Perfect Kiss (3 page)

Levi might not know that much about women, but he knew enough not to argue with them when they got the determined (stubborn!) gleam he’d seen in Amy’s eyes.

Just as Amy safely returned to the ground, two small cries came from the car seats sitting on the floor.

“Perfect timing, sweet girls. Mommy just finished,” Amy cooed to the twin girls, who were dressed in matching pink jumpers and headbands.

One let out a particularly loud shriek, causing Amy to unbuckle her safety harness while simultaneously grabbing a bottle from the large diaper bag.

“All right, Peyton. I hear you.”

Levi—using his mad-sharp detective skills—deduced that, if Amy had Peyton, then the other pink bundle was Paige. He unhooked the fussy girl’s harness and lifted her into his arms. While he softly patted her, she snuggled against him. Instantly, she calmed down as he held her against his chest.

When he looked up, Amy’s jaw hung open so wide that it looked unhinged and was practically on the ground as she sat at a table.

“Wow,” she said. “You really have the touch. You’re a natural.”

Levi smiled. He knew that his tattooed, six-foot-four frame didn’t exactly scream
good with babies
, but that just proved that a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover.

“I’ve had a lot of practice. I have twin brothers who are six years younger than I am,” Levi explained as Paige wriggled in his arms. She was so tiny and smelled like baby powder.

Amy looked like he’d just told her that he led a double life dressing up like a woman. “You do?”

Since moving to Hope Falls, he’d kept his private life just that—private. When he was growing up, everyone knew the “Dorsey Boys.” They’d been somewhat infamous in the suburb of Detroit they’d called home. All three of them had gotten into their fair share of trouble. Luckily, they’d all come out on the other side of it fairly unscathed. Still, he kept his past close to the vest.

“Yeah.”

“Where are they?” she asked, as she placed Peyton on her shoulder and began lightly patting her back.

“They both were in the service until a few years ago. Logan settled in New York, and Lucas settled in South Carolina.”

“Wow.” Amy still looked like she had a thousand questions for Levi.

Luckily, he was spared when the door opened and Nikki came in with about a half dozen women who were all carrying brightly colored packages.

“Damn.” Nikki stopped and slowly slipped her glasses off her head, taking her surroundings in. “This place looks amazing.”

Nikki and Amy might’ve been sisters, but they could not have been more different. And not just in appearance. With her blonde hair and blue eyes, Nikki had always reminded Levi of Chrissy from
Three’s Company
; Amy was much more Janet. Nikki was wild—or, at least, she had been until she’d met and married Mike. She was free spirited and outgoing. Amy was quiet and reserved.

Levi and his brothers all resembled each other. And he’d always kind of thought of his little brothers as the epitome of the extremes to the two sides of his own personality. Logan was more on the serious side, and Lucas had definitely inherited the wild gene.

“And look at you.” Nikki smiled brightly at Levi. “You’re a regular Mr. Mom.”

Levi grinned as Nikki leaned down and kissed Paige’s head.

The rest of the girls made their way in, and some of the guys from the fire department followed in behind them. Jake was supposed to show up with Tessa in a half hour. Amy had explained that Matt was stuck at school. Both he and Amy were teachers at Hope Falls High, but Amy had extended her maternity leave, so she wasn’t returning until the fall.

Levi felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see one of the baby shower attendees, Lauren, who was also his realtor and a semi-celebrity who co-hosted the popular show,
Home Sweet Vacation Home
, with her fiancé, Ben. She had a no-nonsense personality that Levi appreciated.

“I have some paperwork for you to sign,” she said. “Is tomorrow good to drop by?”

“Yep. Great.”

Even if it was just to himself, Levi had to admit that he was a little nervous about his latest investment. He’d purchased the run-down but spacious four-bedroom, two-bath cabin located on the adjoining property behind the bar. It had sat vacant for the last ten years. He’d had his eye on it since the ink had dried when he’d purchased the Roadhouse. But he hadn’t wanted to go into debt to own it. So he’d been working his ass off for the last four years to save enough money to pay cash for the dilapidated cabin.

