She wandered over, crossed her arms over her chest, inadvertently pushing her breasts tighter against her shirt, and sighed. “Thank you,” she murmured softly, seemingly embarrassed by his praise. For reasons that escaped his immediate understanding, he found this utterly adorable.
“How long does it take you to do something like this?”
She shrugged. “It depends. If all the pieces are there, I’ve been known to work without sleep for a couple of days to finish something.”
“She pushes herself too hard,” her father piped up.
“Dad,” she said warningly.
“That’s another reason I’m not going to Milton’s.”
Intrigued, Levi arched a questioning brow.
Natalie released an exasperated sigh and leaned closer to him. He caught her scent and felt another inappropriate surge of lust. “Uncle Milton has to have surgery on his foot. He’s not going to be able to get around for a week or so, and he’s asked Dad to come up and stay with him.” She jerked her head in her father’s direction and lowered her voice. “Hardhead over there doesn’t want to go.”
“Because he doesn’t want to leave you?”
A light blush tinged her cheeks and she shrugged, seemingly embarrassed. “Because he doesn’t want me going to the beach alone. Not since Mom—”
Ah, Levi thought, as understanding dawned. He remembered when Natalie’s mom had drowned. Terrible stuff. In a seaside community there were accidents every year, but Molly Rowland was a born-and-bred Bethel Bay girl who’d been an Olympic hopeful on her college swim team. Her death had rattled the community to its core and had left Natalie and her father devastated.
Natalie cleared her throat and toed the carpet absently with her sandal. “Anyway, it’s ridiculous. I’m an adult. I know how to swim, and it’s not like I’m going into the ocean anyway, you know? Just along the water’s edge.”
He could see her point, but also understood John’s anxiety, irrational as it might be. He watched her father from across the store, noted the worry lines around his drawn mouth, the crease of concern written across his forehead.
“I’ll go with you,” Levi said, surprising himself.
Natalie blinked, startled. “What?”
“I’ll go combing with you so that you’re not alone.” He gestured toward her father. “Do you think that would work for John?”
A flash of unreadable emotion—fear, maybe?—lit her gaze, but she blinked it away before he could form a proper opinion. “You don’t have to do that, Levi,” she said, her voice strangely high-pitched and shaky. “You need to spend time with your family.”
If he didn’t know any better he’d think she was purposely trying to avoid him, which didn’t make any sense. Natalie had always seemed comfortable in his company. Had something changed? he wondered, studying her closely.
“I’ll have plenty of time with my family,” he said, suddenly determined to help her whether she wanted him to or not. Irrational, he knew, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He wanted to be with her. Needed to, which didn’t make any sense. “I love to walk along the beach. I’ve missed the ocean.” He passed a hand over his face. “I’ve missed home.”
“Really?” She sounded annoyingly surprised.
His gaze swung to hers. “Yeah, I love Bethel Bay.” He rocked back on his heels and chuckled softly. “Could I live here permanently? No. I’d go stir-crazy, but it’ll always be home.”
And it was the truth. That was part of the draw of the military life. He’d loved being an army brat as a kid growing up, and enjoyed the lifestyle even more as an adult. He’d traveled all over the world, had been stationed in all four corners of the globe at one point or another, and had loved every minute of it. He thrived on learning about new cultures and, hell…just breathing different air. Though he knew he would eventually retire here—much like his father had and Adam planned to do—that was years from now. And even after he retired, he’d still want to travel.
He paused to look at her. “What about you? Ever thought about moving away from here? Living somewhere else?”
She grinned, almost sadly, which seemed very odd to him, and she let go a small, almost imperceptible sigh. “Not once.”
Unsure of what to make of her, Levi merely smiled. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
That coffee-colored gaze tangled with his, making his chest grow inexplicably tight, and an unmistakable arc of awareness passed between them. “The same could be said for you.”
