“I was. I just wanted to let him know I wasn’t at home in case he called the house.”
“You told him you were with me?”
“No. I told him that I ran away with the circus. Of course he knows who I’m with.”
He studied her face for a moment. “What did he say?”
“To be careful.”
“That was all? He wasn’t upset to find out that you’re here with me?”
“I think he knows you wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”
“I wouldn’t, Shelly. I’ll take care of you. I’ll always take care of you.”
The way he was looking at her, the way he said it, made her want to believe he wasn’t just talking about their friendship. It almost sounded like he meant it in a deeper way.
“I’ll take care of you, too, you know.”
“I know.” He gave her a quick kiss. “Let me take you out.”
They didn’t go that far. Levi’s complex wasn’t far from the Strip. She thought the casino near Destiny was luxurious, but these Las Vegas casinos were incomparable. There were just so many people there. One hotel held more than the population of Destiny and probably the next town over on any given day.
He took her to see the fountains, which she got an enormous kick out of. She stood mesmerized as the water danced in front of her. She knew that he was probably bored to tears standing there while she watched the entire show, but he didn’t say a word. Didn’t hurry her along. He just watched with her.
Afterward he took her to window-shop in the fancy stores and bought her a birthstone ring, a thank-you for coming with him and reading the letter. She didn’t need to be thanked. She wanted to thank him for bringing her here, for showing her another place she’d never thought she would see.
“I eat here a lot,” he told her as they walked into a restaurant a little bit off the Strip. “A lot of my racing friends hang out here. They don’t serve anything fancy, but everything is good.”
“I’m sure it will be,” she said, but she’d barely gotten the words out when a busty redhead walked up to Levi, grabbed his face, and kissed him right on the mouth. “I missed you, baby! How have you been? Where have you been?”
“I went back to my hometown.” He grinned at her, not seeming at all put out by being kissed by a sexy woman. “I’ve been great. I’ve been with Shelly. I told you about her.”
“Oh! You’re Shelly, huh?” The woman’s eyes went up and down her body. “Not what I expected, but still cute. In a wholesome kind of way. Bring her by tonight. We’ll have some fun.”
“She’s not that kind of friend, Tia,” Levi said his voice light but with a little bit of steel going through it.
“I bet we could make her that kind of friend. You know how much fun we have when we bring more friends to the party. Think about it.” Tia ran a finger down his chest before she gave him a flirty look and walked away.
“Come on, Shells.” He led her to a table in the back corner and she sat down feeling … she wasn’t sure how she was feeling. Maybe like reality had just come back and slapped her in the face.
“Have you slept with that woman?” she blurted out.
He froze. She knew she shouldn’t have asked a question that she already knew the answer to. She kept up with him and like the rest of the world she saw who he hung out with, the type of women he dated. She had put it all out of her mind because that man and the man she knew were so different. It was as if she didn’t believe all the hype around him even when she saw it with her own eyes. But she couldn’t deny it now that it had nearly slapped her in the face. He really had done all those things to earn his bad boy reputation.
“I’m sorry,” she said, genuinely feeling it. “You don’t have to answer that. It’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have asked.”
He looked uneasy. “I’m not currently sleeping with her.”
“Of course you’re not currently sleeping with her, you’ve been in Destiny sleeping with me.” She shook her head. “I didn’t mean it the way it came out. It sounded jealous, but I’m not. I just meant you couldn’t be in two places at one time.”
“Listen, Tia was fun when I was in between girlfriends, but—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself.” She tried to inject some lightness in her voice. This is what her father had warned her about. Not to get hurt. Not to get her heart broken. She wouldn’t; she refused to let it happen. She knew this would come to an end.
“I didn’t know she would be here. I’m not going to sleep with her again.”
“She’s beautiful. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to.”
“Shelly. I’m in—” he started to say but was cut off when a man came over and slapped Levi on the back.
“Levi, baby! I’m so glad you’re back in town. Things haven’t been the same without you.”
“Hey, Fitz. It’s good to see you.”
Without being invited, Fitz pulled up a chair and sat at their table. “Are you back in town for good? You said we would talk about you going back to racing when you got back. And now you’re back and we need to talk about getting you ready to qualify.” He looked at Shelly briefly. “Hey, sweetie, how you doing? I’m trying to talk your boy here back to racing. He was tearing up the scene in Europe. But I bet you know him from the television show. That’s where all his girls know him from.”
All his girls?
“I know him from next door,” she responded. “I’m not one of his girls. We grew up together.”
“Fitz, this is Shelly. Shelly, Fitz, my asshole of a manager. Fitz, go away.”
“We’re talking about millions and millions of dollars. Not to mention all the endorsement deals. You think your brothers are rich? They’ll be knocking on your door to borrow a cup of money.”
“I’ll be back here in a couple of weeks,” he said firmly. “We can sit down to talk then. You can see I’m busy.”
