Conceited Concierge: A Hero Club Novel

by Renea Porter

  Chapter Thirteen

  RYLEE

  Last night, Levi was on his best behavior. Of course, he plopped a large pillow in between us. I removed my sleep mask and looked over to find he was gone.

  Getting out of bed, I got dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top before heading to see what Levi was up to.

  I found him in the living room on what sounded like a personal phone call. Once he saw me, he held his finger up letting me know he’d be a minute. He headed outside causing me to wonder what that was about. I wondered if it would be rude of me to ask about it.

  “Sorry about that. How did you sleep?” he said, stepping back in.

  “I slept great. You?”

  “Good. I got the cinnamon rolls warming up. They should be ready.”

  “It smells so good.”

  I watched as Levi pulled them out of the oven and put one on each plate. “It seems like you have something on your mind. Are you okay?”

  He smiled. “Of course, Cupcake. I’m getting to spend another whole day with you and then we have all day tomorrow.” He pulled me close to him and kissed my forehead. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

  With coffee poured in our mugs, we sat at the table, looking out at the ocean crashing into the beach. It was romantic, waking up early, eating our meal together, and watching the sun rising up. This really was paradise and so very different from Temecula. But being able to visit the beach and seeing palm trees made me happy.

  “Want to sit outside?” Levi asked after we ate.

  “Yeah. It looks a little cloudy out, so at least I won’t get burned.”

  “Oh, I forgot something.” He ran back in the house to retrieve something. “I got this earlier for you. Might soothe your skin.” He passed a bottle of aloe vera to me.

  My burn was very light, so it barely hurt. It was more of a little sting but nothing I couldn’t handle. “I appreciate this. Thank you.”

  “Sure. Want me to rub some on your back?”

  “Yes, please.”

  I moved so I was lying flat on the beach towel. Levi squirted some liquid on my skin and it was cold at first. Levi began working aloe into my skin. “That feels so good.” His hands were muscular, and it felt like he was giving me a massage. “I could probably fall asleep if I wanted to.”

  I heard him chuckle. “I have been told I’m good with my hands.”

  “Conceited.”

  My eyes felt so lazy when I finally sat up and opened them up. “Thank you. That felt good, and it did ease the sting.”

  “Good.”

  “So, Levi. Tell me all I need to know about you. I poured everything out to you yesterday.”

  We finished our breakfast and Levi suggested, “Let’s go for a walk.” He stood holding his hand, out to me and I took hold of it.

  My toes dug into the sand as we started to walk.

  “There isn’t much to tell. I’ve already said Chance and I didn’t become close until he came here from Australia. And I got my previous job because of him. I’m starting out in this new career because I want to have my own bed and breakfast one day. My father died when I was seven. I have a younger brother who is addicted to drugs and comes around when he wants money. He always promises that he is getting better, but he never does. My mom raised us as a single mom after my dad died. As soon as I was old enough to work, I got a job so she wouldn’t have to worry about me as much as she did with my little brother.”

  “It sounds rough.”

  “Like I said before, I don’t hold my mother responsible for doing what she had to do to keep the roof over our heads and food on the table. But my brother and I both handled our situation differently. Granted he is younger, so it was rough losing my dad and then my mom had to pick up the pieces.”

  “I can’t imagine dealing with all that.”

  “I’ve had to kind of grow up at a young age because of my situation and I don’t blame my mom for anything. It was the hand we were dealt. I was even planning on being on the varsity football team in high school, but like I said, I ended up getting a job to help out so that cut into my game time. I had potential of going pro, because I was really good. And the coach wasn’t happy when I dropped out of the team. But I knew studying and having my job was more important. I couldn’t do it all.”

  “That’s a bummer. But I get it. You had to do what you had to do.”

  “My mom argued with me, saying I needed to focus on school and playing in the game. She wanted better for me because I was her only hope of making something of myself. But I couldn’t ask her to pick up extra shifts so I could play a game after school. My brother was already suffering from her working a lot.”

  “It sounds rough. But you turned out great. And you’re a hard ass worker.”

  “Should we turn around?”

  “Yes, let’s head back.”

  “Anyway, I like all types of music, but I was raised on country music.”

  “I wasn’t even allowed to listen to music. The outside world was the devil’s work,” I told him.

  “We both had to grow up at a young age.”

  “We did. Maybe that’s why we gravitate to each other.”

  He chuckled. “I had to work on you a little bit more, though.”

  “Well, you are persistent.”

  “I don’t give up on what I want.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

  He stopped, letting the water lap at our feet, and faced me. With one hand cradling my face, he kissed me passionately. And I didn’t think I could ever get bored of his kisses.

  When he pulled away, the loss was evident, but we continued walking hand in hand.

  “I’m not sure what else I can tell you.”

  “Did you have a high school sweetheart? I’m sure you did since you were on the football team.”

  “Yeah. We just didn’t work out.”

  “Ah. Most don’t, I would imagine. Are you still friends with the guys you grew up with?”

