32. Hope
32
HOPE
I clench the sheets hard, my whole body tightening. I’ve never felt anything quite like this in all my life. Levi’s tongue continues its devious strokes across my center. He keeps switching the speed: slow, decadent laps and sucking pulses, then fast, hard drives. It’s maddening. And incredibly arousing.
“Levi, please.”
“I told you I was going to draw this one out. I can’t send my girl to work anxious about the day.” I can barely see his wicked grin before he lowers his head back down.
“You’re going to kill me, I swear it.”
“Where would be the fun in that?” he whispers against my skin.
All I can do is groan and fall more in love with the crazy man, even if he is torturing me.
I think he takes pity on me when he adds his fingers into the mix, first one then another. His tongue starts a steady rhythm, making my body climb higher. I didn’t think it could get any better, but somehow, Levi makes it happen.
He sucks my clit deep into his mouth, and I explode into a million pieces. Absolutely decimated by this orgasm .
I barely register Levi moving over me, kissing my stomach, my breasts, and up my neck before finally landing on my lips. His cock rubs across my wet flesh, the sensitive nerves making me moan into his mouth. When I tip my hips, Levi presses into me, his chest rumbling with a growl.
I love the sounds he makes and that I’m the one drawing them out of him. It’s a powerful feeling.
Levi runs his hand up my arm, pulling my hand above my head. Instead of feeling restrained, it feels intimate as he threads his fingers through mine, connecting us on every level possible.
Hands, lips, bodies.
His thrusts begin gaining in speed as need pushes past his control.
“God, you're incredible,” I moan.
“Only because of you, my love.” He kisses me slowly despite the speed of his thrusts, and I crest the ridge again, pulling Levi over with me. We groan in unison, our orgasms crashing together in a spectacular wave of pleasure. Our love surrounds the room so heavily, I feel as if it’ll imprint on my heart forever. No matter what happens.
Wrapping my arms around Levi, I pull him closer, hoping the moment will last longer than the few minutes it takes for our breathing to slow. I’m not ready for my brain to start working in overdrive again. That’s what prompted this little session, to begin with.
After a kiss on my shoulder, Levi pulls out, and we both head into the bathroom to clean up. I wish we could stay in bed the rest of the day, hiding in our bubble so I wouldn’t have to think about work or the future. Or the phone call.
I force myself to stop those thoughts in their tracks. I’ve gone round and round in my head to the point I don’t even know what’s up anymore. I have too many other things to worry about than what the phone call could possibly mean.
Today, I am interviewing candidates for a part-time position to help with the additional business I’ve been getting. After the function a couple of weeks ago, I’ve been inundated with calls for more orders than I can handle. Levi finally convinced me that hiring another person would both help the store and keep me sane. Even with adding an extra set of hands, I still won’t be able to accept all the requests, but it should help when my focus needs to be on an event instead of everyday customer orders.
Levi wrapped up the Silvey project last week and is now spending all his time at his new house. He’s still overseeing most of the other projects his company is working on, but he doesn’t have to be on-site full time until he’s done with his house.
He’s getting close to being able to move in. The renovations aren’t anywhere close to being fully completed, but the kitchen will be finished soon, as well as the living room, so he’ll have all of the necessities to live comfortably while he renovates the rest of the rooms. Although, he hasn’t mentioned anything about moving into the new house when he’s able to.
We don’t technically live together right now, even though a good chunk of his clothes are in my closet, and he sleeps here every night. We never talked about him officially moving in, it just sort of happened. Not that I’m complaining. I love having him here in my space. I’m not sure what I’ll do if he decides he wants to move into the new house when he can.
“What are you thinking about so hard over there? I thought I sexed those worries out of you a minute ago.” Levi leans into the shower, turning the water on full blast.
“Oh, you definitely did. I feel so languid, I’m worried I won’t be able to make it to work.” I grin at him, and he pulls me into the shower, kissing me under the warm spray.
“Good. Since I’m the cause, I’ll happily help get you to work.” He winks, and my knees threaten to buckle .
The wink gets me every time.
Clicking print on the file, I wait for the résumés to print out. I want to go over them one more time before the candidates arrive. I also want them handy while I conduct the interviews. I’ve got three lined up today, each one seemingly a good fit based on their experiences. We’ll see how we mesh personality-wise when they get here. That will be my deciding factor. It’s the reason I hired Claire on the spot.
“Hey, your first interview is here,” Claire says, her eyebrows raised in an unreadable expression.
“Thanks, I’ll come grab her.” I stand from my chair, following Claire out to the front of the shop.
A woman with sleek, black hair pulled up in a chignon stands next to one of my hibiscus plants. She’s in business attire—actually, she’s in a full pantsuit, which feels overly formal since I’m in my work T-shirt and high-waisted shorts. I’ll give her credit for effort, though.
“Hi, Theresa, I’m Hope Langley.” I stretch my hand out to her when she turns. Her lips turn up in a minuscule smile, barely softening her severe features as she takes my hand. “Why don’t we head back to my office so we can chat.”
After leading Theresa through the back room, I gesture for her to enter my office. Her face pinches as she takes in the small space. It seems my small, cozy office doesn’t appeal to her. Theresa sits down, crosses her legs, then stares at me.
I blink at her, forgetting for a moment I’m supposed to be leading this interview. She’s a little intimidating, which feels weird to say when I’m the business owner.
I clear my throat and open my mouth to start when Theresa interrupts my thought. “Your hibiscus plant seemed overwatered.”
I pause. That wasn’t what I expected her to say. “Um, I’ll take a look at it later.” I know for a fact I’m not drowning my plant, but I’ve always been a peacemaker, so I don’t say anything about it.
