“Thank you guys for tonight,” I say softly to my parents as we stop to catch a cab to head home.
“You’re welcome, honey,” Mom murmurs, wrapping her arm around mine and giving it a squeeze.
“Any time, kiddo.” Dad smiles. I love my mom and dad. They have always made it a point to do things with my sisters and me as a family and with each of us separately. Like on our birthdays we get to choose something to do alone with them. Mine has always consisted of a show, Mac’s is always a baseball game, and Libby—well, Libby usually asks them to take her shopping. They might not be normal parents in a lot of ways, but where it counts, they are better than most.
Finally getting a cab, we head back across town. As soon as we pull up in front of my building, I get out with my mom and head toward the door while my dad pays the cab driver. Punching in the code, I hold open the door for my parents, then scan the street when I hear my name.
“Oh, it’s Levi,” Mom says, and I look to where she’s pointing. Levi is standing with a woman who’s wearing a pair of tight-fitting workout pants and a slim-fitting jacket, and she’s petting my dog.
Um, no!
“Baby, come here,” he calls, staring at me, and I narrow my eyes.
“I’ll meet you guys upstairs in just a minute. I need to get my key from Levi,” I tell my parents as I let the door go.
“Sure, honey,” Mom murmurs. Stomping to the edge of the sidewalk, I look both ways quickly, then continue my stomping as I cross the street toward Levi and the woman who is now sizing me up.
“Hey, baby,” Levi says quietly, and I glare at him, then move my eyes to my girl and take hold of her leash near her neck. No damn way is he going to use my dog to pick up women. Hell, no.
“Levi,” I growl, trying to tug Muffin’s leash from his grasp, but of course he doesn’t let go. No, he uses it to pull me toward him. “Levi,” I cry in frustration as his arm slides around my back and I’m dragged into his front.
“Did you have fun?” he asks, brushing his lips over mine and knocking me completely off kilter. I blink, watching him smile. “Never mind. You can tell me about it when we get inside,” he mutters, touching his lips to mine once more, then turning me in his arm. “Baby. This is . . . Sorry, what’s your name again?” he asks, looking at the woman standing in front of us. Her eyes fill with ice.
“Beth,” she huffs as Muffin’s head moves under my hand.
“Right, Beth, this is Fawn,” he breathes against my ear, making me shiver, and his arm tightens. “We should go in, baby, it’s cold.” He takes my hand in his as nausea and realization fill my stomach. “Have a good night.”
“Yeah, night,” she says, looking us over once more before jogging off. Tugging my hand free from Levi’s grasp once Beth is out of sight, I move ahead of him across the street to where my parents are still standing in the open door of my building, watching us with varying looks on their faces.
“Hi, Levi.” Mom smiles, giving him a hug like she hasn’t seen him in forever, and I fight the urge to scream at the top of my lungs.
“Katie, did you enjoy the show?” Levi asks while my dad and I head up the stairs ahead of him and my mom.
“Oh yes, the show was amazing. Wasn’t it amazing, honey?” she murmurs.
“It was amazing,” I agree through clenched teeth as I head across the open landing toward my apartment. Turning to face Levi outside my door, I move my eyes to his shoulder. “Do you have my key?” I hold out my hand.
“Yep.” He digs into the front pocket of his jeans and pulls it out, dropping it into my open palm.
“Thanks,” I mutter, turning to open the door for my parents. “I’ll be right back.” I smile at them—or try to—as they go inside, then shut the door behind them before they can ask me what I’m doing.
Stomping across the wood floors to Levi’s door, I cross my arms over my chest and tap my foot as I wait for him to unlock it, feeling anger swell inside my chest when I see him smiling. “You okay, babe?”
Am I okay? No. I’m pissed and hurt, but I’m focusing on the pissed part, because that feeling is the safer of the two coursing through me right now. As soon as he unlocks the door, I move in ahead of him and watch him shut the door. “I’m not your woman,” I say as soon as he turns to face me. After watching him cross his arms over his chest, my eyes then move to my dog . . . my dog as she takes a seat at his side, and he raises a brow. “If you don’t want to talk to a woman, just tell her you’re not interested. Don’t use me to throw her off your scent,” I hiss, leaning in, and his eyes narrow. “That is not okay.”
“Are you done?” Pressing my lips tightly together in answer, I move toward the door only to stop as he steps in front of me, blocking my path. “You’ve got me confused with someone else.”
