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Chapter Six
Two days later, on Monday morning, Dana went looking for Levi, assuming she’d find him in his workshop. The workmen were finishing up the demolition phase of Asher’s bedroom and bathroom. Part of the crew had begun work on the outside ramps first thing and now those were nearing completion. She had a question about Asher’s bathroom that she needed to know the answer to before the crew started the next step, or soon after, at any rate. Levi wasn’t in his workshop, she discovered as she walked out into the backyard. He was swimming. Damn it.
Of course he was. It might be late September but in this part of Texas it was still plenty hot. It was still morning and already in the eighties today.
She walked out to the pool, watching Levi slicing through the water with smooth, unhurried strokes. He had a really nice form, in more ways than one. Her vantage point from the patio beside the pool gave her a bird’s-eye view of his back and arms. She’d always been a sucker for smooth muscles, more like those of a swimmer than a weight lifter. A man with muscles like…Levi’s. Oh, shit. Quit looking at him!
He stopped swimming when he reached the side and pulled himself out of the water, not bothering with something as mundane as the ladder. Stood with the water sluicing off his body and grabbed a towel before he realized she was there. Oh, God, that body. He was beautiful. Always had been. Her gaze traveled over him hungrily before she could stop herself. Same broad, muscled chest narrowing down to his waist and hips. Excellent. Same flat stomach. Definitely. Same washboard abs just asking to be stroked. Check. Make that double check.
Dana jerked up her gaze and met his eyes. He was laughing. Not with his mouth, but his sky-blue eyes sparkled with mirth, enjoying every bit of her discomfort, she imagined.
“See something you like?”
“Not at all,” she said, with a toss of her head. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but have you put on some weight in the last several months? I don’t remember you having a—” she put a finger to her lips as if contemplating how to express herself “—well, a beer belly is the only word for it.”
Levi looked down, then back up at her. “I don’t have a beer belly.” The humor had fled from his eyes.
“Oh, it’s not bad. Just a tiny bit of one.” She paused and added deliberately, “You know that happens when you get older.”
Levi narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re a riot, you know that?”
“Does the truth hurt?” she asked sweetly.
“Come over here.”
“Why? So you can throw me in the pool?”
“The thought did cross my mind.”
“Then no, thanks.” She laughed. “You know you don’t really have a beer belly. I was just jerking your chain.”
She didn’t think he’d heard her. He was looking at her with a definite gleam in his eyes.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Dana said.
“How am I looking at you?” Levi asked, a shade too innocently.
“You know very well. Like you want to rip off my clothes and throw me on the bed. Or any other handy surface.”
His smile was slow and wicked. “How do you know that’s what I’m thinking?”
Oh, hell. She was so tired of resisting him. Would it really be so bad to hit the sheets with him again? It probably wouldn’t even be that good.
Right. Because the last time wasn’t insanely good, was it? So incredible you remember every detail more than eight months later.
Shut up.
“Because I’ve thought about it too,” she admitted reluctantly.
Levi finished drying off and tossed his towel aside. “And what did you decide?” he asked, walking toward her.
“I decided it’s too risky to start something, again, something that we know won’t work.”
“Is that why you were with Nathan Saturday night?” He reached her side and put a hand on her bare arm.
She decided to be honest. “I wasn’t with him. I ran into him there and we played some pool and he bought me a drink when I won.”
“So you were just hustling him.” He rubbed his thumb on the soft underside of her arm.
