3

Chapter Three

Nothing rounded off a long day of educating Deer Haven’s finest better than

a hot pizza and cold beer. Lily had always wanted to be a teacher, but now

that she had a classroom of her own to manage, she’d come to realize why

all of her teachers growing up had always looked so damned exhausted. Kids

were great, but they could sure drain some energy.

The long week of state standardized testing was over, and she couldn’t be

happier to get back to her normal classroom routine. But she needed the

weekend to recoup, spend some time with her girlfriends, and try to have a

little fun.

Jacob had promised to stop by the next morning to check out the brakes

on her car—they’d been acting a little iffy lately—then he and Sallie, Tara,

and Shay were supposed to meet her at her favorite bar.

But that was tomorrow, and this evening wasn’t, which left her with too

much time on her hands alone and way too much time to think.

A week had passed since her unsettling phone call from the U.S.

Marshals’ office. So far, there hadn’t been anything on the news about the

prison break, which piqued her curiosity. The marshals must have had some

impressive pull to keep it a secret for this long. She couldn’t even begin to

wonder why that was. Wouldn’t it be better to have the public looking out

for a few escaped convicts? Then again, maybe the marshals didn’t want to

cause a panic by letting people know there was a murderer and serial rapist

on the loose.

Despite the stress and worry from her past that had compounded on her

professional one, Lily was determined to try to live a normal life. She might

have been a teacher and, lately, an obsessive worrier, but she wasn’t an old

schoolmarm or a shut-in. Yet. She wanted to at least try to enjoy what was

left of her twenties. That is, as much as she could in a small town where

everyone knew your business and your family kept an even closer eye on

you than the local gossips.

Lily was good at keeping secrets, though. Very few people knew

everything about her.

Even if she hadn’t been exhausted from a week of cranky kids tired of

taking tests, Lily would have spent tonight at home. Sallie and Jacob were

having a date night and Shay wasn’t feeling well. They’d promised her a

night out tomorrow, but without a wing-woman to have her back, Lily

wasn’t going out alone. Not even in her own hometown.

Pizza, beer, and a Below Deck marathon on Bravo. It might not be an

exciting Friday night, but sometimes boring could be good.

“You gonna eat that large pizza all by yourself?”

Lily nearly dropped the pizza on the hood of her car as her heart jumped

into her throat. She recognized the cocky drawl and knew before she spun

around to face him that there’d be an arrogant smirk on his achingly

handsome face.

She swore if given the chance, Levi could coax the panties off a nun.

Sure enough, when she whipped around he met her with a closed-lipped

smirk that spread into a wicked, panty-melting grin. Curls of tawny hair

peeked out from the wide brim of his hat—did he ever take that damn thing

off?—to frame his face, and his bright gold eyes twinkled beneath the

shadow of it.

Lily clutched the pizza box in front of her, as though it would provide

some sort of barrier. “I sure as hell am,” she quipped. “And I’m not going to

regret a single bite.”

In the past week, Lily had seen Levi at the grocery store, the gas station,

and of course the ranch. She didn’t know much about him aside from the

fact that he was insufferably full of himself and not in the least bit shy. In the

past week, he hadn’t wasted a single opportunity to give her a hard time and

Lily had no doubt he enjoyed getting her wound up. She gave as good as she

got, though. She refused to let his charm or his otherworldly good looks get

under her skin.

For one insane second, she entertained the thought that she could invite

him to share the pizza with her. She could text Sallie to check in on her,

though she didn’t believe anyone who knew her cousin would dare to try to

hurt her. Even as she rejected the thought, her cheeks warmed. Levi was

hotter than a Southern California summer, and every woman in the county

seemed interested in him. She’d be a fool to invite him. As tempting as he

might’ve looked, Lily had built tall walls to keep men out. Especially

gorgeous slick talkers like Levi.

But the walls of the house seemed to be closing in on her this week and

this man had occupied far too much time in her thoughts.

He tipped his hat to her and shot her another of his devil-may-care smiles.

“Enjoy every bite of it then,” he drawled, and the way he said it made her

wonder if he’d enjoy tasting her.

She barely kept a flush from rushing up her cheeks again.

Turning, she opened her car door and tossed the pizza box to the

passenger seat before sliding in. Closing the door, she gave him a halfhearted wave, started the engine, and pulled away from him.

Damn him, he made her feel like a teenager. A very awkward teenager at

that.

