Текст книги "The Fall Up"

Автор книги: Aly Martinez

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“Yes,” she repeated with a smile.

“I’ll take you both back, but no way in hell am I letting you go with this guy alone.”

Offended, I jumped in. “Hey! What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Neither of them acknowledged me.

“Too bad you don’t get a say in that.” Levee grabbed my arm and dragged me away, leaving Devon cursing behind us.

As we marched down the hall, I leaned down and whispered in her ear, “I’m parked in the back lot.”

She slammed on the brakes and groaned in frustrated. With a quick U-turn, we headed back toward a hopeful Devon.

He opened his mouth as we got close, but Levee interrupted him as we breezed past.

“Nope. Still riding with Sam. Don’t forget Henry’s dinner.”

“Goddammit,” he seethed through gritted teeth, but Levee seemed unfazed.

Well, okay, then. I guessed she was riding with me.

“FUCK. ME,” SAM moaned when I mounted him just as he slid behind the wheel of his Jeep.

“If you insist,” I mumbled, crushing my mouth over his; smoke still lingered on his lips.

“Levee,” he warned as I dropped a hand to his zipper. Grabbing my wrist, he attempted to stop me, but I retaliated by gliding my hips over his stiffening dick. “Shiiiiit.” He gave the fight up and kissed me, thrusting a hand into my hair to use it for leverage.

With a gentle tug, he turned my head and latched onto my neck—nipping and sucking his way up to my ear. The bite of his hand in my hair sent blood rushing to my clit while his breath against my ear forced chills down my spine.

“Come back to my place. It’s closer than yours.”

“Okay,” I answered without a single second of hesitation. I’d go wherever he wanted just as long as he was going too.

Shocked, he held my gaze. “Are you allowed to do that?”

“I’m a big girl, Sam. I’m allowed to do whatever—or whoever—I want.” I went back in for another kiss, but Sam lifted me off his lap and deposited me onto the passenger’s seat.

“Put your seat belt on,” he growled, adjusting his pants.

Sam’s Jeep was exactly what I would have expected from him. It was older but in perfect condition. There were no windows or doors to shield us from the sure-to-be freezing wind, but the idea of freedom was more than worth the price. A loud beat from his speakers filled the air the second he started the engine.

“Sorry.” He turned it down as he slammed the five-speed into reverse. Tossing his arm around the back of my seat, he zipped us out of the parking spot and onto the streets of San Francisco.

With my hand on his thigh and the wind whipping through my hair, Sam navigated us back to his place. I was going to look like a shivering, matted poodle by the time we got there, but I couldn’t have cared less. Sucking in a deep breath, I closed my eyes and smiled to myself. I didn’t ever want to leave that moment. And that was the first time in as long as I could remember when I could honestly say that.

Something happened when I was with Sam.

I didn’t know what that something was, but it happened all the same.

He wasn’t a magical fix. I knew that the free fall was still waiting for me at the end of the night. But I didn’t feel like I was plummeting when I was with him.

“What are you smiling about?” Sam asked when we pulled up to a red stoplight. His hand sifted through my hair then gently wrapped around the back of my neck.

Like a kitten, I purred, leaning into his touch. “Mmm, the way I feel right now.” I opened my eyes to find him watching me with a content grin.

“You’re beautiful,” was all he said before the light turned green and we were off again.

Being told I was beautiful wasn’t an anomaly.

It was Sam though.

That was everything.

Less than a minute later, Sam pulled up to a gorgeous two-story brick house complete with a wraparound porch that almost made me moan. It was so quaint and homey that I instantly felt drawn inside.

“Put your gooey eyes away. This is my mom’s place. I live in the basement.”

“Oh. You live with your…mom?” I’d done my best not to sound disappointed, but judging by the sound of his laugh, I’d failed miserably.

He arched an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

“No. I mean… I just.” I stumbled over my words. It wasn’t a problem. Well, not totally. It just wasn’t what I expected. And suddenly, in that moment, I realized exactly how much I didn’t know about Sam. “I thought…”

I continued to ramble until he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. He didn’t take it any deeper, and I was very aware of his shoulders shaking in amusement.

“Chill, Levee. I’m just giving you shit. It’s my house. I bought it two years ago and have been fixing it up ever since. Rest assured, my mom has her own place across town.”

I breathed an audible sigh of relief then squeaked, “It’s a pretty house.”

