Page 6 of Tempting Levi
“That sucks.”
“I’m sorry?”
He glanced over. “Not you. It’s just that this place won’t be the same without Esther.”
If Levi could be stoic and hard-edged, Wes was straight up brusque. “I’ll have large shoes to fill. Speaking of which, I actually came here to talk to you about the guests arriving next week. I thought we could plan some activities and make sure the course and club are prepared.”
He looked over, and this time his stare held. “What do you think we should do? I could close off the course one morning for a couple of hours so they have it to themselves.”
“That would be great.” She typed notes onto her tablet and looked around. “I’ll grab a few items to add to the gift baskets we’re providing for their rooms and find out the number of people who might be interested in a round of golf. Do you have extra clubs? Rentals, maybe?”
“If they’re diehard players, they might bring their own, but yeah, we’ve got plenty of high-end rentals just in case. Finding out the number of players who’ll need them would be a big help, though.”
Emily made another notation. She looked out at the course. It seemed nice. Green. What other criteria were important? She’d played golf, but she wasn’t an expert. “The grounds need to be gorgeous. Are they in good condition?”
He shot her a look of disbelief. “First of all, we have some of the finest greens on the West Coast. Second, if they weren’t perfect, one week wouldn’t be enough time to change that.”
She gave a humble smile. “Good point. I guess I’m not much of a golfer. But you were, right? Are you still competing?”
Wes’s eyes darkened and he snapped his fingers at another clerk in a red Club Tahoe shirt. “The yuppie over there has been standing for thirty seconds looking around,” he said to the younger guy. “Go help him.”
The clerk scurried away, clearly intimidated by Wes’s attitude.
Wes shoved another bag full of new clubs on the rack. “My game is shit. It’s good enough to be the pro at this place, but not for the tour. That won’t last forever, though. As soon as we have this place running like a machine, I’m going for the tour again, no matter what Levi says.”
So that was a sore subject.Great job, Emily.“Um, okay, well, I hope it works out.”
“It will.” He stopped what he was doing, sighed, and turned to her. “I’m glad you’re here, Emily. We need all the help we can get. Let me know if you have any more ideas for next week. Email me.”
“Of course. It’s good to see you again, Wes.”
He scratched his smooth jaw. “Have we met before?”
Emily nearly laughed. “Yes, we’ve met, but it’s been a long time. I look different. My hair is…bigger.”
Her hairwasbigger. She didn’t wear it as long as she used to, and that made it poufier. But long hair was a pain. She accepted the lesser of the two evils and wore it a few inches past her shoulders.
He stared blankly, then shrugged. “Okay, well, let me know if you need anything else.”
A short while later, Emily returned to her desk inside the executive offices. Wes was handsome, but she felt no spark of attraction to him. When he didn’t remember her, it hadn’t stung the way it did when Levi had forgotten she existed.
This wasn’t a romantic comedy where the handsome hero secretly pined for the buttoned-up nerd. She might have come a long way emerging from her shell, but around Levi she was the same awkward girl she used to be. Only now she wore heels instead of sneakers and pencil skirts instead of jeans.
Deep down, nothing had changed.
She was still attracted to Levi Cade.
And she still didn’t have a chance with him.
Chapter 4
You’re really workingwith Levi?”
Emily plopped onto her sister’s contemporary white velvet couch in the condo she shared with her boyfriend Jared. “Yes.”
Lisa set her glass of Merlot on the island, staring at Emily from across the room. She crossed her skinny-jean-clad legs, the heels of her spiky sandals poking out. Her forehead scrunched. “How is he?”
“I don’t actually know. I mean, his father died a few months ago, so…”
