Chapter 24
“Well, this is it, Cletus. Just you and me and an open road once again.” I pat the side of the bookmobile.
Levi raises his brow at me. “Cletus?”
“I told you already. You don’t know everything about me.” I smirk sassily up at Levi.
He slides his hands into his pockets and leans a shoulder against Cletus, grinning down at me. “Never said I did. Only that I wanted to. One day at a time.”
“Hmm. Well, today’s lesson on Hayley Holt is that she tends to name inanimate objects.”
He nods, nonplussed, like my doling out monikers to nonliving things isn’t something that surprises him in the least. “Noted.”
“Are you sure?” I narrow my eyes to little squints and tilt my head playfully. “I don’t see you writing anything down.”
He taps his temple. “I’ve got it all right here.”
“Good, because you never know when there’ll be a pop quiz.” I wiggle my eyebrows.
“I’m not worried.” He lets his gaze travel the length of my body. “I plan to study the subject matter very thoroughly.”
Wow. Okay. He just went from zero to sixty on the flirting meter, and I am here for it. “Very good,” I croak.
Shoot. Croaking like a toad isn’t the least bit sexy. I clear my throat to try again.
Levi pushes off Cletus and takes a few steps toward me, looking around the shop. “Now I’m curious, though. Did you name anything else besides the kittens while you were here?”
Wait. What happened to flirting? Did I miss my opportunity? “That depends,” I draw out the last word so it sounds more like deep ends, trying to come up with a way to get back on the playful-banter train.
He stops his aimless stroll and turns to look at me. “Depends on what?”
“On whether your tow truck already had a name or not.” Yeah, I think I need to work on my flirting game.
His gaze moves to where his big tow truck is parked on the other side of the asphalt pad. “You named my truck?”
The funny thing is, his voice doesn’t sound at all incredulous. In fact, if I had to place an emotion to it, I would almost say he sounds slightly giddy by the prospect.
I nod, turning to look at his big hulking truck as well. “Considering I was a damsel in distress and he came to my rescue, I dubbed him Sir Galahad.”
Levi’s face splits into a grin. “One could argue that it was I who came to your rescue.”
I nudge his side with my shoulder. “Sure, one could argue that, I suppose.”
“But the 4x4 is the one that gets the title of a chivalrous knight?”
I sigh deeply and shake my head as if saying what can ya do? “I do not make the rules, sir.”
Levi laughs, deep and rumbly, and I want to punch my fist in the air and do a little happy dance. While he’s been freer with his smiles and laughter, each one still feels like sweet victory.
“By definition, I believe you are exactly the one who makes the rules.”
I hold my hands palms-up and shrug in a maybe gesture.
He shakes his head, mirth still present in the crescent shape of his mouth.
“Speaking of the kittens . . .” I’ve been putting this conversation off, but there isn’t any more time left to delay talking about our triplets.
His brow quirks. “Were we speaking of the kittens?”
“You asked if I had named anything besides them,” I point out helpfully.
“Ah yes.”
“Anyway, the kittens.” I nibble on my bottom lip. “I know they were my idea—to rescue them, I mean—and take care of them, and I kind of foisted them on you.”
He grunts, and I’ve become such an expert on what each of his unintelligible guttural throat sounds are that it’s basically my second language now. Which means I know that this particular grunt, short and clipped and more of a deep rumble, means he disagrees with everything I just said.
Which, sure, to watch him interact with the kittens, no one would believe that I in any way twisted his arm or that he wishes they weren’t disturbing his sleep every few hours for feedings and bathroom massages, but still.
The truth remains, I was the one who brought them into his perfectly private life and now I’m peacing out. Guilt, anyone?
“Now that I’m leaving, we should probably talk about custody. Three baby kittens are a lot of responsibility. Do you think we should separa—”
“We’re not splitting up a family,” he growls.
I bite back my smile at his vehemence at keeping baby animals together when litters are separated and adopted out all the time. I mean, I feel the same way—I don’t want to split the brothers up either—but I didn’t really expect Levi to feel so strongly on the matter.
Just when I think I can’t possibly get any more attracted to this man, he does or says something so incredibly teddy-bear-sweet like this, and I melt like butter on a hot biscuit.
“Okay, so they stay together. I’ll have a hard time getting away from the library for their scheduled feedings, but I’m sure Evangeline and Martha can—”
“Hayley.” Levi’s palms land heavy on my shoulders. “Harry Pawter, Meowfoy, and Dumpurrdore can all stay here.”
“Are you sure?” I can’t help but feel a little relieved.
I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to make it work, honestly.
I’d begun to come up with a rudimentary plan to smuggle the kittens into the library, but it required a pair of cargo pants and lasers, and I’d let my mom borrow my cargo pants the last time her and Dad went camping.
Considering she still hasn’t given them back to me yet, it’s a good thing we have a plan B.
Levi’s face goes soft. “I think I was always meant to be a cat dad.”
“Aww.”
“Besides, Anna Leigh might do me bodily harm if she drops by to check on the triplets and they aren’t here anymore.”
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a nine-year-old girl who has a tutu-wearing pig for a pet.”
Levi shudders comically. “Terrified.”
