“Jesus.” He shakes his head, resting his elbows to his knees, studying us. “You better go before I stand.”
“What?” I pull myself from Muffin trying to understand what just happened and why he suddenly looks pissed.
“I want you, Fawn.” He pauses, rubbing his hand down the morning scruff covering his jaw. “I want you, and if I get my hands on you right now, there will be no going back, so you need to leave.”
“Oh.” I lick my lips and look at the door, then back to him, torn between leaving and letting him have me however he wants.
“Go, baby,” he growls, so deep that I swear I feel it skim through every single cell in my body.
“Right,” I whisper, picking up my Uggs that I took off last night and left next to his door. I pause with them against my chest. “Levi.” I turn my head toward him with my hand on the knob to find him still sitting.
“Yeah?”
“Just so you know, I want you, too.” I swing the door open and hurry out and across the hall before he can reply. After knocking on my door, since I don’t have a key, it only takes a half a second for my dad to answer, and when he does, I swear he’s fighting back a grin.
“Well, look who the cat decided to finally drag home.” Here we go.
“Morning, Daddio,” I mutter as he kisses my forehead, and then I scoot past him, dropping my shoes to the floor.
“Where’s Levi?” Mom asks, looking behind me without so much as a hello in my direction.
“He’s taking Muffin for a walk, he’ll be over soon.”
“Did you hear that, Libby? Levi’s taking Fawn’s dog for a walk after she spent the night with him,” Mac says and I look to where my sisters are seated on the couch.
“I heard it, sis.” Libby smirks, and I roll my eyes at the two of them.
“Could all of you do me a favor, and for once, just try to act normal and not embarrass me?” I plead.
“We would never embarrass you,” Mom says, and my head swings to her and I raise a brow. “Well, not on purpose, anyways,” she concludes in a mutter.
“Dad,” I say, pulling my eyes from my mom to look at him.
“When have I ever embarrassed you?” he asks, and I stare at him in disbelief.
“I don’t know, maybe the time Jimmy came over and you asked him if we were having sex.”
“That was a serious question.” He frowns, scratching his beard.
“I was thirteen,” I cry, feeling embarrassed for my teenage self all over again.
“Kids nowadays are having sex young. I wanted you to be safe.”
“Just, please, no talking about sex . . .” I pause to look at everyone. “At all.”
“I don’t know, maybe I should have a talk with him. After all, you did spend the night with the man.”
“Oh lord.” I cover my face with my hands and rub hard.
“Did you have sex with him?” Mom asks, and I pull my hands from my face to look at her, standing in the kitchen mixing a bowl of pancake batter.
“No, but even if we did, I wouldn’t talk to you or Dad about it.”
“Why not?” she asks, sounding offended.
“Mom,” I sigh.
“Well, I have years of experience. I should be the person you talk to about sex.”
“Yeah, Mom’s an expert.” Libby giggles, and I turn to glare at her as Mac makes a gag face in her direction.
“No one”—I wave my hand around encompassing all of them—“is allowed to even mention the word sex once Levi is here,” I growl, then stomp toward my bedroom and shut the door. Going straight to my bathroom, I wash my face and brush my teeth, then start up the shower. I know I don’t have a lot of time, but I need a few minutes to prepare myself for the torture that I know is coming. My family behaving like normal people is about as likely as winning the lottery.
Stripping out of my clothes, I get in under the warm water and wash my hair, then put in conditioner and leave it in to soak while I scrub head to toe with my berry-scented body wash. Once I’m clean, I comb out my hair, then rinse it with cool water. Shutting off the tap, I wrap myself in a towel and step into my room, sighing when I find my sisters on my bed.
“Levi’s here,” Mac says, and I look at the door, wondering if I should go out and rescue him before I get dressed. “He’s fine. When we came in here, he was helping Mom with breakfast.”
“Great,” I mutter, grabbing a pair of underwear and slipping them on under my towel.
“So you stayed the night with him—does this mean you’re finally going to tell us what’s going on between you two?” Libby asks, and I look at her over my shoulder while I put on my bra.
“We’re . . .” I pause, not sure what we are exactly. “We’re seeing each other.” I shrug, figuring that’s a safe and true statement. I mean, he didn’t say I was his girlfriend or anything, but he did say we were going to see what happened between us.
“So you’re dating?” Mac asks.
“Kind of.” I pull in a breath and shrug. Turning to grab a shirt, I pull out one with the Goonies on the front and toss it toward the bottom of my closet before proceeding to search through my stack of tees for one that doesn’t seem childish. Sadly, all my shirts are basically the same—they all have witty sayings or cartoon characters on them. Giving up on my search and wanting to be more comfortable than fashionable, I settle on a long-sleeved, baby-blue tee with the Muppets on the front.
“Are you going to wear that?” Libby asks as I pull on a pair of black leggings.
“Shut up, Libby,” Mac says as I step back into my bathroom to put on deodorant and spray leave-in conditioner in my hair.
