by Erin Wright
The words stabbed at him. Even she realized that he was enabling these poor life choices.
When was he going to learn how to tell Tennessee Rowland no?
Chapter 30
Tennessee
Where had he gone? He’d withdrawn in on himself; had disappeared despite being right next to her.
“Levi?” she asked, putting her hand on his arm. “What’s wrong?”
“I shouldn’t have helped you with this,” he growled, his dark eyes flashing with pain. “Before, you never would’ve dreamed of doing something like this, and now look at what you’re doing. You can take a rat out of the gutter, but you can’t take the gutter out of the rat.”
Tenny sucked in a breath at that. “Levi, you aren’t a gutter rat,” she said, stroking her hand up his muscled arm softly. He had a sheen of sweat on every inch of his skin, and she had the hardest time concentrating on what he was saying. Licking and kissing her way up his arm seemed like a hell of a lot more fun. “I’ve been a doormat all of my life,” she reminded him. “I’m finally standing on my own two feet. This is a good thing, I promise.”
“It’s one thing to stand on your own two feet,” he said, his eyes dark and hooded. “It’s another to steal a bunch of clothes.”
“My clothes,” Tenny pointed out bluntly. “What, do you think my father was dipping into my closet on the weekends and playing dress-up? I would’ve just asked my parents for the clothes, but then they would’ve used them as a bargaining chip, forcing me to agree to their terms before giving me my own stuff. You kept me from having to play their game.”
“I guess,” Levi said, clearly unconvinced.
Tenny rolled her eyes and decided to change the topic. “You remember Sugar and Jaxson’s wedding is tomorrow, right?” Jaxson Anderson was the new fire chief in town, and just months after moving to Sawyer, he’d fallen in love with Sugar, who worked down at the Muffin Man bakery. Tenny and Sugar had never been especially close even though they’d graduated from high school the same year – cliques exist even in the smallest of schools, and they had always run in different circles.
Despite that, they’d gotten along in that, “Hi, how are you? Good,” sort of way, and Tennessee – a romantic sap to the bitter end – was thrilled that Sugar had found love, especially after her first disastrous marriage to Richard Schmidt. Sugar deserved all of the happiness she could get after putting up with that drunk asshole for six years.
And what with Jaxson being new to town and all, he’d asked Moose, Levi, and Troy to be his groomsmen at the wedding, all three firefighters for the city. Tenny had thought it was a really sweet gesture, but when Jaxson had asked Levi if he’d do him the honor of being in his lineup, Levi had grumbled that he wasn’t fit to be in a lineup for a wedding. Moose, standing right there, had elbowed him in the ribs and told Levi that it was just good practice for when Moose married Georgia.
The look on Levi’s face then…
Priceless.
Honestly, Levi didn’t look much happier right now. “I was sort of hoping that they’d just forget to get married,” he grumbled, walking into the living room and dropping down on his lumpy couch.
“Yeah, ‘cause that’s totally a thing that happens,” Tennessee said dryly, sitting down next to him. “Hmmm…” she said, tapping her chin as she pretended to think hard, “I know I’m supposed to do something today…I just can’t remember what…”
Levi grinned a little at that – just the slightest uptick of his lips – but Tenny felt a wave of triumph anyway. She’d never been known for her quick wit or her sense of humor, but apparently, that was coming alive in her now – another hidden part of her personality that she’d never known she possessed.
And all because of Levi…
“Did you pick up your suit from the tux rental place?” Tenny asked, running her fingers through his hair as they talked. He really did have the most touchable hair she’d ever seen. The dark curls just begged for her fingers to run through them, and now that she actually got to do it, she found it almost impossible to keep her hands to herself.
He shook his head. “Sugar and Jaxson are keeping expenses low so they can afford to throw a huge party down on Main Street to celebrate. No suits for the groomsmen and no fancy dresses for the bridesmaids. Clean jeans and a white shirt is all I have to worry about. They’ll provide the tie.” He rubbed at his neck as if already feeling the offending piece of fabric choking him.
