“It doesn’t! I was just throwing words out there. Why, what would you use?”
“If you said pineapple, I’d think you were ordering your favorite drink.”
“Oooh…good call.”
“Food would be good though, the more I think about it. It would be easy to direct the conversation toward that if we needed to.”
“Exactly.”
“How about…mango?”
“Mango?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s not a food that comes up often, and I think it would be obvious only to us that it was code for ‘get me the hell out of here’.” So what do you think? Will that work?”
“Definitely.” She paused. “But hopefully we won’t have to use it.”
They pulled into Gammy’s driveway and as much as she would have loved to take advantage of their alone time and have him help her with her zipper–or something remotely sexy–now wasn’t the time.
She reached for the door handle and turned to look at him. “Levi…”
“Go.” His voice was gruff and his expression was beyond sexy. “I think we both know if I go inside with you, we won't get back to the party until the cake was being served.”
“It’s a little scary how easily you can read my mind,” she said softly, her gaze lingering on his handsome face.
“You’re very expressive, Willow. Your face gives you away every time.”
“Oh. Um, I should…” Just as she was turning to get out of the car, he reached out and stopped her.
“It’s one of the things that makes you most attractive,” he said with a lopsided grin. “I’ve enjoyed learning all kinds of things about you based on your expression.”
Her cheeks heated because her thoughts were suddenly going in the direction of all the things she’d rather be doing with him rather than going back to the party.
Leaning forward, he rested his forehead against hers. “And we can discuss all these wicked thoughts later. While we’re in bed.” Placing a soft kiss on the tip of her nose, he whispered, “Go. I’ll wait here.”
And this time, she listened and quickly ran into the house.
The sooner they got back to the party, hopefully the sooner it would all be over and they could crawl into bed together.
Stripping as soon as she closed the front door, Willow ran and changed into party dress number two. She looked longingly at the bed once she was fully dressed and ran her hand over it. “I never thought I’d be so anxious to go to bed. My punishment as a child has now become my reward for putting up with my parents.” Checking her reflection one last time, she murmured, “Oh, how times have changed.”
“Levi, there you are.”
Great. Here comes Mr. Personality…
With a smile plastered on his face, Levi shook Paul Andrews’ hand. Again. Glancing around the room, he made sure Willow was nowhere nearby and, hopefully, enjoying herself. He spotted her dancing with Barry and figured they had at least three to five minutes before she’d be done. Longer if any of the other Romeos cut in.
“We didn’t get a chance to really talk earlier,” Paul said, his expression bland.
“With dinner for twenty, it’s a little difficult to focus on any one conversation.” Truth was, Levi had managed to put a little distance between the Andrews’ and Willow.
With a little help from Gammy and Donald.
“It was a little rude of my mother’s friend to force people to change seats.”
Levi shrugged and casually slid his hands into his pockets. “Your mother didn’t seem to mind, and since it’s her big day, who are we to argue, right?”
The pinched look on Paul’s face told him the guy was on to him. “I would never make a scene at a family event,” he said evenly. After taking a sip of his wine–and seriously, did he ever put the glass down?–he continued. “So tell me about yourself. Willow mentioned you work in a bar.”
“A pub, actually.”
“There’s a difference?”
Nodding, Levi explained, “Bars tend to be a bit loud and boisterous with dance floors, pool tables, dartboards, and dance floors. Pubs, on the other hand, are a little more casual with a somewhat quieter atmosphere and serve a full menu of food.”
“And you’re a bartender?”
He nodded.
“And…?”
“And…what?”
“So that’s all you do? Make drinks?”
It would be so easy to put this guy in his place, but just like he thought earlier, Levi knew he needed to be honest with Willow about his position first before he blurted it out to prove a point to her father.
“There’s more to it than that. But more importantly, I love what I do and I’m good at it. And that’s the important thing, isn’t it? Having a job that brings you joy?”
“Having one that supports you and allows you to have money in savings for retirement and other incidentals is also important.” Another sip of wine. “And one you can take pride in–and one your significant other wouldn’t be ashamed of.”
Levi nodded. “I agree whole-heartedly, Paul.”
And yeah, he enjoyed how much more Paul’s face pinched up.
“I make a great living, drive a brand-new car, and have money in savings.” He shrugged. “My folks come in often and are very supportive of me.”
Every word was the truth.
“Of your being a bartender? Really?”
“Well, it’s not like I’m dancing on the bar shirtless,” he joked.
“I don’t think you’re a very good influence on my daughter.”
“And why is that?” His fists were clenched in his pockets, and it took every ounce of control to not use them to pound on this guy.
“Willow’s…struggling right now and…confused. She had the opportunity to join a very successful psychology practice, and she’s refusing. I realize now that her hanging out with someone who doesn’t have a…real job is adding to her confusion. She sees you being okay with being laid back and thinks that will work for her.” He let out a snort of derision. “Babysitting and walking dogs. She has a college degree! She needs to be using it!”
“Why? It’s not something she wanted,” Levi stated. “Seems to me that makes it nothing more than an expensive piece of paper.”
“Willow’s always
