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Ask her. And not in “the most lame-ass way possible.”
Chapter Seventeen
By the time Dana got back over to Levi’s it was well past dinnertime. She’d wound up calling him and telling him to eat without her and she’d grab something fast. She was also tired, cranky, and she had to admit, depressed.
Yes, she’d told Levi it was okay that he wasn’t ready to live together. And she’d meant it. Yet understanding his reasons didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt. She believed Levi loved her. He showed her and told her in many different ways. Since the fall festival he’d told her he loved her many times. When they made love it felt like love, not just lust. Oh, lust was definitely present, but so was love.
But the bottom line was, Levi didn’t trust her. He didn’t trust the two of them. And she couldn’t blame him. She had really screwed up all those years ago when she’d accepted the job in Miami without even talking to him about it. Subconsciously or not, Levi still held it against her. He would deny it if she told him that. But it was still a fact.
As Dana saw it, she could either break it off now, which she was not willing to do, or she could accept reality and hope that someday he’d feel differently. Since she still loved him, more and more every day, she didn’t see much of a choice.
Levi had given her a bay of her own in the large—huge—attached garage. She parked and came in through the kitchen. Though it was only a little after nine p.m., the house was silent as a tomb. Someone had left a light burning. And in the muted light she saw a trail of rose petals. Red rose petals. Smiling, she followed the petals out the door. Pausing at the door she said, “Minerva, turn out the light.”
“Yes, Dana. Levi asks that you follow the rose petals,” she said in her sultry voice.
“Thanks, Minerva.” Minerva’s sexy voice cracked her up. But she still didn’t believe, as Levi had said, that it was her voice. Or God forbid, her voice right before sex.
Since she didn’t see a sign of Asher, she assumed he and his dogs had turned in for the night. Dana followed the flower petals from the kitchen, through the hallway to the front foyer and from there up the stairs and on to Levi’s bedroom. Levi lounged in the open bedroom door, barefoot, wearing a pair of jeans and one of his nicer T-shirts. And holding a glass of red wine, which he handed to her before kissing her.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi. Thanks,” she said, taking a sip of wine. “What’s all this? The wine is fabulous, by the way.”
He stepped back to let her into the room, closing the door behind her. There were candles everywhere, fragrant and romantic. Soft music filled the air and an open bottle of wine sat on the dresser. A tray of chocolates of several varieties sat beside it. More rose petals led to the bed and lay sprinkled over the navy coverlet.
“What does it look like?”
“A seduction,” she said frankly.
“No. Well, not initially,” he amended.
“Not initially? What does that mean?”
“Come sit down and I’ll tell you.” He motioned to the window where his recliner sat. A brand-new matching recliner sat across from it with the table in between.
“When did you get another chair?”
“Today.”
“That was quick. Why did you get another chair?”
“I wanted you to have one.”
“Oh-kay,” she said, a bit mystified.
Levi made sure she had wine and chocolates and then sat in his own chair and pulled out a book.
“You’re going to read?”
“I’m going to read to you.” He opened the book and said, “‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’ by Christopher Marlowe.”
Poetry? He was reading poetry to her? Dana started to speak but Levi gave her a threatening look so she subsided.
He began:
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