Tenny couldn’t help her small smile at the gesture. “Do you know how to tie a tie?” she asked, letting a chunk of dark hair curl over her finger. He looked good enough to eat, even sweaty and dirty from their midnight run.
Especially because of their midnight run, honestly.
He shook his head again. “Never worn one,” he mumbled, looking embarrassed as hell to admit that out loud.
“Well, I’ll tie it for you,” she promised, before he could start worrying about how gutter rats shouldn’t be wearing ties. “Moose hated them too so I always had to tie them for him. So, you’ll come pick me up at nine at Georgia’s house?”
Levi’s eyes grew dark with lust as he looked over at her. “Or you could just spend the night…” he said softly, pulling the stocking cap off her head and letting her hair spill down over her shoulders. She probably looked like she stuck a fork in a light socket, but the look in Levi’s eyes said that even if she did, he didn’t care.
“Nope, no way,” she said firmly. “Too much to do to get ready for the wedding in the morning and all of my stuff is at Georgia’s house. But I promise to make it worth it.”
She winked at him. He groaned. She laughed.
Yeah, she’d make it worth it, all right.
Chapter 31
Tennessee
She heard the rap on the front door and with one last pat of her dress, she hurried over to open it. She hadn’t been this nervous since the night of the Miss Idaho Pageant.
She smoothed her features into place, and then opened the door, subconsciously standing as she had during the evening wear portion of the pageant – one leg forward, hand on hip, a smile pasted on her face. It was the most flattering pose possible, and at that moment, she wanted to look good. She wanted Levi’s tongue to hang out of his mouth. She wanted him to drool. She wanted him to look at her like he wanted to tear her clothes off with his teeth.
The way Moose never, ever looked at her.
Levi’s eyes went wide when he saw her, his gaze dropping down to her strappy high heels and working their way back up her body, past the thigh-high slit in her skirt, and up to the neckline that draped and dipped, showing and hiding her cleavage with every breath. The royal blue of the dress made her eyes turn a deep blue, without a trace of the green that could usually be found. As a final touch, the dress had these shimmery, sheer sleeves that cascaded down her arms, revealing and then concealing with every movement. As far as evening gowns went, it wasn’t all that revealing, but it was the promise of skin showing that made it seem far sexier than it really was.
“That’s it, we’re staying here!” Levi burst out, practically jumping through the doorway so he could slam the front door shut behind him. “Jaxson will just have to get married without me.”
Tenny couldn’t help the huge grin that spread over her face. Different from the beauty-queen-pageant smile that she was used to pasting on, this grin said that she’d done exactly what she’d wanted to, and she knew it.
Ohhh yeeaaahhhh…
She grabbed her clasp purse from the side table, snagged Levi’s hand, and started back towards the front door. “Come on, Levi, we gotta go.”
She may or may not have brushed directly across the front of him as she moved past him. The hiss of breath told her that this move hadn’t been lost on him.
Her grin got bigger.
“Ummm…shouldn’t we wait for your cousin to finish getting ready? Drive her to the wedding?” Levi asked, his normally bass voice several octaves too high.
Tennessee smirk
ed. She was used to being considered the most beautiful woman in the room, but still, there was something terribly satisfying about Levi’s reaction. After years of indifference from Moose…
Yeah, she could stand Levi drooling a little.
“Nope, she’s already at the church with Moose.” Giving up on tugging him out the door – he’d somehow grown roots and was proving to be impossible to budge – she let go of his hand instead and slipped out the front door by herself, hurrying down the sidewalk to stand on the passenger side of Levi’s truck. She knew he wouldn’t let her just stand there all morning, so this was her best bet to get his ass moving.
“Ohhh,” Levi groaned, his voice still higher than it was normally. Maybe he just had something in his throat, or maybe it had been the sway she’d put into her hips as she’d sashayed to the truck.