  “Yeah. Three of them are my super close friends. Sam already has his own family. He and his wife wanted to start having kids while they were young.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “And there is Terrence. He travels all over because he is a private investigator. And he’s definitely not tied down to anyone. He loves playing the field. I see him about twice a year. That was another reason I was in Las Vegas. We got to meet up one evening. And my third friend, Kyler, he’s done very well for himself. Built his company from the ground up. He had a new girlfriend the last time we talked, but I haven’t met her.”

  “It’s nice catching up with old friends. I mean, I don’t have hardly any friends. I’ve always made friends with my partner’s friends.”

  “You have Aubrey.”

  I smiled. “You’re right, I do.”

  “Yeah. Hence why we are here in the first place.”

  “True. True.”

  “And then there’s me!” Levi was overly excited about that little tidbit.

  I laughed.

  “In all seriousness, do you see yourself getting married one day?”

  I smiled at the thought. “Well, in all seriousness, I’d like it to happen sooner rather than later. Especially if I’m gonna have kids. I’d love to have two but I’m not sure if that ship sailed or not. You?”

  “Definitely. And I want kids as well. But like I have said before, and I continue to say, I don’t have to have kids. You can adopt. Or you can be a fur parent.”

  “Yes. Pets are a must for me. I’m surprised I never got one with my ex.”

  “We’ll have plenty of fur babies.”

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.” I laughed way too hard because Levi was so confident about us being together in the future. “Come on. I’m starving.”

  My stomach grumbled. “Me too, actually.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  RYLEE

  “I’m so full.” I sat back in my chair. We were eating at a local restaurant because ne
ither one of us wanted to cook. It was too hot.

  “I’m so glad you eat like a normal person. I get so sick of people picking at their food because they are afraid of what others will think.”

  “Oh no. I don’t give a crap what anyone thinks. I eat what I like.”

  “Let’s get married,” Levi blurted.

  I was taking a drink and almost spit it out. “Come again?”

  “Let’s get married.”

  Water dripped on my chin. “Um. No.”

  “Why? You said you wanted to get married sooner rather than later. We both want that. And I told you everything about me, while you told me everything about you. We like each other a lot. I really don’t see why not.”

  “You’re fucking crazy.” This had to be a joke.

  “Crazy about you. Why can’t you see that?”

  “Oh, I see it. You’ve already proven that.”

  “Our chemistry is off the charts. And if I remember correctly, we clicked pretty well back in Las Vegas.”

  “Did you bump your head at all today? Because you are talking craziness.”

  “Nope. Las Vegas is a four-hour drive. We could drive there and be back in Temecula by Tuesday.”

  “No. No way. No.” I couldn’t stop telling him no. He was completely crazy and it was scaring me shitless. “I think I need some fresh air.” I took off out of the restaurant and I wasn’t sure where I was going. But anywhere but here sounded good. Back on the beach, my toes in the sand, I was able to catch my breath. Where was Aubrey when I needed her? Pulling out my phone, I scanned my contacts. I didn’t want to bother her, but she was the only one that would know what to do.

  “Hey girl. Having fun?” Aubrey said into her phone.

  “Oh my god. You didn’t tell me Levi was batshit crazy.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Well, Levi asked me to marry him. He’s talking crazy and it’s freaking me out. Like I’m ready to bail on the rest of this trip.”

  “Levi is quite smitten with you.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “I’m on yours. I promise.”

  “I don’t know what I was thinking calling you; you are supposed to be on this romantic getaway. I’m sorry.” I was almost in tears at this point.

  “No, it’s fine. Chance is having a shower and he takes, like, hour long ones. So, it’s fine, girl. What do you want?”

  “I was coming around to the idea of being with Levi. I mean, I said I was in, whatever this was between us. And then bam, he’s asking me to marry him. He’s crazy. I’m legit thinking about leaving and heading back to Temecula.”

  “Don’t do that. Talk to Levi. Tell him how you’re feeling.”

  “I don’t know.” I walked past the house and continued walking along the shore-line, letting the water swoop over my feet.

  “Take a breath.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “You need to stop running when shit gets hard. We both know you’ve done that since college.”

  She wasn’t wrong. My first thought was to flee. And I really wanted to flee.

  “I can’t go back there. I can’t do this with him. I made a mistake thinking I could get involved with him.”

  “Rylee.”

  “I gotta go, Aubrey.”

  I pressed end on my phone and started searching for an Uber. I needed to get back to Temecula. I needed to clear my head. I was coming to a realization that marriage scared the shit out of me. The sound of the ocean was starting to calm me down, so I stopped to look out into the distance, while the moon hung overhead. I wasn’t quite clear where I was at. And Levi was the last person I wanted to see right now.

  Taking my phone out of my pocket, I saw Levi sent me messages but I didn’t read them.

  Questions consumed me. Was I overreacting? Was I really ready to get married? When do you know you want to get married? Hell, I wasn’t even in love with Levi yet. But I knew I could get there in time. Any other woman would jump at the chance because Levi seemed like a good guy. He was sexy, smart, worked hard, and made his own way. Maybe he did know what he wanted.

