Sway (22 page)

hold out against their mother was

Jonah. He was the most stubborn

individual Levi had ever known.

“She wanted more than I could

give. It wasn’t about her. She’s not a

bad person.”

“That won’t even get you a cup of

coffee.” Jonah studied his watch a

moment. “If you can’t be honest with

yourself, then you’re wrong.”

“I already told you. She won’t fit

in my world. She said she felt like I

was hiding her and I guess I probably

was. It’s shitty, but it’s true anyway.”

“Are you kidding me? You? The

guy who got expelled from school

three times because he had issues

with authority? You? The guy who

shamed Park and Howe into finally

naming more women partners? You

can’t possibly really be worried that

your hot young girlfriend won’t fit in

at some stupid charity mixer. If you

do, first I’m going to punch you in the

balls. Then I’m going to punch you in

the face for being a stupid bastard.

That old-school crap Mother does

isn’t a barrier to your seeing Daisy.

You’re making stuff up to keep her

away.”

Levi watched his brother, who

stared right back, not taking any

excuses.

“You’re textbook. You love this

woman. She gets to you. And as long

as she goes along you’re fine. But she

pushes back and you realize how

deep you’re in with her and you let

that be your excuse to keep her

away.”

He sucked in a breath.

“It’s not the tattoos, though yes, we

both know Mother will swallow her

tongue. But no one else who matters

is going to think twice. Other than to

think it’s hot. Which I do, by the way.

You’re not a classist asshole. This

two different worlds thing is a shtick.

An excuse. You keep saying that and

hating all the women in our circle

you never have to fall in love again.

Or risk yourself.

“That’s what this is. You’re scared

because the last time you did this

dance, you ended up with a dead

wife everyone pretends was a saint.

Love can break your fucking heart. I

get it, right? I have to look in my

daughter’s face every day and see

parts of the woman who ripped me

up. But what’s life if you shut

yourself off to anyone who makes you

feel
? I can tell you the Levi before,

when Daisy was in his life, was far

preferable to this one. So get your ass

up and get ready to grovel.”

“You act like it’s easy.”

“Easier than being alone. That’s

your choice. She’s your future. Don’t

fuck it up because you’re afraid. If

you weren’t afraid, it wouldn’t be a

very bold choice would it?”

Daisy balanced on the ladder as she

drilled the hardware into the wall at

Tart. Once they’d made the choice to

operate the space together, things had

come along quickly.

Probably because she thought

about Levi less if she was very busy.

“You’re going to get dust all over

those pants.”

She halted, turning slowly to find

Levi standing in the doorway. All the

love she pretended not to feel

anymore rushed up, nearly choking

her. Why the hell did he come here?

There were other places to get coffee

and something sweet.

Her chest hurt and she gripped the

drill so tight she was afraid she’d

break it.

“Do you have a few minutes?”

“For what?” She was afraid to say

more. Afraid she’d cry.

Gillian walked in, talking and

laughing with Jules, who halted and

gave a serious-menace-face to Levi.

“You.”

He held his hands up in surrender.

“I’m here to talk to Daisy.”

Daisy climbed down and Gillian

took her aside. “You don’t have to.

We can shoo him away.”

“No. I have to.” She put the drill

back in the case and the case in the

utility closet. While back there she

took a moment to get her breath and

to smooth a hand over her hair and

reapply her lipstick.

Damn, she was glad she’d had an

appointment before she came to Tart

so she was dressed up and had

makeup on. Levi needed to see just

what he was missing. Ass.

“Do you have a coat? I thought a

walk would be nice.”

He had really good manners. She’d

forgotten that. No, no, she hadn’t. She

didn’t get close enough to let him

help her get her coat on and she again

was glad for that earlier appointment

because she had her cute gloves and

shoes on too.

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

Jules gave Levi the eye for long

moments before she leaned in to kiss

Daisy’s cheek. “No matter what, you

are special. You are awesome. If he

can’t see it, there will be others who

will.”

“Love you guys,” she said quietly

before turning to the door and going

out while he held it open for her.

“You look beautiful.” He shoved

his hands in his pockets as they

walked. It wasn’t a cold day, but a

brisk breeze had kicked up, sending

her hair all over the place.

“What do you want, Levi?”

“I wanted to see you again.”

“Why?”

“You’re tough once you really get

mad.”

She stopped, really, truly mad.

“You broke my heart, Levi. That’s

not me being tough, that’s me trying

to hold my shit together so I won’t

cry.” Her bottom lip started to

wobble and she had to look

heavenward and blink fast before she

actually did it.

“You tear me apart. I swore I’d

never give anyone that power over

me again. But I never counted on

you.” He said it quietly. Vehement.

“All that stuff you said was true. I

was hiding you. Sort of. Not for the

reasons you think.”

There was enough traffic up and

down the sidewalk that they had to

continually move out of the way. “My

car is there.” He pointed. “We can sit

out of the wind and talk.”