“You’re that Shelly, aren’t you?” He gave her a big smile. “The one whose letters I was shipping all over the world? The girl he blew me off to call on her birthday.”
“Yeah, that’s me.” She extended her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You’re the kind of woman every man wants in his life. A wife without all that pesky monogamy to get in the way of the fun.”
“Fitz, leave us the hell alone. Now.” It was hard to miss the anger in Levi’s voice, and Fitz reacted. He got up without another word and left them alone. But his words still nailed Shelly. Neither one of them would ever be able to give their all to someone else when they were so entwined with each other.
It wasn’t just that they were going to go back to their lives at the end of the summer. She was going to have emotionally distance herself from him or she would never have a shot of ever loving anyone else.
*
Levi looked over to Shelly the next night. They were back in Destiny. Back in her bedroom. He had chartered a flight back instead of staying a few extra days as he’d originally planned. He had screwed up, made a colossally stupid mistake bringing Shelly to that restaurant. He hadn’t planned to run into Tia, but she was there, in a tight half shirt and a skirt that was little more than a strip of fabric. Tia was wild. She was fun. She was in the past. There were other women in his past, but they would stay there. Shelly had to know that.
And Fitz opening his big mouth and calling her one of “his girls” didn’t help matters. He should have taken her out of there, but there were some nice people around that he did want her to meet. The guys from the shop, people he had known ever since he came to Vegas. They were part of his life, and since she was going to be a part of his life, she should know them.
“What’s the matter, Shells?” She had been quiet; there was a bit of sadness floating around her. He thought it might have started at the restaurant, but it began before that, after she got off the phone with her father. He knew the man wasn’t his biggest fan, but he wondered what he’d said to her. If Mr. Walker’s disapproval of him wou
ld keep Shelly from marrying him.
He could take care of her, make her happy. Surely that was more important to the man than anything in his past.
“Nothing is wrong, Levi.” She touched his face. “You don’t have to keep asking me.”
“I would stop if you just told me.”
“Am I being mean to you?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“Ignoring you?”
“No.”
“Giving you the cold shoulder?”
“No.”
“Then there’s nothing wrong.” She kissed his lips, lightly at first and then deepening it. He grew aroused as she slipped her hands up his shirt. This was what she’d done last night when he’d tried to talk to her: seduced him. She climbed on top of him and placed her beautifully curved body against his and he could no longer think straight. And now she was pulling off his shirt.
“Shelly …” He broke the kiss.
“Let’s stay here.” She leaned back on the couch and slid her underwear off, making his mouth go dry and his mind go blank.
“Shelly.” He shook his head and cleared his throat even though he was so hard it was painful. “I want to talk to you.”
“And I want to have sex with you. Only one of us can win this battle.” She slid her palm down his erection. “I really think it should be me.”
He crushed his mouth to hers, losing the battle before it really even started. She was the only one who had this effect on him.
Whatever it was, they would get over it. He needed to have her as his wife no matter what he had to do.
*
The next afternoon Shelly was in her kitchen checking on a cake she was making for a parishioner’s birthday when the house phone rang. She picked it up without checking the caller ID like she usually did. She had been so distracted the past couple of days. Her future being at the forefront of her mind. The trip to Vegas put things in perspective for her. There had been a tiny little hope inside her that things would work out with Levi. But that hope had been dashed nearly as soon as it had formed. He had a full life outside of here.
What they had this summer was just a little detour for him.
“Hello?”
“Um, hi, Shelly. It’s Sid.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a moment. She hadn’t given Sid a single thought since the day she had run into him in the library. She was surprised that he had called. “Hello, how are you?”
“Good. Good,” he said, the awkwardness of their last conversation returning. She was going to cut it short and make an excuse about not being able to talk when Sid spoke again. “I’m not good at this. Talking to women. Well, I can talk to cousins and co-workers and women in the store, but the really beautiful ones seem to trip me up. I think you are one of those beautiful ones, Shelly, and I would very much like to get to know you better.”
“Oh, you’re sweet.” She was touched. It was nice to know that someone else wanted to get to know her.
“I’m just being honest. Maybe we can meet for lunch or coffee? Or browse in the library and try to have a less awkward conversation.”
“I would like that,” she said as she heard the front door open. “But just not right now.” It wouldn’t be fair to him, because even after Levi was gone she would still think about him, still miss him like she was missing a limb. Maybe it would never be fair to Sid because she would never feel anything for him near what she felt for Levi.
“Not right now?”
“Give me a few weeks. Just a few and then call me up and ask me again.” That should give a little space—and if it didn’t, maybe spending time with another man would be enough to distract her from the one she wanted to be with.
“I will. I look forward to speaking to you again.”
“I look forward to it, too,” she said just before they disconnected.
Levi was standing behind her when she hung up the phone. “Hey.”
“Hey. Who was that?”
“Sid. The guy my father was trying to fix me up with. He asked me out.”
“Oh?” Levi grinned at her. “If I didn’t know any better I would say you accepted.”
