When Life Happened
Page 26
They loaded up their suitcases and the bitch humper and headed toward their final destination.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“You’re having second thoughts.” Levi rested his right arm on the back of Parker’s seat, teasing the hair at the nape of her neck. In Levi’s world, driving ninety miles an hour didn’t require two hands.
In Parker’s world, jumping in the car with a near stranger didn’t take two thoughts … until it did. She chuckled, keeping her gaze out her window while attempting to act unaffected by his touch. “Second? No. I had second thoughts before we made it out of the driveway back in Iowa. I’m on at least my hundredth thought.”
They were less than a mile from Levi’s place. Parker planned on asking him a million questions on the last leg of their journey, but the scenic drive demanded all of her attention. So did thoughts of Gus.
“Looks like my new job will be convincing you to stay.”
“Levi …” she whispered. “You don’t even know me.” The previous days felt like a vacation. Something to break up moments of reality. The hotels felt like neutral territory, even ground. Being with Levi. In his house. In his life. It overwhelmed Parker more than she’d expected.
“No. But I want to.” He turned into a parking lot of a tall building that looked like a fancy hotel.
“What are we doing here?”
He pulled under a covered entrance. “I live here.” He stopped.
A man in a suit opened Levi’s door. “Mr. Paige, welcome home.”
“Thank you.”
Parker’s jaw plummeted. “Holy shit,” she whispered as another man in a suit opened her door.
Levi let Rags out of the back and then nodded toward the revolving door. “Coming?”
Parker grabbed her purse and gave the man in the suit, who greeted her with a nod, a small smile.
“Good afternoon, miss.”
“Our suitcases?” Parker stayed by the vehicle, eyes flitting between Levi and the man in the suit.
“They’ll bring them up.”
Levi lived in a high-rise building with people who opened doors and delivered luggage to rooms—like living in a hotel. Parker couldn’t make sense of it.
“But … you’re … an architect.” As she made her way to the entrance, she pinned him with a confused look.
He grinned. “Glad to hear you were listening. I thought we had a moment when I told you about my tattoos. The building I designed?” Levi cocked his head.
“Yes. I remember.” Parker narrowed her eyes even more.
“Mr. Paige.” The burly security guard with a close buzz cut and serious eyes nodded at Levi.
“Justin, this is my new dog Rags and Parker. She’ll be staying with me until …” Levi looked over his shoulder as the elevator doors opened.
Parker’s eyes widened, ping-ponging between the two men. “Um …”
“Welcome.” Justin nodded, relieving Parker from the spot Levi put her in.
“Thank you.” She returned a smile and stepped into the elevator with Levi and Rags. “Thanks for that awkward introduction.” Parker nudged Levi’s arm.
He beamed. “I love that you’re here. I know you’re having hundreds of second thoughts, but damn! I just love that you’re here for however long.”
No man had ever made Parker feel so wanted in a way that didn’t feel strictly sexual. She took a hard swallow to hold back the emotions. Levi was well on his way to owning a piece of her heart, not only in record time, but without any expectations.
They stepped out of the elevator onto the fourteenth floor. Levi’s door was the first on the right. He opened it and released the leash. Rags bolted inside. Parker stood at the threshold, another jaw-dropping moment.
Levi stopped a few steps inside and turned, crossing his arms over his chest. “You can come in. In fact, I encourage it.” He shot her dead with his grin.
Parker knew from the first two-second glance that he lived in a sprawling condo with the nicest of everything. However, at that moment, all she could see was the man before her and how good he looked in cargo shorts, and the red tee that hugged his chest, and those red Chucks that accented her blue ones so well. For the tiniest moment, she let herself wonder if everything in her life to that point had truly led her to him. That’s what took her so long to cross the threshold. Somehow she knew it would change everything.
Her heart ached, the yearning kind of ache, the pain that came with wanting something so much but being too afraid to believe it could happen to her.
Levi nodded. “Take your time. I’ll wait. Can I get you a drink? Maybe a chair to set in the hall in case you get tired of standing? Are you hungry? I could make you a snack.”
That was Parker’s moment of impact. The one she would never forget. Timing wasn’t her thing. She picked the wrong time to follow Caleb to college. She picked the wrong time to come home and find him in bed with Piper. She picked the wrong time to meet Gus, the married man next door. The timing in her life flat-out sucked.
And out of all the places in the world, she had to meet Levi Paige—quite possibly the greatest human God ever created—at a funeral. She had to meet him with a crippled heart. She had to meet him as a jobless hot mess with nothing to offer. She had to meet him while drowning in guilt.
Parker looked down to where the carpet in the hall ended and the stone floor of his entry began. “This is the worst timing.”
“I disagree.”
She slowly looked up as he took a step closer to the door.
“Meeting you has been the best.” Levi shrugged. “So it was at a funeral. That just means life happened. Death is always untimely and the worst.” He held out his hand.
“You’re an architect.” Her eyes left him to assess the luxurious condo in front of her—stone and wood floors, modern furniture, a royal blue sofa that made her lips twitch into a smile, and a chef’s kitchen with miles of granite countertops. “Architects don’t make this kind of money. Not unless you’ve designed lots of major landmarks. Have you?” Parker returned her gaze to him.
