Chapter Six
T wo days later, on Monday morning, Dana went looking for Levi, assuming she’d find him in his workshop. The workmen were finishing up the demolition phase of Asher’s bedroom and bathroom. Part of the crew had begun work on the outside ramps first thing and now those were nearing completion. She had a question about Asher’s bathroom that she needed to know the answer to before the crew started the next step, or soon after, at any rate. Levi wasn’t in his workshop, she discovered as she walked out into the backyard. He was swimming. Damn it.
Of course he was. It might be late September but in this part of Texas it was still plenty hot. It was still morning and already in the eighties today.
She walked out to the pool, watching Levi slicing through the water with smooth, unhurried strokes. He had a really nice form, in more ways than one. Her vantage point from the patio beside the pool gave her a bird’s-eye view of his back and arms. She’d always been a sucker for smooth muscles, more like those of a swimmer than a weight lifter. A man with muscles like…Levi’s. Oh, shit . Quit looking at him !
He stopped swimming when he reached the side and pulled himself out of the water, not bothering with something as mundane as the ladder. Stood with the water sluicing off his body and grabbed a towel before he realized she was there. Oh, God, that body. He was beautiful. Always had been. Her gaze traveled over him hungrily before she could stop herself. Same broad, muscled chest narrowing down to his waist and hips. Excellent. Same flat stomach. Definitely. Same washboard abs just asking to be stroked. Check. Make that double check.
Dana jerked up her gaze and met his eyes. He was laughing. Not with his mouth, but his sky-blue eyes sparkled with mirth, enjoying every bit of her discomfort, she imagined.
“See something you like?”
“Not at all,” she said, with a toss of her head. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but have you put on some weight in the last several months? I don’t remember you having a—” she put a finger to her lips as if contemplating how to express herself “—well, a beer belly is the only word for it.”
Levi looked down, then back up at her. “I don’t have a beer belly.” The humor had fled from his eyes.
“Oh, it’s not bad. Just a tiny bit of one.” She paused and added deliberately, “You know that happens when you get older.”
Levi narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re a riot, you know that?”
“Does the truth hurt?” she asked sweetly .
“Come over here.”
“Why? So you can throw me in the pool?”
“The thought did cross my mind.”
“Then no, thanks.” She laughed. “You know you don’t really have a beer belly. I was just jerking your chain.”
She didn’t think he’d heard her. He was looking at her with a definite gleam in his eyes.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Dana said.
“How am I looking at you?” Levi asked, a shade too innocently.
“You know very well. Like you want to rip off my clothes and throw me on the bed. Or any other handy surface.”
His smile was slow and wicked. “How do you know that’s what I’m thinking?”
Oh, hell. She was so tired of resisting him. Would it really be so bad to hit the sheets with him again? It probably wouldn’t even be that good.
Right. Because the last time wasn’t insanely good, was it? So incredible you remember every detail more than eight months later.
Shut up.
“Because I’ve thought about it too,” she admitted reluctantly.
Levi finished drying off and tossed his towel aside. “And what did you decide?” he asked, walking toward her.
“I decided it’s too risky to start something, again, something that we know won’t work.”
“Is that why you were with Nathan Saturday night?” He reached her side and put a hand on her bare arm.
She decided to be honest. “I wasn’t with him. I ran into him there and we played some pool and he bought me a drink when I won.”
“So you were just hustling him.” He rubbed his thumb on the soft underside of her arm.
She shrugged, attempting nonchalance despite the fact that her heartbeat had sped up the moment he touched her. “You know I like pool.”
“I remember.” His voice had deepened.
“Nathan’s a nice guy.”
“How nice?”
“You sound like you’re jealous. Are you?” she asked bluntly.
“What if I was?”
“I’m not interested in Nathan. Not like that.” She paused and added, “It would be better for me if I was.”
“But since you’re not interested in Nathan, does that mean you are interested in…someone else?” He moved closer.
“What would be the point? When I know it won’t work?”
“How do we know it won’t work?” He moved closer yet.
All that bare skin, so near, so tempting. He smelled like sunshine and chlorine, which shouldn’t have been so sexy, but it was. Adding in all those muscles, begging to be touched and stroked and caressed and he was damned near irresistible. “It hasn’t in the past.”
