by Jill Sanders
Feeling himself falling again, he held onto her and twisted slightly, making sure that once again he protected her with his body.
He landed hard on the floor just inside her doorway. Seconds later, she landed on top of him, causing the air in his lungs to whoosh out of his lungs. He groaned when he felt the skin on his back open once again.
“Sorry,” she groaned. “Tripped over my sandals.”
It wasn’t really the fall or the weight of her covering him that had done most of the damage. But one of her knees had connected with his family jewels, causing pain to explode in his entire body. It was the only thing he could focus on.
“Are you okay?” she asked, starting to move aside.
He held onto her firmly, not wanting her to do any further damage.
“Levi, let me up so I can see if you’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he grunted.
“It doesn’t sound like you’re fine,” she said, her tone a little clipped.
He would have laughed, but his balls were still in his throat. “Don’t move,” he warned her. “Let me… catch my breath.”
That seemed to do it. She relaxed over him, allowing him to focus on just how wonderful she felt, instead of his bruised balls.
“Feel better?” she asked after a moment.
“Yes.” He sighed and started running his hands over her. He’d had a moment to think through several things.
He knew better than to jump back into a relationship with her. He wanted—needed—to show her how much this meant to him.
There was nothing that he wanted to do more than to carry her upstairs and make love to her all night long. But the fact was, if they had sex now, he was afraid it would be just that to her… sex.
He knew he had to gain her full trust back, because in his heart, he didn’t want just sex. He wanted more. He had always wanted more with her.
“You’re quiet,” she said, still lying on top of him, unmoving.
“Yeah.” He ran his hands up and down her arms. He pulled her up until they were standing in the entryway, she with the tight wet tank top and skin-hugging shorts, him in his soaked jeans.
“I’d better go,” he said after a moment.
The pained look on her face almost broke him, but he knew he had to stick to his guns if he wanted a future with her.
Her entire body stiffened and, when he pulled her closer, she tensed in his arms.
“There’s nothing that I’d rather do than carry you up those stairs and peel the rest of those wet, skintight clothes from you, but…”
“But?” she asked, looking up into his eyes.
“This has to be more than just sex.”
Her eyes narrowed and she took a step away from him. “Why?”
“You know why.” After a moment, she turned away from him. She started to pace the living room.
“I… don’t want anything bigger,” she said, glancing over at him.
“Yet,” he added with a smile. She rolled her eyes.
“Levi, I’m not sure anything beyond really exists. Look what happened with my parents.”
He sobered. “I’m nothing like your father. I would never hurt you.”
“You already have,” she admitted, causing a pain to spread in his chest.
“And I still don’t know what I did…” he started, but she held up her hand and sighed.
“Jenny Carpenter,” she said, narrowing her eyes and watching his face.
“Who?” He shook his head. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. At least now he knew it was because of someone. Someone he hoped he could convince her sister and the others to talk about so he could try and figure out what he’d done.
“That’s all you get.” She shook her head. “I’m sure you’ll think of the rest.” She walked over and picked up a sweater from the back of a chair and pulled it on.
He could feel it now, the chill in the air. He was standing in her living room, no shirt or shoes, with soaking-wet jeans as the wind blew through the front screen door.
“Sassy.” He moved closer to her, but she held up her hands again.
“I can’t.” She shook her head. “I’ll get you some dry clothes…” She started to walk away.
“No, don’t bother, they’ll just get wet on the walk home.” He moved towards the door, picking up his wet shirt and shoes as he went.
“Levi,” she called to him. “I’m really sorry I can’t give you what you want.”
“Can’t?” He shook his head, then without thinking, stormed across the room and kissed her until he felt the water steam from his skin. Without another word, he turned and left. Her kiss, how she’d responded to him, was all the answer he needed. She may not be able to give him what he wanted now, but there was more than just a slight spark of hope. It was a full-blown raging forest fire.
Chapter Nine
Over the course of the next week, Scarlett was surprised that Levi avoided her. Well, maybe avoid wasn’t the right word. He went about his business as usual instead of hunting her down or following her around.
She had to admit, as much as she’d found his attention annoying, the lack of it was even more so. Why had she lied to herself that she’d never enjoyed his attentiveness?
By the time she was getting ready for her next days off, she was seriously questioning if she should hunt him down herself. All she could think about that week was how he’d left her. The kiss had seared her body and had her lips vibrating for days.
At first, she’d been thankful he wasn’t showering her with attention. Then she’d grown hurt, followed by angry. Now she was back to feeling hurt.
Hell, he’d muddled up her emotions so much that she no longer knew what she wanted. Which made her angry again.
What she needed was some time away from it all. Away from Levi, her feelings, and away from her thoughts. And she couldn’t just spend that time muddling around in Pelican Point alone. What she really needed was a day of shopping and friends.
So, she set out to convince her friends to take the day off and spend it with her. After all, the last time they’d all had a day together was before the camp had opened.