“I didn’t. Not yet. I told him to ask me again in a few weeks.”
“Why didn’t you just tell him no? I know you want to let him down easy, but it seems kinder not to string him along.”
“I’m not stringing him along.” She checked on her cake, which was ready, so she pulled it from the oven. “I might really want to go out with him in a few weeks.”
“Excuse me?”
She closed the oven door and turned to look at him, a lump in her throat. “You’ll be going home soon and I really do need to start dating. I want children someday. I think holding that baby at the reading party made me realize that. I want a family and I’m never going to get it if I do the same things I always have done. So, I’ve decided that I’m going to date and travel the world and live a bigger life and hopefully I’ll find love along the way.”
Levi shook his head. “What the hell are you talking about? I could give you those all of those things.”
“You already have given me so many things. I would have never come to this realization without you. This summer has been the best of my life and I thank you for it.”
“I don’t want you to thank me for it. I don’t want you to date anyone else! I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”
“You’re leaving. You’re always leaving. Meeting new people, having new life experiences. Why can’t I? Why can’t I do what you do?”
“This is about Vegas, isn’t it? I knew you were upset about it. I’m sorry about Tia. I shouldn’t have taken you to that restaurant. I didn’t think she was going to approach you like that.”
“Don’t apologize. That’s your life. Women want you and frankly someone who looks like Tia should be with someone who looks like you. She suits you.”
“And you don’t? You’re being ridiculous right now.”
“Am I? You left before and never looked back. You had this whole amazing life that I had to hear about through letters. I was always on the sidelines. I know I was never really meant to be included in your real life.”
“That’s not true.”
“It’s not? I get a present here and there and a phone call once in a while when you get a chance and an email that’s ten times shorter than the letter I sent you. We live in the same state and you’ve never once tried to see me. You never invited me out. You never made the effort. Even Ace has seen you more in the past thirteen years than I have and I’m supposed to be your best friend. What does say about us? About how you feel about me?”
“It won’t be like that with us ever again. I told you it wouldn’t.”
“You’re right. You won’t get the chance to leave me behind because I’m leaving too. I’m going to go to Australia. There’s a teacher exchange program and I’ll be heading there at the start of the school year. I applied last week and I just learned I was accepted this morning.”
“You cannot go to Australia right now.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’m twenty-eight years old. I can go wherever I want. And what difference does it make where I am if you’re going to be in Europe racing, or on a movie set shooting? I read about you on the Internet. The rumors are flying. Your career is about to explode again.”
“Shelly, I love you,” he said in an explosion of frustration.
“I know you love me,” she said softly. “I love you, too, but it’s not good for us to have this kind of relationship, is it? You heard what Fitz said. He pegged us right. I’m the wife you have without the commitment. Without all the work. Neither one of us can really ever move on if we’re so close. It’s going to affect every other relationship we have with anybody else. But I can’t do this anymore. I can’t put you first anymore because it won’t be fair to anyone else.”
“Of course our friendship affected my relationships with everyone else. I haven’t had a single serious relati
onship with anyone else because I was too busy being in love with you!”
“What?” She felt jolted, and suddenly her entire body was frozen.
“I’m in love with you, damn it. I’ve always been in love with you.”
“Don’t tell me that.” She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “Not now. I can’t hear it now.”
He looked hurt, nearly stricken. “You don’t believe me.” She had always wanted him to tell her that, and he could have a thousand times. If he had told her anytime before, she would have believed him. But he was telling her when it was too late, when she’d already made up her mind to lead a life that wasn’t so tied up with loving him.
“You’re telling me you love me because I’m here in front of you, but you’ll go back to Vegas and you’ll be with your friends and you’ll sign your big deal and you’ll be approached by all those sexy women and I will be an afterthought for you again. You didn’t even come here to see me. You came because Lolly is sick. And now I’m supposed to believe that you’re in love with me.” She shook her head. “You just think you are in the moment. I’m sure it will pass.”
“That was a fucking brutal thing to say. You can’t tell me how I feel.”
“Well, you don’t ever tell me how you feel.”
“I was going to bring you back with me. I want to marry you.”
Marriage? It was another unexpected blow to her system.
“When were you going to tell me this? When were you going to clue me in on your decision? Because it is your decision. You never asked me what I wanted. You never once thought about telling me you were in love with me until you thought about me possibly loving someone else.”
“I—”
“You never thought about what I wanted, Levi. You never asked me what my plan was. That’s because you just assumed that I would be here waiting for you. Your number one fan.”
“That’s bullshit. I would do anything for you, because I’m in love with you. I’ve never told another woman that. I never wanted with anyone what I want with you. What the hell do you think this summer was?”
“It was wonderful. It was what I needed to see that I can’t go back to living the life I was living, and I thank you for that. I thank you for making me feel alive.”
Heart of a Bad Boy (Bad Boys of Destiny #3) Page 22
