Tempting Levi (Cade Brothers Book 1)

by Jules Barnard

  Adam frowned. “Do you want our help or not? Because Hayden’s upstairs and I wouldn’t mind pulling her in the office supply room for a quick break. And for the record, this is Blue’s signature martini. You should try one.”

  Levi stared out at the bodies. “There’s a…situation, but I can’t talk about it.”

  “Fuck, Levi,” Wes said. “Quit being coy. We don’t have all night.” He lifted his chin toward Bran. “Flash your pretty eyes at the waitress. I need another beer, and my smolder isn’t working. God knows why. Must be too busy in here.”

  Bran shook his head. “And you think I’ll have better luck?”

  They all responded at once, “Yes.”

  “Just smile at her,” Wes said. “And hurry up. I’m getting parched. If Levi dragged us here just to sit there silently brooding, I’ll need a few more drinks before I go in for the kill on that foursome of women in the corner.”

  Hunt had remained silent since Levi sat down, but he chimed in at Wes’s comment. “I’ll join you, brother.”

  Wes slid him a look. “I’m not Levi. I don’t plan on sharing the women.”

  Levi glared. “I don’t share.” His tone was dark. He was a hairsbreadth from injuring one of them. This had been a bad idea.

  Bran shook his head and frowned. “You know, Wes, Levi was right the other day. You and Hunt are out of control.”

  Ignoring him, Wes glanced to the side and tipped his head. “There she is. Get her attention.”

  Bran huffed out a breath, but he looked at the waitress and shot her a smile.

  She spun in their direction, an extra sway in her hips.

  Wes chuckled. “Told ya.”

  “Fuck you, asshole. That was lucky.”

  Both Wes and Hunt groaned. “Dude,” Hunt said, “if I had those baby blues, I would be getting laid so much more often than I already am.”

  “You’re with a different woman every night,” Bran said.

  “More like every other night. Your point?”

  Bran looked to Levi.

  “Don’t look at me. I’m out of answers.”

  Everyone turned to him.

  “What?” Levi said, right as the waitress arrived.

  Bran stared. “You’re never at a loss for words when it comes to bossing us around.”

  “I’m not that bad,” Levi grumbled.

  They placed their orders and the waitress left. But not before she touched Bran’s shoulder no less than three times. That got a rise out of his brothers and set a pissed-off look on Bran’s face.

  Adam pulled off his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt. He was still technically on duty, hence the designer duds. “Levi, what’s this visit really about? Or do I already know?”

  Levi glanced away, not meeting his brother’s gaze. With the help of his astute girlfriend, Adam had become too perceptive.

  “Is this really about Emily?” Adam asked.

  Levi groaned. Never should have let Adam in the other morning.

  “Emily? Your new assistant?” Wes said. “You really like those Wright women.”

  If the words had come from Hunt, Levi would have leapt across the table and punched him in the nose, but Wes was only stating the obvious. And Wes hadn’t betrayed Levi.

  He did have a thing for one Wright woman. Any romantic feelings he’d had for Lisa died a long time ago. “Maybe.”

  “Whoa,” Hunt said, entering the conversation. Levi shot him a glare, and he mimicked zipping his mouth. “I’m not commenting, just…whoa.”

  “I like her,” Wes said. “You’re not good enough for her, but I like her. She’s got spunk.”

  “Of course I’m not good enough for her.” Levi took a gulp of his beer. “That’s beside the point. The feelings are there and I can’t do anything about it.”

  “Why not?” Adam asked.

  Levi glanced at him. “Isn’t it obvious? She works for me. And there’s too much past screwing things up. It would never work.”

  Wes shrugged. “Eh, it could work. The question is if you want it to.”

  Before Levi could answer, a flash of short red hair caught his eye. Short red hair atop a man with a weaselly face and glasses. “What the hell is Samuel doing here?”

