Perfect Kiss (5 page)

Normally, it was amusing. Today? Not so much.

“Nah, I don’t think you do.” Jake shook his head as he leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Me thinketh the lady protesteth a
little
too much and
a lot
too fast.”

“Jake, we’re starting the games!” Nikki yelled from the small dance floor across the room.

“Duty calls.” Jake grabbed the beers and delivered them to his fellow firefighters before joining his wife and his sister.

The one thing Levi was still getting used to about living in a small town was that everyone, no matter what their gender, was in his business. It seemed to him that the smaller the population, the quicker men turned into gossiping schoolgirls. That was part of the reason that, since Levi moved to town, he hadn’t hooked up with locals. He hadn’t even been tempted. Not with the fresh supply of tourists that were always rotating in and out of town. It didn’t matter what the season was, the quaint mountain town of Hope Falls had something to offer, and Levi had used that fact to his greatest advantage.

Did he flirt with townies? Of course. Had any of them ever been in his bed? Hell no. It was a hard-and-fast rule for him. And that little interaction with Jake was exactly
why
he didn’t sleep with townies. If he ever messed around with someone who lived there, it wouldn’t stay between Levi and girl X. Everyone would have an opinion, put their two cents in, and he was sure he’d get more unsolicited advice than there were bunnies at the Playboy Mansion.

“Hey,” the sweet and sexy voice of the only girl he’d ever be tempted to break his any and every rule sounded beside him.

Levi looked up and was immediately disappointed when he realized her greeting was not directed at him. Rather, she was on her cell phone.

“I was going to call you. I just got here. I swear.” Shelby was speaking loudly to be heard by whoever was on the other end of the call over the chatter of the crowd at the shower.

Walking quickly, she headed towards the hallway. Levi assumed she wanted to get some privacy. As she passed, the sweet scent of fresh flowers drifted through the air.
Damn
. Until the day he died, he would never forget that smell. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel the silky softness of Shelby’s hair brushing against his neck and the side of his face. They had spent hours on the dance floor at the wedding.

He’d always been a firm believer that dancing was some of the best foreplay. Well, foreplay that was acceptable in public, anyway.

Levi had learned to dance in the seventh grade when he’d discovered that, if he did, he could feel girls up and grab their butts at dances—and the teachers didn’t say anything about it! At the time, he’d pretty much felt like he’d found the greatest loophole in history. If any of those teachers had caught him behind the bleachers or in the hallway doing what he was doing out on the dance floor, he would have gotten suspended. But throw some music on, dim the lights, and it had pretty much been a dirty dancing free-for-all at Monte Vista Middle School.

With all of his dance partners, though, he’d never been so affected by a smell before. Shelby hadn’t just smelled good or pretty that night. She’d smelled like…happiness. Freedom. Ecstasy. Levi knew that it didn’t make any sense, but he hadn’t been able to get enough of it that night. As her sexy curves had swayed against his body, he’d buried his face in the side of her neck so he could be surrounded by it. And all of these months later, he still missed it.

It was embarrassing to admit, but the shirt he’d worn to Amy and Matt’s wedding was hung up, untouched, in his closet. He hadn’t worn or washed the button-up because Shelby’s scent had not faded from it. Every once in a while, he’d take it out, lift it to his face, and inhale deeply, letting the aroma fill his senses. Yeah, he was fully aware of how creepy that was. Every time he’d done it, he’d felt like a serious stalker. Every time he’d done it, he’d promised himself that it would be the last time. That he would toss it in the washer and be done with it.

He hadn’t.

“He did what?!” Shelby raised her voice. She sounded distressed.

A quick once over of the room told Levi that no one else had seemed to hear her, probably because she was secluded in the hallway.

On instinct, he moved from behind the bar to go check on her. Just as he rounded the corner, he heard her voice quiver as she said into the phone, “Nah, don’t worry about it. It’s all good. Look, I gotta go. Love you.”

Stopping up short, just behind her, he was just about to ask if everything was okay when she pressed the end button and disconnected the call. Then he froze when he saw the screen saver on her phone. It was of him. Of them, actually. At the wedding. It was a picture he’d never seen. They were on the dance floor and Shelby was looking up at him like he was the only man on the planet.

