It was true, and I didn’t like to think of what could have happened.
“And these puppies—” Willow clapped a hand over her mouth, horrified.
“Well, it didn’t happen,” I said quickly. “She’s going to be fine, and the puppies all seem healthy.”
“Hey, looks like you all are having a party without me.” The sound of Levi’s deep rumble sent my heart flip-flopping. I looked over my shoulder at him. His gaze wasn’t on the puppies but directly on me. He walked straight over, crouching down and resting his hand on my back. “What do we have here?”
I beamed proudly, like I was the mama. “Eight little wiggle-pups.”
He grinned. “Wiggle-pups. That’s cute.” He still had barely looked at the puppies. Instead, he studied my face, that look of fascination I sometimes saw on him clearly in place.
I honestly didn’t know what I’d done to warrant such attention from him. There was nothing special about me. Nothing different or more beautiful than the next woman. And yet, he seemed to think there was.
“Well, I don’t know about you all, but looking at puppies makes me hungry,” Levi said. Totally ridiculous because he hadn't even looked at the puppies.
“Being alive makes you hungry,” Marina teased. She looked at me. “I swear to you, these guys eat more than a bear storing up for winter.”
Levi scoffed. “Bears eat fish and blueberries. We eat red meat.”
Marina laughed. “Don’t worry. I took some steaks out of the freezer this morning. There’s plenty of red meat for all of you carnivores.” She glanced at me. “How about you? Hungry?”
“Yeah, she eats meat,” Levi said.
I’m not sure if he meant it to be a double entendre, but Clint and Rob choked a little and looked away to hide smiles.
I tried to ignore the heat in my face. “I would love some steak. That is, if you have enough.” Even though Marina expected me to eat with them at every meal, I always asked to make sure I wasn’t imposing on their family time.
“Of course, we do. Rob, if you’ll fire up the grill, I’ll take care of the rest of it.” She held out a hand and looked at me. “Please don’t go thinking I cook because I’m the woman and these fat-heads can’t feed themselves. They’re actually quite capable. As I told you the other morning, I just love cooking. Baking, especially.”
“I enjoyed your home-baked hamburger buns the night I arrived. Delicious. And the cinnamon rolls.” My mouth watered just remembering. “I’ll go get cleaned up for dinner.”
“I’ll help,” Levi murmured in my ear, making my pussy clench.
Damn. I liked being at Wolf Ranch way too much. Everyone was so nice. Easy going. They were like a team, a family. Well, they were. Most of them anyway.
Worse than liking this place, I liked Levi way too much.
We had a deal—two weeks of pleasure—and then I left.
But I hadn’t counted on this. On feeling like I was one of their big extended family. On liking it so much.
On having puppies. God, what could be more sappy than puppies?
I hadn’t counted on falling in love.
Shit.
Was I falling in love?
That was definitely not part of the plan. Not in two weeks, and I hadn’t even been here half that. Was it because I was new to relationships that I made sex out to be more than it was? It was supposed to be just sex.
But it wasn’t just sex. Sure, I had nothing to compare it to, but I knew. This wasn’t normal. The connection, the chemistry Levi and I shared was… more.
As I looked to Levi, I realized I needed to pull back now because every day I fell deeper would make it harder when I had to leave.
Because I was. Not only did I have to get back for Pops, but Dax was only going to remain barely patient for so long. If I didn’t deliver the ketamine, either at Mr. Claymore’s or bringing it back to Colorado with me, he’d do something. I didn’t know what, but it wasn’t going to be good.
And that would mean I was in even deeper. In even more trouble. That meant a bigger betrayal for Levi if he found out what I really was.
And with that thought, the feeling of contentment slipped away.
Or at least it tried to, but halfway to the stairs Levi tossed me over his shoulder and carried me to the shower where he ensured I quickly forgot everything.
18
CHARLIE
“You guys go outside and grill. Leave us to the girl talk.” Marina shooed the men out the back door of the big ranch kitchen.
I guessed on Wolf Ranch it took about forty minutes to produce a party. In the time since Marina said she took steaks out of the freezer, the big ranch house had filled with people. Most of them I’d met before, but there were a few new ones. No one knocked. Everyone was loud. Boisterous and friendly.