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  He thought he saw a hint of interest on Willow’s part, but it had been so long since he’d gone out on a date he might have been imagining it.

  The real problem was that McGee’s was his life. Two years ago, he had officially taken over the pub and ever since, he’d been consumed with making it a success.

  Okay, the pub had been his grandfather’s on his mother’s side, and Levi had been working here since he was sixteen.

  Well, formally working there. He’d been going there for years and hanging out with his grandfather and learning all about the business.

  When his grandfather passed away two years ago, Levi had been shocked to find out he had willed the pub to him. There was a stipulation that if he didn’t want the responsibility of taking on the business that he could sell it and split the profits with his sisters. But it had been a no-brainer. McGee’s had always been a part of his life, and he loved it, and everyone in the family knew it. His sisters had been adamant that he take it on–even if it meant less of an inheritance for them.

  Not that it was the only thing their grandfather willed to them. They also received some money and some sentimental items he knew they would love. But ever since the papers were signed and the pub officially became his, Levi had spent all his time making sure he was doing everything to make his grandfather proud and for the pub to be even more successful than it had ever been.

  It was, but that didn’t mean he should slack off and get too comfortable. There were always improvements he could make, new things he wanted to try, and even though he had a great staff–with the exception of the accident-prone Dex–he never felt right about taking any time off for himself.

  But if he ever got up the nerve to point-blank ask Willow–or anyone–out, he’d take the night off.

  Probably one of the slower nights, but…still. He’d do it.

  Maybe tonight he should test the waters. Maybe he could flirt a little bit and see how she responded, or maybe he should just ask her outright and see what she said. Or…maybe he was just crazy and shouldn’t rock the boat. He would hate losing her as a friend because…well…he genuinely liked her.

  Raking a hand through his closely cropped hair, he let out a long breath as he started to think about some possible ways to broach the subject.

  And his mind went completely blank.

  “How is that possible?” he muttered. “I’ve dated dozens of women over the years. How the hell can I have no idea how to do this?” It was a bit mind-boggling how nervous he was and how badly he wanted her to say yes.

  But seriously, what was he going to do if she said no?

  How would he face her? Would she even want to talk to him afterward or would she even come back to McGee’s ever again? Would her friends all glare at him or mock him?

  “Great, that’s just perfect. Psych yourself out with every worst-case scenario. Awesome.”

  And yet…that’s exactly what happened. It seemed his brain was in rejection mode and all Levi could envision was getting his face slapped, Willow running from the pub, her friends kicking him in the nuts, and everyone in the pub looking at him with a mixture of pity and disgust.

  “Okay, so maybe tonight isn’t the night…”

  There was a knock on his office door and his assistant Anthony came in. “Hey, I just wanted to let you know your girlfriend just came in,” he said with a knowing smirk.

  Closing his eyes, he grimaced. Had he been that obvious all this time?

  Opening his eyes, he forced a smile. “Thanks. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “Want me to tell her that?”

  “What? No!” he cried. “I mean, not unless she asks for me. Which, let’s be real, she won’t. She doesn’t, right? She never asks for me when she gets here with her friends. Are her friends with her? Is she alone?” With a snort of derision, he went on, “Of course her friends are with her. Why would she come here by herself?” Slapping himself in the head, Levi let out a string of curses. When he noticed Anthony’s wide-eyed stare, he snapped, “What?!”

  Hands up defensively, Anthony said, “Nothing. Nothing at all. I’ll just leave you and your multiple personalities to work it all out.”

  “Shut up.” Standing, he kicked the chair away from him. “And I don’t have multiple personalities.”

  “That dialogue you just had would say differently.”

  “You’re crazy. I was talking to you.”

  “Were you? Because you asked questions and then answered them yourself. I had very little to do with any of it.”

  Walking around his desk and toward the door, Levi muttered, “You’re a dick.”

  Chuckling, Anthony replied, “Tell me something I don’t know.” Together they walked down the hall that led out to the pub. “You ever going to ask this girl out or what?”

  “None of your damn business.”

  Another low chuckle was Anthony’s response before adding, “You really should make your move or someone else will.”

  Levi immediately glanced around the pub to see if anyone was looking in Willow’s direction–other patrons or anyone on his staff–but luckily, they weren’t. Obviously they were all blind because his eyes were always immediately drawn to her.

  Because we’re friends and I’m just looking out for her.

  No big deal.

  “If you’re looking to worry about something, go make sure Dex isn’t breaking anything. At the rate he’s going, we’re going to have to restock all of our glass inventory.” Luckily, Anthony took the hint and walked away. Meanwhile, Levi felt like his feet were glued to the floor. Willow and her friends were sitting at one of the high tables near the front corner of the room. In a minute, one of them–whoever drew the short straw–would go up to the bar and buy the first round of drinks.

  And that meant he needed to get behind the bar pronto and play bartender.

  Okay, he wasn’t really playing. He was the bartender.

  Groaning, he walked over to the bar and nodded to Maxi and Eric, the other bartenders. Friday nights were always busy, and it wasn’t unusual for him to step up and make drinks, but he’d taken a renewed interest in it lately.

  No sooner was he in place and wiping down the bar than Willow was approaching.

  Perfect. Timing.

  He looked up and smiled at her and noticed the slight flush in her cheeks. Her lips were pink and glossy, her dark hair fell past her shoulders, and her curvy body was wrapped in faded blue jeans and pastel pink top. She looked way too soft and feminine to be hanging out in a pub and she wasn’t a big drinker–neither were her friends–so he had to wonder why they kept coming back.

  Part of him was hopeful that maybe he was the reason, but…he was also a realist. Willow didn’t flirt with him or show any interest beyond their friendly conversations over the bar. That couldn’t possibly be enough to keep her coming back week after week, could it? Did she feel obligated because he had helped her up when she had fallen?