“It is. But it’s still a work in progress, and I can’t promise how safe my handiwork is, so don’t step on the cracks or the whole floor might cave in.” He unbuckled himself and climbed out.

“Uhhh,” I stammered as I got out, meeting him at the hood. “Seriously?”

He shook his head and looped an arm around my waist. “Why are you nervous?”

“What? I’m not.” I swayed in his arms with a herd of butterflies stampeding in my stomach.

“You haven’t called me on my shit once since you got in my car. You’re nervous. Now tell me why.”

“I’m not—” I started, but he twisted his lips, unconvinced.

“You want me to take you home?”

“No!”

He dropped his hand to my ass. “Then tell me what’s got you so distracted.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek. How the hell did I answer that?

You, Sam! You have me distracted. I’m nervous because I can’t say the wrong thing again. Not if I want you back. And, God, do I want you back.

I kept that to myself.

After backing me up, he pinned me against the hood with his body. “Levee,” he prompted.

“I have crabs!” I blurted out when the truth got lodged in my throat. “I didn’t want to tell you, but since we had sex, it’s only a matter of time before those critters get you too.”

I didn’t expect him to believe my joke, but I figured he’d at least laugh. Instead, he groaned, sliding a hand under my shirt and over my breasts—his rough fingers dipping inside my bra to tease my nipples.

“Fuck, I’ve missed you.”

“Mmm,” I moaned. Closing my eyes, I slipped a hand down the back of his jeans—strictly for balance, of course.

I whined in complaint when he suddenly stepped away.

“Get your ass inside. I need to smoke.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not going inside my stalker’s house alone.”

He cocked his head to the side. “Should you ever really go in your stalker’s house at all?”

“Excellent point. We should definitely do it in the driveway.” I reached for the button on his jeans, but he backed out of my reach.

“Jesus, Levee.” He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. “Aren’t we supposed to be talking?”

I nervously began chewing on the inside of my mouth again.

Talking was going to suck. Sex definitely wasn’t.

But sex didn’t mean I got to keep him. Talking hopefully would.

My eyes flashed to the ground. “Yeah. You’re right.”

I heard his lighter spark to life. Then his shoes entered my field vision. Threading our fingers together, he lifted the back of my hand to graze over his dick bulging behind his denim.

I sucked in sharply as his warm breath whispered over my neck.

“I’ve never in my life wanted to lose myself inside a woman more than I do with you. In my driveway. In my bed. In my car in the middle of a hospital parking lot. Anywhere, Levee.” He draped my arm around his neck then dropped his forehead to mine. “I’ve also never wanted to make something work with a woman more than I do with you. So, if talking is what I have to do, then let’s do it. But, after all of that’s settled—and I swear to God it will be settled—we’ll get back”—he roughly tugged me against him, pointedly rolling his hips—“to this.”

I’d been wrong.

That was everything.

I immediately looked away, and I did it smiling.

Huge.

Taking my hand, Sam smoked as we walked up the short sidewalk to his front door. While he fumbled with his keys, my eyes were drawn to two antique white doors that had been transformed into a porch swing.

I lifted our joined hands to point. “Did you make that?”

He tossed me a proud, lopsided grin. “If it’s in this house, I made it.”

“That’s amazing. I can’t imagine being that talented.”

He barked a laugh as he pushed his door open. “Says the woman with a mantel full of Grammys.”

“Oh, shut up. I meant talented with my hands, smartass.” I pinched his nipple.

“Ow! Shit!” he complained before reaching out to pinch mine in retaliation. His was definitely gentler, and I might have secretly wished that he had done it again. Repeatedly.

He didn’t though. He dropped his hand and flipped the lights on.

The outside of his house was amazing, but it didn’t do justice to the inside in the least. Dark hardwood floors covered the expanse of the den, and a rugged, brown leather sectional butted up against the wall, facing a flat-screen mounted above a stone fireplace. The whole area was open, and his galley kitchen sat in the back with only a granite-top bar dividing the rooms. The house appeared to be older from the curb, but inside, it was as modern as it could get.

Sam’s house definitely wasn’t the bachelor pad I’d expected. It was unnaturally clean. I had a full-time maid and his place made mine look like a stable.

What single guy keeps a house this neat?

I gasped. “Oh my God, you’re married!”

“Shh! You’ll wake up my wife,” he replied, touching his lips to my temple. “Don’t worry. She’s okay with you being here. You were on the top of my celebrity sexception list.”