  How do I know what I want?

  “Rylee!” I heard Levi’s voice in the distance and saw him jogging toward me.

  “I can’t do this, Levi.”

  “Why are you so upset?”

  “Because how can you know what you want? You barely know me. You’re a kid.”

  “Rylee, will you stop calling me a kid? If I were in my mid-thirties and you were in your forties, age wouldn’t be an issue. So, stop making it an issue.”

  “I’m waiting on an uber to take me back to Temecula.”

  “You were gonna leave and not tell me?”

  “I was really considering it. Things will be awkward now. How can we go back to the way it was?”

  “I’m sorry. Give me one more chance. Please.”

  The guy got down on his knees and looked up at me with his puppy dog eyes.

  “Levi.”

  “Rylee. Please. You have nothing to lose. You don’t even know if you are staying in California. So, if you don’t fall in love with me, you can go back to whatever life you had before me.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “I know what I want. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be trying this damn hard with you. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you.”

  “Get up. I’m sorry.”

  An Uber pulled up, interrupting me. I looked to the Uber and then to Levi and repeated it.

  “Don’t go.”

  “Fine.” I walked over to the Uber and said he was no longer needed. Levi had the hugest smile on his face.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re not off the hook yet. We need to talk.”

  “I agree. I’m sorry I tried to rush things.”

  We headed back toward the beach house and were silent while walking back. I needed silence to gather my thoughts. And if I was honest, I didn’t want to run away from this. I was tired of running away whenever something became hard to deal with.

  Chapter Fifteen

  LEVI

  I insisted on sleeping on the pull-out couch last night because I wanted to give Rylee space. She had issues to work out on her own. However, I was not going to give up yet. Any other man would have. But there was something about her. I knew we would be good together.

  Thanks to Aubrey for letting me know that Rylee was about to run away, Rylee and I talked until nearly two a.m. as she explained she would flee when things got hard. I explained she was worth fighting for. If she were any other woman, I would have given up by now.

  I woke up early and got started on a hearty breakfast. We had a few cinnamon rolls left as well. I had all day today and tomorrow to spend with Rylee, and I didn’t want to waste a second.

  With coffee brewing, I set the table with fancy table settings; Aubrey had told me where everything was. Once Rylee came out, she looked shocked.

  “You did all of this?”

  “Yes. Why do you seem so surprised?”

  “I thought after last night…” She trailed off as she looked at how fancy the table was with piles of food on it.

  I didn’t let her finish her thought because we needed a fresh start and I didn’t want her to feel bad for last night. “Today is a new beginning. Does that seem fair that we start all over?” I moved close to her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Tears were filling her eyes.

  “I’d love that. I’m sorry I got so carried away last night.”

  “Let’s forget about it.”

  She blinked several times to keep her tears from falling and leaned into me letting me hug her. “Okay. This looks amazing, though. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  RYLEE

  I didn’t deserve Levi. Not at all. But for some reason, he refused to give up and I refused to run away. We faced the issue head on last night. We made a lot of progress. Levi held my hand while we sat on the couch talking all night.
I felt horrible for acting the way I did instead of talking it out in the first place. But like Levi said, today was a new beginning.

  “You are spoiling me with your cooking.”

  “I’m glad you like it.”

  I couldn’t help but still feel guilty for almost bailing on him last night. For almost giving up on him completely. He was right about everything he said. And yes, if this were several months or years down the road, I might have said yes to his question. But I explained I didn’t want to mess up whatever we could have and rush into things. And he totally understood what I was saying. Plus, I didn’t want to hurt him or get hurt myself.

  “I’m starving. I know that,” I admitted.

  “Would you want to check out the pier today? It goes over the water. It’s nothing fancy but it’s something to check out.”

  “Yes, I’d like that.”

  “Cool.”

  “I’ll clean up since you made all this.”

  “No. You go get ready. I’m all ready to go. It’ll only take a few minutes to clean this stuff up.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He smiled. “Yes. Go, woman.” He practically shooed me away.

  Smiling, I headed off to get ready, but I didn’t know what to wear. So, I grabbed a denim skirt, and my black and white striped crop top that showed off a little bit of my midriff, then I grabbed my white sandals.

  With my hair half up and half down, I met Levi back in the kitchen. “I’m ready.”

  “Great. I’m putting the last dish in the dishwasher now.”

  “Thanks again for breakfast.”

  “You’re welcome.” Even though it still felt a little awkward, he smiled, and I felt at ease.

  Walking down the beach, we fell into an easy conversation about normal things. “I’ll admit, I’m gonna miss this when we go back to Temecula,” I admitted.

  “Yeah. Same. But it really doesn’t take that long to get here.”

  “That’s true. But it’s a good getaway. Can I?” He held his hand out, asking if he could hold my hand.

  “Of course.” I smiled wide, knowing today was a fresh start for us. “You don’t have to ask. Also, can I say one thing about yesterday and we can be done with it?”