  Adam glanced over. “Who, Samuel Miller? He owns stock in our new parent company. Likes to check out how Blue’s doing from time to time. Speaking of Blue getting bought out, did I mention Hayden and I made bank on the acquisition? Be prepared for the wedding of the season this spring. No holds barred. You jackasses better not have forgotten about our engagement party tomorrow night, either. Hayden and Emily have been working on it for weeks. Seven o’clock in the club ballroom. Don’t be late.”

  Levi set down his beer. “Back up. Samuel Miller owns stock in your company? You realize he was hired by Dad as one of our advisors, right?”

  Adam’s eyes widened. He shook his head slowly. “I didn’t know that.”

  Bran scratched the side of his head. “That doesn’t sound legit.”

  “If he works for us,” Wes said, “what’s to prevent him from spilling secrets to Blue Casino about what we’re up to? We know we can trust Adam. He has as much at stake in the club’s success as the rest of us.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Adam said. “Glad that’s the only reason you can trust me. Couldn’t be because I’m your brother.”

  Levi rolled his neck, hearing it pop. He was itching to pop something—a weaselly lawyer would do. “We lost three of our major accounts to Blue Casino since Dad died.”

  Adam glanced at the man in question. “You think Miller had something to do with it?”

  “I’d bet my life on it.”

  Levi made it home around one a.m. and fell into bed. This business with the lawyer was infuriating, but that wasn’t what kept him awake. He’d done the right thing by telling Emily the truth earlier. So why did he feel like such shit?

  He couldn’t imagine a future with Emily, given his messed-up past with her sister. Trying like hell to present a put-together front for Club Tahoe was all he could handle right now. What he should do is say fuck it, roll over, and slake his lust with a different woman tomorrow night. One who didn’t mind keeping things casual. There’d been plenty of attractive females at Blue’s club this evening. It wouldn’t be hard.

  Except he’d barely noticed other women. Because the only woman on his mind was Emily.

  Chapter 23

  Emily was on autopilot, walking up and down the halls of the offices, dropping off paperwork here, scheduling meetings there. Levi was never going to want her. History proved she wasn’t the woman men cherished. Maybe it was absent daddy issues that had put that thought in her head, but it was a valid one. Yet somewhere down the line—without even admitting it to herself—she had thought there was something special between her and Levi. Until he’d told her he only wanted sex. Not specifically, but he’d said he didn’t want anything serious.

  That had hurt. Badly.

  Now, for argument’s sake, it was an amazing compliment. Emily was no sex kitten. That a man—any man—would be so drawn to her as to go against his better judgment was flattering. But shit, his words had dug out a chunk of her heart. She didn’t want casual sex with Levi. She wanted the dream. She wanted all of him.

  Emily stopped and braced her hand on the desk in front of her, closing her eyes.

  “Everything okay?” The receptionist whose desk Emily held on to stared with obvious concern in her eyes.

  “Yes, fine. Do you know if Mr. Cade is in his office?” Levi was the last person she wanted to see right now. She had some pride. But paperwork didn’t go away, and she had forms for him to sign that wouldn’t take an electronic signature. The show must go on. Unless she quit. Which was looking more and more appealing. She’d promised Levi’s father she would work at Club Tahoe for at least a year to help with the transition, but she doubted even Ethan Cade would make her stay, given the situation between her and his son.

  “He has a mee
ting in about half an hour, but he should still be at his desk.”

  Emily nodded her thanks and moved stiffly toward Levi’s office. She could do this. Act like she hadn’t been rejected in the most embarrassing way. Sex kitten, she reminded herself. It wasn’t like he didn’t want her. He just didn’t want her for the long haul.

  This self-talk wasn’t helping.

  She shook her head and entered the doorway to Levi’s office, which was partially open. But Levi wasn’t there.

  Two men hovered over Levi’s computer. One sat in the chair—Paul, the computer admin—and the other man Emily recognized right away because of his red hair. “Oh, excuse me, Samuel. I was looking for Levi.”

  The Club Tahoe lawyer swung around, blocking Paul, who glanced over nervously but continued working at the computer. “He stepped out. I’ll be sure to let him know you came by.” He gave her a tight smile.

