by Jill Sanders
“Right,” she said with a smile. “You’re the exception.”
His heart jumped in his chest. As far as deep heartfelt confessions went, he figured he’d take Scarlett’s little admission as another positive step.
“So,” she said as they headed up the stairs to her apartment, “is this surprise above or below your clothes?”
He chuckled. “You’re a cheater.” He took her hand and pulled it to his lips. “No hints.” He stilled when she started running her hands over him.
“I don’t like surprises.” She smiled up at him.
“Trust me, you’re going to like this one.” He pulled away and rushed up the stairs with her on his heels.
The moment they stepped into her private bedroom, he sidestepped her and walked around, taking in the differences between this room and the one at the house in town.
“You live here,” he said, glancing over his shoulder.
“Yup, that’s what a bedroom is.” She smiled and leaned against the closed bedroom door, watching him.
“No, I mean, the bedroom in town was nice, but there wasn’t anything of yours there.” He picked up a stuffed animal and smiled. “This room is full of your things. Your personality really comes through in here.” He laughed at the posters on her walls.
“I hung those before I knew I was going to be bringing a man in here.” She groaned.
“Fun.” He moved over to her desk, and she rushed over and shut a book that had been laying open. He smiled as she stuffed it in one of the drawers. “Your diary?”
“No, just a book I was reading.” She blushed, and he moved closer to her.
“Did it have sex in it?” he asked, watching her face closely.
“Maybe.” She shrugged.
He took her wrist in his hands and pulled her closer.
“I like you in heels.” His eyes met hers. Their lips were almost level with one another’s. “I like this dress.” His eyes moved to her cleavage spilling out of the top of the red silk. “Not as much as the shorter one, because, hey, technically, I’m a leg guy, but…” He sighed, trying to show her that it would do.
She smiled up at him. “All men love boobs.”
He chuckled. “When they’re spilling out like this.” He ran a finger over her and she sucked in her breath as she leaned her head back. “Something tells me you did this for me.”
She chuckled. “I might have.”
He nudged the material down her shoulder and marveled at the skin he’d exposed. “Beautiful.”
Her hands moved up his shirt, over his chest, pulling the borrowed jacket off his shoulders. It hit the floor with a plop, and she started working on the buttons of his shirt while he reached around for the zipper of her dress.
As he slowly slid her dress down her body, her hands fisted in his shirt while she swayed.
“Levi,” she moaned when he brushed the back of his hand against her.
“You’re not wearing anything under this,” he said softly against her skin.
“No, there’s no… need.” She pulled his shirt all the way off his shoulders. “Where’s my present?”
“Surprise,” he corrected.
“Where?” She reached for his pants.
“My pocket,” he said with a smile. Her hands greedily searched his pockets. When she pulled out the little vibrator, she giggled.
“Try it. It’s pretty powerful.”
“Where did you get this?” she asked, flipping the switch and then gasping as it jumped to life.
“You sell them downstairs.” He laughed. “Remember?”
She rolled her eyes. “You did not go into the camp store and buy this. Now everyone will know that we… that you…”
“That I used it on you?” he said smoothly, taking the thing from her. Her dress was hooked on her hips but, with one tiny tug, the material fell to the floor.
Scarlett stood in front of him in nothing but a sexy pair of silver heels that clasped around her ankles.
“Beautiful,” he said again as he took her hand and helped her step out of the dress.
She bent down and picked it up, tossing it over a chair that sat in the corner of her room. “Hannah will kill me if I wrinkle it.”
“Come here.” He nudged her towards the bed, then kissed her until she melted against his bare chest.
“I really like the tux,” she said, trailing her lips down his collarbone. “But I really like you in half a tux even more.” She was running her hands over his chest and arms. “You’re like a male stripper.”
He chuckled. “Have a lot of experience with male strippers, do you?”
She blushed slightly. “No, but we all went to Vegas a few years… No.” She shook her head.
He kissed her. “Here I was thinking you weren’t the shy type.”
“I have another confession.” She sighed and rested her forehead against his chest. “I’ve never… used a vibrator before. I mean, a dildo, but… nothing that… moves.”
He nudged her chin up with his fingers and smiled at her. “Perfect. I’ll be the first to show you how it works then. Sit.” He moved between her legs. “On the edge of the bed.” He helped her scoot forward, then knelt between her legs.
“My shoes.” She started to reach down to remove them.
“No, leave them.” He smiled. “Leg man”—he pointed his thumb at his chest—“has a heel fetish as well.”
She smiled, then he held up the vibrator. “Levi?”
“Do you trust me?” he asked, using his hands on her inner thighs and spreading her legs wider. Their eyes locked and she nodded as she licked her lower lip.
“Lay back. Tell me if I do something you don’t like.” He smiled as he turned the vibrator on. When he touched it to her inner thigh, she arched and giggled.
He moved it slowly up from her knee until he reached her pussy. When he touched it to her skin, she gasped and flew up, her eyes glued to his.
“I…” She shook her head. “I don’t think…”
He chuckled and laid a hand on her flat stomach and gently nudged her until she lay down again. “Sassy, relax and enjoy.”
