Wild Man (Dream Man #2)(68)

His body started rocking again and he shook his head like he didn’t know what to do with me but, luckily, he was shaking it like he thought I was so damned cute, he didn’t know what he was going to do with me.

“Darlin’,” he said low, “I love that body of yours, all soft, all curves, no way you could take me, even in the middle of one helluva shit hemorrhage and you know it. You didn’t do that to hurt me because you know you can’t. You did it because you were pissed and wanted my attention. There’s a difference.”

“It still wasn’t good,” I whispered.

“You make a habit of it, I agree. You do that often?”

I thought about it. Then I said, “Uh… not to my recollection.”

He burst out laughing again.

I glared at him still not finding anything funny.

“Uh… hello,” Levi called, my body grew tight and Brock stopped laughing and his eyes went over my shoulder.

Damn. I totally forgot about Levi.

All humor was void in his tone when Brock announced, “You and me got problems, brother.”

Uh-oh.

I turned in Brock’s arms and he let one drop but the other one he used to tuck my front in his side and keep me close as I looked to a Levi who had his hands up and his thoughtful hazel eyes were on me.

Then they went to his brother as his hands dropped. “I’m seein’ I might have got it wrong.”

“You think?” Brock asked sarcastically.

“I was –”

“You were doin’ what you do, Levi, mouthin’ off without thinkin’. You gave me the two minutes Tess gave me, I woulda told you the same thing I told Tess.”

Levi’s lips twitched and he reminded his brother, “You had to put your hand over her mouth to get that in there, Slim.”

“All right, next time you mouth off and piss me off, I’ll let loose the urge to find a way to shut your mouth so I can have my say, is that good for you?”

Hmm. It appeared even though Levi admitted he was wrong, Brock wasn’t going to let it go.

It was time for me to intervene mainly because we’d lucked out the boys hadn’t shown in the middle of this drama and the longer we were at it, the more we courted it.

So I found my mouth saying, “Lenore is in love with you.”

Levi had his mouth open to retort to his brother but his head jerked, his mouth snapped shut and his eyes sliced to me.

Brock’s arm around my back gave me a squeeze.

“What?” Levi asked.

“Jesus, f**k,” Brock muttered.

I looked up at Brock to see him scanning the ceiling.

Oh well. It was out there.

I looked to Levi.

“Lenore is in love with you,” I repeated.

He did a slow blink.

Uncanny, just like his brother.

Then he asked, “Did she tell you that?”

“A girl knows,” I informed him.

“A girl knows,” he repeated after me.

I shrugged.

He stared at me.

Damn. I had to keep going.

“Okay, well, you’ll probably never notice shit like this but her outfit at Thanksgiving…

very nice. It suited her. This is good for you if you’re, uh…” I paused then forged on,

“interested in her. She’s young but she knows herself, what suits her. A lot of girls struggle with that through their twenties and into their thirties. She’s already found her style. That’s impressive.”

Levi blinked again.

I kept talking.

“Anyway, what I mean to say it, it was very nice but not too nice. She wanted to make a good impression not to be in your face about how pretty she is or what a great body she has.

And she’s pretty, don’t you think?” His eyes slid to his brother and I kept going. “Well, of course you do.” His eyes slid back to me. “You were with her. My point is she wanted to make a good impression on your family. She thought Thanksgiving was a move forward in your relationship and it was important to her. But I think it wasn’t only that. It was about being part of you, reflecting on you. She wanted your family to like her but she wanted to represent you in a good light to them too. No flashy clothes. No cle**age. Not overboard.

Decent, respectable. She cares about you and what your choice of her says about you.”

Levi stared at me again.

Then he asked, “You got all that from an outfit?”

“Well…” I hesitated, “yeah.”

Brock’s body started rocking again and I looked at him to see he was now staring at his bare feet but he was doing it smiling.

“That doesn’t say she’s in love with me, Tess,” Levi noted and my eyes went back to him.

“No,” I agreed. “It says you mean something to her. I knew she was in love with you when you tested me, your whole family got pissed at you and she closed in on you.”

Levi’s body went visibly still.

Quietly, I went on. “It was automatic. You were pissed, facing off against the force of the Lucas Brigade and she didn’t move away and leave you hanging and she wasn’t afraid of or turned off by your anger. And she also didn’t hesitate. She moved right in and had your back.”

“Christ,” Levi whispered, his eyes glued to me.