After two days of nagging, they caved in. Of course, it took some doing to be able to move everyone’s schedules around. But by her next day off, the five best friends were heading towards Destin in Scarlett’s car.
“When was the last time we did this?” Hannah asked from her spot squished between Zoey and Aubrey in the back seat. The three of them were the smallest of the group and therefore destined to always share the back seat when they rode together.
“We’ve hung out a lot at the camp, but it’s been almost a full year since we took a day off and had fun,” Zoey responded.
“Days off are one thing. Fun days off are another,” Elle responded.
Scarlett remembered several days in the past year that they’d spent together. Usually it was worrying over Elle when she was sick, or Hannah after she’d been kidnapped.
“So,” Zoey broke into the silence that followed Elle’s statement, “Scarlett and Levi…” Her sister left the question hanging.
“I know.” Hannah giggled. “I can practically see the steam coming off them every time they’re around one another.”
“Shut up.” Scarlett groaned.
“I don’t know what happened during their last day off, but wowzah,” Elle chuckled.
“Shut up. Shut up.” Scarlett groaned again.
“So, are you going to spill?” Aubrey asked.
Scarlett wished she could close her eyes, but since she’d been picked as designated driver, she kept them glued to the road. “No,” she answered after a few calming breaths.
“Come on.” Her sister leaned slightly forward and tapped her on the shoulder. “Everyone can tell you two took it to the next base.”
“Second base?” Aubrey gasped. “They passed second base finally?”
Everyone in the car laughed. “Oh, I think that base was passed a long time
ago,” Zoey added, leaning back again.
“Third base?” Elle asked. Scarlett could feel everyone’s eyes on hers. She chose not to move, not even blink.
“Oh, I’m guessing they passed that one too,” her traitor of a sister added.
“Seriously?” Hannah sighed. “Those are some fond memories, passing those bases for the first time with Owen.”
“Seriously, stop,” Scarlett said.
“Who started the whole base metaphor anyway?” Aubrey asked. “I mean, of course it had to be a man.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Could you imagine if a woman had been the first to invent a metaphor for getting her hands around a guy’s…?” Aubrey cleared her throat.
“Dick?” Zoey supplied.
“Seriously?” Elle shook her head. “You’ve been hanging out in the locker room too much.”
“Womb broom? Trouser snake, Rumpleforeskin, knobgoblin, disco stick…” Zoey twisted up her lips and frowned as if she was thinking.
“Cave hunter?” Elle supplied, earning her a look and then more giggles.
“Silent flute,” Hanna added, and everyone burst out laughing.
“Enough,” Scarlett said getting everyone’s attention. “No more penis names in my car.”
“I told you I could do it.” Aubrey smirked as she held out her hand towards Zoey. Zoey dug in her pocket and handed Aubrey a five-dollar bill.
“Did you seriously bet on getting me to say the word penis?” Scarlett gasped.
In response, Elle held out her hand with a giggle and took the five from Aubrey’s hand. Then she held up two fingers and waved them in Aubrey’s face.
“Enough.” Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Seriously, how old are you?”
“Who cares. I now have five extra dollars to spend today.” Elle snapped the bill between her fingers then tucked it away in her shorts.
“Maybe we haven’t had enough time between these little… outings?” Scarlett hinted, but the fact was, she was smiling and enjoying herself. Even if she was the butt of their jokes.
The rest of the short drive into town was filled with the same, leading Scarlett to believe that her friends had needed the day off as much as she had.
Their first stop was at the outlet mall, where they spent more than three hours going from store to store, trying on items and buying things that they wanted or needed. It wasn’t as if Scarlett didn’t go into town often, she just didn’t go with the people she deemed her sisters. Which, of course, made the trip far more fun. Not to mention that Hannah was like a walking clothes designer.
It was thanks to her that they had amazing outfits for their fancy dinners or costumes for the festive parties they hosted on an almost nightly basis.
Still, Scarlett was surprised at how well the five of them shopped together. It wasn’t as if they’d practiced or had even done it often, but as they moved from store to store, they picked out things that they wanted for themselves or needed for the camp. Okay, most of the stuff they were lugging around in bags was things that they needed for the camp.
The items ranged from matching outfits for the friends for evening events to small items or furniture for a new cabin, which would be delivered next week. By the time they stopped for lunch, Scarlett had spent most of her extra spending money.
Since the sale of their father’s business, she’d taken Zoey’s advice on investing some of the money that had come in. Most of her stocks had paid off well enough that she had a bank account that she didn’t have to worry about. Still, she had set a limit for herself each month to keep herself grounded.
Hannah and Aubrey had grown up with wealth, but they had never acted like the rest of the girls had in the camp. One of Scarlett’s strongest memories was how Jenny and her cronies had flaunted their wealth, as if they’d done anything to deserve it.
The Wildflowers had never really focused on money. Their friendship was beyond any material things, which Jenny and the rest of the girls who attended the summer camp hadn’t understood.
One summer, it had finally gotten out that Aubrey’s father was Harold Smith, one of the wealthiest men alive. Jenny had desperately tried to befriend Aubrey after that. Of course, Aubrey had shut her down quickly.
