“Are you okay?” Gripping her shoulders, I pull her back to inspect her body, needing to make sure she’s alright.

  “I’m fine.” She swats away my wandering hands and throws herself back into my arms. “I want a wall.”

  “You what?”

  “I want a wall of my life,” she mumbles into my chest.

  “Laney, you’re not making sense.” She unravels her arms from around my neck and takes my hand in hers, which is cold despite the warm weather. I bring her hand to my mouth, cupping it so that I can blow hot air over her fingers to warm them up.

  “She has a wall full of photos. Everything from her wedding day to the day each of her kids were born to her grandkids’ soccer games. I want that.” Her eyes are misty and I can tell that this really matters to her.

  “You’ll have that. Why is this bothering you?” I ask, dropping her hand so I can warm up the other one.

  “You don’t know that I’ll have that. It’s not guaranteed. I’m almost thirty, Levi.” Her words are frantic and I can’t help but laugh. She’s worrying about things she shouldn’t be worrying about.

  “Laney, I know it’s not guaranteed, but you can’t think like that. Anyone could die at any time from anything and lose out on a lifetime full of happy memories. But you can’t live your life worrying.” She takes a deep breath and nods. “You will have all of those things. I just know it.”

  “Thanks,” she says, straightening her back and shoulders as though pulling herself back together. She looks at her hand that’s cupped against my mouth, and she furrows her brow as though she didn’t even realize it was there. “What are you doing?”

  “Your hands are freezing. Which is totally odd, by the way, considering it’s nearly eighty degrees.”

  “Hmmm. I didn’t notice.”

  “Let’s get out of here.” Keeping her hand locked in mine, we walk to the end of the sidewalk, looking both ways before running across the road.

  “Can we stop somewhere before you take me home?”

  “Sure.” I open the passenger door and help her in before climbing in myself. “Where do you need to go?” I crank the key in the ignition and put the truck in drive.

  “Just the grocery store down the road. I won’t be long.” I’m already pulling out of the parking lot by the time she finishes what she’s saying. I drive the three blocks to the closest market, and we both hop out of the truck when we arrive. “You don’t have to come with me.”

  “I know I don’t,” I say with a shrug. But I want to. There was something about watching her today that I found extremely sexy. It wasn’t like at work where she is doing a job. No, today I could tell that she was doing something she loved. Her happiness shone through with every meal that she served, and it amazed me how she took the time to talk with nearly every single person there.

  We walk into the grocery store and she snags a cart before taking off through the store like she’s a woman on a mission. She grabs a few gallons of milk, some orange juice, canned soup, canned vegetables and enough frozen meals to feed a grown man for a year. “You do realize you’re a chef, right?”

  “Yes,” she laughs. She pushes up on her toes to reach for a bag of chips and her shirt rides up, exposing the curve of her waist. Her skin looks silky smooth and my cock stirs. Just thinking about her tight body writhing under me is enough to get me rock fucking solid. I’ve touched a lot of women over the years—women of all shapes and sizes—but no one’s body has ever compared to Laney’s. And as much as I’ve tried over the years, I have never been able to forget the way she felt under the palm of my hand.

  “Can you reach that?” She whips around to look at me, and I clear my throat and step forward, hoping to God she doesn’t see my dick throbbing against my jeans.

  “Umm . . . sure,” I stutter, mentally bitch-slapping myself for nearly getting caught ogling her—again. Flinging the bag of chips in the cart, I take the handle and follow her through the aisles. She throws in a box of granola bars and a couple boxes of cereal and then makes her way over to the medicine section, tossing in a box of cough syrup before telling me she’s ready to go. We head to the front of the store and get everything loaded on the conveyer belt. “Mind if I throw in some gum?”

  “Not at all.” She stretches across the cart, grabbing a pack of my favorite cinnamon gum and throwing it in with the rest of the food.

  “You remember that?”

  She looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. “Of course I remember. It’s ingrained in my senses.” A look of determination falls across her face. “I’ve thought about that taste—your taste—for years.”