Holy shit!
She had a picture of
them
as her screen saver. He suddenly didn’t feel so bad about not washing his shirt.

*

Shelby’s hand trembled as she stood, motionless, staring at her cell phone screen. Her sister had just told her that Kevin had dropped a box off for her yesterday, and Sara opened it today after she’d noticed a funny smell coming from it. When she did, she saw that all of Shelby’s clothes were not only shredded in pieces, but they’d also been doused in what her sister guessed was milk, which explained the smell.

Sara’s husband, Jack, had wanted to call the police. Shelby was relieved that her sister had talked him out of it. Not only was Kevin a cop, but his dad was also a judge in their county. The one and only time Shelby had made the mistake of calling the police after an incident it had turned out to be a joke. If she thought for a second that her sister or niece and nephew were in danger, then she would definitely say to call, but Kevin was just trying to send her a message. One she’d received. Loud and clear.

Plus, it didn’t hurt that Jack was a pretty badass former Marine that Kevin had always seemed a little intimidated by.

“Everything okay?”

Shelby jumped, clutching her phone to her chest as she spun around and came face-to-face—or, actually, face-to-chest—with Levi. His hands reached out to steady her as she stumbled back. The moment she felt his large hands wrap around her arms, she flinched. Not on purpose. It had happened completely involuntarily.

Levi immediately released her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The look of concern that filled his dark, caramel-colored eyes sent an entirely different kind of fear racing through Shelby’s veins. She absolutely did not want Levi—or anyone for that matter—to feel sorry for her or worry about her.

The only way she would be able to put the past year behind her was if she did just that. Put it behind her. Moved on and didn’t look back.

“I just didn’t know anyone was standing there,” she said as casually as she could, doing her best to downplay her reaction.

Levi’s eyes narrowed slightly, but before he could say anything else, she pushed past him. “We better get back to the party.”

“Shelby.” His deep voice stopped her.

She had almost been free and clear before Levi had spoken. It had been one word. Just her name. But it wasn’t something she could ignore.

Steeling herself for the onslaught of tingles and butterflies that was sure to follow, Shelby raised her eyes.

Levi’s light-brown eyes were not just trained on her; they were boring through her. Down to her soul.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Two things occurred to her simultaneously. One, his raspy tone covered her body in goosebumps faster than any gust of cold wind blowing on her when she was soaking wet ever could. And, two, she actually wanted to answer him honestly. Tell him, “
No, I’m not okay
.”

Ignoring her initial instinct she lied through her teeth. “Yeah. I’m great.”

“There you two are!” Nikki called out.

Shelby turned just as Nikki was handing her a roll of toilet paper.

“Since you two were MIA when we paired up in teams, by default you guys are on a team together.”

Shelby stole a glance over her shoulder. Levi looked just as shell-shocked as she was.

Nikki continued. “The first game is Diaper Derby. One of you gets diapered. The other one has to create said diaper out of that roll of toilet paper. The most creative diaper wins.”

“What do they win?” Levi asked the same question Shelby was thinking.

“A point. The team that wins the most points gets a one-hundred-dollar gift card to The Cove.”

Shelby had no idea what The Cove was, but her competitive drive kicked into high gear as she looked around the room and overheard whispers of plans for creating the best diaper.

Shelby nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Levi parroted with question in his tone.

“Good!” Nikki clapped, ignoring the hesitation in Levi’s voice.

“We got this,” Shelby assured her teammate. This was exactly what she needed. Distraction.

“We do?” One eyebrow rose on Levi’s chiseled face as his eyes danced with amusement.

A skittering of tingles ran down her spine. How one man could make her feel both adorably cute and sinfully sexy with one look, she had no frickin’ idea. But she liked it. A lot. And that was all kinds of bad. She was heading into serious
Top Gun
Kenny Loggin’s Danger Zone territory.

“Yep.” Shelby’s voice wavered, but it had nothing to do with her confidence about winning the diaper derby.