“No. I draw buildings because I love it. I own this condo because I designed and patented some virtual reality software in college. I’ve sold the rights to a large company, and my cut is … generous.”
“I see.” Parker felt her eyes glazing over as her brain processed the real Levi Paige. “The first hotel room, it wasn’t a huge splurge for you, was it?”
“No. Um … is this, the uh … money a huge issue for you? I can sell the condo. Downsize. If you want—”
“What?” Her head whipped back. “What are you talking about? Sell it? Downsize? For me? A girl you’ve known a few weeks? To what? Make me more comfortable? That’s all kinds of crazy.”
Levi shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at his feet. “I want you more.”
“More than …” She shook her head. Things like that didn’t happen to people like her.
His chin lifted an inch at a time. “More than anything,” he whispered.
No Lie Levi.
“I’m scared.”
“Of what?” His brow drew tight.
“Of everything I’m not.”
Keeping the intensity in his brow, he nodded. “Well, I’m afraid of everything you are because it makes me realize my biggest fear.”
“Which is?”
“I’m afraid of having everything that means nothing and nothing that means everything.”
Her brain exploded. It took too much effort to figure Levi out in her head. So she went with her heart.
Levi grinned, holding out his hand again.
After a few more seconds of contemplation, Parker reached for it, hooking her index finger with his. He gave her a little tug, and she stepped into his condo—into his world. She took another two steps until the white toes of her Chuck’s were touching the white toes of his.
She looked up.
“Welcome,” he said as an infectious grin spread across his face. “Can I offer you the ten-cent tou
r?”
Twisting her lips, she nodded. “I think that’s in my budget.”
“Follow me.” He turned. “Kitchen. One bathroom.”
She laughed as he took long strides like the ten-cent tour was the ten-second tour.
“Office. Bedroom. Laundry. My bedroom. My bathroom.”
Parker chased him. If she looked at a room longer than two seconds, he was already in another room.
“Main room.” Levi opened the door to a huge covered balcony. “That’s the canal. I live in the Scottsdale Waterfront district … that’s the water.”
Resting her arms on the wide ledge, Parker looked over it. “A canal, huh? Well, it’s not the ocean.”
Levi leaned against the wall opposite the ledge, arms crossed over his chest, legs crossed at the ankles. “It’s water. That’s a huge deal around here. Desert.”
“It’s an incredible view.”
“So is sunset over Camelback Mountain. But that’s not for a few hours.”
Rags brushed her bare leg with his wet nose. “I think you’ll do well here, Rags. If you don’t overheat. I don’t imagine there are a lot of sheepdogs in these parts.”
Levi chuckled. “I have air-conditioning.”
Parker turned, taking another moment to admire Levi. She wanted to run her hands through his crazy, blond hair, press them to his stubbly face, and kiss his perfect lips. But … guilt. Gus. Life …
“I left in a hurry. My refrigerator might be filled with rotten food. The good news is I live in walking distance of some really great restaurants. Can I interest you in dinner?”
Parker cleared her throat, hoping it worked on her mind as well. “Food. Yes. Mind if I change my clothes and do something with my hair before we go?”
“Not at all. I’ll check for our suitcases.”
She followed him inside. He opened the door to a neat pile of suitcases, a few boxes, and Rags’s bed.
“They left it in the hall?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you worried about something getting stolen?”
Levi chuckled. “No. There are eyes all over the building. And no one can use the elevator without an access code. Also, I know my neighbors. They’re not into stealing stuff.” He set everything inside.
Parker grabbed the handle to her suitcase. “Which room?”
“Any of them.”
“Yours has the best view.”
“It does.” He pursed his lips and nodded.
“But it’s yours.”
“Yes.”
Her body buzzed, the unnerving kind that made her aware of every point of connection between her clothes and her skin. The kind that quickened breaths. The kind that made swallowing every five seconds mandatory.
Desire.
Even in death, she heard Gus whisper to her.
Parker didn’t chase after Levi for desire. Even if at that moment it bubbled to the surface, it wasn’t what she chased. No more quick fixes. No more weak moments. If Levi wanted her, he would have to steal her heart before taking her body. Again. It wouldn’t take much, she felt certain he was halfway there.
“Where are you?”
After a few blinks, her gaze shifted from the floor to his face. “Thinking about us.”
“Us?” He grinned. “I like us.”
“Yeah … I … I think I do too. Maybe more than I should. But I feel like we’re very fragile, and I don’t want to move. I’m so afraid of breaking us.”
“I know,” he whispered.
“So I’m going to use the room across from yours to change for dinner. Butterflies will invade my stomach as I put on my makeup and dot a small amount of perfume on my neck and wrists. Because … I feel giddy thinking about going out with you. Then you’re going to take me on our first date. I’ll offer to pay, but you’ll insist because you’re such a gentleman.” She smirked. “And because you know I don’t have a job.”
