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Chapter 1

TROUBLE!

LEVI

Lifting my eyes off the pave towardfro? I don’t even have a chance to get out of her way, and before I can prepare, she’s running into round Atte her, I try to spin us at the last second, but I only e to turn us to our sides before we land and skid across the ground

Groaning fro above the woman, and scan her from head to toe She’s tiny, so much s I just hope I didn’t “Babe” I wait for her eyes to open, and when they do I’m stunned She’s beautiful in an unusual sort of way that reminds me of a fairy Her blonde hair is a mass of wild curls Her face is soft; her nose, tiny; and her lips are a shape I wouldn’tmore, but her eyes aren’t like any I have ever seen before The color rereen pickup truck I used to have—the green had faded and peeled away, leaving layers of silver and blue I loved that truck Feeling her eyes on me, I shake my head and force myself out of whatever spell she has me under “Are you okay?” I ask her Her eyes et you to a doctor?” I question, watching as her hand lifts and her finger covers ether “Do you think you can move, or should I call an ambulance?”

“Are you talking to me?” At her question I frown, then move my eyes over her head and down her neck, and then I see the cord to her earphones Realizing herand she can’t hear me, I move runt as she hitsmy nuts

“What the fuck?” I bark

She starts to go wild, yelling, “Help! Fire!” at the top of her lungs, causing the people walking by to slow to see what’s happening

“Jesus!” I finally get a grip on the cord and pull, which tugs the earphones out of her ears, and her body stills “Are you crazy?” I grit out, and her eyes move over me, then to the cord in my hand

“Oh shit Oops!” she pants, covering her face with her hands Oops? Is this chick for real?

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I ask, and she uncovers her face,her eyes to my abs as I sit back on my knees

“Tinker Bell, can you get a fucking clue for aher pretty little neck, and she pulls her eyes off my torso, then looks around, and her cheeks fill with color

“Everything’s okay Show’s over, folks” While she sits up, she waves her hands out toward the crowd that has gathered around us; then she looks at me and points at my chest “And, you, don’t call me Tinker Bell!”

“You’re bleeding,” I inform her as I stand, and her eyes drop to her knees, and her face scrunches up I don’t want to think that she looks cute with her face like that, but I do

“Gross” She stands, not noticing the hand I’ back, I openwith her, but my mouth dries up as she rips her shirt off over her head, leaving herself in nothing but a sports bra As ht little body,her out; a couple of other er irrationally spikes

“Are you kiddingwith you?” I step close and pull my tee from my back pocket, where I’d shoved it at the start ofthe shirt out toward her, and she shakes her head

“No, thanks”

“You seriously must be crazy What the hell kind of woman runs with her eyes closed?” I ask, and her head starts to lift, but her gaze pauses on my abs before she lifts her eyes slowly to meet mine

“If you knew et out ofher eyes back to her knee, which pisseshate that she keeps taking her eyes from me

“You ive me the reaction I want

Her eyes stay on her knee as she mutters, “And you must be a natural asshole”

Standing there staring at her, I realize I et this wo withthis chick, I can tell she’s a whole different kind of trouble “Just run with your eyes open froet away fro stupid

Like kiss the crazy woman

“Run with your eyes open,” I hear in a s around, and I find her rolling her eyes at me

“I saw that,” I infor five-year-old

“Good” She shrugs, and frustration fills my chest I have never been ht you were leaving” She raises a brow, and my jaw ticks

“I a crazy like toss the woman over my shoulder and run home with her crazy ass and fuck her until neither of us can h, and I realize then that I still have her headphones With a shake of my head, I shove them into my pocket and look at my watch The movers will be at my place in just a few o find her to return her headphones, I don’t have time

FAWN

“Why are the hot ones always jerks?” I shake uy’s retreating back When I first opened round and saw hiht fro hiods themselves h

ad cast him down to Earth Luxurious dark hair had fallen across his forehead, and golden eyes with thick dark lashes had scannedinside me feel warm and dizzy Then I saw his lips e drea toto attackout my earbuds, but hoas I supposed to knoasn’t? On that thought, I shakethe path and take a seat Pulling out h, realizing thatup, I look around to see if he dropped theround, then look tohere Mr Hot Guy ran off and debate whether I should try to catch up with hi that I don’t want another confrontation—since h the city

Once I reachtruck parked in front ofon boxes inside Diva, who lived in the apart and in with her fiancé aa new neighbor Walking up the stairs, I stop dead in my tracks There is no way my luck could be this bad

Mr Hot Shirtless Guy fro in front of Diva’s e a large leather couch Duckingnoticed, but I know I’ me?”

“You wish” I glare at him as I pull a key out of my sports bra and walk across the hall to open the door to my apartment

“You have got to be kidding me” He narrows his eyes, which makes me smile and his eyes narrow further

“See you around, neighbor”

I laugh, shutting the door withabout a hot neighbor before a different voice boo at that, I look around I am quite proud of e by New York standards, because in addition to my bedroom I have a small office space with a door that could be considered a second bedrooht and has a bar that stretches the length of the kitchen, separating it froh backs line the bar, each in a different color—one rusty red, one dusty blue, one burnt yellow, and the last a weathered green The living room, where I spend most of my time, has a suede sofa with throw pillows of different colors, which tie into the bar stools, and a painting that hangs above the couch of a pot of flowers sitting on an old table The bedroo up: a double bed with an elegant wrought-iron fralass-top metal-framed side table that I found at a flea s a picture I took of the ocean when I was around fifteen that ift It reminds me of home but also complements the bedside lamp filled with sand from that exact beach and soreen duvet and sheets s near the sea, a place I love

Pulling myself fro my eyes for a few much-needed minutes of shut-eye

Feeling a wet, rough tongue run over the side of my face, I smile

“Hey, baby” I greetmy eyes You would never know that Muffin is only tenby her size My Irish wolfhound pup once weighed eight pounds, but now she weighs a hundred and fifteen “Youup to make room for her when she climbs up next to o tiuy,” I infor both sides of her face, I look into her brown eyes “Next tio or not”

“Ruff”

“Too bad, because next tiuessingwhen I left for e fro out She’s stubborn as hell when she wants to be The one tiainst her will ended badly for both of us As in I had to carry my seventy-pound puppy home two blocks in the rain