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It was good. It was for the best.

Because she was tangled up in him already just after a few days, and that wasn’t going to work.

It wasn’t sustainable.

“So, Camilla is going back to school, and then you’re back to the empty-nest life.”

He nodded. “Yep. And in two years, I’ll be done paying for school, and... Well. Really, the freedom is almost unimaginable.”

He took a sip of his coffee and she watched him. The way his hands gripped the cup handle, the way his throat worked as he swallowed.

And then he looked at her, and she felt...caught. And pinned to the spot.

It was weird to sit here and have a conversation with him. One that wasn’t so tinged with hostility. But it was like when their lips had touched he had taken away her anger, and she had taken away some of his.

It was like they were transforming each other, even if just a bit.

And now she was sitting there staring at his Adam’s apple. And his chin, his lips, back up to his eyes.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he said.

“Why? How?”

Both valid questions, though she hadn’t really meant to ask the last one.

“Because it’s dangerous.”

“You already threw me in a pond. What else can you do to me?”

“Not the best question. I have work to do.” He drained the last of his coffee. “But this time when you go up in my office, you are welcome to look at whatever you want. I eagerly await your report.”

“I get the feeling that it’s not exactly all that eager.”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe I oversold it a little bit.”

“Right. Well. I’ll see you when you get back.”

She stayed firmly rooted in the office, even when she heard Camilla walking around in the hall, getting ready to leave. She just didn’t have it in her to face the other woman after she had... After she had kissed Levi.

And especially not when the sound of Camilla’s departure amped up the excitement, the desire that was burning through her.

Yeah, especially because of that.

She shifted and continued to pore through all of his records. In truth, there was a meticulousness to the way he did things. She could see where he got behind, and then got overwhelmed, but when he was keeping up, everything was perfect. Probably because he did have to work so hard to make sure that it was right. It was apparent, the amount of work he put into that.

The biggest thing was looking at his budget, and at what he had coming in.

He was making a ton of money, which of course he must know. He was paying tuition every quarter, and seemed to be doing it without any real hardship. But he had more than enough money to make sure that he never had to do any of the invoicing. But she knew the key would be to find somebody that he felt comfortable with. That he trusted.

The same would be true if they started doing the Christmas trees. She would not be looking for a leasing situation. And not just because she didn’t want to get thrown in the pond again.

Because now she understood. What drove him. What made him such a stubborn cuss.

And she couldn’t help but respect it.

She settled into daydreaming just a bit while she thought of the way he looked at her this morning over coffee.

When he came back, would he kiss her? Would she let him? There would be no reason to stop.