Baking Me Crazy (Donner Bakery, #1)(59)

I took a deep breath and locked my chair, pulling up my dress so that I could set my feet safely on the even ground. Levi held his hand out, and I took it, standing as gracefully as I could manage.

His smile was wide, and I couldn't help but match it.

"I like your dress," he said as he slid his hand around to the bared skin of my back.

Leaning my weight into him, I curled one hand into his as he pressed it again his chest. My other arm went around his shoulders, where I could feel parts of him that I'd never felt before. The soft hair where it met the hot skin of his neck.

We swayed gently to the music, and I breathed easier when I realized this wasn't hard at all. He led with his body first, so I knew when to shift one foot to the side, then the other as we made a slow turn.

His cheek was pressed against the top of my head, and occasionally, he'd press his nose into my curls and inhale audibly.

I smiled into his shoulder. Levi's thumb brushed up my spine, tracing each bump under my skin before he moved to the next one.

"I missed you this week," he said quietly.

I closed my eyes and wrapped my arm more tightly around his shoulder. Ashley sang quietly in the background, and I pressed the words into my heart before I tried to answer.

And if I love but once in this cruel, weary world, well, I'm glad I loved once with you.

"I missed you too," I told him once I could lift my head and meet his eyes. "You don't seem surprised it took me this long."

"Because I know you," he answered as if it was the simplest thing in the whole world.

"I don't …" I started, then exhaled slowly when the words weren't coming in the way I wanted them to. "I had to make sure this was about you and me. Not just that I was ready for more with anyone. Does that make sense?"

His eyes searched my face. "I think so."

"It was like, if I just wanted a boyfriend, but the person could be interchangeable, then I'd never want to risk your friendship in my life. I wanted to be able to look at you, look you in the eye and know that you're what I want. No substitutes."

Levi gathered me even closer, placing a feather-light kiss on the curve of my neck. I barely had to move my feet now because he was holding me so tightly that he practically had all my weight in his arms. I smiled, burying my head into the side of his neck. We were wrapped around each other, and I never wanted the moment to end. And it wasn't because I was standing or dancing on my feet; it was because of him. Because of us together. That was what felt right.

He pulled back and smiled softly at me.

"I'm going to kiss you if you keep saying stuff like that to me," he warned with a playful glint in his eye.

"What kind of punishment is that?"

Levi laughed, and his mouth fitted seamlessly over mine. I sighed into his mouth when his tongue swept over the seam of my lips. My arm was clutched so tightly around his neck, his arm the same way around my waist that my feet came off the ground completely. My heart was somewhere off in the clouds. Maybe we were too, as he kissed me deeply.

A whistle pierced the air, and I pulled back. Then I heard another and the sound of Connor whooping happily.

"Atta boy, Levi," he yelled through cupped hands.

"Oh my gosh," I groaned, burying my face into Levi's chest.

His whole frame shook with laughter. "I guess people were watching after all."

I pinched his side. "Ya think?"

He dropped a hard, fast kiss onto my lips and then scooped me up in his arms.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"We're going to dinner," he said calmly, walking us through the crowd of people. Some people smiled, some clapped, and some whistled. "Come on, Sonic. If they're watching, let's give them something good."

I wrapped my arms around his neck. My face was probably the same bright pink as the bridesmaid's dresses.

"It is too late to back out of this whole thing?" I asked grumpily.

"Yup," he replied.

"That's what I was afraid of."

But even as I said it, I smiled into his shoulder. Because the funny thing was, I didn't feel so afraid anymore.





Chapter 21





Levi





I'd underestimated one aspect of the friendship line between Joss and me being obliterated. I had to figure out how the hell to keep my hands off her at any given moment.

She swatted at me approximately eighteen times at the wedding reception, especially when my memaw came over to talk to us. Not the appropriate time, in her mind, to see what her skin felt like just underneath the fabric of her dress where it cupped her waist.

But even though she smacked my hands a few times, she was the one who dug her hands in my hair and tried to swallow my tongue in the cab of my truck when I took her home that night. If you ever wondered how easy it was to maneuver a hot make-out session on a bench seat, paraplegic or not, I could tell you that it was pretty easy.

Still, as I sat across from her at the steakhouse (our attempt at recreating the first date that never happened) and imagined how our days would play out now, I had to remind myself that Joss was not only a virgin, but she was inexperienced in just about every way possible when it came to men.

She made a face at me when the server asked her if she'd like some wine. "No, thanks. Just a sweet tea for me, thanks."