I listened to a scattered list of possible events until I jumped on a fund-raiser for military spouses in need. “That’s the one. Send me some information about it, will you? And, also, I’d like to have a press conference while I’m there. Can you help me arrange it?”
When I hung up, I was pleased with my plan.
I wasn’t a little girl. I wasn’t a fluttering fairy.
I was a competent professional, and I wasn’t going to let anyone—crazed villains or infuriating ex-Marines—force me into helplessness.
Jack had been talking to someone nearby, but he turned toward me after I hung up. “Heading out of town?” he asked with casual interest.
“Not until the weekend. I won’t have to miss any work.”
“Great. Sounds good.”
He wandered back to his office, and I checked my email for the information about the DC fund-raiser.
***
When I left work later that day, I was trying not to scream at Randy.
“What do you mean you told him he could informally check around to see who might be after me?” I demanded.
“Well, he wanted to help, so I gave him a few things he might do. He’d have done it anyway, whether I suggested it or not.”
“But you had no right to suggest it. I would have come in today myself to report the hit-and-run, and I don’t want Levi to think he has any authority to interrogate my friends and coworkers.”
“I know you like to be independent, but this could be serious. Levi is a good guy to have around if there’s any trouble.”
“I don’t want him around,” I gritted out. “Don’t you dare suggest anything of the kind to him—or anyone else—again.”
He made some apologetic murmurs, although I could tell he wasn’t really sorry at all and he thought I was being irrational.
Maybe I was being irrational, but that was what happened when you were trapped in a corner. You came out fighting.
No matter who was doing the trapping.
When I pulled my car out onto the street, I happened to glance in the rearview mirror and notice a familiar truck a few car lengths behind me.
I gasped in surprise.
Thinking I must be imagining it, I made a quick left turn without putting on my turn signal.
Sure enough, the truck turned too.
That fucking bastard. Was he actually just going to follow me around?
I shook with anger for a few minutes until I got hit with a brainstorm. It would be easier without the sprain, but any discomfort I faced would be well worth the payoff.
So I stopped at the first drugstore I passed and got out. I walked immediately to the feminine hygiene aisle. Then I waited.
In about three minutes, Levi appeared in the aisle. I figured he’d lurk around the entrance for a bit, hoping I was just grabbing something, but when I took too long he’d come to find me, to make sure I hadn’t been kidnapped and whisked away out a back door or something.
I gave him a sweet smile. “What a coincidence!”
He obviously knew that I knew what he was doing, but he was definitely off stride because I wasn’t launching an attack.
“Well, since you’re here, you can help hold things for me while I shop.” I grabbed a jumbo-sized package of sanitary pads and an enormous box of tampons, and I handed them to him. “Thanks.”
Then I turned on my heel and limped down the aisle.
Noticing the section of condoms, I grabbed a big box and turned around. He was still standing there like a statue, holding the female-product packages. “Well, come on,” I urged him. “I don’t have all day to shop.”
He gave me a cool glare but started toward me, making an obvious point of maintaining his macho aloofness.
I thrust the condoms at him and kept shopping.
I walked through every single aisle of the store and found some hemorrhoid wipes, adult diapers, and men’s hair-growth cream for him to carry too. People were definitely giving him strange looks as he trailed me with his collection of items, but he never said a word.
Just gave me darker and darker looks.
When I circled back and found some his-and-her-lubricant intended to increase the pleasure during sex, his composure almost cracked. I saw it happen, but he managed to hold it together.
With a sigh, I led him to the cashier and paid for all the loot he dumped on the counter.
“I hope you had fun,” he muttered as we left. He’d taken the bags, so he put them in the trunk of my car.
I gave a blithe shrug. “All of them are necessary items.”
“I think the hemorrhoid wipes and the sexy lubricant might be counterproductive.”
I almost—almost—laughed, but I didn’t. Just arched my eyebrows and got in my driver’s seat. “See you at the next stop,” I called out at him, smothering a laugh at his expression.
I stopped at another drugstore, a small grocery store, and convenience store, at each one making him carry a similarly embarrassing collection of items. I thought for sure he’d give up after the second one, but he kept trailing me at every stop I made.
I did hit pay dirt at the convenience store, where we ran into a guy Levi went to high school with while we were standing in line to pay.
I thought the guy’s eyes would bug out of his head when he saw Levi with feminine sanitary items tucked under his arms and a motley collection of other supplies preciously balanced on a pile he was carrying, with the lubricant the crown on the top.
I had to give up after that stop though. For one, my ankle was killing me. For another, these items were really starting to add up, and I didn’t have that much extra in my bank account.
So I headed over to Levi’s apartment, deciding I’d end this delightful shopping trip with a flourish.
He was out of his truck almost before he could have put it in park. Certainly before I got my seat belt off.
“What are we doing here?” he demanded, looking confused and suspicious.
“Don’t get worried,” I told him. “I just need to store some of this stuff here. My mom would totally freak if I brought in the lubricant and all these condoms to the house.”
