Page 15 of Choosing Happily Ever After

She froze, totally caught off guard.Of coursethings could have been different. But he’d—

“If only Faith had even the slightest idea that he’d been in to her.”

Oh. He wasn’t talking about them.Hope picked up her bottle of beer in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. Maybe it was her exhaustion, or the little bit of beer she had….maybe it was just sitting close to Levi and feeling both so familiar and also totally strange with him. It could have been any number of things that had made her assume he was talking about her.

As if he read her thoughts, he put his hand on hers, just for a moment, long enough to send a shot of desire racing straight through her, and said, “A lot of things could have been different.”

Hope opened her mouth and shut it again, only vaguely aware that she likely resembled a guppy.

“You’re the One That I Want!” Katie yelled across the table as the song changed.

Happy for the distraction, Hope raised her dauber and studied her bingo card. It took her a moment to recover from the awkward moment. Was Levi really saying what she thought he’d been saying?

A lot of things could have been different.

Of course they could have! But he’d left.

Or maybe she was reading way more into it than there was. That was probably the case. He was just talking about Logan and Faith. A couple that never was. She turned her head and watched Logan at the bar trying to chat up the brunette she didn’t recognize.

The idea of Faith and Logan together actually made her laugh out loud. Her sister held nothing but disdain for Logan Langdon. Everything about him seemed to irritate her, and he’d always had so much fun pushing her buttons. Which was exactly why years ago Hope and Levi had decided that Logan teased Faith so badly because he secretly liked her. It was a theory. And one they’d been pretty sold on, despite Logan’s denials.

“Hey.” Levi nudged her elbow, pulling her from her thoughts. He reached across her and pointed at her bingo card. “You have a line. You have a bingo.”

Hope followed to where he was pointing and sure enough, she did. “Bingo!” She grabbed her card, raised it in the air, and laughed herself out of the chair.

“You have to go up there.” Katie pointed to the DJ booth. “Take your card up and you’ll win a prize.”

Hope didn’t hesitate. She loved prizes. Not that she ever won them. Besides, a little space from Levi and the memories that relentlessly popped into her head could only be a good thing.

Levi

It had been a good night. A really good night.

Levi couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so hard. After Hope won the first round, they’d continued to play for three more. Even Logan, shot down by the brunette at the bar, rejoined them for the last two rounds.

It had felt good to hang out with his cousins again. And Hope.

It feltreallygood to hang out with Hope.

Like old times.

He couldn’t let himself go there. Not yet. Even though hereallywanted to. More than anything, did he ever want to go there.

“That was good,” he said to Hope, who had been quiet ever since they’d gotten in the truck. He’d insisted on picking her up earlier to make sure she didn’t bail out at the last minute, and of course, any excuse to spend extra time with her, he was going to take it. “Are you glad you came?”

“I am.” She yawned deeply. “But I’m so tired. I don’t know how I’m going to get anything done tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He moved to reach across the bench seat of his truck to grab her hand, but caught himself and placed it firmly back on the steering wheel. “That’s why you hired me, right?” He grinned in her direction, but she wasn’t looking. Her eyes were closed, and her head dipped.

She was asleep.

Levi didn’t bother stifling his smile. She’d always been so cute when she fell asleep in his truck. Of course, that’s when they’d been kids. Maybe he shouldn’t have kept her up so late? He felt a flicker of guilt. After all, she had already said that she was pretty tired.

Well, he’d let her sleep then.

Levi focused on the mountain roads in front of him, keeping a special eye out for any deer lingering in the ditches. They had a tendency to jump out at the most random times. The drive back to Ever After Ranch from town was only about fifteen minutes, but Hope slept through the entire thing. Levi had been hoping that he might get invited in for a nightcap, or might even be able to sneak a little kiss on the cheek. He wasn’t looking for much. Well, he was, but he’d be patient. After all, he was the one who’d screwed up the best thing he’d ever had. If it took some time for him to convince her that he still cared, he’d take that time.

“We’re here.” Levi spoke softly, almost unwilling to wake her after he pulled up in the yard in front of the house. Her head leaned against the window and she looked so peaceful, he really did hate to wake her. But she couldn’t spend the night in the truck. He tried again, this time shaking her leg softly. “Hope? We’re home.”

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