Page 16 of Hopeless Romantic
With a wink that had her squirming in her go-go boots, he strolled into the market, leaving her by the line of shopping carts, completely flustered. To say he’d slid past her walls was like saying an F-5 tornado was a tad windy.
What surprised her the most was that he hadn’t played her with his trademark charm and flirt. He hadn’t been playing at all. And that was a problem.
Charming, flirty, behind-the-bar Levi she could handle. It was In Real Life Levi who brought a whole new level of complication to an already complicated situation.
Behind her, someone was counting down. Beckett turned to find Thomas staring at his watch, and she didn’t fight her smile this time. Not one bit. She embraced the pure and innocent moment. With Thomas, there were no games, no lines to read between, just an honest and open-minded take on life.
Resting a hand over the face of the watch, she said, “He meant it as an idiom. Even Girl Wonder couldn’t make it in a minute.”
“Okay.” Thomas dropped his hand.
“Why did you say he could call you Tommy?”
“He wears soft shirts with no buttons and flip-flops. I like him. Can I have a pair of black flip-flops?”
“Winter’s still hanging on. Your toes would freeze.”
“I can wear socks.”
She stopped to look at her brother. “You don’t like things that go between your toes.”
Tommy shrugged. “I can start.”
She could start to like a lot of things, too, if she wasn’t careful.
* * *
Levi was in a hundred different kinds of trouble. Who knew seven little letters could make a grown man sweat as if he were standing atop an active volcano, ready to tee off? He hadn’t been this uncomfortable since finding lacy panties, which belonged to his too-young-to-own-a-thong niece, in the laundry.
His first instinct had been to call Michelle, who would’ve taken pleasure in Levi’s current situation. It wasn’t until he’d scrolled to her name that he remembered his sister was gone. He considered calling her anyway, just to hear her voice on the voice mail, which Gray still paid to keep active. Only Levi didn’t dare risk bumping into someone he knew while bawling his eyes out and clutching a box of tampons. So he called Annie.
“It’s really a personal choice.” Unlike Michelle, who would have been laughing her ass off, Annie was calm and comforting. Living with Emmitt had clearly given her loads of experience when dealing with clueless and incompetent men.
“That doesn’t help me,” he explained, picking up a box. “And what the hell is a pearl applicator? Is that referring to the color?”
“Google ‘pearl applicator.’ I’m sure there are a dozen videos that can explain it better than I could. Although some of the results may cause you to go blind. Or you can just call Paisley.”
“They, uh, aren’t for Paisley,” he admitted miserably.
“Who are they for?” Annie’s curiosity was clearly piqued.
He considered his next step carefully. “You have to promise not to tell Emmitt. You know how he and Gray gossip like little girls.”
She snorted. “Emmitt can sense a cover-up from the other side of the world.”
He closed his eyes. “It’s for Beckett.”
“My Beckett?” Her shock was clear. Which was fair, since he was pretty shocked, too. Not only by Beck’s willingness to accept his help, but by how incredible she’d been with her brother.
Maybe he’d been a little hasty in judging her a total flake.
“It’s nice to know she has a keeper,” he joked. “And yeah, I ran into her and her brother at the market. They seemed to be having a difference of opinion over just how badly they needed groceries. Tommy was partial to Amazon Prime, and Beckett looked ready for a nap.”
Annie found this amusing. “And you, being you, offered to help a pretty lady out.”
“I guess I took a note from your man’s playbook,” he said, chuckling. “Only I must be more out of practice than I thought, because I asked for her grocery list instead of her number.”
“I told Emmitt there was something between you two at the engagement party!” she squealed. “You both disappeared right around midnight.”