It was strange. Even though all of them had come from money, they had all been cut off at one point. By the time they had decided to open the camp back up, they had all been pretty much broke.
Zoey and Scarlett’s father had taken all of the money with him when he’d left their family for a younger woman.
The five friends had pooled together their savings and scraped pennies together to make it work for that first year, and it had given them the perspective they’d all needed.
They didn’t need their families’ money. They had each other.
“You’re quiet.” Elle nudged her. They were sitting in a restaurant in Destin, overlooking the calm emerald green waters on the gulf. Scarlett picked up her fancy blue drink, sans any alcohol, sipped it, then shrugged.
“I was just remembering our first summer at the camp.” She smiled and glanced around the table. “How far we’ve come since then.”
Hannah chuckled. “We were all skinny awkward girls. No wonder we became friends.”
“You have never been awkward,” Aubrey added as she dipped a coconut shrimp into the tangy sauce and bit into it.
Scarlett grabbed the last one before someone else could. “I was the only awkward one,” she admitted, “being the youngest. I used to trip all over myself that first summer.”
Elle laughed. “You fell off the pier so many times.”
“Fell?” She arched her eyebrows. “You mean pushed by that one.” She pointed to Hannah with her shrimp. Hannah reached over and snagged it from her fingers. “Hey, get off, that’s mine.”
Hannah laughed and shoved it in her mouth quickly.
“Easy, girls,” Zoey added. “I ordered more.” She motioned to the waitress who delivered another plate.
Scarlett took two and guarded them by wrapping her hand around her plate. Hannah laughed.
“Here’s to Elle.” Zoey held up her matching blue drink. “For bringing us all together that first summer.”
“To Elle.” Everyone held up their matching drinks. Scarlett glass connected with everyone else’s. Her drink looked so bare next to the other’s since she had disposed of her little umbrella and had eaten her fruit a few moments after it had been delivered.
She was thankful when the lunch talk turned towards her sister’s wedding plans instead of what was between her and Levi. She didn’t even really know at this point what was still between them. She’d been ready to take him up to her room and… well, take things to the next level or base… whatever.
It wasn’t as if she could deny the attraction that she had towards him. Her body heated each time he was within a mile radius of her, against her will. It was as if her body had already made up its mind about sleeping with Levi.
“I know that look.” Her sister nudged her. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she lied automatically, which caused Zoey to shake her head.
“Nope, can’t do that. I know you too well. Is it the wedding plans? Did you not like the idea Aubrey had?”
“What?” She hadn’t even been paying attention to what they’d been talking about. Looking at everyone, she realized she’d been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she hadn’t been helping them plan her sister’s bridal shower. Damn. “No,” she answered again.
“She was too busy dreaming about Levi to hear my plans,” Aubrey teased, nudging her under the table with her flip flop.
“Was not,” she lied again.
“Wow, two lies in a row,” her sister said, shaking her head. “Spill. What happened between you two that has Levi all…”
“Quiet,” Elle supplied.
“Not happy,” Hannah added. “He used to be the life of the party, but over the past week he’s been moping around like a kicked puppy.”
�
��Oh god.” Aubrey faked a gasp. “Did you kick our poor Levi?”
“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes. Then she leaned on the table, knowing she wouldn’t be able to think straight until she confessed. Completely. “Fine.” She threw her hands up. “I don’t know what I did to piss him off.”
“He’s pissed at you?” Zoey asked, her eyes narrowing, indicating she was thinking. “What’d you do?” Someone nudged her under the table. “I mean, since we’ve been back here, you’ve been pissed at him. But not once have I seen him pissed at you.”
“I’m not sure what I did. I mean, one minute we were kissing and pulling each other’s clothes off, the next…”
“Wait.” Aubrey held up her hand and then leaned closer. “You were what? Did I miss something here?” She glanced around.
“Tell us everything,” Hannah said, resting her chin in her hands.
Glancing around the table at the faces looking at her, she knew there was no getting away from it now. She would have to tell her friends, her sisters, everything.
Chapter Ten
Why had he thought that staying away from Scarlett would be an acceptable plan? He was in complete hell. Here it was, just over a week after he’d kissed her, and he could still taste her lips on his.
By the end of the first week, he was in a foul mood. So much so that everyone around him noticed it. He was looking forward to his two days off. Time at home always seemed to center him.
He spent his first day off finishing all the work that needed to be done around the house. He even got the new hardwood flooring installed in the kitchen and painted the cabinets seashell cream, as his grandmother had wanted. Installing the little shell door handles had been a bitch, but since his gran was there helping, he’d had to refrain from cursing.
By the end of the night, he was back in the garage lifting weights to burn off the rest of his frustration.
He knew that Scarlett and her friends had spent the day together in Destin. Actually, everyone in the camp knew it since schedules had had to be moved around. No one had complained, since, as bosses, they allowed people to fill in for each other all the time if requested.