“Confused?” I frown, and he grins.
“You think I’m the kind of guy that would do something like make an excuse to a woman so I don’t hurt her feelings. That’s not me, baby. I’m not that guy. I’m not that nice.”
“You’re nice.” I shake my head, and his fingers run up my jaw, then slide behind my ear, where he tucks a few strands of hair.
“I’m not nice,” he says so sincerely that I almost believe him, but I know the Levi who brought me a cake on my birthday, the Levi who offered to watch Muffin when I’m gone, and he’s nice, really nice. Maybe even too nice.
“You’re always nice to me,” I whisper, and the look in his eyes changes ever so slightly.
“Yeah,” he agrees, sliding his hands around my waist and turning me until we are face-to-face. “I’m always nice to you.”
“Why?”
“Because I like you, because you’re different.”
“You like me?”
“I think I’ve made that pretty clear.”
“What’s going on between us?” I try to keep the vulnerability out of my voice, but it still seeps in. I hate not knowing what I’m doing or where I stand with him. I hate feeling insecure, and I would rather embarrass myself right now and know there is nothing going on than to have one more day go by where I question things.
“Fawn.” His face softens, and his fingers tighten. “Can’t you see I’m trying to figure it out?”
“Oh.” I drop my eyes to his chin and press my lips together. That is not the answer I was looking for.
“Look at me,” he urges, resting his fingers under my jaw, and I reluctantly do.
“What I know is that I like the parts of you you’ve allowed me to see. I enjoy spending time with you and want to do that more. I’m not psychic, I can’t see the future, so I don’t know what will happen between us, but I’m interested in you enough to want to find out.”
“Oh,” I repeat, this time swallowing.
“Now, are you on the same page as me?” he asks, and I nod. “Good. Now are you done being pissed?”
“I wasn’t pissed.”
“Gorgeous.” He sighs, shaking his head. “You were pissed when you saw me across the street with Becky.”
“Beth,” I grumble, and he grins.
“Whatever her name is.”
“I thought you were using my dog to pick up chicks.”
“I’ve never needed a dog to pick up a woman. Besides, I’ve got my hands full with this hot little blonde who lives next door to me and may or may not be crazy.”
“I’m not crazy.” I feign annoyance while secretly doing flips in my head. He thinks I’m hot.
“Crazy people never think they’re crazy, gorgeous.” He grins, and I slap his chest, then feel my mouth soften when he takes my hand to kiss my palm, just like I watched my dad do to my mom at the theater. “Now, why don’t you go on over to your place, make sure your parents are settled, then come back and hang out with me for a while?”
“Sure,” I agree as nervous excitement fills my stomach. Muffin has sprawled out on the couch, making herself at home.
“She can stay.” He brushes his lips over mine as he opens the door.
“Are
you sure?”
“Positive,” he agrees. “Now go on and hurry back to me.” He taps my ass lightly two times, sending me on my way. Stopping with my hand on the knob to my apartment, I turn to find him watching me. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but the look in his eyes makes my mouth dry. Pulling my eyes from him, I scoot through and close the door behind me, finding my parents both on the couch in their pajamas.
“Is everything okay?” Dad asks as soon as my eyes meet his.
“Yep. I’m going to go hang out with Levi for a bit. I’ll be home in a while,” I say as casually as possible, even though my stomach has started to turn with nervous butterflies.
“It’s after eleven,” he states, and Mom smacks his chest. “What?” he asks looking at her.
“Go on. Have fun, honey.” Mom rolls her eyes at him.
“I’m just going to change first,” I say, heading to my bedroom and shutting the door. I take off my coat, toss it to the floor of my closet, and dig though my stuff until I find something to wear. Settling on a pair of leggings, an oversize off-the-shoulder sweater over a tank top, and a pair of scrunched, warm socks, I change as fast as I can, almost taking myself out a few times in my rush.
As soon as I’m done, I go to the door and swing it open. “I’ll see you guys in the morning,” I say, going over to kiss each of my parents’ cheeks.
“Night, honey,” Mom says, kissing the side of my head.
“Night, kiddo,” Dad says, then mutters, “Be smart,” giving me a look that I ignore.
“Tell Levi we’ll see him for breakfast,” Mom says as I slip on my Uggs, and I turn to catch her smiling ear to ear.