“Where’s the phone book?” John called out, rifling through drawers behind the counter, thankfully interrupting the strange moment. “Surely there’s some sort of home care Milton could use. I don’t have time to…”
Natalie heaved another exasperated breath and shot Levi a look. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”
“I wouldn’t have offered if I did.”
As a matter of fact, he was looking forward to it. More than he should, if he were completely honest with himself. He didn’t know what exactly had prompted the offer, but it felt…right. It felt strangely necessary. Levi inwardly grimaced as another thought struck.
No doubt Adam would be only too happy to tell him how wrong it was.
5
Dear Levi,
My belly goes all hot and muddled when I think about what it would be like to feel my naked skin against yours….
“I THOUGHT you said you were going to avoid him until you could figure out some way to intercept that letter,” Winnie said. “What happened?”
Wedging the phone in between her ear and her shoulder, Natalie reached for the remote control and settled into the corner of her couch. Geraldine, her unusually small tabby cat, curled into her side, purring contentedly. “That was the plan,” Natalie told her, blowing out a breath. “But Dad is leaving for Uncle Milton’s in the morning for a week and he originally didn’t want to go because he didn’t want me going to the beach alone.”
Winnie made a wincing noise. “Natalie, I understand why he feels that way, but you’ve got to put a stop to this. You can go combing by yourself. You did it for years before your mom’s accident. Has he forgotten that?”
“He’s chosen to forget, I think.” And her friend was right. Her father’s obsessive fear over her and the ocean, while understandable, was becoming a problem.
In the beginning she’d indulged her father because it had given them something to do together, something important that helped take their minds off what they had lost. Her father was “protecting” her. She got that. But, as Winnie had pointed out, when his obsession with her safety interfered to this extent…it wasn’t healthy.
For either of them.
“You know what he needs, don’t you?”
Natalie idly flipped channels, looking for something interesting to watch. “No, what?”
“A girlfriend.”
Ha. Winnie didn’t have to tell her that. “You know I’ve tried to get him to consider dating again. Eloise Dawson is crazy about him, but he won’t give her the time of day. She’s cooked meals for him and taken them by his house, she’s helped him with his roses.” She snorted indelicately. “She’s all but spread herself out like dinner on the ground and he won’t have any part of it.” She paused and poked her tongue into the side of her cheek. “And here’s the kicker. I think he actually likes her.”
“He’s that devoted to your mother’s memory?”
“Yeah, he is,” Natalie said softly. “It’s sweet and selfless and noble. But it’s also stupid. She wouldn’t have wanted this. She would have wanted him to be happy.”
She picked at a loose thread on her Pepe Le Pew pajama bottoms and her gaze slid to the black-and-white picture of her parents on their wedding day that she kept on her mantel. Her heart gave a little squeeze. They’d been so in love. She wanted that, Natalie thought wistfully. She wanted a man to look at her the way her father was looking at her mother in that picture. She wanted to be worshipped and adored, flaws, foibles and all.
Specifically, she wanted Levi to look at her that way.
A melancholy smile twisted her lips. And while the Almighty was handing out miracles, she’d also like a unicorn if it wasn’t too much trouble. And to be a mermaid on the weekend.
“I know you miss her.” Winnie’s gentle words brought her back to the moment.
“I do.” More than she could have ever imagined. “And he does, too. Which is why it’s so hard for me to tell Dad that I don’t need him to go to the beach with me anymore. Right now it’s his purpose in life, you know? How am I supposed to take that away from him?”
“It’s called tough love, sweetie. He needs to shift his attention to something else.”
She agreed. But having the nerve to tell him that was not easy. Maybe staying with Uncle Milton for a little while would be good for him. A little distance might give her father some much-needed perspective.
And God knows she could use some of her own.
Levi McPherson. Beachcombing. With her.
