Yes, yes. Stick to the weather. The weather and the appalling price of real estate.
Petunia squealed, and Levi turned to smile at the pig.
His warm gaze slid up to meet Carly’s eyes. “Hey.”
“Hi, babe!” Carly launched her body toward Levi and planted a big kiss on his lips.
She meant the kiss to be a quick buss for Irene’s benefit, but Levi tightened his arms around her hips. He tugged her in tight and put some tongue in the kiss. Her fake fiancé was not shy about PDA.
Unbelievably. Hot.
“Oh, my.” Irene laughed.
Levi pulled back, and his eyebrows went up at seeing Irene. “Hi.”
“Irene came by to support the event. Pilots and Paws is such a worthy organization. They do such great work uniting pets with their forever families.” Carly might be laying it on a little thick, but sue her for being a bit wowed by that kiss.
Levi squatted in front of Petunia and removed her leash. “Who’s this?”
“Petunia. She belongs to someone who had to get out of line. I’m sure she’ll be right back.”
Like he’d been bathing pigs his entire life, Levi went to work on Petunia.
“Frank is here, too.” Irene pointed in his direction. “Sitting right over there.”
“Great,” Levi said, and Carly couldn’t tell whether this was a welcome development in his opinion. Only his shoulders showed some strain. He pointed. “Grace is here, too. You might as well say hello.”
“Yes, we’ll go ahead and do that.” Irene walked toward Grace.
Levi lifted Petunia and placed her in the sudsy water. She seemed to like it, too, just like the lady said she would. She made a strange half-honk and half-squealing sound. Carly kept quiet and let Levi work. Quiet worked for her, too, especially when it involved watching Levi bend and, as his board shorts ran down low on his hips, reveal a patch of golden skin. He had a perfect ass. And it was official—Carly was boy crazy. Er, man crazy. She and Petunia, that was. The smart pig had rolled on her side, perhaps to make it easier for Levi to cop a feel. Carly would swear Petunia had batted her eyelashes at the man.
“You okay?” Levi squatted next to Petunia, rubbing her belly with a wet brush as he washed her. He cocked his head to Carly, waiting for her answer.
If he was talking about the other night, no, she was not. She’d been thinking about him way too much. “I didn’t know they’d be here. She just...showed up.”
“It’ll be okay.” He spoke smoothly and without an ounce of emotion.
That was Levi. Cool. Calm. No fear. She wondered if he’d give her lessons.
He rinsed Petunia off one last time with a large sponge, then lifted her out of the tub and straightened to his full height.
“She wants to know a good time to go out to dinner. What should I say?”
“Stall.”
“Good idea. I’ll tell her I’m too busy with work. You’re too busy with work. We’re both just way too busy.”
“So long as you don’t make it sound like we’re so busy we can’t take care of Grace.”
“Right.”
“I’m not worried.” He grinned. “You’ve got this.”
“Yes. Yes, I do. Okay. I should get Petunia back to her owner. Wait. Where’s Petunia?” Carly turned in a circle. No Petunia.
“Shit.” Levi stared in the direction of the airstrip, which of course was fenced off to the general public.
Petunia was headed for the fence where there was a strip of grass and dirt. Mostly dirt. Carly ran for the pig, but Levi, with his long legs, quickly outpaced her. Petunia squealed as if she’d finally tasted the sweet freedom of her ancestors. Dirt, straight ahead. Could paradise be far behind?
Carly heard a woman screech, “My pig! Petunia, come back to me. Come back!”
“I’ve got this!” Levi yelled.
“I’ve got this!” Carly waved to the woman.
Levi reached the pig first, of course, but Carly was right behind him. He put his hands on Petunia, but she snorted and, being wet, slipped out of his grip.
Carly tried to block her between them and got a hand on her once, but Petunia got away. Now she was slippery, wet and muddy thanks to the dirt. When she tried to make a run for it again, Carly threw herself on top of her. But it seemed that the harder Carly clung, the more Petunia wriggled. She squealed and snorted in a most unladylike way. And dear God in heaven, was Carly actually wrestling with a pig? Wearing her favorite Forever 21 summer dress?
“Aren’t you going to help me? Put the leash on her! Levi. Hurry! I’ve got her.”
But he simply stood over her, hands on hips, grinning ear to ear. He’d been joined by the pig owner on one side, and Mr. and Mrs. Lane on the other. Mrs. Lane had a worried look on her face, but the amusement in Levi’s eyes was impossible to miss. The owner bent to leash Petunia.
Levi grinned and held out his hand. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you never to wrestle with a pig?”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
A FEW MINUTES LATER, Levi tried his damnedest to school his expression into something resembling concern. Do. Not. Laugh. His grandfather had not laughed at him the time he’d tried to milk a cow and been rewarded with a spray of milk that had covered his eyes. His mouth. His ears. Pop hadn’t laughed. He’d coughed, turned and excused himself to get a towel. Probably had a good long chuckle on the way to the kitchen.
Carly sat on a chair in Stone’s office, streaks of mud on her chin, cheeks and nose. Blond hair wild and unruly. Short dress muddy. Even her sandals had been through the wringer. She looked like she’d been in a fight with a...well, a pig. Which told him two new things about this woman: she did not give up easily, or mind getting a little dirty in the process.
