Right where we belong, p.8
Right Where We Belong, page 8
Indigo sighed and slumped back on the couch. But no, no slumping. He’d said they could pretend it had never happened, so that’s what she’d do. She’d chalk it up as a bad decision and never think of it again.
You want him to think about it though, don’t you?
No, of course she didn’t. She didn’t want to get involved with anyone. And why would he anyway? He’d be used to fabulous kisses from fabulous women, not clumsy pecks from prickly hedgehogs.
She sat up, reaching automatically for her knitting bag, then realized she’d left it back at the farmhouse. Damn, another bad decision. Knitting helped her anxiety, which was why she did a lot of it.
Then, just as her thoughts were relentlessly circling back to how near the door was and how she could quickly be off before Levi realized it, he came out of the kitchen carrying a tray piled high with goodies.
Reflexively, she blushed and turned away, staring out the window at the view of the fields and bush that stretched up into the hills behind HQ.
The clouds were low today, making the sky a kind of gunmetal gray. It was pretty against the deep green of the beech forest, dotted here and there with silver and red beech. Perhaps she could do some gray skeins in various tones, silver and slate and fog. And then some green, with some gold flecks to really make it pop? Just like the gold flecks in—
“One second,” Levi said.
Indigo wrenched her thoughts away before they could head happily down that path and forced herself to turn.
Levi had gone back into the kitchen, but sitting on the battered wooden coffee table in front of her was the tray, and on it were teacups and plates with Bill’s perfect fluffy fresh scones on them, as well as some butter and jam, and even a small pot of whipped cream.
Indigo’s mouth watered. Okay, this was worth suffering through her embarrassment for. Probably.
He came back in again, this time carrying a white china teapot and a bottle of milk.
“Sorry,” he said as he put the milk and teapot down on the table. “I couldn’t find anything to put the milk in. We don’t tend to have high tea in HQ. Do you need sugar?”
It was a perfectly neutral question, and there was nothing in his expression but friendliness. He gave no sign that she’d kissed him not moments before.
She swallowed, her tension easing. “Yes, please,” she said, her voice unexpectedly husky. Great.
But he made no comment, only turning and going back into the kitchen before coming out again with a canister of sugar.
He put it down on the table and sat down too, making her tense up again even though he hadn’t positioned himself near her. “I was hoping for sugar lumps and tongs, but sadly, we don’t have any of those either.” His hazel eyes danced with his usual amusement. “Shall I be mother?”
Indigo stared. “What?”
He grinned and picked up the teapot, pouring the thick black liquid into one of the teacups. “Gumboot tea.” He put the pot down again. “Sorry, it’s all we have.”
It clearly wasn’t Earl Grey, but she needed steadying and maybe gumboot tea was better than no tea.
Indigo leaned forward, put a bit of milk into the cup, stared at the color critically, then dumped a whole lot more milk into it. Then a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Then she picked up the mug. “Why do you call it gumboot tea?”
He shrugged, then unexpectedly poured some into a mug for himself. “Because it looks like it’s been made out of gumboots? I’ve got no idea. It’s just black tea.”
“You drink tea?” For some reason, this came as a surprise to her.
“Yeah. Love the stuff.” Levi picked up his mug. “What? Is that really so shocking?”
“You just don’t look like a tea drinker.”
He took a healthy swallow, drinking it without milk or sugar. “And what do tea drinkers look like?”
Indigo had a sense that this conversation could go downhill if she let it, so she said briskly, “Let’s talk about the house. That’s what I came for.”
“Of course.” An amused smile was playing around his beautiful mouth, though what he was amused about she had no idea.
Perhaps it was the kiss. That silly little peck. Perhaps he was reflecting on her ridiculousness. His lips had been so warm though, and he’d smelled so delicious. And she’d wanted to get even closer…
“So, here’s my plan,” he went on. “I want to—”
“Can I go first, please?” she interrupted, tearing her gaze from his mouth, because she needed to get out of here and fast before she did anything else stupid.
He didn’t miss a beat. “Sure. Go ahead.”
“Okay.” She took a healthy sip of her tea and grimaced. The liquid was bitter and thick and definitely needed more than two sugars.
Levi frowned. “Not good?”
“No, it’s fine. I usually drink Earl Grey. But really, this is great,” she lied. “I’ll just put some more sugar in it.”
“Right.” He picked up a knife and reached for a scone. “You tell me what you want while I do these scones.”
Strangely, the terrible tea had steadied her, and she was able to dump a couple more spoonfuls of sugar into it, plus a third for luck, without a tremble.
“I did some budgets last night.” She paused in stirring her sugar to reach into her pocket and bring out her piece of paper. It was a bit crumpled, so she put her teaspoon down and smoothed the paper out. “Because I’m not letting you pay for all of this. That’s why I was at the Rose. I wanted to ask Jim whether it was okay for me to pay you rent.”
Levi didn’t even glance at the piece of paper. “I’ve got no problem with that. In fact, that’s why I was at the Rose too. I wanted to ask Jim if he’d accept you paying me some kind of rent. Just a nominal amount, nothing too—”
“A nominal amount?” She tried to offer a smile so it wouldn’t sound so sharp. “I don’t want to pay a ‘nominal amount.’ I’ll pay the usual market rent.”
