Page 31 of Heartbreak Hero

“All good?”

Levi squeezed her fingers and answered gruffly. “Yeah.”

She wasn’t sure if she believed him, but she let it go.

He was hers…at least for today.

The market was packed. The place had a band playing on a small stage. Several groups had taken over picnic tables. Tables and vendors lined the area and were crowded with people.

Levi had seemed to have shaken off whatever the phone call had been about.

“Want to go somewhere else?” she asked, gazing up at him.

“No, why?” He looked puzzled.

She shrugged. “I just figured since it’s crowded…” Her voice trailed off.

“Struggle with patience much?” he teased and she giggled.

“You wish,” she argued, and he pulled her back against him, closing his strong arms around her shoulders and hugging her tightly.

The day turned out perfect, and the fact that he climbed up to her balcony later that night was icing on the cake.

Sometime just before dawn, Levi rolled from Sara’s bed.

Quietly, he dressed in his briefs, discarded jeans, and t-shirt.

He moved back to the bed and found Sara watching him.

Her eyes filled her face as she sat up with the bedsheet and bedding clutched to her breasts.

He lifted her phone, pointed it at her face, and when it opened, he put his phone against hers and transferred their contact information.

Handing her the phone, she clutched it against her breasts.

Levi tucked his own phone away, sat in the chair across the room, and put on his boots.

If he thought too much about the bruises on her thighs, he wouldn’t be able to leave her, and he really needed to go. Not to mention, Nash had called in the middle of their day together. He had things he needed to settle with Nash.

“You’re leaving? Stay for breakfast,” she squeaked and then cleared her throat.

He looked skeptical, frowned, and then shook his head.

“Your roommate has two kids, I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate me sneaking in here two nights in a row.”

“She won’t mind.”

He stood and came back to the bed, keeping a tight rein on his desire to climb back in the bed with her.

“Are you going back to Seattle?” Sara asked, chewing her bottom lip.

The question made him smile, and he tipped her chin up and dropped a kiss on her swollen lips. He palmed her cheek for a moment before stepping away.

“Not yet. Lock the slider when I leave,” he ordered softly and stepped out onto the balcony.

Leaping over the edge, he landed below and gazed upward.

She wasn’t there looking down at him, and the balcony door slammed a bit sharply.

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