Page 34 of Choosing Happily Ever After

Levi let his gaze drift back to Hope, watching her in action. Only there was something different, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. It was in the way she moved, the way she held her back, a little stiffer than normal. He hadn’t seen her more than a few minutes in the last few days, and he hadn’t noticed anything off about her then, but something was definitely off.

As soon as Hope turned around, he saw the reason for his confusion. Hope wasn’t Hope. She was Faith.

He laughed a little under his breath. When was the last time he’d mixed the two of them up? It had to have been years. High school, maybe. The Turner twins had always been so different, despite their almost identical appearance, he’d almost always been able to tell them apart. Probably because he’d only ever been in love with one of them.

There was that word again.

Love.

Levi shook his head and let a smile spread over his face as he watched Faith. She really was so different from her sister. The long blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes, and curvy figure—those were all the same, but that’s where the similarities ended. Everything else about them was totally opposite. Hope loved the idea of love and everything that went with it. She’d always been thesofterof the two, while Faith had become hard and jaded. Hope never could tell him why it was, only that something had changed when they were teenagers and her sister had declared one day that she didn’t believe in any of it. And never again wanted to dress up like one of thewedding sisters, the way they had since they were little, because she couldn’t be part of something that was so clearly a sham.

As soon as she could, Faith had left home for the city and as far as Levi knew—which, to be fair, wasn’tallthe information—had rarely been home since.

Which was why it was extraordinarily unexpected that she stood in the middle of the wedding festivities, holding a clipboard and looking like she was…working?

Something was really off and he was about to find out what exactly it was when Hope appeared by her sister’s side. She was dressed almost identically, and when she arrived next to Faith, her sister looked visibly relieved. They shared a few words and Hope took the clipboard from her hand and made a few notes, while Faith disappeared into the kitchen.

He watched her go before pushing up from where he leaned to make his way over to Hope. This time, sure it was her, he slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her close into his chest for a quick peck on the cheek before letting her go. Professionalism was important to her, and as much as he wanted to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her hard to show her exactly what he’d been thinking of since he’d slipped from her bed the other day, he resisted.

Barely.

“Hey.” Levi pulled away. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” She gave him a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “The last few days have just been so busy, I hardly even know what day it is.”

“It’s Saturday.” Levi gave her a cocky wink. “Wedding day, remember?”

“Of course.” Her blush slipped up and over her ears. “I just meant—”

“I know what you meant.” He reached for and found her hand. “I’m just giving you a hard time.” Levi waited for her smile to return before he asked the next question. “What’s Faith doing here?” Hope pulled her hand away from his and tucked it up around her clipboard. “I’m not going to lie,” he continued, ignoring the change in her demeanor. “I was surprised to see her. It’s been—”

“Years,” she finished for him. “I know. I asked her to come help me out for a little bit.”

“Help you out?” He didn’t even try to hide the shock from his voice. “With what?”

“The ranch.” She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“You don’t need help, Hope.”

He felt a flash of guilt at telling her what she did or did not need with her business, but he couldn’t help it. Shedidn’tneed help. She had him.

“I do.” She turned to look at him then. “I mean, I know you’re here, Levi, and I appreciate your help with everythingsomuch. Everything has run so much smoother since you’ve been here. It really has. But—”

“But, what?” He knew what she was going to say, and for more reasons than he could articulate at that moment, he didn’t want to hear it. Any of it.

“But I know you’re going to leave,” she finished. “You have a whole life away from here and I can’t expect you to put it all on hold for me and—”

Levi knew it was unprofessional; he knew that Hope would probably be angry with him later, but it didn’t matter. Without missing a beat, he took her hand back and swirled her onto the dance floor where he could get her alone, with her full attention on him. And that’s exactly what he wanted, too. At least until he finished saying exactly what it was that he needed to say.

Hope

“Levi! What are you doing?”

Hope relented as he took the clipboard from her hand and put it on a nearby table as he wrapped his arm around her, clasped her other hand, and guided her into an easy waltz on the side of the dance floor.

“We can’t do—”

“We can, too. Everything is going smoothly, everyone else is dancing, and we’re in the corner. No one can see us.”

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