She chewed her lip as she

considered it.

“Please?” He held his hand out but

she didn’t take it. She did nod and

cross with him, pausing as he opened

her door. It smelled of him so

strongly she nearly burst into tears.

She didn’t want to hope. He could be

there to talk to her about any number

of things.

She took her gloves off and laid

them carefully in her lap as he got in.

He got in and they sat there, silent

for several moments. “I’m sorry.”

She looked to him. “For what?”

“For breaking your heart. For

making you cry.” Anguish washed

over his features and she had to

wrestle back her need to touch him,

to comfort.

“You were right. Like I said. I let

myself think Gwen was right. But she

isn’t. It’s not that you and I are from

two different worlds. Though we are.

It’s that I didn’t want to imagine a

world without you in it. And that

freaked me out. You matter to me in a

way I promised myself I’d never

allow again. Only it’s different in that

I never felt this sort of intensity

before. Not with anyone. Which

made me feel like an asshole. After

all I was married to Kelsey,

shouldn’t I have felt like if I didn’t

see her or hear her voice, I’d simply

waste away?”

“You feel that way about me?”

“That’s what I’m saying. You

matter to me, Daisy. You matter to

me and I matter to you. You took care

of me and never let me get away with

stupid stuff. You were my safe place

to be and I shit all over that.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Ew.”

He smiled. “Can I touch you?”

She shook her head. “No. Why are

you telling me this?”

“This is groveling. Am I doing it

wrong?”

She tried not to be amused but it

was impossible. “I don’t like

groveling because it means you’ve

done something bad enough to need

to grovel.”

“I told my parents I was bringing a

guest to dinner on Sunday. I hope you

don’t mind. I want you to meet them.

I’m telling you this because I love

you. I love you and I want to be with

you. I hate that I hurt you because I

was dumb.”

“You were scared.”

He nodded, heartened by the way

she’d shifted herself in the seat to

face him instead of looking down at

the gloves she kept rearranging so

carefully.

“I don’t want to hide you. I want to

show you off.” He’d told her he

loved her, damn it. Didn’t she have

anything to say to that?

She was so beautiful there. So real

after he’d done nothing but dream of

her for the last two weeks. She

smelled good, looked good. Her lips

were shiny red but it still hurt his

heart

when

her bottom lip had

trembled as she’d fought back tears a

few minutes earlier.

“What if I’ve moved on?”

He frowned. “Have you? I told you

I loved you. Don’t you have a

response?”

“I told you I loved you two weeks

ago, mister. Your response was

walking out my door and going out on

dates with tall, thin blondes.”

He cringed.

“Yes, exactly. I
saw
the pictures in

the paper.”

“Nothing happened. Not with any

of them. I didn’t even hold hands

with any of them. None of them was

you. I love you, Daisy Huerta. And so

I refuse to accept you’ve moved on.

Because I know you love me too.

Give me another chance, Daisy. I

promise to make you glad of it for the

rest of your life. I’ll fuck up again.

I’m a dude, this is part of the

package. But I won’t betray your

trust. I won’t hide you. I respect you

and damn it, come on. Love me

again.”

“I never stopped.”

He didn’t ask to touch her this

time, he simply reached out and took

her, brought her into his arms and

held on tight as she buried her face in

his neck. “If you ever do something

like this again I will let my friends

loose on you. You have no idea the

pain I saved you from.”

He smiled. “That’s so true in so

many ways.”

“I can’t believe you never play on the

Wii. What’s the point of having it if

you don’t use it?”

She stood in panties and a tiny

shirt, her hips circling again and

again as she did some sort of Hula-

Hoop thing on the screen.

“Goddamn, I’m a lucky man.”

She looked back over her shoulder

at where he lounged on the couch in

his sitting room, watching a half-

naked woman pretend to Hula-Hoop.

Her smile told him she knew

exactly what she was doing.

They’d gone to dinner at his

parents

and

mostly

had

left

unscathed. Gwen didn’t get anywhere

near them. His brothers were

charmed fairly immediately, as was

his mother of all people.

Levi hadn’t expected that at all.

But Daisy had started a conversation

with her about art and it had gone

from there. By the end of the night his

mother had advanced to the double

cheek kiss and a hand squeeze.

Daisy

had

been

sweetly

insufferable ever since they’d arrived

back at his place.

“You should come over here.”

Her mouth tripped up into a smile.

“Should I? But you’ll try to touch me

in my no-no place if I do.”

He burst out laughing. “I will

definitely do that, yes. But I promise

you’ll like it.”

“I haven’t heard that one in a very

long time. Does it work for you?” she

asked, settling herself in his lap,

straddling him.

“Looks like it does.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“I am. It’s a wonder I got into

college at all. I was expelled three

times from two different schools. My

mother had to scare a lot of people to

get me back in.”

She grinned. “She’s totally scary. I