Pulling my head from the clouds, I return the photo to the table. When I pick up the silver frame, my blood runs cold. Lindsey’s toothy grin and twinkling eyes bestow a loving look, not at me, but at the man beside her in the photo.
It must be Rob. A large diamond ring resides on the hand she’s draped around his shoulder. She beams at him, but he’s looking at the camera—at me. His perfectly shorn black hair and cool-blue eyes warn me that she’s his, not mine.
I set the photo down. The image of his smug face hovers above me, like a heavy weight pinning me to her bed. Why is his photo beside her bed? Damn it to hell. Didn’t she end things with him yet? Jealousy lashes through me, causing my muscles to burn, then go rigid.
Calm down, Levi. Closing my eyes, I draw long, deep breaths. She didn’t attempt to hide it from me, so maybe it’s not important. Maybe she forgot it’s even here. A few minutes later, the suffocating haze lifts. Whatever is or isn’t in her heart, I can’t know unless I ask.
But I won’t ask.
She’ll tell me when she’s ready. Until then, I’ll wage a campaign to make her mine. I’ll make her forget he ever existed.
Heavy footsteps climbing the stairwell startle me. I pop open one eye when she enters the room. On a mission to make love to her, to erase him from her memory and my own, I sit up.
“Come here,” I say gruffly.
“I’m all sweaty,” she protests.
Lunging forward, I catch her hand and pull her into bed. “I like you sweaty.”
I capture her mouth with my own and restrain her arms above her head. She parts her lips and immediately surrenders with a purr in her throat. Despite my impulse to take her quickly, I reel in my desire and commit to long, lazy kisses and caresses. I’ll torment her and tease her until she can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t do anything but beg to be mine. I didn’t count on my plan to drive her wild to also send me over the edge.
“Levi. Please.” Her breathless command is what I’ve been waiting to hear. “Don’t stop.”
I need to know it’s me, not him, she wants. I can only know it if I see her eyes.
“Look at me.”
When our eyes lock, I enter her and swallow her in a kiss.
“Jesus, Lindsey. What you do to me . . .” I’ve lost control. Consumed with passion, my thrusts rapidly become uneven, convulsive.
“Levi, I lo . . .” she trails off.
Tell me. Tell me you love me. But she doesn’t finish, so I’m unsure of what she’d intended to say.
I lie on top of her, spent and motionless, while her legs stay clamped around my hips and her hands gently sweep up and down my back and along the scar on my spine. If not for that accident, I wouldn’t be here with her now. Funny how something awful can turn around and become wonderful. Could Lindsey be right about destiny?
I drag her with me as I roll on my side and kiss her again. She smiles while touching my face. Real happiness eluded me for most of my life until recently. I wish I could enjoy it without apprehension.
Abruptly, Lindsey props herself up on her elbow. “I need to shower.”
I draw one side of my mouth upward. “Me too.”
“Levi, if we keep up at this pace I won’t be able to walk, much less run.”
“Hm. Well, I can think of a lot of entertaining things we can do that won’t impede your ability to walk.”
“Is that right?” she teases.
I quickly follow her into the shower. “Yep, let me show you.”
I leave Lindsey in the shower and go downstairs to prepare breakfast. While I’m rooting through her refrigerator and cabinets, someone rings the doorbell. Who’s here so early in the morning?
“Lindsey, someone’s at your door,” I call up to her.
“Can you get it? I’m not finished dressing.”
The doorbell rings again just before I unlock and open the door. The ground beneath me shifts when I come face-to-face with the man in the photo by Lindsey’s bed. He stands on her doorstep, with red roses in hand, staring at me with cool-blue eyes.
Rob steps back to match the address on the door with the one on the piece of paper in his hand.
Did she invite him? My defensive instincts take over and I hide my change of thoughts.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m sorry. Perhaps I have the wrong address.” Rob’s face colors, but he remains calm. “I’m looking for Lindsey Hilliard.”
His clipped New England accent serves as a reminder that I’m not from their world. I want him to leave, and selfishly, I don’t care what I have to do to make that happen.
“She’s here. Just getting out of the shower.” I smile, pretending I have no idea who he is. “May I tell her who’s callin’?”