Chapter Nineteen – Emeline #2
I cupped his face in my hands. He opened his eyes, and our gazes met. “Do not say you’re sorry for that. It was the hottest, most erotic moment of my life, and I want more of it. Lots more.”
He smiled. “That, I can most certainly do.”
A part of me wanted to ask if he’d ever done things like that with Caroline, but I held my tongue. The last thing I wanted to do was bring her into this moment with us, so I pushed all thoughts of her away.
But it was almost like Levi read my mind, because he said, “You know, it was for me, too. My sex life with my ex was very…vanilla.”
I leaned closer and kissed him. The taste of my own arousal had my body coming back to life. “Well, I can tell you, I’m already thinking of other places where we can have sex.”
Levi laughed.
“But we should probably get off the floor, and I should get dressed.”
Levi stood, then helped me to my feet. He picked up the rest of my clothes and helped me get dressed. I grabbed each boot and slipped it on. Right after I finished fixing my ponytail, we heard voices outside my office.
I tiptoed to the door and quietly unlocked it. When I turned around, Levi was sitting in my chair, his feet up on the desk, and my bag of Swedish Fish in his hands.
There was a light knock, then the door opened. I turned to see Caden, and I had to look away so he didn’t see my blush. Thank God he hadn’t come any earlier.
Caden made his way to my desk and held out his hand to Levi. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
Removing his boots from my desk, he shook my brother’s hand. “Came to see if Emeline wanted to go to lunch.”
Caden looked between us, a slightly amused look on his face.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God! He knows we just had sex.
After bouncing his eyes back and forth a few more times, he finally said, “You haven’t seen the paper today, I take it.”
I frowned, and Levi stood. We both replied no at the same time.
Gatlin walked in, holding the paper. He smirked as he held it up and read, “‘It’s been a while since we’ve had a good piece of gossip in our small town.’”
I groaned and fell back onto the loveseat.
“‘Last night, I personally spotted Levi Tucker and Emeline Wilde out to dinner, enjoying some lovely Mexican cuisine from the newly opened restaurant, El Rey. Which, let me add, was amazing, and I highly recommend it. The beef enchiladas were to die for.’”
I slowly shook my head. “Is she seriously doing a food review in the middle of gossiping?”
Caden and Gatlin both chuckled, as Levi winked at me.
“‘Back to the other delicious news. After dinner, Emeline went to Levi’s parents’ house and remained there for several hours, leaving late in the evening.
I haven’t been able to confirm if Oliver and Sam were home.
I was already late submitting this article for today’s paper.
I’ll do an update in the next edition. That’s it for your Daily Dirt!
We dig up the dirt so you don’t have to. ’”
“She did not!” I barked, standing up and putting my hands on my hips. “Did she follow us, for fuck’s sake?”
Gatlin lowered the paper. “What time did you get home last night?”
“I got home by eleven. Plus, Sam and Oliver were home, we weren’t alone. We played dominoes.”
Caden grinned at Levi. “Oh man, I loved playing that with our grandparents and your parents. Remember how your dad used to get so mad when we stacked the dominoes all up on each other and looked at them that way?”
Levi laughed. “I do remember that.”
“What is wrong with you two?”
Three sets of eyes flew to me.
“Emeline, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like it’s your first time being in the paper,” Caden said.
Levi frowned. “I didn’t think you’d care if people knew. I’m sorry if I put you in a tough spot.”
Shaking my head, I replied, “I’m not upset. I guess I’m just surprised you’re okay with it.”
“Why wouldn’t he be?” Gatlin asked.
I looked at Levi again. “You’ve been gone for so long. I just didn’t think you’d want to be the center of attention so soon.”
He gave me a gentle smile as he took my hands in his.
Kissing the back of each one, he said, “I don’t care who knows we’re dating, Em.
I had to learn a hard lesson. Life is too short to worry about shit like that.
The only thing that matters to me is that Rhett is happy and healthy, and that we get to… ”
Levi glanced at my brothers, who both raised a single brow.
“Get to what?” Gatlin asked.
“Continue to get to know each other,” Levi finally said, still looking at Caden and Gatlin. When he faced me, I saw the twinkle in his eyes.
Smiling, I said, “If you’re not bothered by it, then neither am I.”
Gatlin cleared his throat. “Um, there’s one more thing.”
I managed to drag my gaze off of Levi to ask, “What?”
“There’s a picture of you.”
Gasping, I reached for the paper. “Let me see!”
Gatlin held it up. “Trust me, you don’t want to see it.”
I blinked rapidly.
“It’s worse than the Easter picture,” Caden said with a wince.
My hand slapped over my mouth as I mumbled, “No!”
Both nodded.
Levi’s brows lowered. “I’m so confused right now.”
Gatlin sighed. “If I must be the one to tell the story…”
Levi went to take the paper, and I quickly grabbed it and gasped when I saw it.
“Oh, come on, Em. Now I have to see and hear this,” Levi laughed.
Caden leaned against the desk, a smile on his usually grumpy face.
Levi made a quick move and got the paper. I attempted to grab it back, but it was too late. His eyes went wide, and he looked at me. “What happened?”
I lifted my chin. “I fell.”
“Into what?” he asked, laughing.
Sighing, I closed my eyes and said, “A pig’s feeding trough.”
My two brothers burst into laughter, while Levi at least attempted not to. He lost the battle when he looked at the paper again. “The picture makes sense now. Who took this?”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Probably Logan Miller.”
Levi’s eyes went wide. “Why do you think that?”
“Because she is always there when something like this happens.” I growled as I threw my hands in the air and let them slap down at my sides. “She’s had a problem with me since…since…”
“Forever,” Gatlin added.
Looking at the photo again, I felt my anger building once more. Of course, the picture they used of Levi was one taken at camp this past week.
“Wait, how did they get this picture of you?” I asked, pointing to his perfectly gorgeous photo.
Levi shrugged. “No clue.”
I looked at Gatlin and Caden, who both seemed just as confused. Gatlin leaned over and said, “It’s a great picture. The slight profile shot is flattering to you.”
“Thanks,” Levi replied with a grin.
“You guys aren’t seeing the bigger picture here.
We hire a photographer to take photos each year.
They’re vetted and have been working for us for the last six years.
There is no way they would have given Logan, Janet, or whoever wrote this article any pictures from the campgrounds.
It’s strictly prohibited in their contracts.
Someone who was at camp took this photo—yesterday. ”
“Maybe one of the parents took it? It was the last day of camp,” Caden suggested.
Worrying my lower lip, I nodded. “Maybe. But how did Janet get it?”
None of us could come up with a reasonable answer to that question, and although the three of them brushed it off, I couldn’t shake my uneasy feeling. Someone had taken a photo of Levi, before anyone even knew we were dating, and sent it to The Daily Dirt.
Who would have done that? And the bigger question…why would they have done it?