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I take one step closer and Max is on me again.
“Max,” he groans. “He doesn’t normally attack people like this.”
“I think he likes me.”
The man—who hasn’t said his name yet—grunts. “Yeah. Maybe. Can I help you?”
“Yes!” I decide to help Mr. No Name and push Max’s paws to the floor. “Sit,” I tell the pup as sternly as I can, and he does. I grin—I’ve never owned an animal. But that worked, just like in the movies. I crouch next to Max. “Shake.” I hold out one hand and he offers me a paw.
Mr. No Name is still scowling, though I’m pretty sure that Max and I are friends now. “Can I help you?” he asks again.
“Oh, yes.” I stand and brush the lap of my dress. “Your name? What was it? I can’t keep calling you Mr. No Name.” I lift my shoulders and smirk at the idea.
“Mr.—you were calling me—”
“Well, I don’t know your name.” I give half a head shake and keep my eyes on his, waiting for him to produce an answer.
He clears his throat, sliding his fingers through the right side of his unruly brown hair. I follow his hand with my eyes, liking the way his fingers slip through the hairs and over his scalp. “It’s Levi, Levi Bailey. And I manage this shop.”
“Levi Bailey. I like that.” I set my hands on my hips. “You have fantastic eyebrows, Levi.”
“What?” Those wondrous brows cinch.
“Your eyebrows. I’ve never seen another set like them. They’re quite fetching.”
“Fetching?”
“Yep.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, with one quick look around the room. “Did you follow me here?”
“What?” I laugh again. He’s funny.
“You didn’t come here to see me?”
“As appealing as your eyebrows are…” I say, feeling acrobats bounce around in my stomach. “No. Not for you.” Although, Levi does have very nice lips.Number five.I swallow with the thought.Get yourself together, Meredith!“I’m here for a bike.”
4
Levi
Meredith. The woman—no thegirl, I should say, because that’s what she is—sends a strange quiver to my gut.Eyebrows and fetching—what is she talking about? It doesn’t help that she’s beautiful. Likestupidlybeautiful, the way that no woman should be. A woman this beautiful only gets a man in trouble.
Her dark lashes contrast against her light blue eyes and seem to saydon’t you want to look at me? No, I do not, that’s for sure. Not to mention, at any moment she might spit or spill or dump something on me.
“You want a bike?” I say, asking if she’s serious.
“Yes.” She gives one confident nod, her blonde hair bobbing with the motion. “A bicycle.”
Her hair is cut right to her chin, probably six different shades of blonde throughout it. But it’s the length that bothers me. Her hair ends right at her chin, drawing my eyes to the ends of her hair and then over. I don’t want to look at her mouth. But I do—twice. And I’m blaming that dang haircut.
I clear my throat and draw my eyes up to hers. “Great. Pick one.”
I hold a hand out to the showroom. I’ve got twenty-five bikes on display. She can peruse the room. There’s more in the back. I can show her those too—if she makes me. But the plan is to not mention the used bikes in the back or the ones online that I can order. I’ll make the sale quick and get this blue-eyed, lip-magnet girl on her way.
Meredith sets a hand on one of her curvy hips and makes her way around the shop. She’s thin, but she isn’t tiny. She hascurves. Womanly curves… which is exactly the wrong thing for me to be thinking about this girl. This stranger.
“I like this one.”