Good to know.
He wiped mud off her chin with the wet towel Emily had given her and bit his lower lip. “There’s an old saying. If you wrestle with a pig, you’ll get dirty. And the pig will only—”
She held up her index finger. “Don’t finish that sentence.”
He grinned.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” She grabbed his hand from where it was busy cleaning off her nose and brought it down.
He took control back and went back to wiping at her cheeks. “Enjoy is probably not a strong enough word.”
“This is so embarrassing. Petunia was supposed to be trained, like a dog. That’s what her owner said.”
“You can take the pig off the ranch, but you can’t... I forgot how that one goes.”
“Thank God.”
“You’re pretty sexy when you’re mud wrestling, you know?”
“How can you laugh about this? I looked like a fool in front of the Lanes. That can’t be good.”
“Nah, you just looked like someone who takes her responsibilities seriously.”
“That’s what I was going for.”
“I’d say you got it done.”
She brought his hand down again, and this time he allowed it. “Thanks for taking care of me like a good fiancé might do.”
“No worries, though I don’t think they noticed me bring you inside. They’re with Cassie and Grace now.”
“So no one saw us come in here?”
“Don’t think so. Matt’s washing twice the number of pets right now, which is fine with me.”
“If I haven’t said it enough, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make life harder for you, pretending to be my fiancé. I should have considered you might be interested in or dating someone else. It was shortsighted of me, I know. I just...reacted. I’m really sorry.”
“Being your fake fiancé is not the worst thing to ever happen to me.” Not even the second or third, but he wasn’t going there.
“Were you dating anyone here?”
Seemed like a crisis of conscience had overcome Cute Stuck-Up Girl. Cute Sexy now. “A coffee date with Lily Hamilton. I was supposed to call and follow up for dinner.”
She closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Lily. She’s so nice. I’m so sorry, Levi.”
“It wasn’t a thing. And you should know, anyway, after you and I kissed, I had no intention of calling her. I haven’t had time to...date. Or anything.” And it had been far too long without the or anything. Also not going there.
“Me, too. I think I forgot how to act around someone of the opposite sex.”
His gaze heated. “You did fine the other night on the couch.”
She coughed. “Yeah. Thanks.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t normally wrestle a pig in front of a guy? Because that can be a mating call in some countries.” He managed to keep a straight face.
She rolled her eyes at him. “No. I don’t have the most stellar history with men.”
“Get out. My fiancée? How did you catch me, then?”
She didn’t laugh. “I wouldn’t normally go out with a guy like you, anyway. Guys like you don’t go for girls like me.”
“Guys like me?”
“I know I’m not sexy, or anything.”
“Yeah, you are,” he said. “Otherwise, I don’t think we’d be engaged.”
“That isn’t funny.”
“It’s a little funny.”
She didn’t say anything for a beat, but then stood. “I have freckles and wild wavy hair that won’t do what I tell it. I’m a little chunky. Oh, sorry. Curvy. I guess maybe your type is someone like Joanne.”
“Joanne?”
“Never mind. Forget I said anything. It’s just that I...don’t want you to think this pretending has to go on behind closed doors. You don’t have to act like you find me attractive. Or...tongue kiss me in front of Irene.”
“Oh, yeah. She saw that, didn’t she? Seriously, Carly. You’ve got to be kidding me if you have any doubts about how sexy you are. When I said you drive me crazy, I meant every word. You’re a knockout.”
“I’m not fishing for compliments, and you don’t have to say that.”
“I know I don’t have to. Not like you’re going to break up with me if I don’t. This is just me...being honest. Like we said we were going to be.”
“Okay.” She let out a long breath. “Thanks.”
“But I’d seriously like to kick the ass of whatever guy made you feel like you weren’t.”
There was definitely something there, given the suddenly guarded expression in her gaze and her lack of response. Bingo. A dude. An idiot. Possibly someone a hell of a lot like...him. He didn’t want to believe it, but it made sense. It was there in the way she carried herself, with a heartbreaking bravado he saw right through.
“Here’s what you need to know. Most of us are jerks. And we wouldn’t know a good thing if it hit us in the nut sack.”
“Not all of you.” She rubbed her knee, which hiked up her dress higher, not that he should be noticing.
But okay, he did. He noticed everything about her. The way she subconsciously rubbed her ring when she was nervous. Scared. For whatever reason, she was still wary of him. Afraid to be alone with him, maybe. Not that he blamed her. He was a little out of his element here, too, if he was honest. He’d dated plenty of beautiful women in the past. Then there was Carly. She was nothing if not beautiful, but here was the thing. She was also...so damn real.
He stepped into her space again, drew her in by the nape of her neck and, for a moment, just stared into those liquid amber eyes. She had him feeling protective about a woman for the first time in a long while. Caring about her feelings. He’d dragged her into an office and cleaned her up so that she wouldn’t be humiliated.
He didn’t know what had gotten into him lately. “Don’t do that. Don’t ever think that you’re not perfect the way you are.”
“That’s easy for someone like you to say.”
“Like me?”
