Test Drive - Samantha Chase Page 0,6

what we said,” Donna commented. “Hell, we even suggested she ask a friend–a guy friend–to go with her to play the part if she didn’t want to go with the breakup thing.”

Suddenly, Levi felt like he had the perfect solution.

For both of them.

And he was either completely crazy or absolutely brilliant.

“I’ll go with you,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What?!” All three women cried.

Nodding, his eyes never left Willow. “If you don’t want to go alone and you don’t want to admit there never was a boyfriend, I’ll go with you. I’ll be your boyfriend.”

2

As soon as Levi’s words registered, Willow wasn’t sure if she wanted to throw herself at him or throw up.

Definitely not both.

Her eyes went wide, and she couldn’t seem to make her mouth form any words, but her two BFF’s didn’t seem to share her problem. They were both positively chattering with glee.

“Oh, you are amazing, Levi!”

“That is super sweet of you, Levi!”

“Why aren’t all guys like you, Levi?”

“You are so lucky, Willow! Levi’s going to make the best fake boyfriend ever!”

Ugh, she wanted to yell at them both to shut up, but…her voice still wasn’t cooperating.

Levi stepped in close–really close–and put his large, wonderful hands on her shoulders. It was hard to focus on anything except how amazing they felt, but he tilted his head toward her and then she felt the heat of his body wrapping around her.

“You don’t have to say yes, Willow,” he said gruffly, his words soft against her ear. She knew he did that because the music was getting a little louder and it was harder to hear each other, but she kind of liked it. He straightened, and slowly her gaze traveled up to meet his eyes, and holy crap. They were so incredibly dark that she couldn’t tell if they were blue or brown or what. “If you’re not comfortable with this…”

It was her turn to lean in. And get on tiptoes so she could reach his ear. “What color are your eyes?”

“Excuse me?”

“Your eyes,” she repeated. “Like I’m looking right at them but the lighting isn’t the greatest in here and I can’t tell. You should tell your boss the lighting needs to be better.”

He pulled back and looked at her like she was crazy. “You want brighter lights?”

She nodded.

“In a pub.”

Another nod.

“And you want me to tell…my boss.”

“Yes, exactly.” This wasn’t the first time she thought about the interior of McGee’s, and as she looked around, more ideas came to her. “And while you’re at it, you should mention that he really should get some new signage in the windows and change out these tables and stools. They’re very worn and your crowd here is a little more mature. Not quite the wine bar crowd, but not college kids either. Something a little more sophisticated.”

“Sophisticated?”

“But seriously, what color are your eyes because right now they look almost completely black.”

He laughed, and it was deep and rich and yummy, and Willow knew it wouldn’t be a hardship to have Levi as her pretend boyfriend.

“They’re blue,” he replied, leaning in again to talk closer to her ear.

A girl could get used to this…

“Wow,” she whispered breathlessly and instantly pulled back, horrified.

Bad, Willow!

His smile was slow and sexy as hell, and suddenly she began to wonder if maybe this wasn’t the best idea. If she was ready to rub up against him over a few whispered words, what in the world would she be like after a week of playing boyfriend and girlfriend?

Someone would probably have to turn the hose on me…

Unable to help herself, she giggled. Levi’s expression went from sexy to confused. Willow immediately cleared her throat and glanced at her friends, who were watching all of this with pure amusement.

Damn them.

“Um, I really appreciate the offer, Levi, but…”

“Don’t listen to her!” Donna cried out, jumping off her chair and crowding in with them. She gave Willow a stern look. “You know this is the perfect solution! It’s killing you to miss out on going to Florida, and the biggest obstacle was the whole boyfriend thing! This is a total answer to a prayer!”

“I wouldn’t exactly say a prayer, but…”

Jen flanked her on the other side. “You know it was breaking your grandmother’s heart. If you didn’t show up, her whole birthday was going to be ruined. Do you really want to be responsible for doing that to her? I mean, she’s not getting any younger. Why devastate her and risk giving her a heart attack or something?”

“A heart attack?”