During his childhood, his mom had not been the best with money. Once Levi had been old enough to understand what was going on, he’d realized that his mother, Tina, had not just lived paycheck to paycheck—she’d lived by paying bills with credit cards and then paying the minimum payments with other credit cards. It was like a constant juggling act, and their electricity and food depended on one of the balls not dropping. Which they had. Several times.

As an adult, Levi had always tried to pay cash for things. If he couldn’t do that, then he figured he couldn’t afford said purchase. So, after years of saving every penny, he was now the proud owner of the large structure, but in doing so, he’d drained his savings. It left him as nervous as he was excited about this new chapter in his life.

“I heard you bought the old Moxley place. Congratulations!” Amanda Barnes walked up, smiling happily before looking down at Paige, who had fallen asleep in his arms.

She and her husband, Justin, owned Mountain Ridge Outdoor Adventures. They were actually the two people Levi wanted to talk to about his newly acquired property.

Looking back up at Levi, Amanda, now aware of the sleeping baby in his arms, whispered, “That’s a lot of room for you. Are you planning on having one of these of your own soon?”

“No.” He shook his head. Raising his brothers had been quite enough for him. “Actually, I was planning on coming to talk to you and Justin soon.”

“Oh.” Amanda’s brows rose. “About what?”

Levi did a quick scan of the area around them and saw that everyone seemed to be involved in their own conversations, so no one was paying attention to him and Amanda. Still, he felt a small amount of nervousness bubble up inside him. This was the first time he’d actually said his plans out loud.

“I was thinking of turning it into a B&B.”

“Oh!” Amanda’s blue eyes widened, and she stared at him for a second before she tilted her head a little and laughed. “Sorry. That’s just the last thing I expected to come out of your mouth.”

“What is?” Justin asked his wife as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

Levi had noticed that these two had a hard time keeping their hands off each other.

“Levi just bought the Moxley cabin and he wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast,” Amanda said, filling her husband in.

“Oh, that’s great, man. Congrats. Let me know if you need anything.” Justin seemed sincerely happy for Levi.

“I wanted to talk to the both of you before I started getting permits, just to make sure you were okay with it,” he explained. “I know that a small bed and breakfast isn’t direct competition with Mountain Ridge, but I wanted to make sure it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Levi knew that, in towns that weren’t as small as Hope Falls, people who were going to open businesses even remotely in the same field didn’t necessarily tell their rivals about their plans. But that wasn’t how things were done here. He’d already spoken to Sue Ann who rented an apartment above her café, and she was all for it. He would only move forward with his plans if he had the entire town’s full support, and Amanda and Justin were more than just his friends. They were kind of the unofficial town sweethearts. Basically, they were Hope Falls’ version of Brad and Angelina.

“No, of course not. I’m so happy for you,” Amanda assured him. “And like Justin said, just let us know if you need anything.”

“Yeah, that’s some serious reno you have in front of you.”

“I know.” Levi nodded, and he couldn’t wait.

Before he could fill them in on any plans he had, Paige woke up and started fussing in his arms just as Amy handed Peyton off to Nikki.

“Okay, princess. Your turn.” Amy took Paige and settled the baby in her arms and began feeding her, a twinge of awe colored her tone as she spoke softly, “You really are a baby whisperer. Usually, she’s screaming while she waits for her sister to eat or the other way around.”

Levi grinned as the front door flew open and everyone’s heads turned as Matt rushed in and asked the room at large, “Am I late?”

“Nope. The guests of honor have not arrived yet.” Amy smiled up at her husband, who immediately made a beeline over to his wife.

“Guests? Plural?” he asked.

“Yeah. Tessa and the
baby
,” Amy explained as Matt pulled out the seat next to his wife and sat down.

“Oh, right. I hear plural and I think twins,” he laughed. Reaching into his pocket he grabbed his phone, looking down at the screen before answering it. “Hey, Shelbs. Oh, I wasn’t expecting you until tonight. We’re at JT’s Roadhouse for a surprise baby shower.”

Levi’s shoulders tensed at the sound of Shelby’s name; that and the fact that it sounded like she was in town. For the life of him, he had no idea why this girl had such a hold on him. It made no sense. He’d been with, well, hundreds of women. Not that he was bragging; it was just a fact. But none of them had imprinted themselves on his mind and soul the way Shelby had.

