Page 55 of Hopeless Romantic
“That sounds more like your other head talking.” She glanced down, then back up at him through her lashes. “What else do you remember?”
“I was watching over a bonfire, making s’mores for a group of kids, when I spotted you walking a herd of dogs. One of them broke free, his tiny legs moving like lightning, and he snatched the marshmallow right off my roasting stick. The thing was still smoldering from the fire.”
“That was Diesel. He smelled the melting sugar and couldn’t help himself.”
“So you remember, too.” He placed way too much hope in the way her cheeks flushed. “That night, he was my wingman. I’d been dying for an excuse to talk to you away from the bar. And there was my chance, only I’d barely said hey when a beefy guy with oak trees for arms appeared out of nowhere.”
“That was Pete,” she said, and now he had a name to go with the meathead. “It was our first date.”
“Hell, he was acting like he was about to put his ring on your finger.” He shook his head. “Had I known it was a first date, I would have made a move.”
He didn’t think she was aware, but she leaned forward and placed her hand on his forearm. “What would you have done?”
“Honestly, back then I probably would have said something stupid, and you’d never have given me the time of day again.”
“And now?” she breathed.
“Now, I’d take my time. Ask the right kinds of questions and really get to know you, because why rush a good thing?” he said, looking into her eyes. “And I’d tell you how rattled I am around you and all the things I don’t know about you and find myself wanting to learn.”
“What do you want to know?” she asked, tucking her hands inside his coat sleeves.I can’t tell if he’s being serious or not, and that makes me nervous, her tone said.
Levi was more serious about getting to her than he’d been about a woman since Vikki. But that was where the similarities ended. Vikki was refined, accomplished, and summered on her family’s yacht at every luxury resort from Maine to Miami.
Beckett was too genuine to be polished, her accomplishments too selfless to be counted, and she knew more about human kindness than the most revered philanthropists. He’d spent time with his share of pretty women, but Beckett had the kind of beauty that lingered long after she’d left the room.
“Are you any good at bowling?” he asked.
She laughed. “You can ask me anything you want, and you want to know if I can bowl?”
“For now.” He had a hundred other questions, but a parking lot wasn’t the right place to ask them.
“You scared of losing to a girl?” she challenged, her eyes lit with excitement over the idea of making him eat dirt.
“Not scared. Just curious.”
She gave a noncommittal shrug. “It’s not really my strong suit, but I do okay. Good enough to beat you.”
“Do I sense a bet coming on?” he asked. “We talking teams or individual scores?”
She didn’t look intimidated in the slightest. “This is between you and me, sailor.”
He liked the way she called him sailor, in that smart tone she adopted whenever she issued a challenge. He’d like it even better if she were screaming it from the bed of his cabin.
“Winner gets to name their spoils,” he said, and when she didn’t answer, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. “It’ll give me the chance to see what Girl Wonder wears under her cape.”
“I didn’t bring my cape. And I’m still going to kick your ass.”
* * *
“I hear you’ve been putting a little unwelcome pressure on the whole overnight experience,” Emmitt said, handing beers to Levi and Gray, who were sitting at lane six, lacing up their bowling shoes.
Levi frowned. “When did she say that?”
Gray and Emmitt exchanged confused looks, then started laughing.
“I was talking about Paisley and the ski trip,” Emmitt said. “But I’d rather talk about who you thought I meant.”
Levi spotted Beckett by the counter, testing out bowling balls with Annie. She’d handed back his coat the second they stepped inside—which was a damn shame, because she looked good in his clothes—but she hadn’t removed her leather jacket. Which left his mind to fill in all the possibilities of what could be beneath those million-and-one zippers.
