Levi was handsome and he did smell incredible. But I shrugged off all thoughts of Levi. “We work together.” That was a bad idea, even if I had a plan in place to change that fact.
“All you do is work, Mom. Where else are you going to meet someone?”
“I go out and do stuff,” I argued because I had a life. It wasn’t exciting or anything, but I spent time with friends and that was very satisfying.
“Yeah, but Aunt Pippa and Aunt Valona are coupled up now.”
A fact of which I was very well aware. But I narrowed my gaze at Stevie and wondered to myself where this was all coming from. “Are you trying to get me to lower your dating age, young lady?”
“Nope,” she answered with a laugh. “But if you wanted to do that, I wouldn’t object. Just so you know.”
She was barely even a teenager and already a handful.
Chapter 8
Levi
It was already past ten o’clock and Lacey still hadn’t made an appearance at the office. Not that I was keeping track of her or anything, just that I’d turned my story in about the female lawyer and her troubles in town two days ago and I still hadn’t heard a word from her. About anything.
Dinner with Mickey and Stevie had gone well, she’d even agreed so I figured it was the kiss that had her hiding and avoiding me, which was really too bad because I’d been hoping for a repeat of that kiss. Barring that, I hoped she didn’t hate the story. It wasn’t a typical story by Carson Creek Daily Journal standards, it was far more somber and much longer, but it was exactly my type of story.
“Hey GG, is everything all right with Lacey?” The old man was too oblivious to realize he was losing his daughter but he was my best shot at getting answers since he was the only other person in the office.
GG looked up as if he’d forgotten there was anyone else in the room and shrugged. “Nope. She doesn’t tell me anything anymore.”
Gee, I wonder why. The old man didn’t himself any favors where his daughter was concerned but it wasn’t my place to speak on it and if Lacey found out, she would probably have my head. “All right.” If GG hadn’t heard anything then there wasn’t anything to hear and Lacey was fine, just avoiding me. Or GG.
Or both of us.
Twenty minutes later the clock struck quarter ‘til eleven and Lacey strolled into the office almost as if on a breeze. She had on one of those shirt dresses that was both casual and sexy in the way it hugged her curves, the pale blue shade gave her eyes an unnecessary sparkle. Her legs were bare and she wore girlish canvas sneakers with blue polka dots. She entered the bullpen quietly without her usual greeting and not a glance was spared for me or GG. It was a version of Lacey that never made an appearance in the office and as much as I liked the way she looked, I had to bite back a sense of foreboding in my gut.
I gave her twenty minutes to settle in before I knocked on her door. “Come in, Levi.”
I pushed open the door and smiled at the pretty picture she made, relaxed and smiling from behind her desk. “How did you know it was me?”
“GG always barges right in.” She spoke the words simply, no anger or frustration, just a fact of her life.
“Right. Is everything okay Lacey?”
She nodded, her gaze suddenly focused on the computer screen. “Everything is fine. Why do you ask?”
“Just making sure everything was all right with you and Stevie. You’re not normally late and I was worried.”
Her expression softened and Lacey waved me in. “I just had a few things I needed to take care of. Daddy can wait to tell me all the mistakes he found in today’s paper.” She motioned to the chair across from her. “Have a seat.”
I kept my eyes on Lacey, which was no hardship, to see if her expression gave anything away, but she was a cool customer, calm and poised. Only the hint of strain around her pink lips told me something was weird. Off. “You didn’t give me any feedback on the story.”
Lacey looked at me for a long time, her long lashes fanned dramatically when she blinked. “Oh. Right.”
I braced myself, the way I always did, for her critique. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Lacey’s lips tugged into a small smile. “The story was wonderful, Levi. Wonderful and heartbreaking and so damn maddening I wanted to rage on her behalf. Excellent work.”
I’m shocked and flattered by her words, the emotions my story had invoked in this woman. “Really?”
“Yes, really. In fact it’s going to be a front page story, which I know you’re used to but hey, I guess I have to feed the ego too.”