Hard to tell, really.
Reluctantly, Levi pulled Georgia’s front door shut behind him, and then headed over to help her inside the truck. Once inside, she ever-so-casually rearranged her skirt, making sure that the end result was that it was gaping open at mid-thigh, and then reached past his head to grab the seat belt. He was stuck partially inside of the truck, his dark curls close to her lap, and as she snapped her seat belt in, she was 97.4% sure that he was contemplating kissing his way up her bared thigh.
Finally, he pulled out of the truck and let out a heartfelt groan.
“Are you okay?” she asked innocently, batting her eyelashes at him.
Levi closed his eyes and muttered a prayer under his breath as he hurried around to the driver’s side.
As he settled into the driver’s seat, Tenny took her sweet time looking him over, blatantly admiring him as they made their way to the Grace Valley Church. Even with the collar of the white shirt unbuttoned, he looked way more formal than he normally did, and something about seeing him in a button-up shirt…
He looked good enough to eat, that was for damn sure.
Levi kept stealing glances at her. “Are you cold?” he asked abruptly. “It’s cold today.”
It was already a blistering 91 degrees outside, and forecasted to only get warmer as the day progressed.
“You should put on a jacket,” he announced without waiting for her to respond, rummaging with his right arm in the backseat as he kept his left hand on the steering wheel to drive. Without taking his eyes off the road, he pulled out a jacket and shoved it at her.
It would’ve been impressive…if he hadn’t been shoving a greasy, torn plaid jacket into her lap.
“You should put it on,” he suggested hopefully.
Uh-huh. Sure…
She picked up the edge of the jacket between her thumb and forefinger and dropped it back into the backseat.
“I’m not cold, I promise,” she said blandly, hiding her laughter beneath her carefully constructed veneer she was so comfortable wearing. “But thank you for your thoughtfulness.”
One should always be polite, right?
Levi gulped but didn’t say anything else, gripping the steering wheel with both hands like it was a life preserver here to rescue him.
Before Tennessee could decide whether running her fingernails up his thigh would be great fun or a sure-fire way to end up in the ditch, they pulled up in front of the church and Levi cut the engine.
“I…you…” he stumbled, and then stopped, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. “You-shouldn’t-be-seen-in-public-with-me,” he said in a rush, keeping his eyes tightly closed. “I-should-drop-you-off-and-then-leave-you-alone.”
She waited quietly for him to get it all out, and then waited quietly for him to open up his eyes. The heat in the truck grew stifling but still, she just sat there, not moving a muscle, simply staring at him and waiting. He was stubborn, sure, but he’d never come up against someone like her. When she had a mind to, she could make mules look like pliable, easygoing animals high on muscle relaxants.
The silence grew and grew, and still, she sat and waited.
Finally, finally, he opened up his eyes and looked at her, haunted and scared.
His mouth was pleading for her to tell him to go away, that she didn’t want to date him, even as his eyes begged for her to tell him that she loved him with all of her heart and soul.
She wondered if he knew how much his eyes were giving him away. As someone who was used to spending her time hiding every thought she had from the world, she knew what a huge chink this was in his armor. Unlike others, though, she swore to herself that she’d never use it against him.
“I’m here with you,” she said softly, but with great feeling, stroking her hand across his smoothly shaved cheek. “There’s no one in the world I’d rather be here with. I love you, Levi Scranton. I’ve always loved you.”
He closed his eyes again and groaned, but he seemed to grasp the futility of arguing further, at least for the moment. He slid out of the truck, hurrying around to her side where he helped her out. She took a huge gulp of fresh air and then, looping her arm through his, they made their way up the front steps of the quaint, white church. Since Levi was part of the line-up, they had to be there early, and only a few dedicated souls had arrived before them, milling around and helping with the last-minute touches to the wedding arrangements.
