Page 15 of Tempting Levi
“A walk, eh?” Adam grinned just as lewdly as Hunt had earlier. Damn his brothers. Even Hayden was looking at them with a knowing smile.
“Good for you, Levi,” Hayden said as Adam grabbed her hand and dragged her off toward the party. “You two enjoy yourselves.”
Levi dropped his arm from around Emily’s waist as soon as they were out of sight. This was ridiculous. He didn’t have time to babysit. He couldn’t get rid of his lusty youngest brother from the party—Hunt was co-owner of Club Tahoe and had known Esther nearly as long as Levi. But Emily didn’t need to be there. And Levi didn’t need a good reason to send her home. He was the CEO. He could do whatever he wanted. Except touch. He couldn’t touch. Which supported his next decision. “You should go.”
Her face fell. “Is something wrong?”
“You’ve had too much to drink. I’ll call you a cab.”
Emily’s lips parted and her cheeks turned bright red. “I—I, yes. Of course.”
“Here.” He handed over the workbag and pulled out his phone. “Any taxi service you prefer?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I mean, don’t bother. I’ll take care of it. Goodbye, Mr. Cade,” she said, and scurried off toward the entrance, her head tilted down.
Levi watched her go and wanted to kick himself. He’d been a jerk. He didn’t possess the smooth words that spilled out of Hunt’s unrepentant mouth. Even when Levi was trying to protect a woman, he screwed things up.
He rubbed the top of his head and let out a harsh sigh. “Fuck this.” He walked out of the lobby and past the pool toward the one place that wiped all this bullshit away.
Making his way down to the dock, he slowly took off his shoes, socks, and belt. His jacket and shirt went next, landing in a heap on a wooden bench. As he neared the end, he twisted around and allowed the weight of his body to pull him back and into the water.
Pins and needles peppered his skin, his face sinking under the sixty-degree water. He splashed up and whipped his head back.
Clearing the droplets from his face, he stared out where dark sky met dark lake. This was the place that brought Levi his best memories. Back to his childhood when his mother had been around and the world was safe and balanced. They used to visit the dock during the day and play for hours. It had been peace, and the loss of her had brought uncertainty and chaos to him and his brothers ever since.
Levi tried to right things. To bring some semblance of security to his brothers’ lives. By controlling their environment. By becoming a parent figure and planning for a future in which nothing could go wrong. Lisa had been a part of that safe plan. Beautiful, sweet. But Levi had been wrong about Lisa, and he’d floundered ever since, trying to make things right again.
The dock and water reminded him of what security and happiness felt like, and allowed him to decompress. He had other favorite places, but none he’d been able to spend quality time at since he started working for Club Tahoe. The lake would have to do for the time being.
He wouldn’t allow Club Tahoe to fail. It was his family’s last bit of security in the world.
* * *
Oh my God.“You’ve had too much to drink”? How dare he! Emily knew her limits. And okay, she’d had a little too much champagne, enough that she knew she shouldn’t be driving, but she wasn’t drunk!
She pulled out her phone. “Siri, call Uber.”
Emily paced the front of the Club Tahoe entrance. And paced some more, her anger rising. Why had she allowed Levi to treat her like a child?
She glanced back, expecting to catch him watching over her like she needed her shoes tied, but it wasn’t Levi who hovered nearby.
“Leaving so soon?” Hunter walked forward until he was standing at her side.
Hunter Cade was the bad boy of the Cade brothers, and he played up his role whenever possible. But Emily wondered how much of that was genuine, and how much of it was to get attention amongst a group of arrogant alpha males.
“I’ve had a long day.” Understatement. She’d busted her ass to make Esther’s party special, all the while attempting to pull off a miracle and get an entire agenda for the Korean group planned by next week.
Hunter frowned. “Where’s Levi?”
“I don’t know.”
His mouth twisted angrily. “Did he send you home?”
Levi had crossed the line tonight, telling her what to do. It probably didn’t help that she’d had a touch too much to drink and that she wasn’t used to walking in spiked heels.Never should have listened to Lisa.But although Levi was bossy, hewasher boss. And she understood he’d been trying to be a gentleman with the taxi thing. “He’s under a lot of pressure.”
Hunter shook his head sharply and glanced away. “Don’t let my brother tell you what to do. He thinks he’s in control of all of us. Stay as long as you like. You’re welcome here.”
She gave him a quick smile. “It’s fine. I really should go home and get some sleep. Big week coming up.”