Levi’s expression didn’t change. “Fine. But the market rent in Brightwater Valley is not high.”
“How much is it?”
He named a number that seemed ridiculously cheap to her and not at all what she’d expected.
“I can’t pay that,” she said, aghast. “That’s practically nothing!”
Infuriatingly, he only shrugged as he buttered a scone. “I can’t charge you more than the market rate since that would artificially inflate prices in the area.”
Dammit. He was serious, wasn’t he?
“Can’t you make an exception for me?”
“What? And have everyone call me Scrooge when they find out I’m charging you an inflated rent?” He gave her the smuggest smile she’d ever seen. “No, hedgehog, I can’t.”
You’re really going to insist you pay more rent? When you’re barely able to afford the materials? And what about labor? Did you think about that?
Indigo gritted her teeth and took another big swallow from her teacup, deciding to let the hedgehog thing slide this once. “The kit set’s too expensive,” she said, breathing through the sharp bite of the tannins. “I can’t afford it.”
This time Levi frowned. “But you really liked that one.”
“I know. Like I said though. It’s too expensive.”
“I can pay for—”
“No, you can’t. I want to use recycled materials.”
Levi’s expression was unreadable this time. He looked down at the scone he was holding and put some jam on it. “Recycled materials,” he echoed. “Okay. And what about the design?”
“I’ll ask Chase if he knows anyone who can do some plans for me on the cheap.”
Levi carefully put the scone down on a plate, then pushed it in her direction. “I can do the plans for you.”
Indigo stared at him in surprise. Surely, he couldn’t do the plans for her as well.
“Serious question,” she said. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
His mouth curved in that way she found so fascinating. “Oh, lots of things. I can’t cook, for one. Never learned how. And…I can’t knit, obviously. I can’t sing either, and I’m terrible at sitting still.”
Indigo let out a breath and took a much bigger sip of her sweet, milky, incredibly strong tea. It was going to take the enamel off her teeth, but it was also bracing, she’d give it that. “This is silly. You know that, right? How is any of this going to be mine if you can do all of it for me?”
He gave her a measuring look. “Eat your scone.”
“Levi, this is—”
“Eat your scone.”
She muttered a curse under her breath but picked up the scone and took a bite. Then tried not to moan in delight, because Bill’s scones were utter perfection.
Satisfied with her scone eating, Levi fixed her with a direct look. “How about this? I’ll do the plans, get the council sign-offs, et cetera. Source the materials and build the house. You okay the final design and make the decisions as to what kind of materials you want, plus you pay me rent.”
“I will source the materials,” she insisted.
Levi’s stare became narrower. “We will source the materials.”
“But I—”
“I’m building the bloody thing so I’m going to know what I need when I need it, and I don’t want to have to wait around while you decide on every nail.”
She didn’t want to give him any ground, but that did make sense. How irritating.
“Okay,” she said grumpily.
“And I’ve decided on something else. You don’t have the money to pay me for labor, I know, but you can pay me in other ways.”
A strange jolt of electricity went through her for no apparent reason, leaving little pinpricks of static chasing over her skin.
Oh, you can think of some ways you could pay him…
No. What? What on earth was her brain suggesting?
She could feel her cheeks heat again, which was extremely annoying and utterly inexplicable. “What ways?”
His expression shifted, his eyes gleaming with a kind of wickedness that made her feel hot and restless and her skin too tight. And she found herself holding her breath, every part of her almost quivering at the thought of what he might demand of her.
“What I want, Indigo Jameson,” he said, giving her a smoldering look from beneath his gold-tipped lashes, “is for you to finish teaching me to knit.”
* * *
Indigo blinked.
He was being an asshole and he knew it, but as usual, he couldn’t seem to stop himself from teasing her just a little.
She was so unbearably sweet sitting there on the edge of the couch, holding the giant mug of tea in one hand and her scone in the other, and being all businesslike and determined about the house.
As if she hadn’t kissed him just before.
And that kiss was still burning against his mouth. It hadn’t gone away. He thought it might, but it hadn’t. No kiss had ever done that to him before, still less a kiss like that. It had only been the briefest touch, hardly even a kiss, and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
If she hadn’t been who she was, he’d have deepened that kiss and seduced the hell out of her before she even knew what was happening, but since she was Indigo, seduction was right out.
Except you wouldn’t stop her if she tried it again, would you?
Levi knew himself. Temptation was a problem for him, but he’d give resistance a damn good go, because he’d already told himself she was off-limits.
Teasing her using their chemistry was low, and he shouldn’t be doing that either, but hell, she’d unsettled him, so why couldn’t he unsettle her in return?
“That’s what you want?” she asked. “To finish learning how to knit?”
“That’s what I said.” He lifted a brow. “Why? Did you have something else in mind in terms of payment?”
She went pink, which was gratifying since it was clear the payment she’d had in mind had involved him and was maybe sexier in nature than knitting. Though his last experience of Indigo teaching him to knit had been hella sexy if he did say so himself.
