Once the man was gone, Sarah decided it was time for her to go, too. She didn’t need to stick around while Levi was unhooked from the monitor and IV and got dressed. His brothers could help him in any way he might need.
“Now that I know that you really are fine, I’m going to head home,” she said, smiling when Levi glanced at her with those warm green eyes.
“How?” he asked.
She tipped her head in confusion at his odd question. “How what?”
“How are you going to get home when you rode in the ambulance here?”
Oh, yeah, that. She really loved that he was so concerned, when the guys who’d passed through her life so far wouldn’t have thought twice about her safety. She had every intention of calling a cab since the buses weren’t running this late at night—or morning, as the case might be—but instinctively knew that Levi wouldn’t stand for that.
“If you need a ride, we can take you home,” Clay said, his concern for her equally genuine.
Sarah swallowed past the unexpected gratitude tightening in her throat—along with the urge to say, yes, please, but there was no way she wanted any of these men to see how and where she lived. “I appreciate the offer, but I have a friend who’s waiting for me to call her to come and pick me up,” she lied, ignoring the way that Levi scrutinized her—as if he could see right through her fib, which she hoped wasn’t the case. She needed to get out of there before he figured out the truth.
“Take it easy, Levi.” She gave his arm a friendly squeeze, and though she didn’t mention their date on Sunday, she knew there was no way he’d forget—she could see it in his eyes.
She walked around the bed and glanced at Clay, then Mason. “It was nice meeting you both.”
“Same here,” Clay said, then nodded toward Mason. “And I hope this knucklehead didn’t give the two of us a bad first impression.”
Said knucklehead merely flashed her a charming grin, and she laughed. “No, not at all.” She’d enjoyed watching the three siblings interact.
“Good.” Clay gave her a warm smile. “I hope we see each other again, hopefully under much more pleasant circumstances next time.”
She doubted it. “Me, too,” she said politely, though she wasn’t going to be around long enough to have anything more to do with this close-knit family. The thought made her sad, and she rushed out the door before the ever-perceptive Levi could call her on the emotions she knew were shining in her eyes.
Chapter Three
Four long days of lying around and resting, and Levi was bored out of his mind. He’d been released from active duty for at least the next two weeks, and because he couldn’t exert himself just yet, he couldn’t even work on the projects around the house that he enjoyed doing on his days off. So, instead, he’d binge-watched movies and television series on Netflix. He was now caught up on all the latest episodes of his favorite shows and had a deeper understanding of the phrase couch potato.
Since the shooting on Tuesday, he’d had a visitor every day. Wednesday, Nick and a couple of other guys from the station had come over to hang out for a few hours. Thursday, Clay stopped by in the afternoon to make sure he was feeling better. He’d brought a pizza and stayed to watch a few episodes of a show with him, and on Friday, Mason dropped by for the sole purpose of being a general pain in the ass. And of course, to pry about his relationship with Sarah, about which Levi gave his brother nothing to satisfy his burning curiosity.
By Saturday, all Levi wanted was peace and quiet and no more visitors. Well, that wasn’t completely true. He wouldn’t have turned away Sarah if she’d knocked on his door. But she didn’t know where he lived, and they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers for her to call or text. He could have driven over to Circle K during one of her night shifts—and he’d seriously thought about it—but the last thing he wanted her to think was that he was stalking her, even if he was a cop. He just had to trust that she’d be at the store tomorrow evening at the specified time for him to pick her up for their date.
And what was up with Sarah being so stubborn about that particular request, anyway? Levi wondered with a frown as he channel-surfed for something to hold his attention on TV. Of course he’d agreed to her terms, but her insistence had only piqued his curiosity and made him determined to find out why she was being so evasive. Just like she’d refused Clay’s offer to drive her home the night at the hospital, which would have been much easier and more convenient than bothering a friend.
There was so much about Sarah that was a mystery, and granted, that was part of her allure. She was a puzzle to him, an enigma that made him want to know more about her. And that, in itself, was a novelty for him when it came to women. He really wanted to strip away those guarded layers of hers to discover all the secrets he instinctively knew she was keeping from him.
He didn’t miss the irony of that thought process. He, himself, certainly wasn’t a stranger to holding on to his fair share of secrets. His were dark and nightmarish, thanks to a hellish, violent childhood that had shaped the frightened boy he’d been and had also provided the catalyst for the man he’d become. One who valued control in all aspects of his life, including masking his emotions and rarely letting anyone close. Especially women. Which was why his fascination with Sarah was so damn out of character for him . . . yet it was that same unexplainable fascination that had him pursuing her.
After flipping through a few more channels, he finally settled on reruns of an old sitcom, but halfway into the show, the doorbell rang. He groaned and dropped his head back against the couch. He really wasn’t in the mood for company, but he couldn’t ignore the person at the door. His truck was in the driveway, so clearly he was inside. If he’d been smart, he would have parked it in the garage to give the appearance of nobody being home.
Another irritating ding-dong, ding-dong, followed by a firm knock. He swore beneath his breath and moved off the sofa too quickly. A sharp, stabbing pain in his side made him wince, and he pressed his hand to the still-sore spot against his rib cage. Great, he thought irritably, knowing that he’d be dealing with a nagging throb for the next half hour.
Since he hadn’t been expecting any visitors, he was wearing an old, comfortable pair of sweat pants and a faded T-shirt. His feet were bare, he’d only finger combed his hair this morning after getting up, and he had a layer of scruff on his face since he hadn’t bothered to shave. At least he’d brushed his teeth.
He reached the door just as another knock sounded, and he frowned when he looked through the peephole and saw three female faces on the other side. What the hell were they doing here? he wondered, though his gut told him that Clay and Mason had sent the trio over to check on him—or torment him. He wasn’t sure which, but what he did know was that his brothers were assholes for sending these three women to his place, especially when he’d made it clear he wanted to be left alone today.
“We know you’re in there, so open up and let us in.” This from bold and sassy Katrina, who was Mason’s fiancée and the only woman who’d been able to tame Mason’s wild man-whore ways. Next month, the two of them were getting married.
“We already saw you looking through the peephole, Levi,” Tara added—who was the main bartender at Kincaid’s and now manager of the place since Clay had gotten married. “The gig is up.”
“I have Clay’s key and I’m not afraid to use it,” came a sugar-sweet threat from Samantha, Clay’s wife and the best thing that had ever happened to Levi’s older brother.
Knowing he was outnumbered, he finally opened the door. “Did you ladies not get the memo? No visitors allowed today.”
“Then it’s a good thing we’re family and not visitors,” Samantha said with a pretty smile as she lifted the large plate she was holding so he could see the contents through the plastic wrap. “I brought you my caramel fleur de sel French macaroons.”