his hand and gripped the brim of his cowboy hat, tipping his head down slowly in a brief acknowledgment.
She swallowed hard, her throat sticky and dry, then reached for her soda, feeling panicky. She took a long sip, forgetting there was rum in it, the burn making her cough.
“This is concerning,” Hayley said softly, her expression overly sharp.
“What is?” Faith asked, jerking her gaze away from Levi.
“You’re not acting normal.”
“I’m not used to subterfuge.” Faith sounded defensive. Because she felt a little defensive.
“The look on your face has nothing to do with the fact that he’s incredibly attractive?”
“Is he?” Faith asked, her tone disingenuous, but sweet. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Actually, until Hayley had said that, she hadn’t noticed. Well, she had, but she hadn’t connected that disquiet in her stomach with finding him...attractive.
He was out of her league in every way. Too old for her. Too hard for her.
Levi was the deep end of the pool, and she didn’t know how to swim. That much, she knew.
And she wouldn’t... He was a client. Even if she was a champion lap swimmer, there was no way.
He was no longer acknowledging her or Hayley, anyway, as his focus turned back to the bar.
“What’s going on with you?” Faith asked, very clumsily changing the subject and forcing herself to look at Hayley.
She and Hayley began to chat about other things, and she did her best to forget that Levi Tucker was in the bar at all.
He had obviously forgotten she was there, anyway.
Then, for some reason, some movement caught her attention, and she turned.
Levi was talking to a blonde, his head bent low, a smile on his face that made Faith feel like she’d just heard him say a dirty word. The blonde was looking back at him with the exact same expression. She was wearing a top that exposed her midriff, which was tight and tan, with a little sparkling piercing on her stomach.
She was exactly the kind of woman Faith could never hope to be, or compete with. And she shouldn’t want to, anyway.
Obviously, Levi Tucker was at the bar looking for a good time. And Faith wasn’t going to be the one to give it to him, so Blondie McBellyRing might as well be the one to do it.
It was no skin off Faith’s nose.
Right then, Levi looked up, and his ice-blue gaze collided with hers with the force of an iceberg hitting the Titanic.
And damn if she didn’t feel like she was sinking.
He put his hand on the blonde’s hip, leaning in and saying something to her, patting her gently before moving away...and walking straight in Faith’s direction.
Levi had no idea what in the hell he was doing.
He was chatting up Mindy—who was a sure thing if there ever was one—and close to breaking that dry spell. He’d watched the little blonde ride that mechanical bull like an expert, and he figured she was exactly the kind of woman who could stay on his rough ride for as long as he needed her to.
A few minutes of banter had confirmed that, and he’d been ready to close the deal.
But then he’d caught Faith Grayson staring at them. And now, for no reason he could discern, he was on his way over to Faith.
Because it was weird he hadn’t greeted her with more than just a hat tip from across the room, he told himself, as he crossed the rough-hewn wood floor and moved closer to her.
And not for any other reason.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he said, ignoring the intent look he was getting from Faith’s friend.
“Small towns,” Faith said, shrugging and looking like she was ready to fold in on herself.
“You’re used to them, aren’t you? Aren’t you originally from Copper Ridge?”
She nodded. “Yes. But until recently, I haven’t lived here since I was seventeen.”
“I’m going to get a refill,” her friend announced suddenly, sliding out of her seat and making her way over to the bar.
Faith was looking after her friend like she wanted to punch the other woman. It made him wonder what he’d missed.
“She leaving you to get picked up on?” he asked, snagging the vacant seat beside her, his shoulder brushing hers.
She went stiff.
“No,” Faith said, lowering her head, her cheeks turning an intense shade of pink.
Another reminder.
Another reminder he should go back over and talk to Mindy.
Faith was young. She blushed. She went rigid like a nervous jackrabbit when their shoulders touched. He didn’t have the patience for that. He didn’t want a woman who had to be shown what to do, even if he didn’t mind the idea of corrupting her.
That thought immediately brought a kick of arousal straight to his gut.
All right, maybe his body didn’t hate the idea of corrupting her. But he was in control of himself, and whatever baser impulses might exist inside of him, he had the final say.
“She vacated awfully quickly.”
“That’s Jonathan Bear’s wife,” she said conversationally, as if that was relevant to the conversation.
Well, it might not be relevant. But it was interesting.
His eyebrows shot up, and he looked back over at the pretty brunette, who was now standing at the counter chatting with the bartender. “And that’s her brother,” Faith continued.
“I didn’t pick Jonathan Bear for a family man.”
“He wasn’t,” Faith said. “Until he met Hayley.”
Hayley was young. Not as young as Faith, but young. And Jonathan wasn’t as old as Levi was.
That wasn’t relevant, either.
“I haven’t been to the bar since it changed ownership. Last I was here was...twenty years ago.”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-eight. I had a fake ID.”
She laughed. “I didn’t expect that.”
“What?
