9. Levi
9
LEVI
“ T here are only a few boxes left in the living room and the ones in my bedroom,” Hope says as we enter her apartment. She leads me to the living room and grabs a box from the floor. I avert my eyes to the other boxes to keep from staring at her ass. Her tight leggings highlight every curve she has. It’s been practically torture having to watch her bend over a million times these past few hours.
“This is one of the easier moves I’ve helped out with. Thanks, by the way,” I joke and am graced with one of Hope’s rare smiles. She’s been so serious most of the day. The few times I’ve managed to pull a smile from her made me feel like the king of the world.
When she opened her door this morning, I almost fell over in surprise. I hated the frightened look she had on her face when she saw it was me. I’m not sure why my showing up scared her, but it made me want to wrap her in my arms and protect her from that fear. Which would’ve been the exact opposite of the right thing to do. Luckily, Quinn showed up before Hope had a chance to truly freak out or I did something stupid.
Hope. Her name fits her perfectly. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait too long to gather that information. I wish I could get a better read on her, though. I’ve caught her staring at me several times over the course of the morning, and it gives me a little thrill each time I do. Granted, she’s caught me staring as many times as I’ve caught her.
“This apartment didn’t lend for collecting much stuff, so I can’t take all of the credit.” We both start grabbing boxes to finish loading the truck.
“It is pretty small, but it’s a cozy kind of small.”
“I thought so, too!” She smiles, and all I can do is stare at her. She’s so beautiful when she’s happy. It makes me want to do anything to keep her that way.
“My apartment is pretty small, as well, but it’s not cozy like this.”
“Typical bachelor pad?”
“Definitely.” I grin at her, and she blushes. “I’m saving up to buy a house to renovate, so buying a bunch of furniture I’m not sure will fit in the house seems dumb.”
“I get that.” Hope puts the box she is carrying onto the tailgate of the truck, then pushes it against the others. “I’ve always wanted to decorate my own house. Most of the places I’ve lived in were already decorated when I got there.” A small frown pulls at her mouth, then she shakes her head as if trying to remove whatever thought came into her head. I want to ask her what she was thinking about, but it feels too personal. I don’t want her to close up on me again. She’s finally feeling comfortable enough to have a conversation.
She starts back up the stairs with me trailing behind her. “As a contractor, I have to follow the wishes of the people I’m building the house for, so I’m looking forward to making all the decisions myself instead of going with what the client wants.”
“I wish I knew how to do that kind of stuff. I’m pretty sure I’d hurt myself if I tried.”
A laugh falls from my chest in surprise at her joke as we walk into her bedroom to grab the rest of the boxes. Her flowery scent floats through the room, both leftover and from her standing next to me. Being in the very small space has my heart beating against my ribcage.
I do my best to move about the room without touching her. Her reaction earlier told me she doesn’t like to be touched. She didn’t say those specific words, but no one flinches the way she did because they’re surprised. It was almost as if she were bracing for my touch to be harsh instead of gentle.
A slice of anger passes through me at the thought of someone hurting her to the point of causing her fear. How a person can physically or mentally harm someone else will never make sense to me.
“I’ve been doing it for years, and I still hurt myself,” I respond, attempting to pull myself from the thought of Hope being harmed.
“Sounds dangerous.”
“Eh, it’s mostly just me working too quickly or not paying attention.”
“I’m that way with roses. The thorns get me regularly, no matter how many times I work with them,” she says, picking up a box. As soon as it’s in the air, the bottom falls out, letting the contents spill everywhere. “Shit.”
I crouch down to start piling up the clothes scattered on the floor. It’s not until my hand wraps around something silky that I realize what I’m picking up.
Hope’s underwear is scattered all over the floor, and I have to clear my throat at the sexy display of lace, silk, and cotton.
“Oh, my god,” Hope gasps. She scrambles to pull the clothes toward her as a deep blush creeps up her neck. All I can do is smile. A chuckle sneaks through despite my attempts to hold it in. She glares at me, which only has me laughing harder .
Her hands slow down as she sits back on her heels with a deep sigh. Then to my utter surprise, she starts laughing, too. “I can’t believe this would happen to me,” she says, dropping her head into her hands, giggles still filtering through her words.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I saw you naked,” I tease as the image of her naked filters through my brain, her smooth, olive-toned skin glowing against my work-roughened hands. I have to clear my throat again in an attempt to remove the visual. I quickly stand, leaving the bedroom to run to the kitchen to get the tape dispenser.
Returning to the bedroom, Hope holds out her arm, and I place the tape into her hand. Once she gets the box back together, I move to help her put her clothes back into the box.
“Don’t you dare!” she says, and I freeze where I am.
“I’ve already seen them.”
“You don’t need to touch them, too.” She huffs, and I laugh.
“Fair enough.” I grab the next box and start toward the truck, leaving her to clean up her clothes. It’s probably best if I don’t see what they look like in any detail. It’s going to be hard enough to get the fantasy of a naked Hope out of my head. I don’t need any additional information to add to the vision already forming.
On my way back up the stairs, Hope passes me with a box in hand. She keeps her eyes averted from mine, and I inwardly sigh. We’re back to the distance again. I was enjoying getting to know her. The longer we talked, the more she opened up, giving me a small glimpse of the woman underneath the steely exterior.
There are only a few boxes left, and we get them loaded up quickly. When we’re back in the truck, headed to the house, silence descends, the only sounds coming from the hum of the engine. I give her a few minutes of space before I do what I’ve been wanting to do from the moment I met her.
“Hey, Hope…” I start, waiting for her gaze to meet mine before I continue. “I want to put it out there that I am very attracted to you and would love to take you out to dinner sometime. I think we would have a blast if you’d be interested in going out with me.” When she doesn’t immediately answer, I glance over at her again.
Her eyes are wide, and her mouth is gaped open. I’m not sure if she’s surprised or freaking the fuck out, so I quickly try to follow up my statement with an out. “You don’t have to say anything right now. I just wanted you to know how I felt. I mean, I have horrible table manners, so you may not even want to be seen with me.”
I look over at her to see how much damage has been done. Her lip is pulled up at the corner as she bites the side of her thumb. Almost like she’s hiding a smile from me. She still hasn’t replied, and I let her get away with keeping silent for now. I’ll let her come to me when she’s ready.
In any other circumstance, I’d probably take her silence as a no, but there’s something about Hope. Something calling to me I’m not sure I can ignore. I want to get to know her on a deeper level. I don’t just want to sleep with this woman; I want to learn everything I can about her. What she likes and dislikes, what she wants from life. All of it.
Every time she looked at me today, I saw a longing in her eyes as if she wanted something she could never have. Each of her reactions to me was so inconsistent. She couldn’t stand for me to touch her or get close, but the attraction was shining in her eyes every time we made eye contact. She started to relax while we were by ourselves today, then immediately closed herself off after a minor incident.
She’s an intriguing puzzle. One I’m willing to do whatever it takes to figure out because I’m pretty sure her pieces are going to fit my own .
I’ve never felt something like this with anyone before. The women I’ve dated were more like a distraction than something I wanted to pursue seriously. I know it’s going to take patience to get Hope to open up to me again. I’ll need to give her space to decide if I’m worth her time, even if it goes against what I normally would want to do.
In the past, it’s taken all of a perfectly timed wink to get a woman to go out with me. Granted, the women I went out with before weren’t anything like Hope. Which means, this matters a whole hell of a lot more.
It’s all new territory for me, and I know if I mess it up, I’ll lose any chance at finding out what Hope and I could truly become.