, with his kiss matching his motions.
Her fingers dug into his back, and her ankles wrapped around his waist. Her hips grinded against him, begging him to give her more.
And he would not disappoint.
“Yes,” she said with a pant. Her body quivered and jerked as she cried out his name over and over again.
He gritted his teeth, holding out as long as he could, but he didn’t last more than a minute after Eliana. He buried his face in her neck and rolled to the side, keeping her close and pulling the covers over their bodies. He had no intention of leaving, not unless she kicked him out, but since she reached across him and turned out the light, he figured he would be good for the night.
And that thought made him smile because that meant that in the morning, he had the chance to have a repeat performance. He kissed her temple and closed his eyes, letting his body relax.
Yeah. He was fucked.
And so was his heart.
Chapter Eight
Eliana spread out all the legal documents on the table by the docks. She was one day from her grand opening, and she knew without a doubt it was going to be huge.
Thanks to Levi, his buddies, and of course, her hard work and determination.
She nibbled on some chips and stared out at the Intracoastal. The sun hung high in the blue sky, beating down on the calm blue water. The pelican that Levi had named Murphy sat on the closest post to the shore, as if he were either eyeing her for lunch or protecting her from some sea creature.