He looked vaguely relieved that I didn’t have something worse planned for him.
I quickly tried to think of something worse he might have been afraid of, but he must be more creative than me because I couldn’t think of anything good I could do here to drive him even more crazy.
So I just opened my trunk, emptied one of the bags, and filled it with all the condoms and the lubricant.
“So your mom will be okay with your bringing the adult diapers into the house?”
“I think I’ll have to donate those,” I admitted. “And maybe some of the tampons. It will be years before I can use all of these.”
I heard him chuckling, low in his throat, but I didn’t look at his face, afraid I might start to laugh too.
I was angry with him, I reminded myself. Absolutely furious.
I wanted to claw his face off.
Laughing with him would hardly be an appropriate way to express this anger.
I winced as I turned and put weight on my ankle. I tried to hide it, but not effectively.
“You better come inside and put ice on that ankle,” he said in a different tone. He sounded concerned, not bossy, and it really was hurting.
So I said, “Okay. If you think you can refrain from obnoxiousness for about ten minutes.”
“I can, if you can refrain from torturing me for fun.”
I tried to fight a twitch of my lips. “But it’s so fun.”
He responded with a half smile of his own, and we headed into his apartment.
I collapsed on his couch and stretched out my leg, trying not to remember that we’d kissed on a different couch almost twenty-four hours ago.
He brought ice for my ankle and then sat in the chair beside the couch. He lifted his eyebrows in a dry look. “So did you have enough fun this evening?”
I couldn’t help but gi
ggle a little as I thought about his face, carrying around all the embarrassing stuff. “It was kind of fun.”
“What kind of a reaction were you hoping for?”
“Honestly, I figured you’d be cool and collected—like you were. But I thought you might give up following me.”
“You’re not going to scare me away with feminine hygiene products.”
I laughed again, recognizing something soften in my chest at the sight of the warm smile in his eyes. For some reason he was more attractive now than he’d been even the day before. More human or something.
I cleared my throat, reminding myself that indulging an attraction to Levi was probably not a smart thing to do. Was definitely not a smart thing to do. “You’re a brave man,” I said, keeping my voice light.
“I hope so.”
Something had shifted in his voice, and I could see it in his eyes too. It felt serious, private, intimate. I gave a little nod in response, understanding him even in the way our gazes held.
I had to break the gaze eventually, though, since my heart began to flutter in a very dangerous way.
Instead, I relaxed and closed my eyes as the pain in my ankle started to subside.
“Can I ask you a question?” I said, before I knew I was going to speak the words.
“Sure.”
I opened my eyes and saw him watching me with a sober look, as if he knew what I was going to ask was important. Maybe it wasn’t important, but it had hurt me a lot back then.
So I said softly, “Why didn’t you show up for the prom?”
He blinked. “What?”
“The prom. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten. We were supposed to go, and I was all ready, and I was excited, and…” My voice broke slightly from a tightness of emotion. “And you never showed up.”
He’d straightened up and something urgent and confused had transformed his face. “Didn’t Gavin tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“That I wasn’t going to take you. He said he would take care of it.”
My heart was racing now, and I could barely breathe. “What do you mean? Gavin knew? You’re saying he knew?”
“Of course he knew! He was the one who came to me and demanded that I not go with you. He was… well, he was worried for you, and I guess I can understand that. But he said he was going to take care of things with you. I assumed he’d tell you that I wasn’t going to show up.” Levi’s voice was hoarse, and he rubbed his eyes briefly. “Oh, fuck, you’re saying that you didn’t know and I just never showed up?”
I was shaking now, like the whole world was being remade. “Y-yes. I thought you’d… just forgotten me.”
“I’m so sorry, baby. I knew you’d be disappointed that I had to cancel, but I never would have… I never would have left you hanging on purpose.”
“Really?” My voice wobbled embarrassingly.
He reached over and cupped my face with one hand. “I wanted to go with you. A lot. So much that it might have been a good thing that Gavin interfered.”
“Why would he do that to me?”
“I’m sure he was trying to protect you. I’m sure he did what he thought was right.”
Of course he had. He was my brother. He never would have hurt me on purpose.
And somehow it changed things to know that Levi never would have hurt me on purpose either.
I nodded. “He loved me. I don’t want to be angry at him when he’s not here to defend himself.”
“Then don’t be angry at him.” Levi paused. “And don’t be angry at me either.”
“I’m not,” I whispered, my body flooded with feelings so strong I could barely handle them.
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, trying to slow down my heartbeat.
When I opened them again, Levi was still gazing at me.
“What?” I demanded softly, feeling self-conscious.
He shook his head.
“What?”
“I was just wondering why you always have to be so damn beautiful. I thought so back then, and I still think so now.”
My lips parted slightly as my heart exploded with feeling again.
He continued, his voice low and husky in a way I almost never heard it. “And I was wondering why I can’t be smart and just keep my mouth shut instead of saying things like that.”