She knew he was still standing near the sidewalk, his gaze trained on her

car as she drove away. Her skin tingled with the weight of it. Lily’s hands

gripped the steering wheel too tight and she forced herself to relax as the

color returned to her knuckles. She blew out a breath and focused on the air

entering and leaving her lungs as she had countless times to keep the anxiety

at bay. Lily had seen her fair share of excitement in the past year, and some

of that in Deer Haven. Because of it, Jacob protected his family almost

obsessively. She couldn’t blame him after someone had tried to kill Sallie

almost a year ago. Lily had been present for one of the occasions Sallie had

been attacked and they’d both barely escaped with their lives. Funny, it had

scared the shit out of her, and it hadn’t even been the most terrifying

experience of her life.

Her brain switched to autopilot as she drove home. Overthinking just

dredged up memories she didn’t want to revisit and stirred the worry and

anxiety she didn’t want to deal with. All she wanted was to watch some fun,

mindless television, stuff her face with pizza, and drink enough to put her to

sleep. God, that sounded bad.

She was simply too tired to deal with anything right now. It had been a

long week and a half and she needed some downtime. But damn if seeing

Levi didn’t just wind her up even more. So insufferably sure of himself and

aware of every single one of his assets. Lily wished she could be so

confident. Maybe she had been at one time. Now all she had was a smart

mouth and a shit ton of bravado. And it was going to have to be enough to

get her by on for now.

Levi watched as Lily’s 4Runner pulled out of the parking lot and onto Main

Street. She sped down the road as though running from something. Or

someone. He let out a measured breath as he adjusted the Stetson on his head

and headed into the pizza place. Lily was a tough nut to crack. He’d been

trying for a little over a week now, to no avail. As cold as an Idaho winter

and bullheaded to boot. He wondered what a man would have to do to melt

that icy exterior. Whatever it took, Levi knew it would be worth the effort.

As he had come from Sacramento, it had taken Levi a second to get

reacquainted with a small-town vibe. Everyone knew everyone here, and

where it had worried him at first he’d grown to find it comforting. Not to

mention safe. Outsiders were noticed regularly and regarded with a fair

amount of curiosity and sometimes equal suspicion. Lucky for Levi, his

employment with Jacob Donovan allowed him the benefit of an almost

instant trust with people in town. Jacob ran a tight ship. If he trusted Levi,

then they did too.

Too bad Lily didn’t share in the rest of the town’s opinion of him.

Lily was notorious for her sharp tongue and fiery spirit. She had no

problem standing up for herself. She didn’t need anyone, not even her cousin

apparently, to have her back. Levi blew out a breath. Jacob was fiercely

protective of the women in his life, and if he found out Levi was trying to

get close to Lily, Levi worried he’d find himself flat on his ass. Levi could

be stubborn too, though. And when he set his sights on something, he didn’t

quit until he got it. Lily was dead center in his bull’s-eye; he’d be damned if

he didn’t win her trust.

It damn well might kill him to earn it too.

As he neared the door to the pizzeria his phone buzzed imperatively from

his pocket. Pausing just outside the entrance, he pulled it free of his jeans

and flipped it open as he brought it to his ear with a quick “Hello.”

“Hey, Levi, Grange said you were headed to town earlier,” Jacob’s voice

came over the line. “You still there?”

“Yeah, what’s up?” He stepped farther back from the door as a couple left

the pizza house.

“If you’re not too busy I wanted to see if you’d run by Lily’s place for me.

I promised I’d stop by and check her brakes for her. She said they were

acting, ‘iffy’ was her word.” There was a wealth of amusement and no small

amount of concern in his voice. “I’d head out and do it myself, but that new

bull just took down the fence to the main yard and now I have cows

trampling the lawn and Gran threatening to pull out Gramps’s rifle on them.”

Levi could hear Sallie laughing at the rancher in the background. That bull

had taken out that same fence the week before.

“I’ll head there now.” Levi chuckled. “Have you thought about hiding

your grandfather’s rifle?” He turned and headed back to his truck.

Jacob snorted at the thought. “Considered it until I remembered how

vengeful she can get. She’d just shoot me with it once she found it.”

The problem was that Levi could see her doing just that.

“Can’t have that,” Levi agreed, grinning. “Have fun with those cows.”

He was pretty sure he didn’t want to know what Jacob muttered as he

disconnected the phone. But it didn’t matter. His boss had just given him the

perfect reason to stop by Lily’s and further his own goals. And if he was

lucky, she just might offer to share that pizza with him.