“Anyway, can you tell me about the last store you worked for?”
Theresa begins telling me about her previous job, managing the entire store of ten employees. According to her, she ran a tight ship with no slacking and carefully structured plans for each plant on the floor. I think flower warden would’ve been a better description for her previous title.
She’s completely overqualified for this job. And… stern.
When she finally finishes her diatribe on how plants should be cared for—with strict, regimented schedules—I let out a deep breath in an attempt to gather my thoughts.
“Wow, it seems like you have a lot of experience with a multitude of plants. Um, the thing is, I’m only looking for a floor worker. Not a manager. I feel like you’re overqualified for this position.”
“Hmm. That was evident when I walked in the door.”
Ouch.
I clear my throat. “Right, well, thank you for coming in. It was lovely meeting you.” I stand from my chair to lead Theresa back out to the main floor.
The minute the door closes, I sag against the counter.
“You okay there, boss?”
“She was a very scary lady.”
Claire laughs, nudging me with her shoulder. “I wondered if the inside matched the outside. I try not to judge based on looks, but she wore her personality on her sleeve.”
“That is completely accurate. My next interview should be here in twenty minutes.”
“Can’t wait.” Claire grins. I’m more nervous about the second interview since the first one was such a disaster.
Nerves seem to be my constant companion these past few weeks. Keeping them at bay has almost become a sport for me at this point. I almost wish Tomas had never called me in the first place. All it’s done is put me on edge, constantly looking over my shoulder for the boogie man to be lurking behind me. It’s exhausting. There have been many times I wish I would’ve told Levi the full truth of what happened to me so I could share this burden with him. That makes me feel selfish, though. All Levi’s done since we got together is make me feel safe. The least I can do is not add to his already full plate.
When the door chimes, I look up to see a twenty-some-odd-year-old girl, striding into the store. She’s the epitome of goth queen, hitting both the slightly scary and sort of chic look.
“Are you Anna?”
“Yep.”
“Um, okay, well—”
“Yeah, so I already got a job and don’t need this one anymore.”
“Oh… Uh, thank you for coming in to tell me.”
“Sure.” She turns on her black combat boots and walks right back out the door. Silence descends on the store for a second while I stare at the now empty space Anna was previously standing in.
“Well, that was unexpected,” I say, finally breaking the silence.
“I think it’s the theme for the day.” Claire’s laughter pulls me from my stupor.
“Right? I guess I’ll go work on paperwork since I’ve got some extra time now.”
“I’ll let you know when the last one arrives.”
“Thanks.”
Once I’m in my office, I dig into all the admin stuff I’ve been putting off while I wait for the next interview. Who knew finding part-time help would be so difficult? I was only nervous about asking the right questions. Not about the people interviewing.
An hour later, Claire pokes her head around the corner of my office door. “Hey, your next interview is here.”
“Thanks, do you mind bringing her back?”
“Not at all.” Claire’s smile is mischievous, which I don’t fully understand. I’ll ask her about it later when the interview is over. She comes walking back around the corner, and behind her is not a girl like I thought but a teenage boy.
The résumé said Sam Waters, which made me assume they would be a woman. I was definitely wrong. Not even our emails to set up the interview tipped me off. He’s maybe seventeen if a day older.
“Hi, Sam, my name is Hope Langley.”
“Hi, Hope. It’s nice to meet you.” His smile is gentle as he shakes my hand. His curly mop of brown hair falls in his eyes as he sits in the other chair in my office. He’s got on a blue button-down shirt and a pair of nice, dark jeans. I would wager a guess these are his church clothes.
“So, tell me about yourself, Sam.”
“Well, I’m seventeen. Uh... I go to Sonoma High, and I play baseball.”
“And tell me why you’re looking for a job here.”
“My mom said I had to get a job if I wanted to start driving myself places. I used to help my grandma in her flower garden.” His voice grows quiet. “She passed away last fall, though, so I haven’t been around flowers in a while.”
Well, he’s officially the cutest thing ever. His résumé was the least experienced, but he wrote his knowledge of flowers, so I knew he had some background in plant life.
“I opened this shop because of my own grandmother’s love of flowers. She started my obsession, and even though she’s long passed, I feel her in this store every day. Maybe you’ll find the same peace, as well, Sam. I’d be honored to hire you if you’re willing to learn how to make arrangements.”
“I’m definitely up for learning.” He grins.
We discuss the pay and hours as well as my expectations for when he’s here. He’s going to start this weekend to give us plenty of time to get him trained. When we’re finished with all the paperwork, I lead him out of the shop. He gives Claire and me a wave before he steps out the door.
“He was the one, right?”
“Yep. He used to help his grandmother in her garden before she passed away last fall. The kid is the sweetest. I couldn’t say no.”
“Good. I had a feeling we’d like him.”
I smile at Claire, understanding her mischievous smile now.
“Oh, I grabbed the mail earlier. Forgot to put it in the basket.” She hands over a stack of envelopes I tuck under my arm to take back to my office.
I’ve got a new inventory magazine for clients, some bills to pay, and something else I don’t recognize. The white envelope is plain with only my name handwritten on the front. My stomach drops as the cream cardstock slips from the envelope.
You’ve done well for yourself, Rosemary. I should be impressed. Unfortunately for you, I’m not. You should’ve known better than to go against my rules. You will be punished for it. I can’t wait. -A
With my heart in my throat, I jump from my chair and race to the bathroom. The contents of my stomach spew out of me with such violence, my entire body quakes. Terror has drenched me in sweat as I continue to heave .
When there’s nothing left in my stomach, I sit on the tile floor, willing my heartbeat to slow.
I never thought this could happen. I did everything I could to make sure it didn’t, but it seems my efforts were futile.
He found me.