“Okay, everyone!” Nikki shouted as she moved to the center of the room, seeming totally comfortable with being the center of attention.

When Shelby had met Nikki, her first thought was that they were a lot alike. And she wasn’t the only one who had noticed the similarities. Matt had remarked, more than once, that Nikki and Shelby were two peas in a pod. Now, comparing the self-assured, confident woman Nikki was to what Shelby had become, she didn’t see any parallels in their personalities.

“All right. Does everyone know who’s the diaper-er and who’s the diaper-ee?” Nikki shouted to be heard over the crowd.

“You’re the diaper-ee,” Shelby said with a confidence she didn’t feel. It was a statement and not a question.

Shelby held more “toilet paper bride” titles than she could count, and she knew she had this on lock.
If
Levi would agree to letting her put a toilet paper diaper on him, that is.

As she stared up into the golden pools of Levi’s expressionless eyes, her heart was beating faster than the Road Runner on speed. Not because she cared if he refused to let her wrap him in toilet paper, but because his stare was like a force field that drew her in like nothing else ever had.

He didn’t really respond other than a small tilt on the right side of his lip. The scruff that covered his jaw indented and a single dimple poked out—or, she guessed,
in
. And it did more than simply add to his bad-boy sex appeal—it multiplied it.

Nikki held her phone up in front of her. “Okay, teams. You have two minutes, and your time starts”—she paused before yelling—“now!”

“Spread your legs,” Shelby heard herself command Levi.

He did as she’d asked—not as quickly as she’d have liked, though, considering that this was a timed event. Adrenaline rushed through her as she began wrapping him up like a Sumo wrestler. For the first time in months, all of her worries, all of her fears, and all of her stress disappeared. She felt alive. She felt like…herself.

After tying the toilet paper off on Levi’s left hip, Shelby tore off two sets of ten sheets and began rolling them like dough on the table beside them.

“What are you doing?” Levi asked.

“Making pins,” Shelby said quietly so no one else would steal her idea. As she grabbed
a lot
more TP, she caught Levi’s questioning stare. “Trust me.” She smiled as she fashioned two oversized toilet paper safety pins and put one on his right hip. “It’s all in the details. That’s what brings home the gold.”

Nikki started counting down the last ten seconds just as Shelby attached the final pin on Levi’s left hip. “Three, two, one. Toilet paper down!” Nikki shouted.

Standing up, Shelby studied her masterpiece.

Levi stood, his feet shoulder-width apart, with a toilet paper diaper covering his worn blue jeans. His arms were crossed over his chest, and she tried not to drool as her gaze ran over his tattooed, muscular forearms and continued over the thin, gray, cotton material covering his muscular chest.

“You look…”

“Ridiculous,” Levi offered.

She had been about to go with sexy, but was glad that he’d interrupted her before she’d gotten it out.

“Wow!” Jake and Tessa, who were judging the diaper derby, both said in unison as they stepped towards Levi and Shelby.

“That is so creative.” Tessa’s eyes widened as she took in the TP safety pins. “And impressive.”

Shelby knew that Tessa was talking about her toilet paper diaper, but in her opinion, what was truly impressive was the man who was wearing it.

“I can honestly say that that is something I never thought I would see,” Jake said, his voice filled with amusement as he pulled his phone out and snapped a picture.

Shelby noticed that several other partygoers, all male, were snapping pictures as well. The game had started so fast that she’d gotten caught up in the spirit of the competition, but she hadn’t even thought about how embarrassing this might be for Levi. Now, not only was he front and center drawing everyone’s attention, but people were also recording it for posterity.

Shit.

Her heart raced, her stomach flipped, and her palms dampened as she shot her eyes back to Levi’s to see if he was upset. She had no idea what he would do. Dread filled her.

What had she been thinking?

Just as her panic was gaining velocity like a snowball rolling down the side of a mountain, she saw Levi’s face break out into a wide smile. It grew even wider with amusement as shower attendees all took pictures and shouted out catcalls and jokes about him never having looked so good and wanting a bottle. At his reaction she let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.