It was one of her favorite dreams and worst nightmares all rolled into one. As Winnie helpfully pointed out, how was she supposed to avoid him if he took over for her father? And there was no telling him to forget about it once her father left. Levi was many things—fearless, gorgeous, wonderful, honorable, had integrity in spades, a fabulous sense of humor and a body that she’d like to make her personal playground for a little while, preferably forever. But above all else, he was a man of his word and he’d promised her father that he wouldn’t let her go out alone.
In the event that she couldn’t intercept that letter, he would find out she’d been sending him those sexy missives…and she’d still have to keep company with him.
She’d be mortified.
In the meantime she had to figure out a way to get that letter back before it landed in Levi’s hot little hands. Frankly, she didn’t have any idea how this would even be possible.
In the first place, tampering with the mail was against federal law. In the second place, even if she could get a little inside help at their local post office—Tracy Cochran, maybe?—it would involve bringing another person into her confidence. She hadn’t even summoned the nerve to tell her best friend until this morning. How in the hell could she confide in Tracy? Furthermore, though Natalie liked the woman well enough, asking Tracy to keep a secret was like asking a Baptist preacher not to have an altar call at a tent revival—impossible.
Unfortunately she didn’t see that she had any other choice and planned to ask for Tracy’s help first thing in the morning before she and Levi made their way down to the shore.
Honestly, when she’d walked out of the back room and seen him standing in her gallery this afternoon, she couldn’t have been more stunned. Though she knew Adam had suggested that Levi come by, she’d never really imagined that he would. Funny, that. She’d been so busy imagining all sorts of other things with him—sex, mainly—and yet she’d never imagined him just turning up in her shop. Today, when he’d been looking at her, she could have sworn that she saw another little sparkle of interest in those intense pale brown eyes. There’d been a hint of something slightly wicked in the curve of his smile, something downright sexual about the way he’d been staring at her mouth.
And then when he’d volunteered to go to the beach with her…
She’d gone from merely stunned to dumbstruck. And the more she’d tried to convince him that he didn’t have to put himself out, the more determined he’d become. Honestly, if she didn’t know any better she’d swear he’d been flirting with her.
Which was crazy…wasn’t it?
She cocked her head, thoughtfully considering the idea. He’d never been interested in her before and she was still the same old Natalie she’d always been. Passably attractive, but no real looker. She wouldn’t make a dog point, but knew she wouldn’t win any beauty contests either. She had too many freckles on a too-small nose and too much junk in the trunk to be anything other than average. Which, in the grand scheme of things, was fine.
At any rate, she had to be reading things wrong and wouldn’t allow herself even to consider anything else. It was too risky to hope for more. She’d been pining away for Levi for years—to the point that she’d stopped dating altogether—and had finally, in a weird sort of way, come to terms with the situation through their letters. She’d confessed her feelings, she’d shared every depraved thought. She might not have bared her identity, but she’d bared her soul and, in return, had been given a peek at his.
It had to be enough.
Because, at the end of the day, a romance between them would be a dead end. He’d never stay in Bethel Bay—had said so himself today, she remembered sadly—and she couldn’t see herself leaving, even for him. How could she leave her dad? Her family and friends? Her responsibilities and her town? She couldn’t wrap her head around it. Couldn’t imagine a life, even with Levi, away from Bethel Bay. Did she ever long to travel? To see the world? Yes. She’d love to wander foreign shores, to visit the Louvre, to admire the ancient ruins of Greece. But to be gone indefinitely? No. Bethel Bay was home. It would always be home.
“So your dad heads to your uncle’s in the morning?”
Natalie sighed. “He does.”
“And Levi’s coming over?”
“I offered to pick him up, but he’s just going to walk down and we’ll leave from here.”
“He hasn’t seen your place, has he?”
“Not in its finished form. It was still under construction the last time he was home.”
Winnie gave a little sigh. “I love your house.”
A chuckle bubbled up Natalie’s throat. “I do, too.”
“When I can finally afford to build, I’m going to blatantly steal the whole shebang. The double veranda, the Bahama shutters, even the cupola.”