“I’m only saying it because Levi doesn’t look like the type of guy who would date a girl who dresses like a fourteen-year-old,” Libby states when I come back into the room a minute later.
I look down at my shirt, and my stomach twists uncomfortably. She’s right—Levi doesn’t look like the kind of guy who would date a nerdy, awkward girl with out-of-control hair who prefers wearing leggings and baggy tees. He looks like the kind of guy who only dates models who look like his gorgeous sister-in-law.
“Don’t change,” Mac says, and my eyes go to her. “If he doesn’t like you for you, screw him.”
“You’re only saying that because of Edward.” Libby shakes her head, and I look at Mac.
“What happened with Edward?”
“Nothing.” She turns to narrow her eyes on Libby.
“So you want me to tell you what’s going on with Levi and me, but you don’t want to tell me about you and Edward?”
“There is no me and Edward,” she states in a growl, fisting her hands on her lap.
“What happened?” I ask, looking at Libby when I see Mac’s lips are sealed.
“He has a girlfriend,” Libby says quietly, and my eyes widen.
“What?” I take a seat next to Mac, and her cheeks darken. “Since when?”
“I don’t know.” Mac shakes her head. “I thought I was finally making progress with him. I thought he was finally noticing me. Then, out of the blue, he calls me three days ago and asks if I want to get a drink with him and a couple of friends. Of course, like an idiot, I agreed. Then the next thing I know, I’m sitting in a booth across from him and his girlfriend while they make out.”
“I’m sorry, Mac.” I rub her shoulder. She’s been crushing on Edward forever, so it had to be devastating for her to watch him with someone else.
“It’s for the best,” she mutters, moving off the bed to stand. “Lesson learned.” She shakes her head, smoothing her hands down her denim-covered thighs. “Never again will I work at trying to make a man notice me.”
“You deserve more than a guy like him anyways,” I tell her truthfully, and her face softens. “Seriously, he wasn’t even that cute.”
“True story.” Libby smiles, hopping off the bed. “Now, Levi, on the other hand, is beyond hot. You better hold tight to that man.”
“He’s lucky to have you, n
ot the other way around—don’t ever forget that,” Mac says, looking at me.
“Mac’s right,” Libby says softly, wrapping her arm around Mac’s shoulders. “Levi is hot, but you are beautiful. If he doesn’t want you, someone else will.”
“Do not make me cry,” I grumble as tears burn the back of my throat. My sisters might drive me nuts most of the time, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world.
“Seriously, how lucky will he be if he gets to be a part of this family?” Libby laughs, and Mac and I follow along with her.
“Speaking of Levi, I better get out there before Mom asks him when he plans on marrying me or offers sex advice.” I grin.
“Our parents are crazy.” Mac shakes her head as I open the door.
As soon as I step out of my room, Levi’s eyes come to me and fill with an intimacy that makes my belly melt. “Hey, baby.”
“Sorry I wasn’t out when you came; I just needed a shower.”
“It’s all good. Your mom put me to work to keep me busy.”
“Did you know Levi can cook, Fawn?” She grabs his biceps and grins, giving it a squeeze as she wiggles her brows suggestively at me from behind his shoulder so he can’t see. “Honey, I suggest you get knocked up soon so he doesn’t get away.”
“What?” Levi chuckles, looking back at her while my jaw drops and lands on the floor with a thud.
“Oh . . .” Mom looks around, then looks at my dad, who is sitting across the island from her with his chest moving in a way that shows he’s laughing silently. “I . . . never mind.” She shakes her head, waving her hand around like a lunatic. Feeling my cheeks getting hotter by the second, I bite my lip. I can’t believe she just said that—well, I can believe it, because she is my mom, after all, but seriously, why can’t my parents be normal?
“Well, now that you’ve made things totally awkward,” Libby says, moving past me toward the kitchen, “what do you need help with, Mom? Do you want me to find you a turkey baster?” My eyes slide closed. I can’t believe I thought for even a second it would be okay for Levi to come over for breakfast. I really should have known better. Opening my eyes back up, I find Levi watching me closely.
“I’m so sorry,” I mouth, and his face softens.
“It’s all good,” he mouths back, then turns when my mom asks him to help with something.
“Come here, kiddo,” Dad calls, patting the stool next to him, and I move slowly across the room to slide into the seat. “He’s not running for the hills, so I’d say you’re okay,” he says quietly against the side of my head, placing a kiss there, and I nod.
“So, Levi, you said your family lives in Connecticut. Are you planning on going to see them for Thanksgiving?” Mom asks.
“No.” He shakes his head while putting some butter into a pan on the stove. “I’m on call Thanksgiving. So I’ll be home.”
“You’re going to be alone on Thanksgiving?” Mom asks, and he nods, giving her a smile.
“Yeah, it comes with the job.”
“Don’t I know it,” Mom says quietly, looking at my dad with soft eyes filled with understanding.
