“Yes,” he replied unrepentantly while trying to hide his own smile. “Are you seriously going to say no again and completely devastate me?”
More than anything, she wanted to give him the answer he desired. Hell, it was what she wanted, too. Everything about Levi Kincaid was intriguing and tempting, and she couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, a man had made her feel so desirable and, yes, special. And God, she was so tired of being alone, and lonely, every day except for the time she spent at work.
But she didn’t have a great track record when it came to the male gender. She’d been burned badly, twice, because she’d made the mistake of trusting a few jerks she’d thought were good guys. Too many times she’d gotten complacent and let herself be lulled into a false sense of security—starting with her own family, to a specific foster home, to the guys she’d dated—only to end up with broken promises that had chipped away at her heart. It was a repetitive story in her life, and a painful pattern she wanted so badly to break.
If she weren’t on the run from a controlling ex-boyfriend, if she didn’t have plans to leave town soon, it would be so easy to fall for a man like Levi. But unfortunately, that wasn’t her reality. But she could accept the date, as long as he understood a few things first.
She shifted on her feet, and without thinking, she ran her tongue across her bottom lip before speaking. He released a low, sexy groan as his gaze zeroed in on her mouth, and the awareness in the small room thickened.
“Are you trying to deliberately tempt me with what I can’t have?” The tone of his voice was hungry in a way that had nothing to do with food and everything to do with her.
“What?” She tried to make sense of his words, and when his question finally registered—he wanted her mouth—she quickly shook her head. “No!” she rushed to say as a warm flush swept across her cheeks. “I wasn’t trying to tempt you at all!”
A slow, sensual smile eased across his lips. “Just for the record, everything about you tempts me,” he murmured.
There went those weak knees again. Before they could get any more off track with their conversation, Sarah said what was on her mind. “Levi, I need you to know that I’m not looking for anything serious right now.”
“Fair enough,” he said as his thumb started rubbing softly along the back of the hand he was still holding. “I’m not asking for a lifetime commitment, either. Just a simple, casual night out with you. We can see where it goes from there.”
“If I agree to a date, it will be a one-time deal, Levi,” she told him as she tried to nonchalantly extricate her hand from his.
He wouldn’t let her go and instead grinned confidently. “Then I’ll jus
t have to do my damndest to change your mind.”
She refrained, just barely, from rolling her eyes at him. The man was persistent to a fault, even a little arrogant, and his determination wasn’t worth arguing over. “Okay, fine. Sunday evening you can take me out on a date.”
“See?” Triumph deepened his tone. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
This time, she did roll her eyes at him. “You wore down my resistance.”
“I knew I would.” He winked at her. “If you’ll give me your address, I’ll pick you up at your place at five p.m.”
A flash of panic surged through her when she thought about him arriving at the seedy, run-down motel where she was staying temporarily. “I’ll meet you at the restaurant.” She didn’t want to deal with the shame and humiliation of having to explain her living situation.
“You agreed to a date, not a meet and greet,” he said as he gave her hand a squeeze. “I’m picking you up.”
God, the man was so stubborn and tenacious, so she gave him the best compromise she’d allow. “Then pick me up at the store. I’ll be there by five.”
He frowned at her in a way that told Sarah he was analyzing her unusual reaction and was trying to figure out a way around her request, which she refused to allow.
“It’s a deal breaker, Levi.” Her tone was adamant. “Pick me up at the store or no date. You can’t have everything your way.”
The corner of his mouth twitched with humor, but he finally relented. “Fine. You win. This time.”
Loud male voices drifted into the room from the corridor outside, and Sarah watched as a sudden look of irritation passed across his features.
“Shit,” he muttered beneath his breath.
She had no idea what had caused the change in his demeanor. “What’s wrong?”
The line of his jaw tensed. “You’ll see in three . . . two . . . one—”
Sarah literally jumped when two big, good-looking men unexpectedly barged into the room, the older-looking one of the two speaking as they advanced toward Levi’s hospital bed.
“Jesus Christ, Levi!” the guy bellowed angrily. “You were fucking shot and you didn’t think to call one of your brothers to let us know?”
Oh, God, his brothers, and here she was, holding Levi’s hand like she was his girlfriend or someone he was intimately involved with. She tugged her fingers out of his grasp, hard enough that he was forced to let her go, but the other man with sleeves of tattoos wrapping around both muscled arms noticed—and smirked.