A laugh escaped my throat. He waggled his eyebrows as he moved to the small table next to the door. After flipping through the mail, he extended an envelope in my direction.

“Text my address to Devon. I don’t need the SWAT team breaking down my door when he realizes I didn’t take you back to your place.”

He had a point. And, given my situation, Henry would probably stroke out too.

Upon retrieving my phone from my back pocket, I sent a message to Henry and asked him to pass the word along to Devon as well. His reply pinged in my hand, but I didn’t bother reading it before powering my phone down.

“You want a beer?” Sam asked, bypassing the fridge and heading to a sliding glass door off the back of his kitchen.

“Sure.”

“Okay. Be right back.” He disappeared out the door.

Less than a moment later, a black lab came barreling in.

“Sampson!” Sam yelled behind him.

I immediately backed away. He didn’t exactly look ferocious, but I’d become too fond of my legs to chance having them gnawed off.

“Sit,” Sam ordered, appearing in doorway with four beers cradled against his chest.

The dog skidded to a halt then dropped to his hind end less than an inch away from me. His tail thumped against the hardwood as he eagerly stared up at me.

“You have a dog?”

“Very astute observation. Levee, meet Sampson,” he laughed, twisting the tops off two domestic beers.

“Your dog’s name is Sampson?”

“Yep,” he said before tipping the beer to his lips and offering one in my direction.

“Your name is Sam and you named your dog Sampson. That’s a bit egotistical, don’t ya think?”

“Well, the guy who does my ink wouldn’t give us matching tattoos. I was really limited in my narcissistic options.”

“Right.” I reached down to scratch behind Sampson’s ears.

“I got him at the pound a few years back. I saw the name tag on his kennel and took it as a sign.” He whistled and Sampson rushed to his side. Tilting his beer toward the couch to signal for me to sit down, he asked, “You a dog person?”

Following his unspoken order, I settled on the end of the couch, slipping my heels off so I could tuck a leg underneath me. “Yeah. I’ve always wanted a dog, but by the time I could afford to take care of one, my life was chaos. I travel way too much.”

“Gotcha,” he said, sitting beside me on the couch.

With a snap and a point from Sam, Sampson lumbered over to a dog bed in the corner, grunting before flopping down.

We both stayed silent, awkwardly drinking our beers. Small talk was officially over, but it seemed Sam wasn’t any more excited to start the heavy conversation than I was.

“You hungry?” he asked as I nervously polished my beer off.

“I’m good, thanks.”

He nodded and went back to staring into space. “Sooo…” he drawled but didn’t say anything else.

Without looking at him, I broke the silence. “Are you positive that we can’t just start with sex?”

Chuckling, he dropped his head back against the couch and turned to look at me. I met his gaze with a grin, hoping he was about to give in. Instead, his smile fell and his eyes softened.

“I’m sorry I stormed out the way I did, but I really can’t apologize for telling Devon. Levee, I have a really fucked-up past, and it terrifies me to start something with someone like you.”

Someone like you.

I swallowed hard, trying not to flinch from the sting of his words. “Oh.” I scooted to the edge of couch and slid my shoes back on.

He caught my elbow before I had the chance to push to my feet. “Hear me out. Please.”

“Yeah, of course. I was just gonna grab another beer.” I smiled tightly, but he didn’t release my arm.

With one hand, he grabbed the neck of my empty beer between two fingers and replaced it with his half-full one. “Stop and listen. That’s all I’m asking.”

A nod was my only response.

“My fondest memories from when I was a kid are when I was with my dad. I remember him spending hours running around with Anne and me in the backyard. He was so fucking funny and energetic. I swear we were always laughing with him. The problem was that my mom would sit at the kitchen window crying because she knew what would follow. My dad had been diagnosed as bipolar long before he met my mom. But he had meds, and even though they weren’t a fix-all, they helped. Just like basically everyone else who struggles with the disorder, he had a hard time sticking to the medication regimen.” He scrubbed his palms over the thighs of his jeans then dragged his cigarettes from his pocket. He glanced over at me then sighed, tossing them on the wagon-wheel coffee table—his creation, no doubt.

All of my hurt disappeared as I watched something far worse appear on Sam’s face. I didn’t necessarily want to encourage his habit, but I’d have done anything to erase that pained expression.

“You want to take this to the porch swing so you can smoke?” I asked, folding my hand over his.

