Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81401 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“Why’s that?”
“Because you chose me,” he says, making my knees weak. If he didn’t have his arm around me, I’d be on the ground by now. “You could’ve had any man begging you for a date, but here you are.”
“And yet, here I am, with the one man that didn’t beg. He didn’t even make a move out of respect for my situation. He didn’t pressure me to do anything that I didn’t want to do. And here I am, happy and falling in love.” If I expected the L word to throw Levi back, I would’ve been burnt. But instead, he smiles. It’s wide and beaming, and perfect.
“Yeah?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I tell him, not needing to know what he’s referring to.
“Keep falling, baby because I’ll be there to catch you.” Levi cradles my head between his hands and kisses me right there, on the street with people passing by and cars honking. Someone yells for us to get a room, but we ignore them and continue to make out. When he pulls away, I want to tell him to get back into the truck and drive us to some backwoods area where I can have my way with him, but I don’t. Being out tonight is important to us as a couple. It may not seem that way now, but it will be. Together, we need to be able to handle the scrutiny of the media and our fans.
When he finally pulls away, he continues to pepper small kisses on my lips until he rests his forehead on mine. “Do you want to go dancing?”
“What kind?”
“It’s country, but I’ll teach you. I won’t let you fail, Zara.”
I smile while my head moves up and down almost frantically. “With you, I feel like I can do anything.”
Levi winks, causing yet another round of fluttering to occur, and motions for me to follow him. As if I wouldn’t. By now he should know I’ll go anywhere he asks simply because that means I get to be with him.
We walk down two blocks, which in heels is tricky. It makes me wish for valet, but this is where the action is, Music Row. He leads us into a bar, passing everyone on the street. His name is called, and subsequently mine as well. Out of my peripheral, I see the flashes from their cameras trying to get our picture.
Levi stops to have a word with the bouncer who seems excited to see him. They shake hands and hug, and when I pass by, he calls me by name and tells me to have fun. Fun is what I’m going to have despite being wrongly dressed. All the women are in jeans or short dresses that aren’t skin tight, with cowboy boots. My deadly heels do not belong in a place like this, but I don’t care. I’m with my man.
The band on stage is singing their hearts out. The dance floor is jam-packed with bodies. Some are moving to the music, and others are off in their own little world, not paying attention to anyone other than the person in their arms.
My concerts aren’t like this, even when we play in bars. People jump around, bob their heads up and down, but don’t dance. The more I think about what I’m going through, the more I’m wondering if it’s me that needs the change. Maybe the signs have all been there, but I’ve been ignoring them. Maybe I’m the one who drifted away from the life Van and I were living but was just too blind to see it or too afraid to recognize I failed at my marriage.
Levi doesn’t waste any time and leads us out onto the dance floor. The second my feet touch the hardwood he pushes me into a full spin, ending up right back in his arms. It’s when I look into his eyes that I can see how happy he is, and that sends me over the moon. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that I’m meant to be in Levi Austin’s life, and fully intend to stay there until he tells me that I’m no longer welcome.
Thing is, though, we’ve both been hurt by our exes, and I can’t fathom he would do anything to hurt me, and I know damn well that hurting Levi is the last thing I would ever do.
Now if I could convince Stormy and Barbara that I’m here to stay, I’d be all set.
One day at a time, Zara. One day at a time.
levi
Thirty
I know she’s watching. I can feel her eyes boring into my skin. Her gawking started when I took my shirt off. Frankly, it’s too hot to be working outside with one on, and with no neighbors as far as the eye can see, who cares if I’m shirtless?