Page 61 of Hopeless Romantic
“Fine, but I reserve the right to go back to the moussaka after dessert.”
“Deal.” Keeping one container out, he set the bag behind him. “It’s kind of messy, so open up.”
She considered calling bullshit, but the sweet vanilla teasing her nose had her opening wide. The moment her lips closed around the fork, she melted into a delicious, heavenly sugar coma. “That is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
“So far,” he said in a tone that had her swallowing her bite whole.
He set the dessert aside and pulled out a small stack of cards. “Before we finish, I wanted to give you this.”
She glanced at the four-by-five card and lifted a brow. “It’s a scorecard. You do know that I won.”
“Honey, the whole East Coast knows you won.” He clicked on the flashlight. “Turn it over.”
She did, and on the back was a handwritten list of terms, between her company and his. When she got to the end, she reread the whole thing over again, but it was hard to make out the words with the grateful tears swelling in her eyes. As the content began to make sense, she looked up at Levi, and his expression made her heart turn to mush.
“You want to hire me?” she whispered.
“I know it’s not official,” he said. “But it’s a starting point. There are two things in there. First, I want to put you on retainer to help me handle my staffing needs.”
“There’s more?” she asked.
He chuckled. “There’s another card.” She pulled the cards apart to find another offer. “I want to do a six-month contract between Consider It Done and the Crow’s Nest. I thought about what you said, and you’re right, with the proper planning and partner, I can expand my client base with delivery. After the six months are up, if both parties agree it’s beneficial, then we can talk about a long-term agreement.”
Beckett stared at the contract and didn’t know how to respond. She’d been hoping for a sixty-day trial run but had prepared herself to settle for thirty days. “This says that if both parties find the relationship beneficial, then Consider It Done will be the exclusive delivery service for the Crow’s Nest.”
“One delivery service is all I can handle,” he joked. “Plus, Gus doesn’t play well with others, but for some reason, he likes you. Why jinx it by adding an unknown?”
“This is more than generous.” She met his gaze. “But why? I know I said it was my Must Have, but I would have agreed to your micromanaging as long as Annie got her wedding.”
He leaned in. “And I would have agreed to host the wedding even if you didn’t let me . . . oversee.”
She was speechless, because the walls were down, her armor on the floor, and she was as vulnerable as she’d been the day she’d let Pete in. “Why are you doing this?”
He looked confused. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“You barely know me.”
“I know everything I need to. You’re a hard worker, you’re honest, and you made so many spot-on calls about my business, I’d be an idiot not to hire you.” When she started to speak, he held up a hand. “Before you give me an answer, I want you to go home and think about what terms you want added to the contract. Make sure you add in your policy for cancellations, overtime fees, and being-an-asshole tax. You can use it as a boilerplate for your other clients.”
“What happens if I don’t meet your expectations?”
His expression turned soft. “I have no doubt you’ll meet my expectations.”
Beckett wished she felt as certain about the arrangement. The quickest way to complicate a professional relationship was to make it personal. The harder she tried to ignore the chemistry between them, the more aware of him she became. They hadn’t even been on an official date yet, and already the lines were becoming blurred.
“Oh,” he said when she failed to express the same enthusiasm. His expression was serious. “Unless you have concerns about working with me?”
“No. I mean, maybe.” She shook her head. “I hadn’t thought I did, but now I’m not so sure.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad we got that cleared up.”
“Being around you, the way we were tonight, confuses things for me,” she admitted quietly, thinking back to the sweet way he’d catered to her every need, checking in several times to be sure she hadn’t had a call from home, sending her secret glances when no one else was looking.
And he wasn’t the only one succumbing to the attraction between them. Beckett was just as guilty—if not more. Indulging in secret glances, breathy laughs, and using any excuse to touch him. And that was before she’d revealed her sexy red top.
“How can I help clarify things?”
“That’s the problem. Once you do, pretending to be friends will be hard.”
