Page 41 of Never Die for a Sinner
A brush of awareness slides through me the moment Levi steps up to the kitchen island beside me, his presence like static in the air—undeniable and far too close. My pulse stutters, betraying me, like my body hasn’t quite forgotten what it felt like to have his hands tangled in my hair, his mouth hot and hungry against mine last night.
I keep my eyes on Bella, but I can feel him—every inch of him. The way he leans casually against the counter, just barely brushing my arm. The faint scent of his cologne mixed with the essence of hot man.
Heat flares in my chest and races straight down to my core. I shift in my chair, crossing one leg over the other, trying to ignore the way my skin prickles with warmth. The silence stretches,thick and loaded, and I swear I can still taste him on my lips, while he acts as if nothing ever happened.
Like I imagined it.
Like he doesn’t remember every second the way I do.
I chance a glance up, quick and quiet—and he’s already looking at me. Our eyes lock. The air pulls tight between us. His smirk is slight, barely there, but it slices through me like a blade. Then he turns his attention casually back to Bella, like he didn’t just set fire to my entire nervous system.
“Well, I have to go,” Bella announces, breaking through the haze and snapping me back to reality. “I’ve got a meeting with a travel agency in half an hour, and I want to show up before them to make them look bad.”
I snort a laugh before I can stop myself, shaking my head at her unapologetic villainy. She grabs her water bottle with a grin and struts from the room like she’s walking a runway.
“Please,” Mila’s voice draws my attention back to the conversation. She looks up at Christian, her brows raised in mock exasperation.
Christian tries—and fails—not to smile. His lips twitch like he’s holding back something warm and fond. I catch the subtle look between them and smirk to myself. The man is absolutely whipped, and it’s kind of adorable.
“Fine,” he relents with a sigh, looking to Levi. “We’ll be right back.”
“Sure you will,” Levi mutters with a chuckle as the couple disappears, leaving just the two of us in the room.
Well . . . this is awkward.
He shrugs, leaning back against the counter beside me like he owns the air between us. He crosses his arms, and my traitorouseyes dip to the way the muscles in his forearms flex beneath his skin. My mouth goes dry.
“Couldn’t leave it sitting there,” he says simply. “You really need to consider getting a new car.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “As soon as you show me where the money tree is around here, I’ll get right on that.”
His smile tugs at one corner of his mouth, the kind that’s quiet but dangerously charming. And somehow, it makes my heart pound even harder.
Unsure what to say or do, the first thing that comes to mind comes tumbling out of my mouth like a runaway train.
“Why is your aunt so obsessed with grapefruit?” I ask, swallowing thickly past the lump forming in my throat.
Levi shrugs, a slow, devious smirk curving across his lips like he knows exactly what game we’re playing—and how to win it.
“What’s the matter? Don’t like it?” he asks evenly, reaching forward and grabbing one from the bowl in front of me. He peels it with deliberate slowness, his strong hands working over the fruit like he’s trying to torture me with citrus.
“It’s disgusting,” I blurt, shifting in my seat as my body scrambles to recalibrate around his nearness. Why does he have to be so close? So casually, dangerously close?
“It’s good for you,” he counters with a maddening shrug, like he’s being reasonable.
I roll my eyes, resisting the urge to groan. This family is so freaking weird.
“You eat it then.”
He only smirks harder.
Challenge accepted.
He cocks his head slightly, eyes glittering with mischief, and slides the plate of grapes Bella left across the counter. Withmaddening calm, he sets the grapefruit down and scoops a generous amount of sugar from the sugar bowl nearby. Then, without breaking eye contact, he dips a piece of fruit into the sugar and makes a show of taking a piece and dipping it in, before he tosses it in his mouth.
“Isn’t that cheating?”
He cocks a brow