“Yes. But I need to stop compromising your breakup with lung cancer. So no.” His lips twitched as he intertwined our fingers. Groaning, he continued. “There were times when my dad would disappear to his workshop in our backyard for a week or more. It was a way of life, and Anne and I learned to stop asking questions. Despite all of his shit, he was a great dad.” He squeezed my hand and pointedly held my gaze as he said, “I miss him a lot.”

That does not sound good.

I’d figured the whole walk down memory lane was to set up Anne’s story. But I was quickly realizing that, unfortunately, she might not be the only stop on the ride through Sam’s self-proclaimed fucked-up past.

He ran a hand through his hair. “When I was fifteen, Dad lost his job and went into one of his typical lows. No one really paid it any attention. We were overly used to it by then. Mom used to have us deliver his dinner out to the shop. He wasn’t always as patient with her as he was with Anne and me. When he was up, Mom was the center of his universe. When he was down…he was a fucking dick.”

He lifted my hand to his mouth as I waited on pins and needles for what I prayed wouldn’t be the ending I feared he was about to give me.

“Anne was twelve and thankfully spending the night at the neighbor’s house the night I found him hanging from the rafters. I knew he was dead as soon as I opened that door. But I still frantically tried to save him.” He sucked in a deep, agonizing breath then dragged me onto his lap. Holding me as if I were the only thing anchoring him to the present. “Levee, that’s why I told Devon. I’ll never forget those seconds when I was the only one in that room, begging the universe for help to save him—help that was never going to arrive. I just couldn’t risk that I’d be alone in that room with you too. Someone else needed to know. I couldn’t be solely responsible for losing someone else. Not like that.”

Ice chilled my veins as a reality sliced through me.

Oh God.

I couldn’t let that happen either.

Sam really can’t be with someone like me.

“I HAVE TO go,” Levee said, scrambling off my lap.

I had just dredged up memories I’d spent my entire life trying to forget in order to explain my past. I had close friends who didn’t know about the skeletons I’d pulled from the closet and all but put on display for her. And now she was darting?

“Where the hell are you going?” I bit out entirely too roughly while pushing to my feet after her.

She began messing with her phone until it powered on with a chime. “I have a busy day tomorrow. They rescheduled my concert in LA for tomorrow night. I should probably head home. I’m taking off on vacation for a few weeks. You know, rest and relaxation and all that jazz. I’ll just call Devon for a ride.” She lifted the phone to her ear.

Fuck.

That.

“Put the phone down, Levee,” I growled.

She squeezed the phone between her shoulder and ear and lifted the empty beer bottles off the table. “I’ll just put these in the trash.” Then she flittered to the kitchen, grabbing a rag off the side of the sink and wiping away imaginary dirt from my spotless counters.

What hell is she doing?

“Levee?” I called, but apparently, Devon had just picked up.

“Hey. Can you come get me?” she asked quietly, but not quietly enough, because I’d heard the quiver in her voice loud and clear.

And that was all it took to get my legs moving in her direction.

Her back was to me, but I reached over her shoulder and snatched the phone away from her ear.

“Hey!” she shouted, spinning to face me.

My nerves were still raw and exposed from the little journey back in time, but I was mainly frustrated beyond belief.

With my gaze locked on hers, I lifted the phone to my ear. “Hey, Devon. I’ll bring her home in a little while.”

“No, the fuck you won’t,” he barked, but I pressed the end button.

She swallowed hard and pasted on a sweet smile that definitely belonged to the Levee Williams.

It just didn’t belong to my Designer Shoes.

Not at all.

“Sam, you don’t have to take me back. Give me the phone. Devon can be here in a few minutes.”

Tossing her phone onto the counter, I took a menacing step forward.

Her eyes grew wide as she backed away. “Sam, I have to go.”

I sucked in a calming breath that did nothing to quell the frustration brewing inside me. “No, you don’t. You’re freaking out about something, so open your mouth and tell me what that is.” I continued to advance. “I spill my darkest secrets and suddenly you have shit to do tomorrow? Well, guess what, Levee? I have shit to do tonight. And it starts and ends with you.”

Finally, she’d exhausted the space in my kitchen, and her back hit my sliding glass door. “I don’t know what to say. I just need to go,” she said so matter-of-factly that, if it hadn’t been for the tear that rolled down her cheek, I might have believed her.

I caught the tear with the pad of my thumb and slowly lifted the moisture into her line of sight. “Liar.”