  My throat grows thick with emotion. Laney is staring at me, her heart one hundred percent on her sleeve, and I have absolutely no words for her.

  “That’ll be seventy-six dollars and thirty-one cents.” Laney blinks and twists to face the cashier. Digging in her purse, she pulls out a credit card and slides it through the machine.

  “That can’t be right,” she mumbles, sliding it again.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Do you have a different card you could try, ma’am?” the cashier asks, glancing at the growing line behind us. Laney swipes her card one last time and I lean forward to look at the screen. DECLINED. As Laney scrambles through her purse, I remember her making a comment at Blue that one night about how she couldn’t afford the wine because it was too expensive. Has she gotten herself into credit card debt? The thought that she could be struggling tugs at my heart. I whip my wallet out and slide my card through the reader before she’s able to find another form of payment.

  “Levi,” she scolds. “You didn’t have to do that. I have another card. This has to be a mistake. There is no way my card could be declined.” She looks away sheepishly.

  I’ve got to find out what’s going on with her.

  “It’s not a big deal,” I tell her as she loads up the cart with our bags of food. We walk out to the truck and she doesn’t say a word. I almost feel guilty for embarrassing her, but that wasn’t my intention. I just hated that look on her face and wanted to step in and help.

  She climbs in the truck before I can assist her and when I slide behind the wheel, she has her arms crossed over her chest. “I’ll pay you back.”

  “Laney,” I turn toward her, propping my leg up on the seat. “I’m not worried about you paying me back. But I’m not going to lie, I am concerned about you. Is everything okay?”

  She takes a deep breath and looks up. I can’t tell if she’s trying to fight back tears or gain some strength or maybe a little bit of both. For a split second, I get the feeling that she’s keeping something from me—something big—and my stomach sinks. But then she swallows hard, runs a hand over her face and smiles. “I’m sure it’s just a mistake. I’ll call tomorrow and get it straightened out.”

  I should push her, but right now she looks stressed out and I’m a little terrified at what a push would do. So I bite my tongue and vow to revisit this later.

  “Alright. Back to your house?”

  “Oh, no. I’m taking these to Mary.” The weight of her words slams into me. Just the thought of her not having enough money for herself, and yet she’s willing to spend whatever she does have on someone else who needs it more? I’m completely floored. Laney has always been extremely giving; I think I just forgot that about her for a little while.

  “You got all of this for Mary?” I question, needing to make sure I heard her right. “Or just some of it?”

  “All of it.” Her eyes are wide with concern. “Her refrigerator was bare, Levi. She had nothing. I think she might be living off the meals she gets at the Senior Center.”

  Everything inside of me shifts. I feel as though I’d been teetering on the edge of my feelings for Laney and this just tips me over.

  “You’re doing a really great thing, Lane. You’re going to make her day.” Signaling a right-hand turn, I pull out onto the road and make the three-block trip back to Mary’s house. “I’ll help you carry everything.” We hop from the truck, gather all of the groceries and walk to the front door.

  “I hope she’s still up. She looked like she was about to fall asleep earlier,” Laney says, pounding on the door. Within minutes, it’s being pulled open. At first Mary looks at us, trying to figure out why we’re here, and then she looks down and sees all of the bags we’re carrying. “Can we come in Mary?”

  The frail woman nods her head and steps back to let us pass. Laney walks right into the kitchen and starts unloading bags like she owns the place. When we get everything put away, we both turn back toward the living room but find Mary standing in the doorway. She doesn’t say a word; she just walks right into Laney’s arms and holds her like she hasn’t been held in years. Laney looks at me with eyebrows raised and I just smile. Mary pulls back, wipes the wetness from under her eyes and squeezes Laney’s hand.

  “Thank you,” Mary whispers with a watery voice. “No one has ever done anything like this for me before.” I watch as Laney’s bottom lip trembles. Tears build up in her eyes and she swallows hard.

