Chapter Ten
Harper
Saturday’s shoot goes well. Copious amounts of coffee get me through the morning. A Mountain Dew at lunch gets me through the afternoon. For the most part, I ignore Levi. I do what I’m told, keep my distance from him during breaks, and spend extra time in the pool swimming laps or playing with the kids. Being in the water is my safe place.
More than once, Brad looks at me quizzically. Like he senses something is off. Something is. I feel like shit for disregarding his request not to encourage Levi. Last night I threw myself at the cameraman in an attempt to encourage all sorts of things. I’m angry with myself for acting so stupid and letting my emotions get the better of me. It was unprofessional. Out of character. Whenever I’m around Levi it’s like I’m someone else. Someone I don’t recognize or know how to deal with.
And since he’s the one who put a stop to it, I obviously misread his signals. Only, that can’t be right. He was definitely into me, if his kiss is anything to go by. His mixed signals are making me crazy.
Then there’s the skinny-dipping incident. I don’t want Brad finding out at a family dinner I got naked with his brother-in-law during the time we were shooting the PSAs. So I have to come clean. Soonish. When he asked for a sit-down next week, I decided that would be the perfect time to confess my R-rated indiscretion.
When shooting ended for the day, I took off without a glance back. I had to get to my parents’ house. My mom makes a monthly family dinner for my brothers and me, and short of bleeding to death, there is no acceptable excuse for missing it. We sat around the kitchen table eating pasta primavera, and for once she bugged my brothers about their love lives instead of bugging me. I enjoyed every second of it—until she mentioned Levi’s name, and how happy she was that I had a date for Colleen’s wedding, and how maybe I’d catch the bouquet.
I might have spit my water across the table at that little remark.
Now it’s Sunday afternoon, and my happy, in-love roommate and best friend’s plans for a backyard barbeque and Ping-Pong tournament are in full swing. She’s weirdly excellent at the sport and is soundly defeating everyone. Mateo is cooking burgers on the grill while watching his girlfriend with pride.
I’m lying on a lounge chair next to our friend Madison, soaking up the hot August sun. “Hey, how was your date the other night?” I ask her.
Madison sighs with despair. “It sucked. The guy talked nonstop about his T-shirt business and nothing else. He didn’t ask me one question about myself.” Two months ago, Madison left her cheating fiancé at the altar. This was her first date since then.
“At least you’re putting yourself out there. That’s huge, and I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks. And get this—at the end of the date, he gave me one of his shirts. It said GILF on it. Like that was going to get me to agree to a second date with him.”
I laugh. “Girl I’d Like To Fuck? You gotta give the guy props for going for it.’”
“I handed it back to him and told him to give it to a girl who found it complimentary rather than desperate.”
“Nice,” I say. “Any news on the job front?”
“No,” she says, sounding utterly hopeless. “Unfortunately, planning one’s own wedding isn’t a very useful skill for a résumé, and even if it were, the epic failure of the wedding probably negates all the work I put into it.”
I turn my head to look at her. “You’ll find something. You’re smart and kind and personable, and you just haven’t found the right match yet.”
“Thanks for saying that.” Madison smiles and shifts her attention back to the pool. I note her gaze lands on Elliot and lingers. Interesting. He and two of my old coworkers from the coffee shop are standing in the shallow end talking with red plastic cups in their hands. Levi is in the water playing with Zoe while her mom, Abby, watches from a chair. Mateo’s sister, Isabel, is floating on a raft in the deep end and texting nonstop on her phone.
For the tenth time, Levi’s sunglasses meet mine before I’m fast enough to look away. To stop this crazy impulse to survey his every move, I put my chair flat and roll onto my stomach. “I’m going to close my eyes for a few,” I tell Madison. I undo the string of my bikini top so I don’t get a tan line, take off my shades, and sink into the chair cushion more fully.
I’m not sure how much time passes, but when I open my eyes I find Levi in Madison’s chair. He’s lying on his side, head propped in his hand watching me. “Hi,” he says.
“Hi.”
“Good nap?”
I lift my arms from my sides so I can tuck my hands under my cheek. I’ve no desire to get up yet. Staring into Levi’s gorgeous butterscotch and gold-flecked gaze makes me half think I’m still dreaming. Yeah, there’s no escaping him no matter how hard I try.
“Uh-huh.”
“Guess what, Harper?” Zoe says, popping her cute little face over Levi’s shoulder. She’s wearing his sunglasses and a big smile.
“What?”
“I beat Levi in a race across the pool.”
“That’s awesome.”
“He said I must have had a good teacher, and I told him you were my teacher!” She puts her small hand on his arm. “Maybe you could take some lessons, Levi. Harper, do you teach big boys?”
I can’t help it. I grin. Levi grins. He hasn’t stopped staring at me, which is both annoying and flattering. What is his deal? Today he’s in the mood to shower me with attention? “No, I don’t,” I say, “but maybe I can make an exception for Levi.”
“Zoe,” her mom calls from around the pool. “Come get your burger, sweetie.”
Zoe scrambles off the lounge chair next to Levi’s. “Bye,” she calls over her shoulder before skipping away.
“We should start as soon as possible,” Levi says. “It may take me a while to learn everything I need to from you.” His teasing is insanely attractive, and I do enjoy a good flirt, so I’ll play along.
