Chapter 7 #2
“The room you’ll be staying in is this way.” Levi led her down a short hall and opened the door opposite his own bedroom.
Hayley stepped into the room and looked around, a small smile on her lips.
“Okay, you have to admit this is at least a little like Beauty and the Beast. You and the enchanted prince both just happen to have a distinctly feminine bedroom waiting for a damsel to occupy? Tell me you can’t see the similarities. ”
Levi peered down into her upturned face. “Sisters,” he said simply.
Whereas the rest of his house was set up for his comfort, this one room was arranged with his siblings in mind.
The blackout curtains in a pale pink for Aliyah because she liked to sleep in when she visited.
The gold-filigreed mirror on the wall by the window for Constance because she preferred putting her makeup on in natural light and there weren’t any windows in the bathroom.
The four-poster bed had been purchased because Trinity had always wanted one growing up, but she’d had to be content with a bunkbed and a shared room with Nova.
And the reason for the many, many throw pillows that littered the bed was because of that sister.
He had no idea why Nova liked throw pillows so much, but she did, so there they were.
Hayley walked into the room and perched herself on top of the ruffled duvet. “How many sisters do you have?”
“Four.” He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb. Something told him she wouldn’t be satisfied with his one-word answer.
She rolled her eyes, proving him right. “Are they older or younger?”
“Yes.” He pressed his lips tight to keep them from curving into a smile.
He only used as many words as were needed to get a point across or to answer a question, but he was learning the monosyllable proved a third purpose—to make Hayley’s brown eyes flash in his direction.
He’d never really been the type to tease, not even his sisters, so he wasn’t quite sure why he was doing so now with her.
She narrowed her gaze and studied his face. There was no way she could see the muscle in his cheek twitch under his thick beard as he suppressed a rare grin.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” she accused.
“Maybe.” He turned his face away and peered down the hall. There wasn’t anything there he needed to check on, but the stillness helped settle the buzzing inside him. “I have two older sisters and two younger ones.”
“So, you’re the only boy? Right smack-dab in the middle?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t even pause to take a breath before jumping in with another question. “What was that like growing up?”
His head slowly pivoted until he pinned her with a deadpanned look. He never bothered answering stupid questions.
She laughed out loud. “That fun, huh?”
“Sure. Fun.” More like torture.
Again, he loved his family, but when you were right in the middle of a lineup of five, there wasn’t much room to escape or even take a deep breath amid the madness.
He didn’t have the benefit of being the oldest and having even a few years to enjoy a modicum of solitude, nor of being the youngest and finally being able to rest when his siblings flew the coop before him.
From the day he was born until the day he’d left home, life never stopped or even slowed down.
There was constant . . . everything. Noise, contact, the works.
His sisters seemed to thrive in the hectic environment and had never wanted him to feel excluded, thus forcing his participation when all he’d wanted was to be left alone.
Levi took in a long inhale and let it out slowly. Sometimes just the reminder of the constant stimulation was enough to cause his muscles to tense.
“Not that you asked, but I have a younger brother. Elliot. We’re semi-close, I guess you could say.
Not a whole lot in common, but I love him to pieces anyway.
Then there’s Tai. He’s technically my cousin but more like another brother.
He’s a tattoo artist and really talented. Do you have any tattoos?”
“No.” Why was he still standing there and letting her play twenty questions with him? He pushed his shoulder off the doorjamb. “I’ll go make us some dinner.”
She jumped up off the bed. “I’ll help.”
He groaned and slammed his eyes shut. Was this how it was going to be the whole time she was there?
Her following him around constantly, making conversation?
He could grudgingly admit that he liked her voice, her laugh.
Hearing her talk didn’t set him on edge like it did with most people.
There was a note to her voice that he found alluring, almost addicting.
He could also admit that he liked looking at her.
Her beauty was more interesting than conventional, with her slightly pointed button nose and mouth that could be considered a little too wide—especially when she smiled.
He thought he could study her face for years and still find features he hadn’t noticed before.
Even if Hayley wasn’t all bad, there could still be too much of a good thing. The sun, for example, was an excellent source of vitamin D, but too much of it could also give you cancer.
“Stay.” He winced at his own gruff command. The last time Aliyah had visited, she’d told him he needed to work on communicating his boundaries in a way that wasn’t so rude. Maybe she was right. “Get settled or, I don’t know, relax. I can handle dinner.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Her feet shuffled. “Would it be all right if I took a quick shower, then? I’d like to wash away the day, if I can.”
The door to the only bathroom in the house was to Levi’s right, so he reached out and flicked the switch, bathing the room in light.
“Shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash are already in the shower. There are unopened toothbrushes and deodorants in the bottom drawer of the vanity. Towels and washcloths are in the linen closet behind the door. Need anything else?”
Her gaze skittered toward the bathroom, then up at his face. Her cheeks reddened to match the shade of her hair. She toed the carpet runner under her feet. “I don’t . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“You don’t what?” If there was something else she needed, she’d have to tell him outright. He wasn’t about to start guessing.
“I don’t . . . have a change of clothes.” She dipped her chin into the corner of her collarbone, trying to hide the embarrassment painting her face.
Heat rose up his own neck. Clothes. Right. That did pose a problem, didn’t it? He could offer her something of his to borrow, but there was no way her hips could hold up the waistband of a pair of his shorts. His shirts, too, would probably fall right off her shoulders.
His face flamed. Fixate on the solution, not the problem, Levi scolded himself. But that was hard when the problem proved to be such a vivid and alluring visual.
Think. His clothes wouldn’t work, but maybe one of his sisters had left something behind. He stepped around Hayley and entered the spare room. There had to be something.
Peeking out of the slightly ajar closet door was a laundry basket.
Then he remembered. Constance had brought a few loads with her just last weekend because her washer was on the fritz.
She’d left a load in his dryer, and he’d put the clothes back in the laundry basket and pitched them into the closet until she came back and got them.
He retrieved the basket and returned to Hayley, shoving it into her arms. “Will this work?”
She peered down at the clothes and picked up a shirt that lay on top, inspecting it. “Let me guess—sisters?” She looked back up at him. “She won’t mind if I borrow her clothes?”
“No.”
Hayley smirked. “I’m beginning to think that’s your favorite word, big man.”
As if people had favorite words.
“Mine’s onomatopoeia, in case you were wondering.”
Of course she had a favorite word and that word had more syllables than he had fingers on one hand. Why was he not surprised? Although the better question was, why did he find that fact charming?
He turned on his heel.
Space. Maybe once he acquired some, he’d start thinking clearly again.