“I think so.”
He typed some more and then lifted the phone to his ear. “Hi, I’d like to order some food for delivery.”
He paused, listening.
“Do you think for a thousand-dollar tip you could make an exception?” he asked.
Kate snorted. Just like a millionaire to think he could pay people to do anything he wanted.
“Okay, I appreciate that. I’d like a cheeseburger with everything.” He looked at her. “What do you want?”
“They’ll deliver?” she asked.
He nodded.
Of course he’d gotten his way. She laughed and said, “I’ll have the same.”
They showered, together of course, while they waited for the food and then collapsed on the couch, spent from yet another orgasm.
She was most definitely going to be spoiled when she went home. Orgasms, cookies, a guy who would do anything for her. California might have perfect temperatures and the best wine, but she was thinking Vegas had some attraction for her—and she didn’t mean the neon lights.
But that was crazy. There was no way she was moving to Vegas.
Probably.
That was farther from the ocean, for one thing. For another…she couldn’t come up with a really good another except that picking up her life for a guy she’d just met was completely nuts. If any one of her friends were considering the same thing, she would quickly and vehemently talk them out of it.
And besides, Vegas Levi could be a completely different guy from Sapphire Falls Levi. They were both under a little bit of a spell here, no question. The very air in Sapphire Falls seemed to suck a person in and make him or her want to stay, put down roots, have neighborhood potlucks and volunteer for the park-clean-up committee.
Phoebe hadn’t been kidding when she’d said that people came to Sapphire Falls and fell in love—with the town and with their soul mates. Kate knew Phoebe’s friend Adrianne, of the best cookies ever, had come to town from Chicago. Her husband, Mason, who Kate had met twice with Lauren in DC, was from Sapphire Falls but had left for several years. He’d come home for a simple class reunion and…bam, fallen in love. Joe had come to town from DC. He’d already entertained the idea of staying, but it had been about a different woman than Phoebe. That woman, Nadia, had also come to town and fallen in love—which was why Joe had had to chase her to Sapphire Falls and how he’d fallen for Phoebe. And then there was Lauren. Lauren had been so against the idea of settling down in Sapphire Falls, she’d actually hatched a plan to uncover all the reasons she didn’t want to stay. It had backfired. Big time. She was now married to a local boy, pregnant with her first child and the head of several committees, including the Christmas in the Country tour of homes.
So really, she and Levi were just the most recent people to fall victim to the charm and fun of Sapphire Falls.
But it wasn’t real.
Except it was real for Phoebe and Joe and Lauren and…
She shook her head. No, she couldn’t think that way. People in Sapphire Falls, who wanted to live here forever, fell in love and stayed. But she and Levi were both visiting, and once they got outside the city limits, especially if they met up somewhere outside of Sapphire Falls, they’d realize this wasn’t some magical soul-mate meeting. It was a Christmas fling.
Levi got up to answer the door for the guy who’d become a delivery driver for the Come Again. Levi gave him cash to cover the food and the thousand-dollar delivery fee he’d promised.
She laughed softly. Yeah, living in the country was definitely not real for Levi. He couldn’t live somewhere there wasn’t twenty-four-seven food delivery.
They ate and continued chatting about everything and nothing. It was comfortable and nice and even the way he ate his French fries turned her on.
His phone dinged with a text message and he reached for it as he stuffed his last fry into his mouth. He swiped the screen and his face broke into a huge grin. He looked up at her. “I have an early Christmas present for you.”
She had just bitten in to her pickle spear. She chewed and wiped her hands on a napkin, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He’d gotten her a gift? She’d considered trying to find something for him but hadn’t decided if it was a good idea and certainly hadn’t come up with any great ideas yet.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said. But she was thrilled he had.
“Oh, I kind of did. It’s a present for me too,” he said.
Was it a giant peppermint stick?
Kate couldn’t believe her mind went there first.
Then she looked at the open candy cane wrapper on the floor between them and she admitted she definitely could believe it.
“Do I have to wait for Christmas?” she asked. Please say no, please say no. She wasn’t good at waiting. At all.
“I can’t keep it to myself until then,” Levi said. “Plus, Mason and Lauren will want to talk to you as soon as possible.”
She felt her smile fade. She was really confused. “Mason and Lauren?” she asked.
He nodded, grinning widely. “They’re going to give you a job.”
His words repeated over and over in her head a few times, but she couldn’t figure out what they really meant. “What?”
“Mason and Lauren own IAS, the company that Joe works for.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that. I’ve talked with them both professionally in DC.”
“So you know what they do.”
“They work in the field of agriculture.”
“Yes, but their scope is wider than that and growing all the time. Their work in soil and water conservation has been immense in the past year. They’re also putting a lot of resources behind alternative energy.”
Her mind was spinning. “How do you know all of that?”
“I listen to my brother when he talks,” Levi said with a shrug. “And I gave them a huge grant about six months ago for a wind-energy project.”