“Will do,” I agree, opening and shutting the door behind me. After knocking on Levi’s door, I don’t even have a second to wait before he’s pulling me through the door and shutting it behind me. “What are you doing?” I ask his back as he drags me across the living room.
“We’re going to make out.”
“What?” I squeak as he pulls me into his bedroom and kicks the door closed.
“Your dog’s taking up the couch, so we’re going to make out in here and watch some TV.”
“Oh.” He pushes me onto the bed and looms over me, making me feel dizzy once more. “I thought we were going to get to know each other,” I breathe as his golden eyes search mine.
“We are.” He grins wickedly, then drops his head, covering my mouth with his. After the first touch of his tongue against mine, all I can think is I want to get to know all of him.
Chapter 7
BREAKFAST WITH CRAZY PEOPLE, AKA MY FAMILY
FAWN
Waking slowly, I soak in the feeling of the warm body I’m pressed against and blink my eyes open. Taking in the expanse of Levi’s naked chest and the feel of his abs under my palm, I grin, pressing my face closer to his skin, breathing in his scent. Last night after we made out for a while, we got up and took Muffin for a walk. Then we stopped at the Chinese spot on the corner and ordered lo mein to share. Once we got back to his place, we got into bed and ate while watching TV. I planned on getting up and heading over to my place to sleep, but I must have fallen asleep at some point during our second make-out session.
“You awake?” Levi’s rough, sleepy voice asks as his fingers tighten around my hip.
“Kind of,” I murmur as he pulls me deeper into his side.
“What time do your parents normally wake up?” he asks quietly.
“Maybe eight,” I mutter as his fingers slide up my bare side and my eyes close.
“It’s nine thirty.”
“What?” I practically shout as I sit up quickly with my hands against his abs. I bend half over his body to look at the clock on his bedside table. “Shit,” I groan. I never sleep this late. Ever. “I gotta go.” I hop off the bed to look for the shirt he took off me last night. My sisters and parents are probably having a field day talking about me. I can practically feel my ears ringing.
“So I’m guessing we can’t make out for a while?” he says, and I find him sitting with his back against his black leather headboard, his deep-gray down comforter around his waist, and an amused smile on his face.
“Um . . .” I lick my lips, moving my eyes from his wide chest to his abs, wanting nothing more than to dive back into bed with him.
“Baby.” He chuckles, and my eyes fly up to meet his once more. “You keep looking at me like that, and I won’t let you leave this room.”
“I have to go.” I shake my head to rid the sight of him half-naked from my brain. “My sisters are probably already at my apartment, and I have no doubt they are all talking about me not coming home last night,” I say while pulling my sweater down over my head.
“I thought about waking you after you passed out, but I didn’t want to let you go.” He didn’t want to let me go . . . Oh my . . . My stomach dips, and my legs get weak. “I’ll take Muffin out before I come over for breakfast.”
“Um . . .” I chew the inside of my cheek. “About breakfast.” I try to sound casual as I sit down on the edge of the bed to put on my socks.
“You don’t want me there.” God, when he says it like that, I feel like the world’s biggest jerk.
“It’s not that, exactly, it’s just that my family can be a little . . .”
“Crazy?” he asks with a smile.
“Yes.” I nod. “They can be a little crazy,” I concur as I stand. “And—”
“I’m coming,” he states, cutting me off. He throws the blanket off his waist and moves to sit on the side of the bed.
“I . . .” The words I was about to say catch in my throat when his large hands wrap around my hips and I’m pulled between his spread thighs.
“I’m coming,” he repeats firmly, the look on his face daring me to argue.
“Okay,” I agree quietly, looking into his eyes, which appear darker than their normal gold this morning. I think there is something significant about this moment and him wanting to spend time with my family.
“Good, now kiss me.”
“Kiss you?” I blurt like an idiot. Last night he seemed to like being in charge. I didn’t have to instigate anything; all I had to do was follow his lead—and he is a damn good leader.
“Yes, kiss me.” My eyes drop to his mouth, and I bite my bottom lip, debating how to go about kissing him. “Fawn.”
“Hmm?” I hum, studying his mouth.
“Kiss me,” he whispers, and I watch his lips move as they form each of those words.
Leaning closer I slide my hands through his thick, dark hair watching his eyelids lower, then press my mouth to his softly. Feeling his warm lips and his breath mingle with mine, I lose myself in him. Sliding my leg over his to straddle his lap, I listen to his groan of approval and shiver when one of his hands slides down to grab ahold of my ass. The other moves up into the back of my hair, where he grips tight in a possessive hold that makes my stomach dip.
