Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
By the time I pull up to the curb in front of their house, I am completely dumbfounded. It’s not at all what I expected. The front yard is beautiful green shrubbery with a small brick wall encasing the yard. The driveway is long, somewhat steep, and full of cars, leaving me no choice but to fill my arms with bags.
I maneuver my hand to reach the doorbell, only to have the door swing wide open. The woman who answers looks a bit confused but offers to take a couple of the bags from my hands.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting another delivery,” she says as she motions me into the home. The dark cherry floors look vibrant against the white walls and wainscoting. “You can follow me into the kitchen.”
I do as she suggests, finding myself tongue-tied. I made an assumption about these people, and I was clearly off base. The open floor concept is warm and inviting, vastly different from how I feel in my home right now. In the kitchen, another woman smiles and takes the remaining bags from my hands.
“Why on earth did Levi order so much food?” she says as she starts taking the pre-made food from the bags. “Do you have a slip?”
“A slip?” I ask, slightly confused. Don’t these people know who I am?
“For us to sign?”
It hits me that they don’t have any idea who I am and I rather like that. “Oh, I’m with the crew,” I say, nodding my head toward the open patio door where I can hear people splashing in their pool.
“You came?” It’s the sound of Levi’s voice and his accent that has me turning around so quickly that I almost give myself whiplash. “And you brought food?”
I avert my gaze and look at only a smidgen of the food I brought. I shrug and stick my hands into the pockets of my shorts. “I uh. . . ya know there’s more in the car,” I say with a smile. I might as well own my mistake.
“Let’s go get it then,” Levi says, motioning toward the door. He waits for me to pass by him before he follows. We walk silently down his driveway to my Range Rover, and once the back hatch is lifted, he starts laughing.
“Wow.” He takes his hat off, and for the first time, I get a glimpse of his chestnut hair. It’s shorter around the sides, but slightly longer on top. It’s almost as if he just had it cut.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I thought. . . you know what I’ll just say it. I assumed that by having the crew over it’d be putting a burden on you and I didn’t want that so I stopped at the store.”
“Darlin’, I think you’re trying to feed the whole neighborhood.” He reaches into the back and grabs every bag, leaving nothing for me to carry.
“I can help,” I say as I close the back.
He pauses halfway up his driveway and gives me a smile that has me questioning why I’m here. “You already are,” he mumbles. I don’t think he intended for me to hear him clearly, but I did.
levi
Ten
I never expected Zara to show up at Stormy’s makeshift afterparty, but not only did she show up, she brought enough food to feed the entire Bel Air block that we live on. I don’t have the heart to tell her that I am more than capable of providing enough food for everyone.
It seems that when she’s around, I’m saying some ridiculous things, mostly for my own benefit and not for hers. I have a feeling she has stealth hearing because after I tell her that she’s already helping I hear a tiny gasp. Now that could be from some critter roaming through the bushes or the scuff of her shoe as we walk up the inclined driveway, but if I had to bet my prized Stetson that the sound came from her, I would.
As soon as we step onto the concrete porch, she brushes by me to open the door. “Thank you, ma’am,” I say with a wink and hear yet another audible gasp. I sort of like this game, and it makes me curious as to how many times country boy Levi Austin can make this woman lose her breath. Honestly, probably not too many once she realizes that we have absolutely nothing in common.
In the kitchen, Barbara and my mother rush to ease the burden of carrying so many bags. I could’ve made more than one trip, but I’d rather spend some time talking to Zara. It’s been entirely too long since I’ve felt drawn to a woman, let alone one like her. Outside appearances tell me right off that she’ll never fit into my world, nor would I fit into hers. But that doesn’t mean we can’t talk, share a beer, and maybe laugh a little.