Page 7 of The Bad Boy's Homecoming
“Right, I guess there aren’t too many other men around here my size.”
Now she squinted at him.“Don’t be so obviously cocky—it’s unbecoming.”
“I didn’t even mention it was a favorable thing, to be so big.You did,” he said and his teasing grin was back.
“I need to go,” she said, and moved away as fast as she could and didn’t look back.
Avoiding him was going to be even more important because now he’d seen her skittish twice in one day, and she could tell he didn’t believe her when she said she hadn’t run into trouble.But there was no way she was telling anyone about that.It was behind her now.No one needed to know.
Looking in her bag she realized her new yellow shimmer paint was the one that broke when she’d dropped the bag and she was bummed, but not enough to risk running into Levi again.So she decided she’d just replace it another time and she’d grab a coffee before she went back to the art studio at Hart House.She tied off the top of the bag wondering if maybe she could still use some of it, then hustled down to May’s coffee shop.A matcha iced latte was calling her name.
CHAPTER SIX
Levi
Face the Music
If being backin Sandy Point started out feeling like a chore, watching his older brother Wesley run a few police rookies through a PT test behind the small sheriff’s station made it totally worth the trip.
Wesley’s back was to him, but he could tell by the way his shoulders were hitched up and his arms flexed that his older brother was pissed.
“Wow, you run a real tight ship, Sheriff Hart,” Levi called out to his brother.
Wesley’s head turned to the side, and Levi could see his scowl deepen, but his brother’s eyes were hidden behind his mirrored sunglasses.
“VeryTop Gunlook you’re rocking,” Levi said, unable to resist.
Wesley stood at six foot four, wide shoulders, white T-shirt with the sheriff’s emblem on the back, and blue police-issued pants.A gun belt and gleaming sheriff’s badge sat next to his weapon on his hip.
“They were pilots,” Wesley said with a gruff sneer and he crossed his arms over his chest.“Do it again,” he yelled to the three young officers, clearly struggling to carry a dummy across a parking lot.
“Would you rather I make reference toCHIPs?”
Wesley just grunted.“So the prodigal son returns.”
“Wait, wait, wait, Dalton is gone fifteen years, and now he’s the good son and I’m the prodigal one?”
“You are this year.”His eyes remained on the recruits.
“I guess it’s your turn next.”
“Not a bad idea.Too bad we never have enough staff in the sheriff’s department for me to ever leave.”
“Ya, no one could ever replace you.”
Wesley finally turned his full attention on Levi, lowering his sunglasses so Levi could stare into his dark—almost black—eyes.
“Let’s hear it—what’s so terrible in your VIP, National-Championship-having life, that has you home during what should be your first week of spring training?”Wesley said, pinning Levi with his assessment.
Levi just posted up next to Wesley on the hood of a cruiser and ignored the question.
“How heavy is that dummy?”Levi asked as he watched the two smaller recruits unable to drag the dummy across the finish line.
“Only a hundred pounds—they’re pitiful,” Wesley said, shaking his head.
“That’s all they have to drag is a hundred-pound dummy?What if they have to save you from a shootout or a fire?”
Wesley scoffed.“Exactly, or just about any adult in this town.”