“Damn, but I could seriously become addicted to your mouth.” He breathes against my lips, and I smile against his.
“Ditto,” I whisper, nipping his bottom lip and hearing him growl right before he takes over the kiss, thrusting his tongue into my mouth and making me whimper. Rocking against him I tip my head to the side to deepen the kiss, then mewl in disappointment when he slows the kiss and pulls away, resting his forehead to mine.
“We better stop,” he says, sounding like he doesn’t want to stop at all, and I nod, closing my eyes and pulling in a much-needed lungful of air.
“Yeah, I need to get home,” I agree, opening my eyes to find his on mine.
“I don’t want to let you go,” he says, and I know in that moment I could get lost in him.
“Then don’t.” I close my eyes again, not wanting him to see that I really mean Don’t let me go, ever.
“I don’t plan on it.” He tips my head down so he can press a sweet kiss to my forehead. “Up you go,” he urges, and I reluctantly get off his lap, then watch him stand. “Are you okay?”
r /> No would be the answer to that question. I feel like my life has changed in a huge way. I feel like . . . god, I feel like crying. “I’m good,” I lie, and his hand wraps around the back of my neck. He drags me closer so I have no choice but to rest my cheek against his chest.
“You good with me and you?” he asks softly, and I nod, not looking up at him. “That’s all that matters.” He kisses the top of my hair, letting me go once more. When he turns his back to me, I watch his muscles move under his skin as he opens a drawer and pulls out a long-sleeved navy-blue thermal and puts it on over his head. I want to pout a little that he’s covering up, but I don’t have time to do that. Instead my eyes drop to his ass, which is covered in a pair of formfitting dark-blue, almost black, boxers as he trades the sleep pants he put on last night when we got back from walking Muffin for a pair of thick gray sweats. Turning back toward me once he’s dressed, he smiles. “Come on.”
He takes my hand and pulls open his door. Muffin, who is still on the couch, lifts her head to look at us, then slowly pulls herself to stand, placing one paw on the floor at a time. As soon as she’s up, she wanders slowly to Levi, bumping him with her nose and not even paying me one bit of attention.
“My dog is seriously in love with you.”
“The feeling’s mutual, though I’m thinking of giving her a nickname.”
“Why?” I ask, watching him pet her before moving to pick up a pair of shoes and carrying them across the room.
“Muffin’s not exactly something I like calling her when we are out. I was thinking Brutus would be good.”
“She’s a girl.” I tell him something he should know as he takes a seat on the couch to put on a pair of worn sneakers.
“Why Muffin?” he asks, lifting his head to look at me.
“Do you mean why did I name her Muffin?” He nods. “She was rescued from a breeder out on Long Island,” I say, giving Muffin a rubdown when she finally pulls herself away from Levi and comes over to me. “I was visiting my parents over Christmas break last year when a story broke about a breeder out on Long Island who was being charged with animal cruelty. When I saw the news, I went to my dad to ask him about it. He told me that the Humane Society had brought more than a hundred dogs to the local shelter to either be rehomed or put down because they couldn’t adjust to life outside the cages they were forced to live in. That day I went to the shelter to see if I could help in some way. I didn’t plan on getting a dog, but I needed to do something, so I volunteered my time. That’s when I met Muffin. She was the runt of her litter and was scared to death of everyone. No one thought she would make it because she wouldn’t eat and she was having a really hard time adjusting. Every day I would spend time with her and the other dogs during breakfast before taking them on a walk or helping with cleanup around the kennel,” I say, watching his eyes soften. “Then one day I was doing what I had done the whole week prior. I was sitting on the floor eating while watching the dogs play, and Muffin, who had always stuck to the corner of the room and to herself, ran toward me to get the blueberry muffin I pulled out of my bag. I didn’t even have a chance to stop her before she ate almost the whole thing in one bite.” I smile, looking down at her. “After that she was glued to my side. If I was there, she was with me, and when I had to come back to New York, I couldn’t leave her behind, so I paid a thousand-dollar pet deposit on my apartment and brought her home.” I bend down to give my girl a hug around her neck. “So that’s why I call her Muffin,” I finish quietly, taking a chance to look at him when I feel the vibe in the room shift.