It kind of freaked him out.

“No, Amy’s not pregnant again. It’s for Tessa and Jake. Just come down here.”

Levi’s palms grew damp, and he wiped them on his jeans. Tuning out all the noise around him, he swallowed—hard. In the next few minutes, he was going to come face-to-face with the girl he hadn’t been able to get out of his dreams for the last eighteen months, give or take. The girl who had single-handedly, or more accurately single-kissedly, made him lose interest in all other women. Sure, he’d scratched the occasional itch, but they all had been lackluster experiences that just made him think of one girl; the girl who ran away from him and hadn’t looked back after one of the most incredible kisses of his life.

Yep. That girl.

*

Shelby pulled into the gravel lot of JT’s Roadhouse and still couldn’t believe she’d let her brother talk her into coming down here. Well, she
could
believe it since she was trying to act like “normal” Shelby. Throughout her life, she’d been super outgoing and social. If she’d really insisted on not going to the bar for a party, she’d start off this “visit” on the wrong foot. That was to say the foot that wore suspicious shoes.

Nope. She hadn’t had a choice. If she was going to pull this off and put the past six months firmly behind her, she had to be her fun-loving, spontaneous self. After finding a parking space, Shelby’s eyes automatically lifted to the rearview mirror. In the past, she’d never been a check-her-reflection-every-five-seconds kinda girl, but that had changed over the last few months. When you’re trying to hide something, it takes constant attention.

She was relieved to see that the discoloration under her left eye was barely noticeable, the cut above her top lip was no longer swollen, and her cheek didn’t look like she had rug burn. She might not be in the running to win any Cover Girl competitions, but her appearance had improved significantly from last week.

Bending to the side, she grabbed her purse sitting on the passenger seat and snagged her foundation. Carefully, artfully, she dabbed on a little more, just for extra coverage. Hopefully, the lighting in the bar would be dim, because a make-up artist she was not. The less questions, the better.

Inhaling slowly through her nose, she tried to steel herself for facing her brother. Then closing the mirror, she stepped out of her car and started across the parking lot. Just as she came around a large pickup truck parked in the front of the lot, she noticed a very pregnant Tessa walking with Jake, Matt’s brother-in-law. They were heading right towards her.

Shit
.

The words her brother had said came back to her. “
We’re here for a
surprise
baby shower
.” “Surprise” being the operative word.

Shelby was crossing her fingers that Tessa wouldn’t remember her. They’d only met briefly at Matt and Amy’s wedding, and that had been over a year ago. Sure, she’d sat at Tessa’s table, but what were the odds she’d remember her?

“Shelby?!” Tessa squinted her eyes in disbelief as she moved up onto the cement slab that sat in front of the door.

Okay, the odds were pretty dang good.

“Hi.” Shelby awkwardly raised her hand as she plastered a fake smile on her face.

What was the surprise-party etiquette when you showed up with the surprise-ees? She was at a loss. Maybe they would just keep walking past her and open the door and she could sneak in behind them.

Tessa’s face brightened in recognition. She threw her arms around Shelby’s neck. “It’s so good to see you!”

Right. So it didn’t look like she would be sneaking in behind them…

As she clumsily hugged Tessa over her bulging baby belly, she noticed that, although Jake’s eyes were hidden behind aviator glasses, there was a prominent smirk on his face. It let her know that he was aware of not only the predicament she’d unwittingly caught herself in, but also her discomfort because of it. She didn’t know the Maguires all that well, but even from the short amount of time she’d spent with her brother’s new family, it was blatantly obvious that Jake was definitely the smartass in the Irish-Italian clan.

“Long time no see,” Jake greeted her.

“Yeah.” Shelby nodded as Tessa released her from the bear hug. “It looks like you two have been busy.”

The second the words came out of her mouth, she wished she had a Shop-Vac so she could suck them back in. Why had she said that? It was stupid, inappropriate, and none of her business.

“Yes, we have,” Jake said as he snuggled his giggling wife.

Shelby smiled, relieved that the happy couple hadn’t taken her comment the wrong way. Lately, everything she said seemed wrong. She second-guessed every thought in her head and every syllable she spoke.