“Don’t worry, big guy.” I laugh and pat his coarse cheek. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Thank you.”
I look around the garage, stalling. I rack my brain, trying to think of any other excuse to prolong this good-bye, but there’s nothing left. The time’s finally here, and all I can wish for is a few more minutes.
“Are you sure you won’t let me follow you back to Little Creek? Just to be safe?” Levi asks. He looks like a dog who’s been commanded to sit and stay.
“You’ve got Cletus running again, right? No reason to worry that he’s going to give up the ghost on the way back?”
Reluctantly, he shakes his head. “I’ve given him a thorough going-over, and he’s got a clean bill of health now.” He strokes his chin. “Although I can always disconnect the battery terminals if it means you’ll stay longer.”
“Thank you, Dr. Redding.” I wink. “And as much as I’d like to take up your offer of sabotage, I probably should get back to my responsibilities in Little Creek.”
“Can’t blame me for trying.”
“But to answer your original question, following me isn’t necessary. You’re busy, and I’ve already monopolized enough of your time since being here.”
“Hayley—”
I hold up a hand. The way he growled my name, I know he was about to contradict me.
“It’s true, and we both know it.” I walk over to him and slide my arms around his waist. “I’m not saying either one of us would change anything or that we regret the time we’ve had together, but I also know you probably have a lot of work to catch up on.”
He bends down until his forehead rests on mine. “I’d rather make sure you get home safely. Everything else can wait.”
I look up so our eyes meet, so close I can make out every gold fleck like sunbursts in his irises.
“I promise to call as soon as I park Cletus at the library, not a second later. If you don’t hear from me in an appropriate amount of time, then you have my permission to mount Sir Galahad and gallop to my rescue. ”
He sighs, capitulating. “When can I see you again?”
“Not tired of me yet?” I grin.
“Never.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“I’m serious.” Any sense of humor fades from his face. “I want to take you out on a real date.”
Apprehension prickles along the backs of my arms. Not from the idea of dating Levi.
I mean, I’m still wrestling with everything that a real relationship means, but the thought of spending time with him only brings me joy.
It’s the word date that is causing alarm bells to ring in the back of my mind.
“And where would we go?” I ask with as little hesitation as possible.
He thinks a moment. “Pop culture has taught me that dinner and a movie are the standard destinations when two people go out with the intent of romance. We could do that.”
I try to hold back a grimace. This is what I was afraid of.
“What?” He blinks down at me. “Why’d you make that face?”
My eyes are squeezed shut, so I open one slightly to peek at him. “It’s just . . .” I open both eyes and sigh. “The movies? Can you honestly see yourself enjoying going to a theater? Or a crowded restaurant for that matter?”
Levi looks away, and the muscle in his jaw begins to tick. Restaurants and theaters are hotbeds of unceasing stimulation on multiple fronts. He knows I’m right, and he hates it. The self-loathing is practically writing itself along the tightening lines around his eyes.
I lift my hand, place my four fingers behind his ear, and press my thumb into his pulsing jaw muscle. It takes a minute, but he finally sighs, unclenches his teeth, and meets my gaze again.
This beautiful, not broken man. I hate that past experiences have caused him to see himself the way he does.
That it somehow defines him in an unfavorable way because considerations and accommodations need to be made.
But, hello! Who among us doesn’t need some sort of accommodation for something—whether because of a physical trait, a past trauma, or .
. . something! That need doesn’t make any one of us weak or broken or less than anyone else. It makes us human.
“There isn’t a law written down anywhere that dictates a couple has to go to dinner and the movies on a date. Actually, if you think about it, it’s pretty cliché, don’t you think? No originality involved whatsoever.”
A look crosses his face that I don’t like. Resignation, I think it is. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?”
He looks away again. “Make excuses for me.”
“No one is making excuses for anyone here,” I scoff, outraged.
“I’m just stating facts. If a guy takes me to dinner and a movie, then I don’t think that he’s put much thought or effort into our date.
He could be taking any woman on the planet to those places; it’s nothing special.
Honestly, it says a lot about him even before the date begins, and I usually don’t have high expectations for more than a way to kill a night. ”
I want more than that with Levi. And I want us both to be comfortable and enjoy ourselves when we spend time together. “Besides, there’s something that sounds better than going out on a date anyway.”
His forehead scrunches. He doesn’t believe me but he’s curious. “What’s that?”
“Staying in on a date.” I wiggle my brows at him, then add a little shoulder shimmy action.
He smiles slightly but shakes his head. “Okay, I may be a novice at this whole dating thing, but that just sounds like hanging out to me.”
“Oh, grasshopper, you have much to learn. Soft music playing in the background, a delicious home-cooked meal, candlelight. Just the two of us. And our brood of kittens, of course. Because, while you may have sole custody now, I demand visitation rights, which means you have to bring our babies along. What do you say?”
“I say—” he leans in and kisses my lips—“I can’t wait.
” He kisses me again. “And also, if eating together in the privacy of one of our homes, just the two of us, constitutes a date, then maybe we’re a lot farther along in this relationship than either of us thought, seeing as we’ve technically been dating since we met. According to your definition, that is.”
I grin against his lips as he kisses me again. “What an interesting observation.”