Luring Levi (Tarnished Saints Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

a grin.
    “You don’t look like a mayor nor do you act like one,” she said. “I really can’t believe it.”
    “Well, you’d better start trying, Can dy,” he told her. “And I take my job seriously, so for now on – just call me Mr. Mayor.”

    Chapter 4
     
     
    Levi woke to someone banging on his door. He took a minute to remember where he was, then realized he was in Gus’s store room above Kramer’s Gas Station. He’d been so tired he fell asleep right away after his nephew, Dan, dropped him off here last night. The barbeque had been chaotic with all the kids and all the noise, and Candace had ignored him the entire time. He couldn’t wait for the day to end.
    “Levi, wake up!” Gus’s voice came from the other side of the door and the pounding continued.
    “What’s a guy got to do to get a little shut eye once in awhile?” grumbled Levi, jumping up from the old mattress thrown directly on the floor and heading for the door. He stepped on something and about twisted his ankle, his bare feet trying to find a path on the floor, but it wasn’t easy. Gus owned the gas station, and by the looks of this room he owned everything else he could get his hands on. The man was just short of being a hoarder.
    Boxes lined the walls, and furniture and old newspapers and magazines filled the room. There was a dusty old lace bedspread thrown over the back of a paint-peeled rocking chair that was overflowing with clothes of some sort.
    Several large framed oil paintings were stacked up in the corner and broken toys and even a bike with a bent wheel filled the room. Empty glass canning jars were spilling out of a tipped old trunk and the lids were rusty and bent. An old coat tree stood in the corner with ropes and men’s ties and suspenders hanging from it. There were so many things stacked up and crammed into the small space that he couldn’t even see light coming through the room’s only window. This wasn’t a place suitable for anyone to stay unless maybe a roach or a rat.
    “Levi,” he called out again, and continued to bang on the door. “Are you up?”
    “I’m up!” Levi tore open the door, ready to rip off Gus’s head as well. “What the hell is so important that you have to wake me before the sun’s even up?”
    “The sun’s been up for awhile. It’s already nine-thirty and Angel phoned and told me to tell y ou that your swearing-in ceremony for mayor is at the town square at ten. Gee, I wish you’d get a cell phone already. Thomas finally has a blasted phone in his house, but now I have to deal with the same thing again with you. You Taylor boys are somethin’ else.”
    “Is it really that late ? I thought it was still early since I can’t even see out the damn window.”
    “ Did Thomas tell you the deal we made of me letting you stay here?” asked Gus.
    “No, but I’m sure you’re about to tell me, so go ahead.”
    “In exchange for you staying here for awhile for free, Thomas said you’d clean out this room for me and also paint the outside of the station.”
    “Well, I wasn’t in on the deal, so my answer is no.” He went to close the door, but Gus grabbed a hold of it and stopped him.
    “You got somewhere else to stay?” he asked. “Because if not, I’d strongly suggest ya take me up on the offer, as it’s a good deal.”
    Levi had nowhere else to go, and now that Thomas had kicked him out and given the cabin to Candace, he knew Gus had him over a barrel.
    “Fine, but if I’m staying here I need a washroom and a shower.”
    “You can use the washroom in the station,” he said.
    “How about a shower?” he asked.
    “Can’t help you with that.”
    “You live in the attached apartment, let me use yours.”
    “Sorry, but the missus wouldn’t like a strange man coming in to use the shower with our teenaged daughter there and all.”
    “Gus, I’m not a stranger, and I’ve known your daughter Maryanne since the day she was born. You’ve got to help me out