He clasped his hands behind his back, rocking back and forth on his heels, biting back his grin.
“You’ll place your hand on the small of my back as we leave the restaurant. Then your hand will find mine and our fingers will entwine. A few more butterflies will stir to life. And we’ll both think about the kiss that may or may not happen.”
Levi swallowed hard. “What will I think when you step out of that bedroom? Will I feel underdressed in my shorts and Chucks?”
Parker brushed past him, leaving him with a flirty smile as she pulled her suitcase to the bedroom. “Bring your A-game. I’m going to knock you on your ass in about fifteen minutes.”
“I’m already there,” he whispered.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Don’t fuck this up,” Levi mumbled to himself as his hands wrestled with his blue tie tugging it in one direction and then another. He held out his hands. They shook. He fisted them and pinched his eyes shut. No woman had ever had that effect on him.
Parker thought they were fragile. Levi thought she was already cracked. Why? He didn’t know.
Taking a deep breath, he finished tying his tie. She liked blue. He hoped she’d like his three-piece blue suit, crisp white shirt, and blue tie with white dots. It was his mom’s favorite.
Levi ran his hand through his hair in three different directions; it did its own thing no matter what he tried. Why did he try?
“What do you think?”
Rags cocked his head to the side.
Levi brushed off his sleeves that had already captured a few souvenirs from his new furry friend. “We may have to buzz you down.”
Rags turned and ran out. Levi chuckled, shaking his head as he followed him out. Just as he glanced up from one last tie adjustment, the door to Parker’s room opened.
Knock. Out.
His lips parted but words were extinct.
Parker’s eyes gleamed, inspecting him from head to toe before settling on his gaze. “I love blue.” She grinned.
If he weren’t already unconscious on the floor, that smile would have done it. “I think I knew that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You …” He pressed his hand to his chest and shook his head. Red looked stunning on her. The thinnest strip of material around her neck seemed to hold the whole thing from falling right off her. There wasn’t much to lose. The simple, sexy piece ended several inches above her knees. The material kissed her body; it didn’t hug it. It showed so much, yet left so much to the imagination—nothing short of perfect.
Parker tucked her silky hair behind her ear on one side as a small blush settled on her cheeks.
Beautiful. Stunning. It all seemed too cliché.
“The sunset here … it’s quite something. I would have said unforgettable. Until …”
Parker rubbed her glossy red lips together, her nerves as palpable as his. “Until?”
“Until you opened the door.” He sighed, giving his eyes permission to commit her to memory. “What sunset?” he whispered.
Parker pressed her hand to her stomach, a nervous smile beneath her tear-filled eyes. It wasn’t his intention to make her cry.
She blinked them back, taking a deep breath. “So many butterflies.”
Levi grinned, offering his arm. Parker took it, her matte gold high heels clicking on the stone floor.
*
Parker kept one hand pressed flat to her stomach and the other clasped to Levi’s arm as they walked a short block to the restaurant. The sun slid behind the building on the other side of the street, giving them a little reprieve from the Arizona heat, but not enough to keep sweat from beading between Parker’s cleavage.
“You’re catching a lot of eyes in your dapper, blue suit.” She glanced up at him.
“Only one set of eyes I’m trying to catch.” He opened the door for her.
She jerked when he pressed his chest to her back and whispered in her ear, “Besides, I’m certain they’re looking at you, not me.”
Her hand gripped his thigh, steadying herself as she wobbled a bit on her heels.
“Then stop breathing into my ear,” Parker gritted her teeth in a low voice.
“Levi!” The fifty-something blonde smiled. “Where have you been, handsome?” She typed something into an iPad and then grabbed two menus.
“My um …”
Parker’s heart hurt for No Lie Levi.
“Uh …” He cleared his throat.
The blonde’s smile faded.
Parker slid her hand into Levi’s and interlaced their fingers, giving him a reassuring squeeze.
“My sister and her husband were killed in a car accident, in Iowa.”
“Oh no!” The blonde’s hand moved to her necklace. “I’m … so sorry, dear.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, it’s nice to see you again. Would you like a booth in the corner by the window?”
“Please.” He tightened his grip on Parker’s hand as they wormed their way to the booth at the far end of the restaurant.
Busy hands and clanging pans from the open kitchen caught Parker’s attention. She liked watching the food preparation almost as much as she liked the dim overhead lighting and the sea of flickering candles on all the tables. The soft hum of evening conversations played like music in the background.
“Here you go. Mario will be right with you.”
Parker and Levi said thank you in unison as they scooted into the booth.
“Are you okay?”
He looked at the menu. “No.” Then he sighed and set the menu down, giving her his attention. “See …” He tugged his tie a bit. “That’s what I mean. When people say, ‘How are you?’ I should be able to say, ‘Fine, thank you,’ even when I’m not. When you ask if I’m okay, I should be able to say, yes even if I’m not. Because we are here on a date, and I just want to focus on the part of me that is okay instead of the part of me that’s still standing over their graves thinking, ‘How the fuck did this happen?’ The truth doesn’t always set you free, and lies are not always deception. But I don’t have a choice.”