Smiling, Natalie shook her head. Her friend had said as much before. “So long as you don’t build next door, I don’t care.”
“I can’t build next door. Your father won’t sell the lot.”
Natalie knew that and couldn’t imagine why not. He could put a tidy little chunk of change into his retirement fund if he’d let it go, but for whatever reason, John insisted that he’d just hang on to the property.
As for her house, she loved it, too. It had simple lines with a nod to Colonial and standard beach-cottage architecture. She’d opted for tall ceilings, lots of hardwood, molding and beadboard and enjoyed the open layout. Her master suite and studio were downstairs, two bedrooms and a bath on the second floor. Nothing complicated, but the building as a whole had turned out to be quite charming, if she did say so herself.
“I still think you need to abandon this whole get-the-letter-back approach,” Winnie said. “Honestly, I think it’s a waste of your time—what little of it you have with him—and it’s a futile effort. It’s not going to work.”
“Winnie—”
“No, listen,” her friend insisted. “You told me the reason that you started writing the letters was because you were afraid he wouldn’t come back.”
Natalie swallowed. She still was. She couldn’t watch the news or listen to the radio or log onto the Internet without being reminded of the very real danger Levi, Adam and every other member of the American military forces in Iraq faced.
“Is this really how you want to spend this time with him, Natalie? Trying to avoid him? Spinning your wheels to come up with a way to retrieve that damned letter? Did it ever occur to you that all of this has happened for a reason—that Lacey was supposed to smack that return-address stamp on that letter? That he’s here now, and you’ve got a chance to tell him how you feel? To show him how you feel? Don’t settle for that letter relationship, sweetheart.” Her voice softened. “You deserve better and so does he. You’ve been in love with the boy for as long as I can remember. Go for it.”
Would that she had the courage, Natalie thought, swayed by Winnie’s reasoning. What if her friend was right? What if this was her only chance? Her only shot?
“Winnie, I don’t know that I—”
“Just think about it,” her friend insisted.
Natalie swallowed. Given the argument Winnie had just presented, it would be damned hard to think about anything else.
“STRANGE, isn’t it?”
Levi blinked, then turned and looked at his brother. They’d taken the boat out—damn, it had been great to be back on the water: the smell of the sea, the wind in the sails—then had come home and settled in on the screened-in porch once again. The buzz of the television droned through the open window and the scent of his mother’s apple dumplings wafted out on the night breeze.
“What?” he asked.
“Being home. It’s too—”
“Quiet,” Levi finished, chuckling under his breath. He knew exactly what Adam meant. He’d gotten used to the sights and sounds of war, of comrades and gunfire, of heavy artillery and shouting. He gazed out over the bay, watched the wind move through the willow trees and felt curiously disconnected from it all. And for his peace of mind, he knew he had to stay that way. He couldn’t afford to want this. It wasn’t part of his plan, and it damned sure wasn’t in his future. He had a tour of duty to finish, a country to serve and protect, and guys back in Iraq who were waiting on him to help them finish their mission.
This, beautiful as it was, could only be temporary.
And though occasionally he longed for something…more, Levi couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t want to be a soldier. While other boys had been playing with toy cars, he’d been building dirt forts for his plastic army men. He’d loved growing up on army bases, watching the men in their uniforms, the confidence and purpose in their steps. He’d admired his father, who’d instilled a love of his country and its history into his blood.
Being a soldier…it was more than what he did. It was who he was.
And it was damned hard to date, much less find someone he might want to attach himself to permanently when he was in the middle of a war.
Furthermore, the only time he’d given it a shot, the whole damned thing had blown up in his face and made him a laughingstock. His gaze slid to his boat. So help me God, I’m painting over that name tomorrow, Levi thought. After he went beachcombing with Natalie, of course. That prospect brought a smile to his lips.
Uniformly Hot! Volume 1 from Harlequin: Letters from HomeBreaking the RulesComing Up for Air Page 5