And she was reminded that Levi might come across as a devil-may-care playboy, but he was bright, and while he might spend copious amounts of money on frivolous things, he also had a heart.
She blew out a long breath, choosing her next words carefully. “I’m not sure what that has to do with me.”
“I texted Mason, asking if there were any opportunities in the company. He said probably not for me.” Levi grinned. “But when I clarified that it was for you, he said hell yes. That’s a direct quote.” He turned the phone so she could see it.
Sure enough, the display read “Hell yes”.
“How do you know how to get a hold of Mason Riley?” she asked. It wasn’t the most pressing question on her mind, but it was one she’d like answered.
“I asked Joe.”
Well, that was simple. “When did this all happen?”
“When you were shaving your legs.” He grinned again. “I didn’t notice any spots that weren’t completely smooth and sweet by the way.”
Yeah, well, she hadn’t wanted that to change, and he was already very familiar with every inch, so she’d insisted he give her ten minutes alone in the bathroom to run a razor over her legs again. Just to be sure everything was as smooth as possible for as long as possible.
He’d definitely checked her shave job afterward.
Kate rubbed a hand on her forehead, processing what he’d told her. He’d texted Mason Riley to get her a job—and he had. IAS wanted to hire her.
“You don’t want to work for IAS?” Levi asked, his grin finally fading a bit as he realized she wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as he was about the text message.
“Mason offered me a job a year ago. Lauren offered me a job eight months ago. I’ve turned them down twice,” she said.
He frowned. “Why?”
“They’re based in a small town in Nebraska,” she said with a shrug. “There are no oceans here. I have a job I love. I’m from California.”
“But now you’ve been here and you see how great it is,” he said.
She lau
ghed. “It has been great. For the past—” she looked at the clock on the wall, “—thirty-two and a half hours. And there have been extenuating circumstances.”
He gave her a half grin again. “Those circumstances aren’t going anywhere.”
She looked at him carefully. “What do you mean? You live in Vegas.”
He shook his head. “I’m staying.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “In Sapphire Falls?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“Since I put my car in the ditch and decided that the way I was living was going to kill me.”
She blinked a few times. “You mean, you came here knowing that you planned to stay? This isn’t new?”
“It’s newly appealing,” he said. “But I told Joe I’d spend a year here and clean up my act. Now that I’ve been here, seen the town, met some of the people, I could see myself staying for good.”
She snorted and then laughed out loud. “In the town that shuts down by ten p.m., that has no food delivery, that has one neon sign and that’s the open sign at the bar? The town that you’ve been in for less than forty-eight hours? The place that’s biggest excitement is the chili cook-off during the fall festival?”
“There’s a chili cook-off?” Levi asked.
“There has to be, don’t you think?” she returned. Of course, she didn’t know it for sure, but there was no way there wasn’t a chili cook-off in this town.
Levi sighed. “I like it here. I feel…peaceful. Like good things could happen. Like I could contribute to something here.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked. She wasn’t trying to be mean, but really? “You own casinos, Levi.”
“Well, I could…” He trailed off.
“And I may not want to live here forever, but if you put up a casino in this sweet little town, I will come back and kick your ass,” she said.
He looked at her, his jaw tight, a determined look in his eyes. “You don’t think you’d ever come back for any other reason?”
Her heart hurt at that question. She’d love to come back. She’d love to see every season here. She’d love to see him in every season.
“To visit,” she said softly. “Maybe.”
He seemed to be thinking about that. He didn’t look happy. But the next thing she knew, he’d risen from the floor and reached for her hand.
She put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet. He swung her up into his arms and started for the stairs.
“What are you doing?” she asked. But she knew. And she loved it. Even as she knew she should fight it. More time in his arms, more pleasure at his hands, more of his body would be hard enough to walk away from. But he’d shown her today that sex meant laughing and talking, sharing and exploring the other person physically and emotionally.
She’d never had sex that was as good as sex with Levi Spencer. But she’d also never had someone want to know her, every part of her, like he did.
“I’m making the most of the time we have,” he said.
She also knew that he was also going to use all of the intimacy and the pleasure and the trust and the vulnerability between them to try to convince her to stay.
It wasn’t going to work. Probably. But it was going to make leaving Sapphire Falls the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.
9
Levi awoke alone.
And he wasn’t a bit surprised.
He’d expected it. Which was why he’d kept himself, and Kate, up until almost two a.m. making love, talking, laughing and making love again.
He sighed and turned onto his back.
She’d left.
She wasn’t scheduled to leave until the twenty-sixth. She was supposed to be here for the Christmas formal. She was supposed to be here for Christmas. It was only the twenty-second.
That meant she was going to spend Christmas alone in California.
And that pissed him off.
He was in love with her. He knew it was impossible, that it didn’t make sense, that he might be crazy. But he loved her. He wanted her, in every way, all the time, and the idea that she’d left, chosen to be alone on Christmas after everything they’d done and said, made him mad.