“So what made you want to move to New York?” Dad asks, and Levi’s gaze goes to him.
“I got offered a promotion if I transferred to the NYPD. It was an offer I couldn’t turn down, so I packed up my house, put it on the market, and moved.”
“How long have you been a detective?” Mac asks, leaning with her elbows on the island next to me.
“Four years now, give or take a few months.”
“You’re young,” Dad states, sounding surprised.
“I’m younger than most of the guys doing my job, but before I was a detective I was working undercover for two years.”
“Really?” I question. His eyes come to me, and he nods once.
“That must have been scary,” Mom says, patting his shoulder.
“It wasn’t scary, but I didn’t enjoy living a lie or breathing the same air as the scumbags I was investigating.”
“I bet not,” Dad says, picking up the cup of coffee in front of him and taking a sip.
“Do you want coffee, honey?” Mom asks me when she sees me eyeing my dad’s cup.
“Yes, please.” I smile, and she moves to where I keep my cups and grabs one before heading for the coffeepot. When a phone rings, I look at Levi, who pulls his cell out of his back pocket.
“Sorry, I gotta take this,” he apologizes, putting it to his ear and walking out of the kitchen to the front door, which he opens and closes behind him.
“Kiddo.”
“Yeah.” I look at Dad.
“Coffee.” He nods to the counter, where a fresh cup of coffee is now sitting in front of me. Nodding back, I pick it up and take a sip, then turn to the door. When it opens, Levi comes in, running a hand through his hair and looking agitated.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, and his eyes come to me.
“I’m sorry, but I gotta go.” He shakes his head; then his eyes move to my mom and dad as he walks back toward the kitchen. “It was nice meeting you both.”
“You, too, sweetie, and if we don’t see you before, have a great Thanksgiving,” Mom says, giving him a hug.
“You, too,” he mutters as my dad stands and shakes his hand.
“Get my cell number from Fawn. If you ever need anything, just let me know,” Dad says, patting his shoulder before stepping back.
“Will do,” Levi agrees with a smile as both of my sisters hug him quickly before stepping back. Watching him, I wonder what I should do, then his eyes come back to me and he holds out his hand. “Walk me over to my place.”
“Um . . . sure,” I agree, sliding off my stool and taking his hand. “I’ll be right back,” I say over my shoulder as he pulls me toward the door.
“Sure, honey,” Mom mutters from the kitchen, but my eyes are locked with my dad’s, and I see something there that makes me feel uneasy.
“What happened?” I ask his back as he pulls me across the hall.
“There was a murder downtown,” he mutters, pulling me inside his apartment and closing the door behind us.
“I’m so—” My words end as I’m backed against the wall and his mouth crashes down on mine. The second his tongue slides across my bottom lip, my lips part and my fingers fist the fabric of his shirt to hold on. No one has ever kissed me the way he does. No one has ever made me feel the way he does—like he’s marking me, claiming me as his. When he pulls his mouth away, I pant, keeping my eyes closed, needing a second to recover.
“I’m sorry about breakfast, baby.”
“It . . . it’s okay.” I blink up at him. “I understand.”
“Yeah.” He smiles, dragging his thumb down over my lips and chin. “My girl gets me.”
His girl. Man, I love the sound of that.
“Go enjoy the rest of your morning with your family.”
“Okay,” I agree, but he doesn’t move to let me go, making my stomach feel warm once more. “You need to get ready,” I remind him, wishing he didn’t have to. He bends his head; his mouth touches mine once more, this time so tenderly that I almost don’t feel it.
He takes a step back, pulling me from the wall, muttering under his breath, “Never hated my job before.” My legs get weak, and my heart pounds. “I’m off tomorrow—we’ll go out.” He opens his door, and I look up at him.
“Tomorrow’s Sunday,” I say as he surprises me by taking my hand, locking our fingers together for the short few steps to my door.
“Do you have plans?”
“Um . . .” I pause. “No, no plans, just Sundays I always do my laundry and clean.”
“All right, we’ll hang at your place while you clean, then order in food.”
“It will be boring for you to hang around while I clean.”
“You have a TV, babe. I’m good with hanging on the couch watching a game. I just want to spend some time with you.”
“Are you sure?” I ask as we stop outside my apartment.
“Are you gonna be there with me?” he asks, and I frown.
“Do you mean will I be at my house while you’re there?”
“Yeah, babe, that’s what I mean.” His lips twitch.
“I’ll be there,” I confirm like a dork.
“Then, yeah, I’m sure I want to be there with you.” He leans in, kissing my forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” I nod, then look across the hall to his door, worrying my bottom lip.
“What’s wrong?”
“Can you call and let me know when you get home?” I ask, then immediately drop my eyes from his, because that probably sounded clingy and girlfriendish. “I mean, just so I know you’re home safe.”
“It might be late when I get back,” he says, putting his fingers on my chin, pulling up until my eyes meet his once more.