  “You don’t have to thank me, Mary. Trust me, it was my pleasure.” And apparently, that’s all it takes. My heart explodes inside my chest and suddenly the only thing I need is to get her alone.

  “Laney,” I interrupt with a hand on her shoulder. “We should probably get going.” She looks at me and nods and then gives Mary one last quick hug. Mary walks us to the door, thanks us again and shuts it softly behind us.

  Laney bounces excitedly down the sidewalk and I follow her to my truck. “Wasn’t that fantastic? Did you see her face, Levi?” she asks, flinging open the door. “That was probably one of—”

  Stepping up behind her, I push the door shut, spin her around and press her back against my truck. My hands cup her face, and my mouth on hers stops everything. Her words melt away as her lips mold to mine, and all of the regret and pain I’ve been holding onto dissipate as I lose myself in this kiss. Her hands find their way to my hair and she grips it tightly, pulling me to her. My tongue pushes into her mouth and she opens for me instantly. At first I kiss her hard and rough, my mouth desperate to get as close to her as it can possibly get. Her lithe body rubs against mine and, in turn, my body hums with approval. She’s trembling beneath me and I pull back, resting my forehead against hers, both of us panting and out of breath.

  But she obviously isn’t done because, within seconds, she has her sweet little mouth back on mine—only this time she takes control. The kiss is slow and passionate, and so much like our kisses from nearly a decade ago. Our tongues are no longer dueling for power but reveling in the simplicity of being reunited. I slip my hands into her hair and grip the back of her neck. She whimpers, her body relaxing into mine, her touch igniting a fire deep in my gut.

  Even though I kissed her a few weeks ago, this is different. This time I initiated it, this time she was the one taken by surprise . . . this time it’s my heart that’s involved. I’m not sure at what point I realized that fighting this was a losing battle. It could’ve been when she made my grandmother’s pie or when she kissed me in the kitchen. It could’ve also been when we had dinner under the stars, but most likely it was the very moment I saw her in my parking lot. I think I knew then that I was still hers.

  Her hands slide down my chest and I groan, drawing back. I know that if I don’t stop now I’ll likely lay her out in the cab of my truck and fuck her . . . and that’s not how I want our second first time to be. Laney’s eyes are closed, her lips swollen and wet, and her chest is heaving as if it’s fighting for air. She smiles, and then her hooded eyes peek up at me. All it takes is this one look—this one kiss—and I’m owned. Every piece of my broken soul belongs to this angel . . . I just pray to God that she can find a way to put it back together. And more than that, I pray to God she doesn’t break it again.

  MY FINGER RUNS A slow path along my bottom lip, and if I close my eyes, I can still feel his mouth on mine. That kiss was fantastic, but the best part about it was that I didn’t even see it coming. I thought I had memorized everything about Levi, but now I see how faded my memories had become because they were nothing compared to the real thing. I had forgotten how soft his lips are and the way he takes complete control when he kisses me. I’d also forgotten how he ends nearly every kiss by lightly sucking and nipping my bottom lip. I don’t ever want to forget those things again.

  Neither one of us said a word after our kiss, but as soon as we climbed into the truck, he reached across the seat, slid his hand into mine and left it there, resting against my inner thigh. I’m now watching his thumb as it swipes lazily across my knuckles and it’s hypnotizing. I’d like it sweeping across other parts of my body, but now is probably not the time to shove his hand in between my legs and demand that he show me what he can do. Right?

  “You’re awfully quiet over there.”

  “I’m afraid that this isn’t real.” He squeezes my hand and I look up at him.

  “It’s real. I promise, it’s real.” He brings our joined hands to his mouth and kisses my knuckles.

  I can’t help the smile that sweeps over my face. That smile quickly turns into a curious glare when he pulls onto my street. “How did you know my address?”

