Page 44 of This Baby Business
How could Irene tell? The man looked like he had a permanent scowl etched on his face.
“Why not?”
“Who knows?” Irene sighed. “He said something ridiculous like Levi would probably lie about this. Who on earth would lie about being engaged?”
I went still. “Jeez. Someone crazy, probably.”
“Or desperate.” Irene nodded. “Is Grace here?”
I pointed toward Cassie and Grace, while simultaneously searching for Petunia’s owner as the line moved forward. Ahead, Henry had already been dried and received a bow tie. Jill chatted it up with Hunter, who had taken photos of the dog and flapped them in the air to dry them. I moved up the line and wound up pushed toward Levi. Irene lagged somewhere behind me, talking with Mrs. Olson about the wonderful weather in California.
Yes, yes. Stick to the weather. The weather and the appalling price of real estate.
Petunia squealed, and Levi turned to smile at the pig.
His warm gaze slid up to meet my eyes. “Hey.”
“Hi, babe!” I launched my body toward Levi and planted a big kiss on his lips.
I meant the kiss to be a quick buss for Irene’s benefit, but Levi tightened his arms around my hips. He tugged me in tight and put some tongue in the kiss.
My fake fiancé was not shy about PDA.
Unbelievably. Hot.
“Oh, my.” Irene laughed.
Levi pulled back, and his eyebrows went up at seeing Irene. “Hi.”
“Irene came by to support the event. Pilots and Paws is such a worthy organization. They do such great work uniting pets with their forever families.” I might be laying it on a little thick but sue me for being a bit wowed by that kiss.
Levi squatted in front of Petunia and removed her leash. “Who’s this?”
“Petunia. She belongs to someone who had to get out of line. I’m sure she’ll be right back.”
Like he’d been bathing pigs his entire life, Levi went to work on Petunia.
“Frank is here, too.” Irene pointed in his direction. “Sitting right over there.”
“Great,” Levi said, and I couldn’t tell whether this was a welcome development in his opinion. Only his shoulders showed some strain. He pointed. “Grace is here, too. You might as well say hello.”
“Yes, we’ll go ahead and do that.” Irene walked toward Grace.
Levi lifted Petunia and placed her in the sudsy water. She seemed to like it, too, just like the lady said she would. She made a strange half-honk and half-squealing sound. I kept quiet and let Levi work. Quiet worked for me, too, especially when it involved watching Levi bend and, as his board shorts ran down low on his hips, reveal a patch of golden skin. He had a perfect butt. And it was official—I was boy crazy. Uh, man crazy. Me and Petunia, that is. The smart pig had rolled on her side, perhaps to make it easier for Levi to cop a feel. I would swear Petunia had batted her eyelashes at the man.
“You okay?”
Levi squatted next to Petunia, rubbing her belly with a wet brush as he washed her. He cocked his head to me, waiting for an answer.
If he was talking about the other night, no, I was not. I’d been thinking about him way too much. “I didn’t know they’d be here. She just…showed up.”
“It’ll be okay.” He spoke smoothly and without an ounce of emotion.
That was Levi. Cool. Calm. No fear. I wondered if he’d give me lessons.
He rinsed Petunia off one last time with a large sponge, then lifted her out of the tub and straightened to his full height.
“She wants to know a good time to go out to dinner. What should I say?”
