I’m startled as our server steps up to our table, ready to take our order. My cheeks flame with embarrassment as Levi says, “Oh no, I think we’re ready. The lady will have the pasta primavera, and I’ll take the tacos.”
“Great. And to drink?”
Levi looks at me, but I’m still embarrassed about the vagina comment, so he says, “Water for both. Thank you.”
“Not a problem. I’ll put that right in.”
When the server leaves, Levi says, “Not sure where your mind is at, but I was really talking about the tacos.”
“I didn’t see tacos on the menu, and you knew he was coming up behind me, didn’t you? You made me say vagina to him.”
“Technically, it wasn’t to him. And it could have been worse. You could have said pussy. At least you used the scientific term. The classy version.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t think there’s any classy way to refer to the female genitalia.”
“Not true, you just said it. Female genitalia. Wow, nothing makes me harder than calling a delicious pussy the female genitalia. Talk about a turn-on.”
“Delicious?” I ask, brows raised.
“Oh yeah, love eating a good pussy.”
Dear God in heaven.
I squeeze my legs together as I clear my throat. “Well, that’s new information.”
“One of my favorite things to eat,” he continues. “If it was on the menu, I would have ordered it.” Then he looks at me with those devilish eyes and says, “Maybe for dessert.” He winks, and I quickly rise from the table. His eyes track my jerky movements.
“I, uh, I need to make a phone call.” Before he can respond, I move toward the back corner of the restaurant, where I hide away from Levi and pull out my phone. Quickly, I dial up Sandie and hope she answers.
On the third ring, she does.
“Hey, how’s it going?” she asks.
“Not good,” I hiss into the phone.
“Uh, okay, what’s going on?”
“He’s different,” I say.
“I assume we’re talking about Levi. How is he different?”
I look past the corner, over at our table where he’s sitting casually, staring right at me.
I squeak out a sound before I move out of sight again. “He’s . . . he’s sexually charged,” I answer.
“Describe how he’s sexually charged.”
“Well, besides the fact that his entire demeanor went from she’s off limits to I’m pushing her hair behind her ear now, he’s walking around in a towel, all wet from the shower, telling me that I’m his type when there’s a woman more suited to him serving him drinks on the airplane, and now he just offered up my vagina for dessert.”
“He really said that? That he was going to eat you for dessert?” she asks, shocked.
“Well, not blatantly, but in a roundabout way, yes. And then there’s just little things, like, oh, he gave me a massage! And he touches me and twirls my hair. I feel like he’s flipped the switch, and he’s the one doing erotic torture, not me.”
She’s silent for a second and then says, “Maybe he is.”
“Huh?”
She gasps. “Maybe . . . maybe he knows you know.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask as I look past the corner again. This time, Levi twiddles his fingers at me in a wave.
I quickly hide again, squeezing my eyes shut.
“Maybe he knows that you know about the agreement he has with your dad.”
I pause and think about it. Consider his transformation. He was skittish, adamant about keeping things platonic and then, all of a sudden, he switched his behavior. A complete one-eighty.
I mean, hell, we’re sharing a hotel room in case he needs me in the middle of the night to do God knows what.
It wouldn’t be too hard to get me a hotel room. I could easily tend to his every need from another room. And since I’ve been here, I really haven’t done anything.
So maybe . . .
Maybe Sandie is right.
“You really think he knows?” I ask.
“No idea. It’s a hunch, though. Did you give him any indication that you know?”
“No, but I did stop the erotic torture, and shortly after that, he picked it up.” I press my hand to my forehead. “Do you think he knows about the erotic torture somehow and just decided to play me at my own game?”
“Possibly. Does it feel like he’s playing the erotic torture game?”
“I mean . . .” I think about it, tugging on the corner of my lip. “Not as blatant as I was at times, but yeah, it feels like he’s trying to turn me on or at least get me to slip somehow.”
“Then I bet he knows. How could he not? He was so adamant about not crossing the line with you and keeping all zippers zipped up and all nipples stuffed away. I bet he knows and is playing you at your own game.”
I grumble under my breath. “Of course.” I rest my head against the wall. “Of course he freaking knows. Why else would he be pulling this stunt?”
“Well, also maybe because he finds you attractive.”
“He’s said that, I know, but to risk that attraction?” I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “No, he’s playing the game.”
“And what game is that? Because I know I’ve been a part of this from the beginning, but I’m still confused. What the hell is going on?”
“The who is going to break first game,” I say.
“And when you say break, you mean . . .”
“Give in to the eroticism. Come on, Sandie, keep up.”
“Right, right. We’re always coming back to the eroticism.”
“Exactly.” I shake my head. “God, he thought he was so good. He thought he could just skate on by, drive me nuts with his pectorals on display and his bulge ready to be unwrapped. Ohhhh no, I see right through him. When I said this is war, I meant it, Sandie. Time to strap on the war paint.”
“You know, you sound a bit, um, unhinged at the moment, and I just want to make sure we’re maintaining our goals.”
“Oh, we’re maintaining them all right. We’re controlling our goals. We’re taking the men by the dick, and we’re making them all suffer.”
“Okay, so when you say things like that, do you mean you’re taking your dad by the dick as well? Because although I enjoy the play on words, I’m just afraid we’re not thinking entirely straight here.”
“I would never grab my dad by the dick.”
“Good, okay, now I feel like we’re—”
“But I would grab him by the man nipples.”
“Ehh, okay, now we’re back to me being concerned.”
“No need to be concerned,” I say, feeling slightly crazed. “Everything is on the up and up.”
“What do you mean by that?”
The warrior inside me takes over as I say, “I mean, we’re no longer going to sit back and be the good girl worker. Ohhhh no, if he wants to play with me, then I’ll play with him. First one to cave loses.”
“Ah, I see. So we’re not going to tell him that you know he knows that you know? We’re just going to continue this battle?”
“Battle? Ohhhh no, Sandie. This is war now. All of this is war. I was sidetracked for a second there, trying to please my dad, but not anymore. I’m doing this for me and me alone.”
“I like that attitude, but what are you going to do?”
I squeeze the phone in my hand and say, “Erotic torture is back on.”
“Oh dear God in heaven . . .”
hapter Thirteen
LEVI
Levi:She knows that I know that she knows.
Penny:That strangely makes sense.
Ollie:How do you know?