“So why did you say it?” I asked, something pulsing in my blood that had nothing to do with the pain in my ankle.
He stood up and stepped over, kneeling next to the couch beside me. “Because it’s true. It’s so damn true.”
So I admit it. My mouth fell open again. I stared at him from where I reclined on the couch, and there was no way in the world I could look away from his hot eyes, his chiseled features, his softening lips.
Then his lips were moving toward me, and I desperately wanted them to. I mean, desperately. I’d never wanted to be kissed so much in my life.
I already knew what it was like to kiss Levi. I knew how good it was. And something about the way I felt right now and the way he was looking at me promised even more.
I lifted my shoulders up off the couch so I could meet his mouth more easily. His lips took mine hard and urgent, and it triggered a visceral hunger in me. I reached around to grab at the back of his neck as his tongue slid against my mouth. Then inside.
Feeling and sensation coursed through me, causing my skin to flush and my heart to pound. Levi made a throaty sound and moved over me more so he could kiss me more deeply.
I was rocking beneath him, the compulsion of a building arousal driving my body into rhythmic motion. He was mostly on the couch now too, his chest pressing into mine as I tried to wrap one of my legs around his hips.
I had to turn my head and gasp when I felt suddenly like my head might explode. I couldn’t understand how I’d gotten turned on so quickly, from nothing more than a kiss.
“You okay?” he asked, panting audibly. He straightened up slightly, and when I turned to look up at him, I saw he was searching my expression.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just about to go wild for no particular reason.”
His expression shifted, and he gave me a wicked look. “What do you mean no particular reason? I think there’s a very particular reason.” He reached down to cup my face with his hand and gently caressed my lips with his thumb.
The light touch felt so good I felt arousal pulse stronger between my legs. I gasped again and reached up to grab the couch cushion.
“See,” he said, his smile broadening. “I told you there was a reason.”
“Don’t get smug.” I reached out toward his crotch and was infinitely pleased to find a hard bulge at the front of his jeans. “It feels like you have pretty good reason yourself.”
“Damn right.” With a soft groan, he leaned back down to claim my lips, but this time he pulled me up instead of lowering himself onto me. He easily hauled me up from my position and rearranged me onto his lap. He was incredibly strong—I knew that firsthand—but I’m still not sure how he managed to move me so easily.
But move me he did. I’d been stretched out on the couch, but in just a few seconds he was seated on the couch instead and I was straddling his lap.
I’ve got to admit it. I had no complaints about this new arrangement. I clawed at the back of his neck and shoulders as his kiss became hot and aggressive. I wanted it. Needed it. Opened more fully to him and met the motion of his tongue with mine.
My body was alive with pleasure, excitement, and increasing need, and I started grinding myself against his groin to answer the deepening ache.
“Harper,” Levi murmured, finally releasing my mouth. “Harper, you’re incredible.”
I gave a silly whimper in response—which was as lucid as I was capable of at the moment—and let my head fall back, arching my neck and dragging in thick gasps of air.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said hoarsely, his big hands sliding down to span the curve of my bottom. “So beautiful and hot and eager. Fuck, I’
ve never wanted anyone so much.”
It was exactly what I needed to hear. I rubbed my arousal against the hardness of his, desperate for relief and not caring how shamelessly uninhibited I was in my need.
His hands tightened on my hips, holding me in place from my frantic motion. “Not so fast,” he rasped, “or it will be over before it’s begun.”
I clawed at his neck some more and struggled to move against the strength of his hands. “But I need to come so bad.” I was half-embarrassed to admit it, but the deep need for him was just too strong.
“You will,” he murmured, sliding his hands up to my ribs and then higher to cup my breasts. “Just trust me. You will.”
I breathed deeply to calm myself down, trying to fight the instinct to hump him until I came. I arched into his hands when he started to gently fondle my nipples through my shirt. “I’m not big on trust,” I managed to gasp, the words slipping out without conscious thought, so overwhelmed was I by emotion, sensation.
“Me either.” His words seemed just as unconscious as mine were. “But trust me in this. I want to make you come like you’ve never come before. I want to make you come apart beneath me.” He pulled my head down with one hand and kissed me softly. “What do you want?”
“I want that.” Our foreheads leaned together briefly. “But I want you to come apart too.”
“You first.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. And the amusement shook my whole body. I could tell he was smiling as he wrapped his arms around me in what was almost a hug. Finally he asked, “Should we go to the bedroom?”
“Yes, please.”
He chuckled at the irony of my words, and then he moved me off him so he could stand up. Before I could stand up fully, he’d swung me up in his arms and carried me into his bedroom.
“I didn’t think you would indulge in romantic gestures,” I told him, wrapping my arms around his neck and unable not to enjoy being carried by him this way.
“Just practical. With your ankle and all.”
“Ah. I should have known.”
I liked that he was still himself, no matter how turned on we both were. This had happened fast, but he wasn’t a stranger to me. I’d known him all my life. I knew who he was. He was familiar to me in every way.
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