Georgia spotted them and waved energetically, a huge smile gracing her lips. She hurried over. “Look at you two,” she said admiringly. “Never saw a better-lookin’ pair in all my life.”
Levi pulled at his open collar, already looking like he was being choked to death by the tie he had yet to even lay eyes on. “Do you know where Jaxson is at?” he rumbled, his voice back in its normal bass range.
Tenny let out a little sigh to herself, disappointed to hear his voice back to normal. It really had been fun to mess with his mind.
“Yeah, back in the preparation area,” Georgia said, pointing off to the left. “There’s a guy’s area and a girl’s area, so make sure to pick the right door.”
With a final squeeze of Tennessee’s hand, Levi headed for the open doorway that Georgia had pointed to. Tennessee watched his loose-hipped gait with an appreciative sigh. Georgia grinned at her. “Now that’s the sigh of a happy woman,” she said with a laugh. “I know I’m hardly ever at home and we haven’t had a chance to talk lately, so talk now – are things really going as well between you two as they seem like they are?”
Tennessee thought back to Levi’s concerns about not being good enough for her and bit her lip hesitantly.
“Yes and no,” she said finally. “He doesn’t think that he should be dating me; that somehow he isn’t good enough for me because of who his father is. To be honest, I’m not sure which was worse – Levi thinking that he was the son of the town drunk, or knowing that he’s a bastard and the product of an affair. Neither are stellar choices, to be honest. It’s…it’s been a hard adjustment for him.”
Georgia squeezed her hand. “Moose has been struggling with it, too,” she admitted. “Not the part about knowing that Levi is his half-brother – I think if Moose could pick any person in the world to be his brother, it’d be Levi – but Rocky…”
Tenny nodded slowly, squeezing back. “I know,” she said softly. “You weren’t there that day, of course, but…if Moose didn’t feel anything at all after that exchange, it could’ve only have been because he was dead. My parents aren’t exactly top-notch but hey, at least, they aren’t openly disinheriting me. Well, not yet.” She sent Georgia a smile that was closer to a grimace. “After last night’s escapades, though, I guess we’ll see.”
Georgia threw her head back and laughed. “Any word from them yet?”
Tenny shook her head with a sly smile. “I don’t think my parents believe I’m capable of it. They’d probably prefer to believe some rando broke into the house and stole them all, rather than the culprit being their darling daughter. After all, I was always the good child who didn’t cause any problems.” She put her hands under her chin and fluttered her eyelashes angelically.
Georg
ia laughed. “It’s always the quiet ones that you have to look out for,” she said with a naughty grin. “They never see ‘em coming.”
People began filing in and the hubbub of the preparations for the wedding moved front and center as Sugar, gorgeous in a simple white gown and gold-colored slippers, hurried around frantically, looking like she had a million things to do and absolutely no idea what order to do them in.
Tenny and Georgia volunteered to put out the bouquets and soon, Carla from Happy Petals was busy directing them, making sure that each vase was exactly where Sugar had requested it to be.
As Tenny watched guests file in as they worked, though, she had a painful realization: All of the women were wearing skirts or a dress, but not a single soul was wearing an evening gown.
Shit.
This was a morning wedding being held at a simple country church; this wasn’t evening-gown territory. She’d been so focused on making Levi drool, she just hadn’t thought about it.
Stupid, stupid Tennessee. People are really going to think you’re stuck up now.
She knew that was the reputation that she had – more than a few people had stage whispered the phrase “Ice queen” as she’d walked by during her high school years and even afterwards. No one would say it openly to her face, of course, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t all thinking it, and today’s stunt would only add to that misconception.
She ground her back teeth together, angry with herself. When would she ever learn and stop making dumb mistakes?
Her palms were sweating. She longed for the cool blade and weight of her knife in her hand. She could just–
But before she could do something truly stupid, Georgia grabbed her arm. “C’mon, Carla says that there’s another load of flowers to bring in.” Tennessee nodded obediently and followed her cousin to the front doors of the church.