“No,” she said quickly. Too quickly. “That sounds good.”
“That’s not all,” he added, because he’d been thinking about this as he’d gotten the scones and tea ready.
Her eyes narrowed and she was all suspicion again. “What else?”
He held her gaze solemnly this time. “I want us to try and be friends.”
“Friends?” She said the word like she didn’t know what it meant.
“Yes, you know. Two people who enjoy each other’s company.” Another thing he’d thought about while he’d been preparing her tea. Because he enjoyed her prickles and her teases far too much, and he already knew the slippery slope that would lead him down. Far better to get their relationship on a friendship footing, which would make him less likely to do something he’d regret.
Plus, he did want to be her friend. He wanted to hear more about her bear story for a start and about her life in Alaska, and she was pretty much the only person in Brightwater he hadn’t completely charmed the pants off and he couldn’t let her be the single holdout. That didn’t work for him.
“I know what friends are,” she said crossly. “Why do you want to be mine?”
“Because I think you’re interesting.” It was true. He did. Her with her suspicion and her prickliness that he knew from Izzy and Beth hid a very soft heart. In fact, he’d caught a glimpse of that caring heart just before, when he’d told her about how he’d been in the foster system.
It would be interesting to know why she hid that heart of hers. Why she was so suspicious and why she had all those little prickles. Maybe it was innate or maybe she’d had a tough childhood.
A tough childhood like he had.
This is a very bad plan, and you know it.
Hey, it was only friendship, nothing more.
“You think I’m interesting?” She frowned as if she found the concept strange.
“Yes, I do.” Levi took another sip of his tea and only just stopped himself from grimacing. He’d lied just before when he’d said he loved the stuff. He actually hated tea, but he’d decided that if he wanted her to accept his house offer, he had to use every advantage he could. And if that meant pretending he liked tea in order to build a rapport with her, then he would.
“Why?”
She was being completely genuine, which gave him a second’s pause. Because how could she think she wasn’t interesting?
“Uh, well, for a start you needed me to rescue you from a very small insect, yet you told me in the Rose you scared off a bear. So that’s interesting. In fact, that’s downright fascinating.” He stared at her over the rim of his mug. “I want to know more about that definitely.”
She was still quite pink. “The wētā wasn’t small.”
“Bears aren’t small either.”
She finished her scone and dusted off her fingers before picking up her own mug again. “It wasn’t a big deal. There’s nothing much else that’s interesting about me.”
“I would disagree,” Levi said. “You fight bears. You knit amazing things. You dye yarn the most incredible colors. You came all the way from Alaska to New Zealand to start up a business… Come on, what’s not interesting about all those things?”
Indigo glanced down her mug as if she suddenly found the contents fascinating. She held it between her fingers, the dye on her fingertips standing out against the white of the porcelain. “So, what exactly does ‘being friends’ entail?”
He debated pressing her as to why she hadn’t answered his question, but there was no need to make her more uncomfortable than she already was. He’d have plenty of time to find out her secrets if he built this house for her.
“You’ve got friends, haven’t you?” He gave her a grin. “Think of me as being like Beth and Izzy.”
A look of indignation crossed her face. “You are so not like Beth and Izzy. How could you even think that?”
He laughed. “Okay, fair. Not like Izzy and Beth. More like Chase and Finn then. They’re your friends too, aren’t they?”
Finally, she leaned back against the couch, still cradling her teacup. “Yes,” she said slowly. “I suppose they are.”
“Well, then. Think of me as one of them.”
“So, teaching you to knit and being friends. That seems a really small price to pay.” She bit her lip again, and he really wished she’d stop doing that. “There must be something else you want.”
Did this mean that she was giving it some thought? He hoped so.
“Maybe you could teach me how to cook?” He took one last sip of the disgusting tea, put it down, and got himself a scone instead. “I don’t know how, and it’d be useful to learn.”
“You really can’t cook anything?”
“Okay, so that’s not strictly true.” He gave her a knowing look. “I make a mean breakfast. Eggs, bacon, the works.”
“Breakfast? Why breakfast?”
He could tell her the truth, or he could make up some worthy lie to make his reason sound better than it was. Then again, it was probably good she knew the truth about him. Then she’d be under no illusions about what kind of man he was. Not that she didn’t have any illusions already, but it would just be a solid warning should she try any of those little kisses again.
His body went hot at the thought, but he ignored it.
“Why do you think?” He gave her his very best wicked grin. “I’m a full-service one-night stand. Pleasure all night and a good breakfast in the morning before you go.”
“Oh.” Indigo glanced away again, going pink as she took another sip from her mug. “That…makes sense.”
“It really does, doesn’t it?” He shouldn’t enjoy her fluster quite so much. That was what had led him to this point with her, his absolute failure to resist flustering her.
You can’t resist her, full stop.
No, that was bullshit. The attraction might be stronger than he was anticipating, and his ability to resist temptation could use some work, but he’d do it. He’d resist her.
The alternative was an affair that would never go anywhere, because he didn’t have what it took to give a woman forever. And that was okay. He didn’t want forever anyway. He was here for a good time, not a long time, and he wanted to make sure that time was as good as humanly possible.