  God, I hope that’s not the reason…

  She smiled at him as she stepped up to the bar. She had a fantastic smile.

  “Hey, Levi,” she said. He could barely hear her over the noise and wanted to shout out for everyone to shut up.

  That wasn’t an option, so he just made sure he leaned in close to hear her when she spoke again. “Hey, Willow. Did you have a good week?”

  Resting her arms on the bar top, she shrugged. “It was okay, I guess.”

  “Uh-oh. That doesn’t sound good. The big dogs giving you trouble again?”

  “Scout had a bit of a run-in with a squirrel that I got dragged into–literally–and Matthias ate one of my hats, but other than that…” She shrugged again.

  “That sounds like a bit of a nightmare for his owners.”

  “Nah, he didn’t eat it whole. Definitely got some big pieces of it, though. But they’re used to it. Apparently he’s famous for eating socks.”

  “Those poor people.”

  “Yeah, but they love him.” She let out a sof
t sigh as she looked down at her hands.

  “You sure that’s it? You look like you’ve got something on your mind.” To busy himself, he began making her drinks. Their order was always the same: draft beer for friend number one, a Cosmopolitan for friend number two, and a Malibu and pineapple for Willow.

  I should probably learn her friend’s names…

  Whoever was the designated driver only had one drink, and they tended to stay for several hours so they were clear to drive. Plus, they normally ordered food. So he had to wonder…

  “Who’s the DD tonight?”

  She slowly raised her hand. “I drew the short straw again.”

  He put the beer on the bar. “That’s three weeks in a row, isn’t it?”

  Nodding, she sighed. “It’s okay. I’m not much of a drinker anyway. Besides, Donna and Jen both had rough weeks so they deserve to kick back and unwind.”

  “A minute ago it sounded like your week wasn’t so hot either. Don’t you deserve to kick back and unwind?” He placed the Cosmo on the bar.

  “Well, my week wasn’t really bad, just today.”

  “How come?”

  “Just family stuff.”

  Bracing his hands on the bar, he stared at her until she explained further.

  “I lied to my grandmother and now I can’t go and see her for her birthday,” she said sadly. “This will be the first one I’m missing in like…ever.”

  “Damn, Willow. Whatever you lied about, I’m sure she’d forgive you.”

  But she shook her head. “It’s complicated. And on top of that, I can’t afford to fly down and see her. I’m still not working steadily so…”

  “No leads on anything, huh?”

  “Nothing I’m good at.”

  “Any chance you’re good at waitressing?” For the life of him, he had no idea why he was offering. It wasn’t like they were hiring.

  With a small laugh, she shook her head again. “I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time without hurting myself. I have a feeling I’d end up owing you money at the end of my shift.”

  “Good to know,” he replied with a wink. “What kind of job are you looking for?”

  “That’s the problem, I don’t know.” She groaned. “I graduated back in the spring with a degree in psychology, but it’s not what I want to do.”

  “Then why get your degree in it?”

  “It wasn’t my idea, trust me.”

  “Ah. Gotcha. Parental pressure, huh?”

  “Bingo.”

  Placing her drink on the bar, he offered a small smile. “Want me to help you carry these over?”

  “That would be great. Thanks.”

  He used to think she accepted so they could keep talking, but now he realized it was because she was afraid of dropping the beverages.

  Well, damn.

  Stepping around the bar, he picked up the beer and Cosmo and followed her over to her table.

  While admiring the soft sway of her hips, and how perfect her ass looked in her jeans.

  “Good evening, ladies,” he said smoothly, placing their drinks down. “Having a good night?”

  “Absolutely,” Jen said.

  At least, he thought that was Jen.

  “We’re just trying to cheer Willow up,” Donna chimed in.

  “Oh, uh…really?” he asked, unsure of how interested he should sound.

  Jen nodded. “We’re trying to convince her to go and see her grandmother and to stand up to her parents.”

  “Jen!” Willow cried, her cheeks turning a furious shade of red.

  “It’s true,” Donna stated. “We just need to find a way for her to get down to Florida and get everyone off her back.”

  “Um…”

  “You guys know why I can’t do that!” Willow argued, although really, there wasn’t a lot of heat behind her words. “I’m not going to argue with my parents and ruin Gammy’s birthday. That wouldn’t be fair.”

  Gammy?

  “Oh, please! You know they’re not going to care about making a scene. They’re totally okay with poking at you and picking at you in front of everyone, so why do you care about doing it to them?” Donna asked before taking a sip of her beer.

  Willow glanced nervously in his direction and Levi thought maybe that was his cue to leave.

  “Um…you ladies have a good night,” he said, taking a step back. “If you need anything, you know where I’ll be.”

  “Levi, wait!” Jen cried, reaching out a hand toward him. “Can we ask you something?”

  “Jen…” Willow warned.

  “Oh, shush.” She grinned at Levi. “Let me ask you a question–do you think it’s wrong to lie about being in a relationship?”

  “Uh…what?”

  This time Donna spoke. “Yeah, like if it meant getting your family off your back, would you be opposed to making up a fake girlfriend–or boyfriend–just so they’d stop worrying about you?”

  He glanced at Willow as some of this was starting to make sense.

  “You told your grandmother that you had a boyfriend and that’s why you can’t go visit her,” he stated, waiting for her to make eye contact with him.

  All she did was nod.

  “It’s not a terrible lie, right?” Jen asked.

  Shrugging, Levi said, “No, it’s not terrible. And it’s not hurting anyone either. If you go down and visit her, all you have to do is say your boyfriend couldn’t get the time off or say the two of you broke up. I don’t see it as a big deal.”

  “That’s 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.<
br />
  “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?”