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I had the urge to lean in and kiss him hello, but we weren’t really at a stage where we offered each other much casual affection. Despite the fact that we’d had our fair share of hooking up with each other in the past months, we’d kept our sexual relationship at a distance from our working one, with the exception of the occasional sleepover at Levi’s house, where I convinced him to join me in bed for the night. I didn’t know if I was ready to blur those lines between business and sex quite yet.
“I’m going to set this up upstairs, if that’s okay with you.” Levi lifted the bags and tilted his head toward the stairs.
“Need any help?”
He shook his head. “You finish up here and I’ll come get you when everything’s ready. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.” I went back to the desk to tidy up and send the poster to the printer. Less than a half hour later, he returned, a soft smile on his face.
“Dinner is served.”
I followed Levi upstairs into the apartment, and discovered that he’d somehow found the time to rearrange the tiny living room. He’d pushed the couch against a far wall and spread a blanket out on the floor. The blanket had several pillows on it, along with takeout containers piled high with pasta, bread, and salad. The food made the room smell delicious, rich scents of butter, garlic, and basil filling my nostrils. Surrounding the area were small candles in glass jars, the flames dancing and moving. The flickering light gave the room an otherworldly, romantic glow.
“What’s this?”
He shrugged and grinned. “I thought I’d do something different to celebrate.”
I raised my eyebrows and tilted my head. “Celebrate what?”
“The crew finished the last of the work today. The only thing that’s left is to order the concessions from your supplier and, you know, actually open.”
My mouth dropped open in surprise. “We’re done?”
“We’re done,” he echoed. “Ahead of schedule, too. I originally thought we’d be another week, but since you and I have stayed late most nights, it’s really helped.”
“Did you check the security gates? I know we talked about it but I wasn’t sure those—”
“We checked the gates. You’re as secure as Fort Knox.”
“And the sprinklers?” We’d discussed whether to replace the whole sprinkler system at one point and I couldn’t remember what we’d decided.
“Sprinkler system is good to go.”
“What about our permits?”
“You have plenty of time for the inspector to come in and issue you occupancy permits, now that we’re done a week ahead of schedule. You can even call on Monday if you’d like, move the whole thing up.”
“Wow.” I exhaled slowly. “You’re amazing.”
He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I know. Now, let’s celebrate.” We settled down onto the pillows and Levi served out the pasta and salad. A few quiet moments passed before Levi spoke again. “Can I ask you a question… about your past life?”
I quirked an eyebrow and smirked at him. “You mean like reincarnation?”
He rolled his eyes. “No, I mean like Wichita.”
“Oh. Sure, I guess.” My stomach roiled though. I didn’t like thinking about my life in Wichita and had successfully avoided talking about it thus far.
“Why did you leave?”
I frowned and put down my plate of spaghetti. “I told you this already. To buy the Radiance.”
“No. I mean, you had a good life, right? A job, a girlfriend, family. What really made you leave?”
“I guess. I mean, I had a job I hated and Shawna and I were on-again, off-again for so long it seemed almost ridiculous.”
“What did you hate about your job?”
“I was an accountant. What’s to like?” I ripped a piece of bread and dipped it in my spaghetti sauce before stuffing it in my mouth.