“What kind of everything are we talking? Freestyle? Breaststroke?”
“You can put those at the top of the list, yes.” He traces his finger from my shoulder to my elbow, sending a zing of electricity through me.
I don’t know what we’re doing, but I don’t want it to stop. He has a way of making me forget why I should keep my distance from him.
“My schedule is kind of full at the moment, so I’m not sure when I can fit you in.” I really should stop flirting with him. Things were so much easier—and safer—when I merely tolerated him for the sake of our best friends.
“I can wait for when.” His eyes slip away from mine to watch his finger trace down my side. “Especially since I know how tight that fit is.” He needs to stop touching me.
I silently pray he never stops touching me.
“Your skin is so soft,” he says, his tone seductive.
I close my eyes. I’ll let him do this just a little bit more. Some tortures are sweet.
“You left in such a hurry yesterday, I didn’t get a chance to confirm Friday’s location shoots with you. Brad’s got permits for the Annenberg Community Beach House pool and Stoner Park Pool in West L.A. We’ll grab some beach shots, too.”
He moves all his fingers across my back in a light caress that feels amazing. I think I maybe purr. In the past, when it came to guys, it took zero effort to forget about them. I’d have some fun and never give them a second thought.
Levi Pierce is impossible to forget. He’s also maddening, infuriating, irritating, and the reason my body hums even when he’s not near.
All excellent reminders to keep myself in check. “I’ve got lessons until two on Friday. Does that leave us enough time?” I reluctantly open my eyes. It takes me a moment to blink away the sunspots. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that day was set already.”
“I can’t do any other day, so we’ll make it work.” He draws lazy lines and squiggles over my warm skin.
“You have another shoot?”
“Yeah.”
“I bet the talent will be a lot easier to work with.”
He laughs. “No doubt.”
“Hey,” I argue.
“I didn’t say I liked easier better, Ham, just that I agreed with your assessment. At the moment, there’s no one I’d rather have in front of my lens than you.” His voice is soft and sun-drenched, the epitome of a summer compliment.
His looks, his attitude, his kind words—no matter how hard I try, I’m helpless against them. “I could probably reschedule my lessons so I’m done at eleven on Friday. Would that be better?” He didn’t say my time constraint was a problem, but I’m thinking it is.
“It would. Thanks.”
He continues to lightly rub my back, and I’m so relaxed my eyes drift shut.
“Can I ask you something?” he says.
“Sure.” He’s got me feeling very agreeable at the moment.
“Who drowned?”
My eyes shoot open. My heart jumps into my throat. He tried this once before and it didn’t work. What makes him think it will now? I sit up, crossing my arm over my chest to keep my top in place. The quick movement makes me light-headed, and it takes a second for my vision to clear. Twisting I say, “Mind tying me?”
He finds the strings dangling at my sides. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.” The simple act of tying my swimsuit shouldn’t feel intimate, but somehow it does. He’s putting me back together slowly but surely, in more ways than one.
“You didn’t. I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“I get it.”
I spin back around. “What do you get?” For a moment, I’m lost. Lost in his tanned, well-defined bare chest. I’d been so focused on his face while lying down I’d failed to notice his body. His nipples are round and flat, the color of cinnamon. A light dusting of freckles covers his muscled shoulders. My gaze dips to his abs. The muscle there is sinewy enough to look sexy, not burly.
He smirks when I look back up. Then he returns the inspection, running his eyes over me while I watch. I’m furious when my nipples point at him.
“I’m hungry.” I start to stand.
“Me, too.” There is no innuendo as he stops me with a hand to my wrist. I plop back down, my nerves mixed up because he obviously has something serious to say. “But I’d like to answer your question first.”
“Go ahead.” I look down at my lap.
He gently takes my chin between his thumb and finger, lifting my face to meet his warm, sincere eyes. “I know that you don’t want me getting too close.”
“Good. I’d appreciate not having to remind you of that again.” I sound unfriendly and coldhearted and don’t like myself for it, but I’m not going to apologize for being this way. This is who I’ve practiced to be. Levi’s efforts are wasted on a girl like me. My walls are not coming down.
“Here’s the thing,” he says pleasantly, like my tone and disposition don’t bother him in the least. “I think you need me.”
“I don’t,” I huff.
“You do.”
“Oh my God.” I lean away from him so that he drops his arm. “I thought Mateo was the one with the big head. Boy, was I wrong. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone.”
A smug smile takes over his full lips.
“Why are you smiling at that?”
“You just proved me right. When someone says they don’t need anyone, it absolutely means they do and they’re afraid to admit it.”
“That’s bullshit. It means I’m independent and happy to figure things out on my own.” I put my sunglasses back on. I don’t want him seeing any hint of the truth. That I’m the kind of hurt he can’t fix. No one can. That he thinks I need fixing hurts, too. I’m good the way I am. Truly. It’s only when I’m with him that I wonder if I am missing out.
“I’m not refuting that.”
“Can we just stop talking, please?” I ask for, like, the tenth time over the past couple of weeks. I push to my feet.
He stands, catching me around the waist when I wobble from getting up too fast. Our hips line up, my chest brushing his. Tingles shoot down my spine. I can’t read the expression on his face, but I know one thing for sure. The two of us together is a recipe for disaster.