He started again, this time trailing kisses over the inner part of her thighs. When she started moving her hips against his mouth and the vibrator, he knew his surprise had hit the mark.
“Sassy?” He pulled it away from her, only to have her hand come up and hold it to her.
“No, don’t stop. Please,” she begged as she wrapped her legs around his shoulders. “I know I’m being selfish, but…”
He smiled. “Please, I get off more when you are.”
“Really?” She groaned and moved even faster. “Levi, I’m going to come.”
“Let go,” he begged her, knowing he meant more than just physically but understanding she would need more time.
He lost himself watching her face as the guard that she’d wrapped around her heart unraveled another notch.
Chapter Seventeen
Scarlett lay in Levi’s arms the following morning, listening to the soothing sound of his heartbeats.
In that very moment, she realized she was in trouble. She’d never felt this way about someone before. The only thing running through her mind was the desire to stay right where she was for as long as she could.
The things he’d done to her last night were nothing short of magical. She’d finally gotten her chance to show him how wonderful of a lover she could be about halfway through the night.
She’d done things to him that had equaled what he’d done to her. Well, except with the little vibrator that he’d purchased downstairs in their shop.
When the Wildflowers had joked about carrying a line of sex toys and lubricants in the lobby store, they’d had no idea how much extra money that decision would bring in. Less than a month after opening the shop’s doors, they were having to restock and grow their inventory.
She’d been curious about the items, but not enough to purchase something of her own. She would die of embarrassment
if her sister or any of her friends found out what was currently tucked away in her nightstand drawer.
Hearing Levi’s breathing change, she moved slightly against him. She had a mid-morning riding group she had to take out, but she still had plenty of time before she needed to get ready.
“Good morning,” she purred as she ran her hands over his chest and arms. God, she loved the way he felt against her.
He stretched slightly, then his arms wrapped around her and hoisted her up over him.
She giggled and held on as he pulled her down into a kiss.
“Yes, it is a good morning.” He sighed against her lips. She felt herself grow wet as he began moving his hips against hers. Just feeling him grow hard against her had her body reacting instantly.
When he gripped her hips and guided her to slide down on him, she held onto the headboard and took what she wanted from him, leaving them both sated.
“I take it back,” he said against her ear when she fell onto his chest panting. “It’s not a good morning, it’s a great one.”
She couldn’t stop the smile from coming, nor could she keep it from her lips for the rest of the morning. She didn’t think there was anything on earth that could dampen her mood.
After her normal breakfast meeting with the rest of the Wildflowers and her morning ride, her body was still flying high on the pulsating wave caused by Levi’s hands.
That was until she bumped into Jenny shortly before lunch. The woman was sitting by the pool in a stark white Brazilian bikini that was slightly see-through and way too small for her body type.
Flashbacks of all the terrible things that Jenny had done to her surfaced the closer she got to the pool area. If Scarlett hadn’t been asked to fill in for Britt behind the pool bar, because the woman was home sick with the flu, she wouldn’t have been near the pool at all. But as it was, the moment she stepped out of the clearing so the pool area was in view, she saw Jenny reach up and grab Levi’s head and pull it towards her own. Jenny ran her mouth over his jaw, or at least she tried to.
Levi had been trying to set a full drink down on the table beside Jenny when the attack happened. As he jerked away from the unapproved attention, Scarlett could tell immediately what was going to happen.
Levi pushed away from Jenny quickly, causing the drink, one of their signature Sunset Bursts, which consisted of bright blue and red mixes, to teeter on the tray he’d been holding. The tall glass, with its paper straws, umbrellas, and several fruit wedges on the rim, started to fall. It landed directly on Jenny’s chest, spilling the bright liquid all over her white swimsuit.
What happened next had Scarlett holding in her laughter. The one thing she could say about Jenny was that she was an excellent actress.
Jenny jumped up from her chair squealing as she tried to brush the mixing colors from her suit. Her arms thrashed around her as she threw insults at Levi.
Levi dropped his hands to his side, took a giant step backwards, and looked around uncomfortably. When his eyes landed on hers, she could see the plea for help in them from across the pool. Scarlett knew that Levi had done nothing to instigate the kiss, but a flash of concern flooded his blue eyes.
Scarlett rushed over, grabbing up a few clean towels from the bar area along the way.
“Here, let me help…” She started to use a towel to sop up most of the bright drink, only to have Jenny shove her hands away.
“Get away from me,” she screamed as she grabbed the towel from Scar’s hands.
“We’re just trying to help,” Scarlett said calmly. “Levi, why don’t you…”
“Bullshit.” Jenny jerked her head up towards Scarlett, her eyes burning with anger. “This suit was very expensive. Don’t think I won’t demand that you repay me for it along with damages.” She continued to dab at the suit but then gave up when all she was doing was spreading the red and blue over the now-colored material. Jenny tossed the towel down at her feet. “You and your friends have always had it out for me.” Her eyes moved to Levi, then back to Scarlett’s. When she moved forward, Levi took her arms to pull her back, as if protecting her, but Scarlett wedged herself between the two of them. If Jenny was going to attack anyone, Scarlett was stepping directly in line of fire. “I didn’t believe you would stoop to their level,” Jenny tossed over to Levi.