And convinced him that she was falling for him too.
She’d run because she was scared.
He got it.
Pushing himself up, he ran a tired hand over his face. He was going to need to call to see what time her flight was and then get a hold of his pilot. But first, he had to go undecorate the house so that his niece would be able to help her mom and dad deck their own halls.
He came to the bottom of the stairs and stared.
The tree was already undone. The other decorations had been re-boxed as well.
The boxes were stacked to the side of the staircase with a note.
Phoebe and Joe, thanks for letting me stay. We brought the Christmas stuff down from the attic for you but knew you’d want to put everything up as a family. K.
As a family.
Those three words slammed into Levi’s gut. He’d agreed that they should take everything down, but he’d had images of helping put it back up. As a family.
Somehow, he suddenly felt like a fifth wheel in his own brother’s house.
The living room, the remnants of their dinner and their candy canes had been cleaned up too. The blanket was refolded and the clothes that had been strewn around during Elf were folded on the arm of the couch for him.
Hers, of course, were gone.
Levi suddenly wanted to throw something. Or yell. Or swear.
He had never ever had an emotional reaction over a woman he’d slept with. That had been one sign of his cold, black soul. He slept with women who he didn’t care about even twelve hours later.
But he could happily say that his soul was healing, because he definitely fucking cared this time.
Having a feeling soul already kind of sucked.
He turned a full circle. He had to find his phone. He needed to know where she was now and if he could head her off during a layover or if he needed to meet her in California.
Where the fuck was it?
He stomped around the living room and then headed for the kitchen.
On the center island, next to the plate of remaining cookies and fudge, sat his phone, two candy canes, a Christmas ornament…and a note.
He pulled in a deep breath, his chest hurting. He didn’t want to read the note. But he pathetically wanted to see her handwriting again.
Opening the folded piece of paper, he swallowed hard.
Dear Levi, This was the most magical couple of days. I know it’s not real, that we got caught up in everything, but just like a wonderful dream, I’ll always remember this as the best Christmas I’ve ever had. Katie
The ornament she’d left him was a tiny replica of the Sapphire Falls town square, painted in blues, whites and silvers. Everything from their night there was depicted, including teeny tiny reindeer munching hay in one corner.
He read her note again. And four more times after that.
Not real? A wonderful dream? Everything in that square, everything represented in that ornament, was real. Those reindeer had been real. The trees, the hot chocolate, and dammit, the feelings between them, had all been real.
He took a deep breath. He’d known last night that’s how she felt, and he got it. The whole thing did seem bizarre.
Maybe he should give her some time. Maybe being away from all of this—him—she’d realize that she missed it. Maybe it would all feel more real when she was back in the real world.
And maybe she’d forget all about him and Sapphire Falls.
Fuck.
The front door opened and Levi heard his brother’s voice, the sound of footsteps and the roller wheels on a suitcase.
Levi took a deep breath and headed in to the living room.
“Welcome home.”
“Levi.”
Joe grinned at him and Levi realized how nice it was
to have someone happy to see him.
“Levi!” Phoebe came in behind Joe, carrying Kaelyn.
Levi reached for the baby who readily came into his arms. “Hi, beautiful,” he said, planting a kiss on her chubby cheek.
He helped them get everything into the house and then, at Phoebe’s insistence, he settled at the kitchen table while she got Kaelyn something to eat.
Phoebe put Kaelyn in her highchair, swept over to the fridge and retrieved a plastic container of something that she heated in the microwave, stirred, tested and heated for another ten seconds. The entire time she talked, she told him about how beautiful DC had been all decorated for Christmas, how Kaelyn had slept through the night at her mom’s house and how she hoped that carried over to home now, and how she had to still make two salads for the Christmas formal.
“Salads for the formal?” Levi finally interrupted.
“It’s potluck.”
He looked at her. “What does that mean?”
“We’re all bringing food in and everyone will share.”
“I know what a potluck is,” Levi told her, though he’d never been to one. “Why are you doing a potluck at a formal ball? Isn’t that kind of a church-supper thing or a barbecue thing?”
Phoebe laughed. “This is Sapphire Falls. We don’t exactly have a catering company that can serve us a formal sit-down dinner. Plus, people here don’t mind. It’s the first formal. People are just excited to see Lauren’s fancy decorations and have the chance to get dressed up and stuff.”
Levi thought about that. A fancy sit-down dinner for the people of Sapphire Falls? How hard could that be?
He pulled his phone out and texted his assistant, Cora. She’d investigate the closest companies, the cost of a dinner like that and how much extra it would be to get them to Sapphire Falls with only a day’s notice.
“Don’t make any salads,” Levi told her after Kaelyn was cleaned up and down for her nap.
“Why not? You think I should do a hot dish?” she asked. “I thought of that too, but it’s a lot more work.”
“I’m bringing a catering company in for a fancy sit-down dinner,” Levi said. “How many people?”
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