Lily had no more than pulled a beer from the fridge and returned to the

living room to sit down in front of the television with dinner when a decisive

knock sounded at her door. Clenching her teeth at the interruption, she set

the bottle next to the pizza box and stomped to the door. Dammit, her cousin

just had lousy timing; that was all she could say for him.

“You would show up just in time to eat,” she announced as she swung

open the door, then stared up at the man on the other side in surprise. “What

the hell are you doing here?”

She knew better than to open the door without checking to see who was

on the other side, she berated herself. Dammit to hell, if she’d just checked

the little peephole she’d had installed in the door maybe she could have

ignored the knock.

“Orders.” He grinned as he tipped his Stetson back on his head with such

cocky confidence it made a woman want to knock it off just for the hell of it.

“Boss called. The cows got out in the yard again and he asked me to check

your brakes for him. Since I was in town anyway.”

Since he was in town anyway. Just great.

“But since I didn’t get to order my own dinner, you could share a slice or

two of that pizza in exchange. Maybe a beer,” he suggested with a lift of his

brow and far too much charm.

Men like him should be outlawed. Locked up. Kept away from women

craving a little sanity in their lives.

Now, to keep from being a pure bitch, she was going to have to do just

that. Share her pizza and her beer.

“When you’re done with the brakes, fine,” she agreed. “I don’t pay for

work that hasn’t been done, though.”

Amusement flared in those golden eyes and tugged at his well-molded

lips.

“Understandable.” He nodded, stepping back from the door. “You eat all

that pizza before I get done, though, and I’ll be mighty disappointed. I’m a

hungry man.”

The way his gaze drifted over her face and the sensual smile that tipped

his lips, Lily had a feeling it wasn’t the pizza he was talking about. And that

should piss her off. It should terrify her. Instead, it sent a spike of excitement

racing through her that had very little to do with fear.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to save you some.” She’d wrap it up nice and

neat and hand it to him when he was finished.

He scratched at his cheek thoughtfully for a second. “You wouldn’t make

me eat alone now, would you, Miss Donovan? That would just be downright

mean of you.”

“No, refusing to share my pizza would be mean.” She shrugged. “Count

yourself lucky I’m nice enough to save you a slice. Let me know when

you’re done.”

She closed the door, then lifted her lip in a little snarl as she heard his

laughter from the other side.

She wasn’t bored any longer, though. Peeking from the curtains at the side

of her window, she watched him as he returned to his truck and pulled out a

toolbox before moving to her vehicle.

God bless America, that man filled out a pair of Wranglers like it was

nobody’s business. Then that army green T-shirt he wore molded some fine

muscles too before tucking into said jeans. If she wasn’t mistaken, there

wasn’t an ounce of fat beneath the material. Just hard, powerful male.

There was a time when she would have done some sketchy shit to catch

his attention and probably ended up with her heart broken. He was the type

of man women prayed for while lying in their lonely beds playing with their

vibrators. An unapologetic bad boy with a knowing grin and a body to die

for.

As he moved to check the brakes, Lily left the window. Nibbling at her

thumbnail, she tried to tell herself all the reasons why it was insane to allow

him into her house to share her pizza, but those arguments were as weak as

the ones she’d come up with for the past week. For some reason, thoughts of

Levi Roberts did nothing to inspire the fear other men had in the past two

years. Nor could she convince herself that she really didn’t need a broken

heart to add to her nightmares.

Hell, she had enough problems. What was she doing allowing herself to

add to them?

She was lonely, yes, but no news there. She’d been lonely since she’d

moved out of her parents’ home years ago. It was the reason she’d gone to

college away from home, the reason she’d found herself living a nightmare.

And now here she was, more fascinated with a man than she had ever been.

A man she didn’t know and had no idea how to read. All she had was the

fact that her cousin didn’t hire men he wouldn’t allow around his female

cousins or his wife. And Jacob knew how to run a background like nobody’s

business.

She was still pacing the living room when another firm, decisive knock

came at her door nearly an hour later.

Levi’s knock. It was distinctive, like the man himself.

Damn him. She’d been pacing the living room for nearly an hour. So

much for a nice evening relaxing with a pizza and a movie.

Swinging the door open, she met his gaze with an arched brow and

distinctive mocking look.

“Figure it out?” Of course he had. She had no doubt of it.