Page 112 of Wilde Ride

Gatlin walked in, holding the paper. He smirked as he held it up and read, “‘It’s been a while since we’ve had a good piece of gossip in our small town.’”

I groaned and fell back onto the loveseat.

“‘Last night, I personally spotted Levi Tucker and Emeline Wilde out to dinner, enjoying some lovely Mexican cuisine from the newly opened restaurant, El Rey. Which, let me add, was amazing, and I highly recommend it. The beef enchiladas were to die for.’”

I slowly shook my head. “Is she seriously doing a food review in the middle of gossiping?”

Caden and Gatlin both chuckled, as Levi winked at me.

“‘Back to the other delicious news. After dinner, Emeline went to Levi’s parents’ house and remained there for several hours, leaving late in the evening. I haven’t been able to confirm if Oliver and Sam were home. I was already late submitting this article for today’s paper. I’ll do an update in the next edition. That’s it for your Daily Dirt! We dig up the dirt so you don’t have to.’”

“She did not!” I barked, standing up and putting my hands on my hips. “Did she follow us, for fuck’s sake?”

Gatlin lowered the paper. “What time did you get home last night?”

“I got home by eleven. Plus, Sam and Oliver were home, we weren’t alone. We played dominoes.”

Caden grinned at Levi. “Oh man, I loved playing that with our grandparents and your parents. Remember how your dad used to get so mad when we stacked the dominoes all up on each other and looked at them that way?”

Levi laughed. “I do remember that.”

“What is wrong with you two?”

Three sets of eyes flew to me.

“Emeline, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like it’s your first time being in the paper,” Caden said.

Levi frowned. “I didn’t think you’d care if people knew. I’m sorry if I put you in a tough spot.”

Shaking my head, I replied, “I’m not upset. I guess I’m just surprised you’re okay with it.”

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Gatlin asked.

I looked at Levi again. “You’ve been gone for so long. I just didn’t think you’d want to be the center of attention so soon.”

He gave me a gentle smile as he took my hands in his. Kissing the back of each one, he said, “I don’t care who knows we’re dating, Em. I had to learn a hard lesson. Life is too short to worry about shit like that. The only thing that matters to me is that Rhett is happy and healthy, and that we get to…”

Levi glanced at my brothers, who both raised a single brow.

“Get to what?” Gatlin asked.

“Continue to get to know each other,” Levi finally said, still looking at Caden and Gatlin. When he faced me, I saw the twinkle in his eyes.

Smiling, I said, “If you’re not bothered by it, then neither am I.”

Gatlin cleared his throat. “Um, there’s one more thing.”

I managed to drag my gaze off of Levi to ask, “What?”

“There’s a picture of you.”

Gasping, I reached for the paper. “Let me see!”

Gatlin held it up. “Trust me, you don’t want to see it.”

I blinked rapidly.

“It’s worse than the Easter picture,” Caden said with a wince.