Levi moved to open his mouth, but Scarlett jumped in quickly.
“As we’ve said, we were just trying to help you clean up. If you hadn’t tried to force yourself on—”
“Force myself?” Jenny squealed. Her voice drew the attention of everyone in the area that hadn’t already been watching the exchange. “Force myself?” She laughed. “That’s rich. The man was practically drooling on me. When I rejected his advances, he did this.” She motioned to her ruined suit. Jenny’s eyes narrowed and she moved closer to Scarlett, shoving a finger into her chest. Levi tried to move around and block her, but Jenny wasn’t having it and turned her body and all of her attention towards Scarlett instead.
Scarlett knew that there was nothing either of them could say at this point that would matter. So, they stood there, side by side, listening to Jenny spew her hate towards them.
When Scarlett believed she was almost done with her tirade, she calmly apologized and offered, again, to make things right.
Instead of accepting the offer, Jenny jerked a fingernail into Scarlett’s chest again and glared up at her.
“You think I don’t know exactly what you and your friends are doing?” She smirked. “Oh, have fun around here while it lasts. After the way you’ve treated me, I’ll make it my life’s mission to ruin you.” She growled out the last in a low tone.
Scarlett was about to step out of the woman’s way but only had time to gasp as Jenny brought her hands up and shoved Scarlett’s shoulders hard enough that Scarlett lost her footing, tripped on the towel Jenny had tossed down, and started to fall backwards.
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
She reached out for Levi, who was less than a foot from her, but Jenny pushed between their bodies, leaving Scarlett’s arms to flail in the air as she fell. Scarlett only had time to scream out as she fell into the shallow end of the pool.
She hit the water hard and gasped with pain, water flooding her nose and mouth.
Her ass hit the bottom of the pool first, followed by the back of her head, at which point, everything went dark.
When her eyes opened again, she was lying in a pool chair soaking wet as Levi hovered over her, dripping water from his hair onto her face. Scarlett coughed up the water she’d swallowed while Levi grabbed her into his arms and held onto her.
“Get Lea up here quickly,” Levi yelled to someone.
“I’m okay,” Scarlett said between coughing and spitting up pool water. When she tried to get up, he held her still. “No, don’t move,” he said gently. “You got knocked out.”
“I hit my head.” She reached up and touched where she had hit the bottom of the pool. Feeling an egg sized bump on the back of her head, she hissed.
“Easy.” He used one of the towels she’d brought over for Jenny to wipe her face. “Where does it hurt?”
“I have a bump.” She motioned to her head, then moved slightly and realized she’d hit her hip on the bottom of the pool as well. “And my hip.”
“I couldn’t get to you.” He groaned and wrapped his arms around her again. “You went down so fast.”
“It’s okay.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I’m okay.”
“What happened?” Zoey cried out as she rushed towards them.
“Jenny. She pushed Scarlett into the shallow end…” Levi said quickly.
“I bumped my head.”
“She was unconscious when I pulled her out of the pool,” Levi supplied.
“What?” Zoey sat next to her and scanned her eyes. “Her eyes are unfocused. She might have a…”
Just then Lea approached, pushing the growing crowd of people aside.
“Doctor com
ing through,” she said loudly.
For the next few minutes, she was looked over by their resident doctor, Lea Val. The woman knew her shit, which is why they’d hired her to work at the camp part time. It was a smart move, seeing as most of their guests were over the age of fifty and spent their vacation doing sports and activities they normally wouldn’t.
Since they’d brought her on board, Lea had been kept busy with twisted ankles, the occasional sunburn, and earlier that year, a mild heart attack. If they hadn’t had her there, the woman would have died. Even though they had med kits and defibrillators spread around the grounds, Lea was the reason the woman had been able to go home to her family.
“I don’t like the look of your pupils,” Lea said to her. “I’m going to call…”
“No,” Scarlett groaned. “I don’t want to go in.”
“Too bad.” Lea shook her head. “I’m the doctor, not you.” She glanced up and nodded to Levi. “I’ll call it in, but we could probably get her there faster ourselves.”
“I’ll drive.” He hoisted her up in his arms and following Lea towards the parking lot.
“I’ll drive,” Dylan corrected, coming out of nowhere and catching up with them.
“Fine,” Levi said and followed the man towards his car while Lea talked on her phone, following them.
They all crammed into Dylan’s Tesla. Levi held onto Scarlett in the back seat while Lea sat next to them. Zoey was sitting in the front seat, talking to the rest of the Wildflowers on speaker phone, filling them in on what had happened.
“Do you think we should call the police?” Zoey asked to the car.
“No,” Scarlett groaned. She’d been keeping her eyes closed, since the brightness of the day was causing her head to spin.
“I think you should at least file a report,” Dylan said. “Remember when we didn’t file one at first for Ryan and how that came back to haunt us?”
“Agreed,” Zoey answered. “Elle, go ahead and call Brett to file a report. Hannah, see if you can round up some witnesses willing to talk.”
“Consider it done. Scar, get better. Zoey keep us posted,” Elle said before they hung up.