He pulled her up close and oh so intimate and nuzzled her neck. “Maybe it could work. This time.”
His breath was warm against her naked skin. One hand on her arm, the other in the small of her back, urging her nearer. But gently, not aggressively. Dana tingled, in places she had no business tingling. Her thought processes began to shut down.
“But if it doesn’t work out, we still have to work together. We’ll still be around each other all the time.” She lifted her head, just a little, allowing him better access.
“Hmm. That could be a problem.”
Now he was kissing her neck. “I need to… We shouldn’t…” Oh, my God, her knees were turning to jelly.
“Shouldn’t what?”
“We shouldn’t… You need to stop that.”
“Stop what?” His lips cruised over her jaw. “This?” His arms had somehow moved to wrap around her.
“Yes. Stop…kissing…me.” Her words said stop but her body was melting. Which Levi knew. She realized he’d been slowly edging them closer to the pool. “What are you doing?”
“You’re right.”
“I am?”
“Yes. But I’m hot now and I think you are too.”
“Levi—what are you—don’t you dare!”
“Too late,” he said and fell into the water with her.
*
Dana came up out of the water, sputtering and cussing. Levi, on the other hand, couldn’t stop laughing.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Dana yelled.
“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” He still held her in his arms, treading water. He thought about letting go of her but he was a little afraid she’d try to drown him. And he knew for a fact Dana was a strong swimmer.
“You’re a maniac.”
“Yeah.” He looked at her and grinned. “Your mascara is running.”
“Really? Shocking. I wasn’t planning on swimming. You can let go now.”
“I could.” He held her a little tighter. “God, you’re pretty.”
“I’m sure I look great with black streaks running down my face.”
“Funny thing is, you do.” Damn, her mouth was made for kissing. He knew that from experience. An experience he wanted to have again. And again.
“Levi—” Her arms tightened around his neck. “This is so dumb,” she said in a low voice.
“Maybe. But I don’t care. Do you?”
She gazed into his eyes. And then she kissed him. Her mouth was soft and warm. Her tongue touched his, retreated, touched again. Levi groaned and allowed himself to deepen the kiss. She tasted so damn good. Exactly like he remembered. Sexy. Spicy. With a hint of sweetness she liked to pretend she didn’t possess. He lifted his mouth from hers. “God, Dana, I want you so much. I think I always will.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I know.”
Levi kissed her, sank his hand in her wet hair and angled her head for better access to that luscious mouth.
Someone cleared his throat. “Uh, Levi?”
They both ignored it. He said it again, more loudly this time. “Levi.”
Levi raised his head and turned around to snarl at whoever the hell had interrupted the best thing to happen to him in more than eight long, endless months. It was Rocky, the crew foreman and he was clearly working hard to hold back his laughter. “What’s wrong, Rocky?”
“Got a little problem with the plumbing. Thought you might want to check it out and see what you think needs replacing.”
“Is it the original plumbing?” Some of the plumbing had been updated, though not much of it.
“Yep,” Rocky answered.
Yeah, probably the whole shebang would need replacing. “I’ll be there in a minute,” Levi told him. That was the problem when you knew a little bit about everything. Someone was always asking you to check out something.
“I won’t hold my breath.” Rocky left, chuckling.
“That’s why I came out here,” Dana said. “To ask you what kind of shower you wanted and if you wanted one of those tubs that are walk-in too. And to tell you Rocky needed you to look at something. But someone distracted me. I guess Rocky got tired of waiting.”
“I guess so. Let’s go see.” He let go of Dana and swam to the side. Boosted himself out of the water and held out a hand to Dana, who’d followed him.
“I’m sure it’s escaped your notice but I don’t have any dry clothes.”
“I’ll find you something to wear while your clothes dry.”
“Oh, thank you. I can’t wait to see what that is.” She took his hand and yanked hard. Levi lost his balance and fell in.
“Payback?” Levi asked when he came up.
Dana had gotten out of the pool and grabbed a couple of towels. “You owe me a new pair of shoes. I’m going home. I may or may not be back. And if you think that’s all the payback you’re getting, you have another think coming.”
What a woman, he thought, watching her go.