“Sam—”

“Whether it was on the bridge or in a hospital room not even two hours ago, your tears have always told me the truth.” I dropped my damp thumb to her lips. “These are not as honest. Don’t tell me you’re fine. Don’t tell me you have to go. Don’t tell me that everything is okay. Just tell me the truth your eyes are so desperate for me to hear.”

She held my gaze for only a beat longer before she broke.

Completely.

As she threw her arms around my neck, the waterworks came full force. Scooping her off her feet, I carried her to the couch, settling with her on my lap.

Her face was buried in the crook of my neck as she rambled a million miles a minute. “I have no idea what to do here. I like you, but you’re right. You can’t be with someone like me. And, more than that, you shouldn’t have to. Over the last week, I’ve been doing a lot better and finally feeling better than I have in years. But I don’t know if it will stay that way. What if I find my feet on that bridge again? ” She suddenly sat up. “I can’t put you in that position. Not after everything you’ve been through.” She rested her head back on my shoulder. “You’re amazing, Sam. I’m so fucking sorry that you had to deal with all of that in your past, but I can’t ask you to potentially deal with my issues in the future. And it hurts because I lied. I more than like you. I hardly know you, but I want to keep you. Just the way you are. Maybe forever.”

A lump formed in my throat, and an unlikely smile tilted my lips. I’d learned early on that, no matter how I tried, I couldn’t fix everything for everyone. I couldn’t make my Dad better any more than I could Anne.

But I could fix this.

With a sigh, I whispered into the top of her hair, “Then do it.”

Her head popped up, confusion painting her tear-stained face.

“Levee, I’m not the one trying to leave. You’re right. This is going to be a struggle for me, but while I have no idea what issues you do have, I do know you’re not my dad or Anne.”

Framing her face with my hands, I pulled her in for a kiss. She was still visibly upset, but I couldn’t deny that the brief contact was more for me than it was for her.

“Levee, when Anne was a teen, she started exhibiting a lot of my father’s typical behaviors. My mom immediately hauled her into the doctor, begging for them to do something…and they did. She battled with what we thought was bipolar disorder for years, but when she was twenty, everything went downhill fast. She started hallucinating and flipping out over nothing. My mom and I did the best we could, but nothing seemed to help. At twenty-one, Anne was officially diagnosed with schizophrenia. I have no idea if that’s what my dad had too. After seeing Anne, it’s not exactly a stretch that he could have been misdiagnosed also.” My pulse slowed, and the truth I was prepared to admit ebbed any residual fear from my body. “But I do know that it’s not what you struggle with.”

Her eyes filled with tears all over again. “No. I don’t think it is, either. But that doesn’t change the fact that you deserve someone different than me. Someone better.” She climbed off my lap, but I no longer worried that she was going to bolt.

If she wanted space to think, I’d give her that.

Gnawing on her thumbnail, she began to pace. Then she stopped and turned to face me, her shoulders rolled forward in defeat. “You need someone you didn’t meet on the top of a bridge.”

But I didn’t give a single fuck what Levee thought I needed.

I’d made my decision.

With all of my unease about pursuing something with her organized inside my mind, a familiar levity washed over me. Reclining back against the couch, I folded my hands behind my head and propped my feet on the table.

“You’re right,” I replied curtly, and her whole body sagged as she looked away. I smirked to myself. “The only problem, Levee, is I just want you.”

Her gaze snapped to mine, and her eyes were filled with a mixture of surprise and hope. As her chin fought to suppress a smile, it gave me hope as well.

I walked over and wrapped her in my arms. Then I repeated familiar words that were suddenly more fitting than ever. “I’m not perfect, and I’d like to pretend you aren’t, either.”

She dropped her head to my shoulder as her arms dangled at her sides.

I kissed her hair and whispered, “There isn’t a woman in the world who doesn’t have demons of some sort. No matter who I end up with, it’s always going to be a struggle.” I kissed her hair again, letting it linger as if my lips were able to transfer the truth of my words. “Levee, I’d like to struggle with you.”

That should have been my big finish, but she didn’t even acknowledge that she’d heard me. She stood impossibly still in my grasp. She wasn’t moving away, but she wasn’t returning my embrace either. I couldn’t see her face to get a read on her reaction, and after a few moments of silence, it began to unnerve me.

“I meant that in a good way,” I whispered, squeezing her tight.

She tipped her head back to look into my eyes and mumbled, “I’m going to need you to sign a release.”

“Huh?”

