Page 27

One week later…

S ara was nervous.

Tomorrow would be the night she would search Kevin’s office while he was out.

It was Thursday, and Kevin typically met Chester Wilson on Friday night. Sara knew that their meeting would be over drinks at a strip club, so the likelihood of Kevin coming back was slim.

Pushing her laptop slightly away, she grabbed her phone for something to do other than run her eyes over the sexy man in her booth. Levi never strayed far from her, but then that was a bodyguard’s duty, she thought a bit snidely.

Pulling up Shane’s number, she sent her brother a text message.

Sara: Hey, dork, I got a new phone.

Shane: It’s about damned time!

Sara: My last one was stolen. How are you doing? How’s the fam.

Shane: Same as always…ugh.

Sara frowned at her brother’s last message. The same meant that their adoptive parents were bullying him, and she was reminded of her mother’s threat to cut off Shane’s education funds.

Sara: How’s school?

Shane: About the same.

That probably meant that their mom hadn’t made a move to cut Shane off yet.

Shane: Hey…they’re looking for you.

Sara: I know. Keep this number and I’ll stay in touch. Love you, stinky.

Shane: lol yeah, sure you do. Love you too, sis.

She tucked away her phone, keeping her eyes on the crowd of people in the lounge. Anywhere but on Levi.

When laughter rang through the lounge, she smiled.

The men and her girlfriends had become friends over the course of the past couple of weeks, and it wasn’t uncommon for them to play jokes on each other.

Mostly, it was West and sometimes Carla, but the others acquiesced with little fuss.

Even Ana and King couldn’t help but smile in the face of the group’s antics.

Kevin had watched as the pack formed, and he had voiced his opinion about fraternizing several times. However, Kevin had quickly backed down under King’s cold, stormy gaze.

Nobody wanted to fuck with King.

Nash was another one whom Sara thought people underestimated. Nash was ruggedly handsome and ripped with corded muscles, plus the guy was a people watcher. Nash observed more than the average person, and Sara had noticed because she was the very same way.

Mostly, though, Nash watched Carla.

So, it wasn’t surprising that Nash was first on the scene when a man came through the lounge at closing time. The guy walked right up to Carla and grabbed her arm.

There was a heated exchange of words between the stranger and Carla, and Sara was just about out of her booth along with Levi when Nash intervened.

“Get your fucking hands off her.” Nash’s voice was just loud enough to reach Sara as she hurried over.

Levi was one step ahead of her, but before either of them could reach Carla and the stranger…

Nash moved in.

Super fucking quick.

Nash knocked the man’s hand away from Carla’s wrist.

Carla gasped and cradled her hand to her chest, and Nash lost it. He throat jabbed the guy and then delivered a punch to the stranger’s face.

From the way the man went down and gagged, Sara suspected that Nash hadn’t pulled his punches.

King was there in an instant, and Levi stepped up to the stranger on the floor. When the guy tried to get up, Levi pile-drove him back down with a boot to the chest.

“I’d suggest you stay there,” Levi said, his voice a low growl, and the guy stilled, gazing up at him.

“Ease up,” King said with a hand on Levi’s shoulder.

Sara glanced around. Thankfully, it was at closing time, so the place was cleared of customers.

Afraid that Levi would beat the guy on the ground, Sara wrapped both hands around Levi’s arm and pulled. She was surprised when he stepped toward her immediately.

As if her touch contained magic.

Which was odd.

Levi had been acting that way all week, and it was confusing. On one hand, she wanted to be angry at him, but on the other hand, she wanted to give in.

Levi had become…attentive. He brought her juice and breakfast, as well as lunch daily. He was patient when he spoke to her, even in the face of her waspish tone.

If she didn’t know any better, she would have thought that he cared for her.

And maybe, just maybe…he did?

King broke into her musings by hauling the guy from the floor and marching him outside while Nash took a look at Carla’s wrist.

“Did he hurt you?” Nash asked gently, and Carla shook her head. When Nash guided Carla to a barstool, Ana moved closer to take a look at Carla’s wrist.

West returned to the bar along with Jim.

Sara pulled Levi back to their booth.

After that night in the hotel, King had invited Ana and Carla to stay at the house he was renting nearby.

Carla was all for it, but Ana stared at King for several moments. King looked away beneath Ana’s penetrating stare. Sara had smiled. Nobody was a match for Ana when she did her stare-down.

When Sara had gone with the girls over to King’s rental house the next day, she had been amazed at how huge the place was.

Both Ana and Carla demanded that she stay with them at King’s rental, so she’d spoken to Mandy.

“Hey, hon, I won’t be back for a while,” Sara had said when she stopped by to pack more things. “But I will still pay the rent.”

“Don’t worry about anything, just go and get your man,” Mandy said with a wide grin and waved her off from the doorway.

Returning to King’s house, she ended up sharing a room with Ana and Carla. It totally reminded her of their college days, minus Lily and Michelle.

Now, scooting into the booth, she assessed Levi for the hundredth time.

What if Levi did care for her?

Where did that leave them in the face of a child?

She was pregnant and he didn’t want kids.

Maybe she could change his mind? Once the thought took root, it wouldn’t go away.

How would that look, though? “Hey sweetie, sorry, Daddy has a two-week gig as a bodyguard and can’t make your birthday party.” Or even worse, “Daddy can’t come home because he’s on a mission with a group of men she knew next to nothing about doing God only knows what.”

The only thing she had been able to overhear recently was the name Aries. Mostly, the guys kept their words hushed and met in King’s bedroom, where they’d designated it as their office space.

Levi brushed her hair over her shoulder and gave her an awkward pat.

Sara almost laughed. While Levi had been attentive the whole week, he had also been uncomfortable, and she decided right then and there to forgive him for something he knew nothing about.

“Are you okay?” He squinted as if trying to read her mind.

She smiled and he blinked. “Yeah.”

With his voice dipped low, Levi spoke. “Want to take another trip to the beach on Saturday? I bet we could catch the sunrise.”

She cocked her head slightly, thinking it over.

“Do you work this weekend?” He frowned as if the thought had only occurred to him.

“No, I usually only work the weekdays.”

“So…we could go wine tasting,” he suggested and toyed with her fingers.

Sara shook her head. She wouldn’t drink while pregnant. Otherwise, she would have loved to go on a wine tasting adventure. Vineyards and breweries were some of her favorite go-tos on the weekends.

“Um…what about the movies?” he suggested, linking their fingers when she remained quiet.

“As long as it’s not horror.” She pursed her lips, and his gaze zeroed in on her mouth.

She grew breathless, wanting his lips on hers. Her heart pounded as she pictured him yanking her close and holding her tightly.

And again, she wondered if she could possibly…change his mind.