  Something seemed off and she walked over. “What are you working on?”

  “Just routine updates.”

  She glanced past him to the screen he was trying to prevent her from seeing with his wiry frame. “If it’s routine, why are you here?”

  He crossed his arms in front of him, squaring his back. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

  Emily nodded, but she wasn’t buying it. She walked around him and glimpsed the computer before the admin minimized the page. “Levi’s client notes? What are you doing with those?”

  He turned to Paul. “Finish the updates and leave.”

  The admin clicked a few pages and promptly left, convincing Emily that there were no such updates and that Samuel was hiding something. Updates on a computer took time, and it wasn’t something the company lawyer needed to be present for.

  Was he snooping? Why?

  Samuel inched around her. “If you’ll excuse me. I’d better be going. I have other meetings this afternoon.”

  She watched him walk out the door. And then she sank into Levi’s chair and tried to pull up the screen again, but the computer was locked and she didn’t have the password. She could call the computer admin back, but what good would that do? He was helping Samuel. Which meant whatever Samuel was up to, the systems administrator was up to as well.

  “What are you doing here?” Levi’s curt voice startled her. He glanced between her and his computer. Where she sat with her hands still on the keyboard.

  Emily stood quickly and smoothed her skirt. “There’s something going on with Samuel. I caught him with the computer administrator looking at your client files. I confronted him about it, but he wouldn’t explain himself.”

  Levi pressed his fingers to his forehead and closed his eyes, which was a stronger reaction than Emily had anticipated.

  “Do you know what this is about?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  She stepped around his desk. “Are you going to tell me?”

  He dropped his hand. “Let me worry about it.”

  She moved forward, but not so close as to be intimate. “Levi, this is crazy. Samuel shouldn’t have been in your office without you here. Tell me what’s going on.”

  He gazed at her without emotion, masking the stress she’d seen on his face a moment ago. “Did you come here for something?”

  Her jaw slackened. They were partners. At least, that was how she saw them—working together. Yes, she’d wanted more, but even without it, Emily needed to feel valued and trusted. Levi had started to turn to her when things came up at work. And now…now he was cold. Closed off.

  “Here.” She dropped a file on his desk. “Sign that when you have a moment.” She swept out of the office and didn’t dare look back. There was a suspicious burning behind her eyes, and no way would she let him see her cry.

  Emily stared at the dresses strewn on her sister’s bed. “You grabbed four?”

  Lisa scanned them. “I wasn’t sure which one you’d want for tonight. And they were all so delicious. I’ll return one if it doesn’t work out.”

  “Just one?”

  Lisa held up a pair of dangly earrings to the side of Emily’s head. “You’ve needed two formal dresses in the last three weeks. There will be more parties like this, now that you’re working at Club Tahoe.”

  “I doubt it.” She waved her hand. “Special events. This isn’t normal. Tonight is an engagement party for Levi’s brother. I helped organize it, and the bride invited me.”

  “Seriously?” Lisa said. “One of his brothers is actually getting hitched?”

  “Not Hunt, of course. Adam’s getting married.”

  “Huh. Adam wasn’t as big of a manwhore as the others, but he was kind of a dick.”

  “Lisa!”

  Her expression was all innocence. “What? He was. Anything went wrong in a relationship and that guy dumped the girl quicker than you can blink.”

  “Well, he’s totally in love with Hayden. And she’s awesome.”

  Lisa nodded approvingly. “Good for Adam. I bet she made him work for it.”

  Knowing the Cade brothers, Lisa was probably right. Only a strong woman could break down the barriers those stubborn men put up.

  “Now,” Lisa said, “which dress do you want to wear? And more importantly, I think you should keep all of them for future events.”

  Emily sank onto the edge of the bed. “I don’t know. I might not be working there much longer.”

  Lisa sat beside her, arms dropping into her lap. “Why not? I thought you loved working at Club Tahoe.”

  “I like working there. Or I did. Things are weird with Levi.”

  Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “Weird in what way?”

  Emily took a deep breath. “We kissed.” She peeked at Lisa, but her sister didn’t appear surprised. “It’s not a big deal. Levi doesn’t want anything serious and I don’t want to date a guy who sees no future for us.”

  That got a sour look out of Lisa. “Why doesn’t he see a future with you?”

  “You know, because of his past with you.”

  “So? You’re the best thing that’s walked into his life. Besides me.” She flashed a confident smile. “He should be charming you and wooing the hell out of you.”

  Emily squinted. “Why are you acting like this?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like it’s not weird that I kissed your ex-boyfriend.”

  “Because it isn’t?”

  Emily was about to argue, when she realized that would go against her best interests. “Are you sure it doesn’t bother you? There’s little chance we’d ever kiss again, but…you really don’t mind?”

  Lisa stood and picked up one of the dresses, holding it up to herself. “Look, Em, I care about Levi. I want him to be happy. And I love you. It’s been years since I dated him, and when it ended, it was for the best. I wasn’t in love with him.”

  Emily shook her head. “That’s so weird. How could you not love that man?”

  Lisa gave her a soft smile. “I just didn’t. But it seems like you do.”

  “Like, not love.” But Emily worried her feelings leaned more toward the other L-word. “He’s not easy to put aside. The men I dated in the past were nothing like Levi.”

  “True, I questioned a couple of your choices, but there were one or two boyfriends that had potential. You’re a beautiful girl, and you’ve always attracted guys. Once they looked past your nerd tendencies.”

  “Which wasn’t very often.”

  Lisa rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I don’t mind you dating Levi—as long as that piece of granite treats you well. And I’m not kidding. I’ll have Jared mess him up if he doesn’t treat you like a goddess.”

  Emily laughed, not only because the visual was ridiculous—Levi had to be four inches taller and twenty-five pounds heavier than Jared—but because her sister was being silly. “I don’t think we need to worry about that.” Her smile dropped. “I already told you he’s not interested.”

  Lisa set the dress down and came over, placing a hand on Emily’s shoulder. “Then he doesn’t
deserve you.”

  Emily nodded, but she wasn’t sure she believed it. Levi was a good man. Even Lisa had chosen him at one point. But if he didn’t want to be with her, Lisa was right—she needed to move on.

  Her sister clapped her hands together so loudly that Emily jumped. “Now which dress?”

  Emily pressed a hand to her chest. “Jesus, don’t do that. I’m already on edge.” She glanced at the four dresses on the bed. Three of them were long and elegant. Very classy. One was short, black, and elegant as well…and much sexier. “The black.”

  If she was going down in flames, might as well do it in style.

  Chapter 24

  Well? Is it everything you envisioned?” Emily studied the side of Hayden’s face as the other woman gazed around the ballroom they’d converted into an elegant lodge wonderland.

  The stone arches and the wall of windows were covered in thousands of white lights, with more lighting strung across wood-beamed ceilings. Wrought-iron-and-crystal chandeliers created overhead centerpieces, and the effect was breathtaking. The lighting alone had taken Club Tahoe’s entire facility crew, and a few hired lighting specialists, all morning to create.

  Hayden pressed her fingers to her lips, her eyes open wide. “It’s stunning.”

  The doors that led onto the patio were propped open, allowing in a gentle breeze, with outdoor fire pits lit for effect. Inside, rectangular tables with ivory tablecloths held a thousand votive candles arranged in swirl patterns around hammered-copper pots filled with bright greenery and blooming ivory and peach roses. Emily thought the room looked great, but all that mattered was if Hayden was happy…

  She turned to Emily, beaming. “Truly, I couldn’t have pictured anything more beautiful. You took my ideas and made them reality.”

  Relief washed over Emily and her shoulders relaxed. “You can thank Pinterest and screenshots. I sent dozens of them to the vendors after we talked. But really, it doesn’t take much to make this place shine.”

  “True.” Hayden chuckled. “But still, Adam will be so impressed.”