  “Your employment paperwork you filled out for Flame,” he says, pulling into my driveway. “I might have taken a peek at it.” Levi flashes me a grin. “I hope you don’t mind.” My eyes roam across the front of my house, and although I’m extremely proud of my little nest, I can’t help but wonder what kind of home Levi has. Is it a sleek condo overlooking the city, or a ranch-style house on the outskirts of town? He probably doesn’t live in a rundown neighborhood where the houses are all a foot apart and you have to walk past homeless people to get to your front door.

  He must sense my insecurity because he drags me across the seat and pulls me onto his lap. “What’s wrong?” he whispers, his hands gliding up and down my back.

  “Nothing.” I look away, but he grips my chin and pulls my face back to his. “It’s not much,” I shrug, nodding toward my house. “It’s probably nothing like where you live, but—”

  “It’s perfect.” His lips find mine in a feather-light kiss. “You amaze me, Laney.”

  “What? Why?” I frown, having absolutely no idea why he would be amazed by me.

  “Look at you. You’ve never been afraid to go after what you want, even if it means leaving a man in the dust . . .” I punch him lightly in the gut, and he grabs his stomach and laughs. “Too soon for the break-up jokes?” I nod, laughing along with him, and he continues. “What I’m getting at is that you’re courageous and strong and so incredibly kind. I’m in awe of you.”

  “Thank you,” I mouth, my heart creeping its way into my throat.

  “Can I see your bucket list again?” he asks.

  My brows dip low. “For what? We didn’t do anything for you to cross off.” Reaching for my purse, I dig out the list and hand it over.

  “I disagree.” I hand him a pen and he opens the list against my chest, then scratches the pen against the rumpled paper. “I think today you made a significant positive impact on a stranger’s life, and I think Mary would agree with me.”

  “Levi,” I exhale, at a complete loss for words. Strong, callused hands grip my face, and I stare into his sapphire eyes that are open and raw and so full of emotion. “I promise that I’ll never let you down again,” I say with as much conviction as I have within me. “Just tell me this is real. Tell me this is happening. I’ve thought about this . . . about you, for so long. I’ve hoped for a second chance, and if you give it to me, I swear you won’t regret it. You won’t regret me.”

  “I’ve never regretted you, Lane. Even when I was mad as hell at you, I never regretted you.” His thumb darts out and catches the first tear that manages to escape my eye, and then it catches many more because I simply can’t keep them in. This feeling is indescribable, knowing that after all these years, I’m finally getting my chance to make things right—a chance at the happiness I took from us.

  “Laney?”

  “Yes,” I answer, my eyes trained on his mouth, silently begging him to kiss me one more time.

  “You’re thinking way too much.” My eyes snap to his and he’s wearing an amused grin. “You’re thinking so hard that I can practically hear your thoughts. This is happening. I told myself that it would never happen again, but I can’t stay away from you. Hell, I can’t even stop thinking about you long enough to take a piss.” I laugh and drop my forehead to his. “Let’s try this, Laney. Let’s see where it goes.”

  I nod, mostly because my wildest dreams are coming true, and I’m mildly terrified that if I try to talk, I’ll burst into tears. It’s like a package of fireworks was just set off in my soul and now they’re exploding through me in a million different directions, lighting my life with a rainbow of colors. I don’t ever want this feeling to end.

  “Will you kiss me now?” My voice cracks on the last word, but Levi’s mouth is on me so fast that I don’t even have time to think about how pathetic I just sounded. His lips slam against mine, our tongues colliding, twisting and pushing in the most beautiful dance. My hands are fisted in the front of his shirt, because right now I need an anchor—an anchor to this moment, to these feelings . . . to this man.

  He pulls back far too soon but keeps his face close to mine. Our noses brushing and breaths mingling, I peek up and see that his eyes are closed and a faint smile touches his gorgeous mouth. “Let’s do that again soon, okay?”

  His faint smile twists into a wry grin and he looks at me. “Count on it,” he whispers.

  I smack one last kiss on his mouth. Then I pick up my purse and reach for the door, but he grabs my arm, stopping me.