“You have a mirror, don’t you?”
“So you think I’m a hunk?” He grinned.
She wouldn’t look at him directly, as if he was the sun and she’d forgotten her shades. “You’re okay.”
He liked the way she gave him shit. Definitely not making it easy for him. Even so, he leaned in closer. Zeroed in on her lips.
Lifting her up, he backed up and set her on the desk, hiked her dress up to her hips and stepped between her legs. The smile slipped off her face, replaced by a heated gaze in her beautiful amber eyes. He kissed her, hard, trying to communicate in one kiss all he wanted to do to her. Ravage her for hours. Listen to her scream his name. All he needed were a few uninterrupted hours and a little privacy.
She moaned when his hands lifted her up enough to cup and squeeze her ass. “We...can’t do this here.”
“Not here, no,” he said against her collarbone, nipping her. “I have big plans for you.”
Her hands came around his neck, tugging him closer. “And I have some for you.”
He pulled back and took a minute to just study her. How had he never noticed how beautiful she was? Nothing cute about her. She was devastating. He’d had knockouts before, but Carly was hotter than all of them put together. Sweet. Loving. So soft.
A knock on the door he’d neglected to lock had him separating from her quickly. Carly straightened the skirt of her dress.
“Levi?” Sarah’s voice.
“Come in,” he said, then cleared his throat.
Sarah opened the door, and her intelligent eyes seemed to make a quick assessment that she’d interrupted something. “I wanted to check on Carly. Everything okay?”
“I’m fine.” Carly hopped off the desk and headed to the door. “Just a little muddy, but I’m all cleaned up now.”
“The lines have died down, so we’re good with just Stone and Matt.”
“I should go find my friends.” Carly walked past Sarah, then turned to Levi. “See you later.”
He cracked a smile and watched her go.
Sarah caught Levi’s gaze, hands on hips. Not saying a word. Women. She wanted to say something to him, so what the hell was she waiting for?
“What?” Levi finally asked.
“You know what,” she said.
Matt appeared behind her. “You’re engaged?”
Crap. Levi slid a hand down his face. “Where did you hear that?”
“Mrs. Lane told anyone who would listen. Everyone in my line wanted their dog washed and the scoop on whether you’ll be registered at Target or someplace else.”
“What the hell?”
“That’s right,” Matt said. “What the hell, Levi? I’ve saved your ass so many times I’ve lost count. You’re going to get married and not tell me? Your compadre? Your bud?”
“Please, Matt,” Sarah said. “If anyone should be upset, it should be me. I could tell them all the best places in the area to register. We just did.”
Levi closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t need any help registering. There’s no wedding.”
“Well, that was quick,” Matt said. “You’re a little too fickle, dude.”
“Oh, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Watching me squirm.”
“Definitely not true,” Matt said with one of the widest grins Levi had ever seen on him. “I’m here for you. Nasty breakups are no fun.”
Levi groaned. “Everyone’s a comedian. Not. Getting. Married.”
“Then why does Mrs. Lane think you’re engaged?” Sarah asked.
“That’s because...she thinks we are.”
Matt nodded. “Sure, sure. That makes about as much sense as anything else.”
“Look, Carly’s just going through some...hard stuff right now
, and it made sense,” Levi said. “What Mrs. Lane doesn’t know won’t hurt her. She seems to like Carly, and that sort of helps me, too. By association.”
“About that,” Matt said. “Sarah told me something about an emergency screening you almost lost your cookies over?”
Levi glared at Sarah.
“Hey, I sleep with him. What do you want from me?” Sarah excused herself and left the office, leaving Levi alone with Matt.
“I didn’t want you and Stone to worry about me. I’ve got it covered.”
Matt shut the door. “Yeah, I know. You don’t need anyone’s help. You’re fine on your own. You can do it all. Super Dad. I know.”
“Never said that. Anyway, the whole thing’s been scrapped. Thanks to Carly.”
“Yeah, so here’s the thing. You might have wanted to swing this one by me. A noncustodial grandparent has few rights in California. It’s not like I was married to her, and Joanne never had to take me to court over anything, but you know my dad. He wanted to make sure. So he researched the crap out of custody law. And unless it’s changed a lot in the last fifteen years, I don’t see how the Lanes could have requested an emergency screening. There has to be a mistake.”
That didn’t exactly compute. Mrs. Lane had seemed sincere enough at the park. Unless the person behind the scenes and causing all the angst was the one person he hadn’t spoken to yet.
Mr. Lane.
No doubt about it. He and Mr. Lane were going to have to sit down and have a talk. Man to man.
“Somehow I doubt it’s a mistake.” Levi shoved past Matt, nearly shoulder checking him when he did.
“Right behind you,” Matt said.
Levi had had enough of all the shit. He’d been deceived first by Sandy, when she’d never bothered to tell him he would be a father. Now Sandy’s father had it in for him, obviously trying his damnedest to destroy whatever slice of peace Levi could grasp. Hold on to for a minute. No. This had to stop, and he’d be the one to stop it.
Like a bull about to charge, Levi made his way outside. But though he scanned the crowd three times, Mr. and Mrs. Lane were already gone.
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