“So you’re happy with life in Carson Creek?”
He nodded, smiling around another bite of delicious fusion food. “Very and getting happier with it by the second.”
Was Levi Branson flirting with me? It sure felt like it but it had been so long, I couldn’t really be sure. “Is that why you invited me to dinner, to get happy?”
Levi laughed again. “Get happy? That’s a new euphemism for me, but sure, I wouldn’t be opposed to getting happy with you Lacey. Of making you happy.”
A shiver shot through me and I laughed. “Wow, that’s pretty direct Levi.”
“You think that’s a good idea?” I wasn’t exactly opposed to it either but there were other factors to consider. “We work together.”
“Things could get complicated.”
“Possibly,” I agreed but in that moment with the way he looked at me, I wondered if complicated would be such a bad thing.
Conversation was put on pause as we debated having dessert but the food was too good, too satisfying to stuff ourselves with sugar. “Maybe we can take some to go,” he offered with a smile, his sing-song tone making even the server laugh.
I agree with that plan, knowing Stevie and Mickey will be happy to test out the worldly desserts, and we pay the bill before exiting the restaurant. The night was warm even for early Spring and the clear sky meant the stars shone as far as the eye could see. “What a beautiful night.” My heart raced with anticipation, of what I had no idea, at least not until Levi turned to me with an intense stare and longing in his eyes.
“Yes,” he whispered and stepped in so close that his chest brushed against my aching nipples. “I’m going to kiss you now, Lacey.” He gave me a heartbeat to react which was more than enough time for me to know that I wanted to kiss this man, to pick up where we’d left off in my kitchen only tonight I looked and felt beautiful. Tonight I was just a woman, letting a handsome man kiss her.
The kiss wasn’t just a kiss thought, oh no, it was full of heat and longing. It was intense and Levi’s mouth devoured me hungrily, as if he’d been waiting an eternity for just this moment. Just this kiss. His lips were strong, firm but gentle as they brushed against mine. His tongue was insistent and commanding, and I briefly wondered if that’s what he would be like in bed.
That thought brought me up short. Was I seriously thinking about sleeping with Levi? A man who worked with me? A man who could get a new assignment and fly off to the far-flung wilds of Egypt on a moment’s notice?
Hell yes.
The kiss was on the brink of being an all-consuming thing that threatened to spiral out of control and we pulled back simultaneously, eyes wide, chests heaving with desire and the need for oxygen. “That was…wow. Unexpectedly wow.”
Levi chuckled. “It was,” he sighed. “I wasn’t sure you were interested.”
“I was mildly interested, until now. But Levi we work together, so much could go wrong.”
“Maybe it won’t,” he said with a casual shrug.
It would eventually, they always did in some way shape or form. “I’m not opposed to seeing you again, kissing you again,” I admitted. “But maybe we can keep this between us for a little while, at least until we know what it is?”
Levi’s lips twisted into a playful, teasing grin. “Are you saying that you want to have a secret affair with me, Lacey Gregory?”
I laughed. “That’s not exactly what I was getting at, but when you say it like that it sounds pretty damn intriguing.”
He brushed a hand down my hair and twirled a lock around his finger. “What were you getting at?”
“This is a small town Levi and people have expectations that I’m not in the mood to deal with, but I’d like to see you again.”
“And kiss me again?”
I nodded. “That too, maybe see if you do other things as well as you kiss, just not under a spotlight.”
He leaned in and kissed me again, going deeper and deeper until a loud whistling sound followed by a smattering of applause startled us apart. “Then consider me on board with our secret affair.”
Those words were just what I wanted to hear and suddenly I felt bold and brazen, and sexy. “There’s a lookout spot on the way home where we can go and make out like teenagers.”
“You want to seal the deal with a hot make out session? I should play the lottery tonight too, with all this luck.”
Me too, because this handsome man falling into my lap has to be an act of karmic payback for not making my divorce as difficult as I could have and according to some, should have.
Making out with Levi was more than worth that sacrifice.