“I need you to sign a copyright release, because I’m using every single bit of that speech in a song. Jesus, Sam. ‘I’d like to struggle with you.’ I’m so freaking jealous that I didn’t write that.”

I smiled as she finally circled her arms around my neck. “You can have it. It’s not like I can use it again at this point.”

“I don’t know. You did a pretty nice job at recycling the ‘perfect’ thing.”

“I didn’t recycle—I repurposed,” I exaggerated with a wink.

She laughed then leaned her head back to my shoulder. “Sam, you have no idea what you’re getting into.”

“No one ever does. It’s the beauty of taking risks.”

“Oh my God,” she breathed. “I’ll need a release on that too.”

I chuckled, dropping my hands down to her ass. “Look at me,” I urged with a squeeze.

Reluctantly, her red-rimmed eyes met mine.

“I shouldn’t have stormed out on you the other night, but I swear it won’t ever happen again. You need to talk about…anything. Hell, even if you get sick of me and ditch me for some big-time bazillionaire actor tomorrow, I’m still here.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“I’m just saying, I’m here no matter when, where, or why. I don’t want you holding back because of my history. Okay?” I didn’t care if she answered or if she thought it was okay. It made me feel infinitely better to know I’d put it out there.

“Ugh.” She lolled her head back down. “You’re such a good guy.”

“Not always. I’m a real dick if you try to use my toothbrush in the morning.”

Her shoulders shook as she laughed. They stilled when her lips brushed against my neck. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.” I squeezed her ass again.

“This is going to be a train wreck for you, Sam. But I really want to see if we can make something work. I believe I can get better and get my life in order, but struggling with me is exactly what you’ll be doing while I try to find some sort of balance. Besides all my issues, my life is crazy town.” She never looked up as she continued. “There’s no such thing as dinner and movie dates with me. I can’t even leave the house without security. I work nonstop and get recognized virtually everywhere I go. I travel for six months out of every year, and my free time is usually spent at children’s hospitals.” She sighed. “I don’t know how to date anyone anymore, especially someone who isn’t in the industry. The press is going to eat you alive, so we’d have to keep this quiet.”

I could feel her heart pounding against my chest, and her breathing was labored as if she’d just finished a marathon.

“Nobody can know.” Sure, she was talking to me, but she wasn’t telling me anything new. All she’d managed to do was work herself up into a frenzy.

“Calm down.” I hugged her tight. “We don’t have to figure out all of this tonight. Hell, we don’t actually have to figure it out at all. The rest will work itself out. We’ll keep things chill for a while. I’m okay with date nights at casa de Rivers. It has a convenient private bedroom at our disposal.” I glided a hand down her back, but she didn’t laugh.

She continued to freak out. “You don’t understand how much this is going to change your life,” she whispered.

She was absolutely right. My life would never be the same again.

And it was invigorating.

I understood that dating a woman like Levee was going to be difficult, but if she was the great at the end of the day, I was more than up for the challenge.

“I’ll be okay. I promise.”

“You say that now…but—”

“Levee, stop. Take a deep breath and relax. No matter what you say, you’re not talking me out of this. I want to make something work with you, and you’ve made it clear that you want something with me. So let’s do it. End of story.”

“Sam,” she objected, clearly not done talking.

But I was.

“What’s your schedule look like tomorrow? I want you to spend the night.”

“I have to leave in the morning for LA. I have a concert tomorrow night. Then I’m scheduled for a month of”—she lifted her hands in a pair of air quotes—“‘vacation.’”

“Are there going to be doctors on this vacation?”

She nodded.

“Good.”

“Yeah, fantastic,” she deadpanned.

“Oh, hush. It will be fantastic. Now, spend the night and tell me who I need to sleep with to get tickets to your show tomorrow night? I have two days until you’re gone. I’m maximizing my time whether you want it or not.”

“Are you sure?”

I reached up and pinched her lips between two fingers. “Zip it. I’m positive.”

She sighed, and her whole body relaxed.

As anxiety drained from her face, my Designer Shoes appeared before my eyes with an enticing smirk. Pushing my hand away, she pressed a kiss to my mouth. “I might know someone who can get you tickets, but I hear she’s pretty needy in bed.”

“She can’t be any needier than you.” I kissed her again, greedily opening my mouth for a taste I had been longing for.

She was leaving in two days, but for the first time since I’d met Levee, I knew for certain she’d be coming back.

To me.