Lexie

by Kimberly Dean

  How had things changed so quickly? She was doing things she never would have dared before, and two people she hardly knew were suddenly the key people in her life. She’d found a sister she loved, regardless of the tension between them. And as for Cam… Well, he was becoming a confusion and an obsession all at once. He was still a mystery to her, but something deep and important was developing between them.

  She just hoped she could trust it. If she’d learned nothing in the past days, it was that people could and would surprise you.

  But not always for the better.

  “Brace yourself,” Cam muttered.

  Lexie didn’t need the warning. She could hear Roxie’s heels cracking against the floor even with the music blaring. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that her sister was still in full battle mode.

  Apparently she didn’t have a hunk to ravage to ease her tension.

  The random thought had Lexie’s eyes blinking wide, even as her twin slammed their drinks on to the table.

  “Came to get your car?” Roxie didn’t wait for a response as she dug in her pocket and came up with the borrowed keychain. She tossed it onto the table, and the keys clattered across the surface until Lexie slapped a hand over them.

  She met her sister with her shoulders squared. “We came here to talk.”

  One of Roxie’s eyebrows lifted. “Well, I’m busy.”

  As swiftly as that eyebrow had risen, though, it snapped back down. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the two of them sitting together, and her gaze turned laser-like on the spot where Cam toyed with Lexie’s hair.

  “Are you serious?” Heat blasted across the table as she turned on Cam. “You took her to bed today?”

  He stiffened. “Now wait one minute…”

  “Why? You obviously couldn’t.” Roxie planted her hands on her hips and rocked her foot back on its heel. “Just like the other night. You pounce on her when she’s weak and vulnerable. Nice, Hatchet. Real nice.”

  Cam’s chair squealed against the floor as he pushed it back and started to stand. “You’re one to talk. She did nothing to you today, but your claws came out at her.”

  “Hey!” Lexie was on her feet before he’d risen to full height. “Enough.”

  “But he—”

  “She—”

  Lexie smacked both hands on the table, rocking the drinks. Beer slopped onto the wooden surface, but she turned a furious glare on her sister. “I was the one who pounced.” She whipped her head around towards Cam. “And I don’t care.”

  Sitting down in a whoosh, she reached for her Diet Coke. She took a healthy gulp before looking up at them both defiantly. The tip of Roxie’s boot dropped to the floor, and Cam eased back into his seat.

  “Sit.” Lexie pointed at an empty chair. “Please.”

  Roxie tapped her fingers against her hipbones. She cast a glance back at the bar but pulled out the chair and perched on its edge. “Fine, but I can’t take long. We’re busy.”

  “That’s all right. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

  Her twin shrugged. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “In a way, it was. We should have taken more time to look into things. If we had, maybe…”

  “You didn’t have time—not with the way they were coming down on you.” Roxie rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. “How did you stand growing up with those people?”

  Those people. Her family. The fire in Roxie’s eyes immediately put Lexie’s back up, but she identified with it too. The anger and the horror over this morning’s encounter hadn’t left, nor was it getting any weaker. Every time she’d thought about the unfairness of it all, she’d wanted to march into Cam’s living room, grab that paperweight and throw it through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

  “I had no idea what they’d done,” she said. “I don’t think they understand the damage they did.”

  “Stop making excuses for them. You don’t split up kids. I don’t care if there were enough ‘parents’ to go around.” The air quotes Roxie used might as well have been daggers.

  And Lexie might as well have felt them digging into her heart. Out of everything that had happened, that was what she regretted the most. Why had the other couple walked away? How could they have left a beautiful little two-year-old on her own? “I’m just sick about that, Roxie. If—”

  “Ifs and maybes get us nowhere. What’s done is done.” Roxie dragged a hand through her wild hair. “It’s obvious the Underhills never wanted you to find out, but you did.”

  “We did.”

  A vengeful grin pulled at her sister’s lips. “Yeah, and that knocked them for a loop. Big time.”

  Lexie frowned. She took no joy from what had happened on that sunny veranda. She’d never felt a deeper split between herself and her family, and she didn’t know if she wanted to go through the motions to fix this one. Roxie was right, excuses and apologies could only go so far. Actions spoke more loudly than words.

  The grin slipped from Roxie’s face. Reaching out, she toyed with the peanuts. “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. That was a low blow.”

  Lexie twirled her straw slowly in her drink. “We were both upset.”

  “Yeah.”

  Their table fell quiet amongst all the noise and movement.

  Cam took a drink of his beer. “Just how upset were you, Rox?”

  She swiveled her head in his direction. “What does that mean?”

  “Cam.” Lexie knew that tone of voice. He’d been watching and waiting and analyzing.

  He ignored her. “We heard that you’ve been busy making calls.”

  Roxie’s eyes widened before the fire flared again. Her chin set, and she looked back and forth between the two of them. Finally, she sat back in her chair. “Ah, now I get it. You’re worried about who I’ve told.”

  “So you did go to the tabloids.”

  Lexie caught Cam’s forearm when he leaned forward onto the table.

  “Hell, yes, I called them.” Roxie leaned forward too. “You keep talking about burying a story I want the whole world to hear. I want to know why this happened.”

  Lexie’s throat tightened. “The Underhills—”

  “Not that,” Roxie said, cutting her off. She pushed back her hair and lowered her voice. “I want to know why we were put up for adoption in the first place. Don’t you understand? Somebody out there might know. Our parents might still be out there.”

  The noise of the bar faded, and Lexie’s grip on her glass turned slippery. She’d never… Her thoughts hadn’t even turned in that direction. All at once, though, the possibilities started churning. Their parents wouldn’t be that old. Could they still be nearby? Had they moved away? Did they have any interest at all in knowing what had happened to their children?

  “Have you tried to find them before?” she asked.

  Roxie reached into the bowl and took a peanut. She cracked the shell but just toyed with the two halves. “I’ve done some internet searches. A few years ago, I tried to find out more through official channels, but the foster care people told me I couldn’t learn any more without our parents indicating that they wanted to be contacted.”

  “I was told it was a private adoption,” Lexie said softly. “And, well, Julian and Anne Marie obviously weren’t very forthcoming.”

  “But there are two of you now,” Cam said. “Identical twins… That has to be unique. You’ve got a date and a city. Somebody should be able to take all that and run with it.”

  Roxie’s eyes flashed. “My point exactly, smart guy. That’s why I made some calls. After what happened with the billboard, I thought that maybe my luck had changed. So sue me.”

  Cam drummed his fingers on the table. “Have you ever dealt with the media? That kind of media?”

  She shrugged indifferently.

  “Be careful what you wish for, Evil Twin. They won’t leave any stone unturned. Can you risk that?”

  Her lips thinned, and she cocked her head. “What are you saying? That you want
me to stay quiet?”

  “Maybe.” He lifted his beer. “How much would something like that cost me?”

  “Cam!” Lexie gasped.

  “Five thousand,” Roxie returned, not missing a beat.

  Lexie whipped her head around.

  “Done,” Cam said.

  The peanut shell disintegrated between Roxie’s fingers, and her gaze dropped. She stared hard at the crumbled pieces before setting them onto the table. Carefully, she brushed her hands and stood. “Works for me.”

  She turned away, her gaze sliding over Lexie. That edge was back, the impenetrable wall she put up around herself to keep others out.

  Lexie’s breath left her. What had just happened? Five thousand was all it took to throw away a chance at finding their biological family? How could Roxie do that? She’d thought her sister was tougher than that. A fighter.

  And Cam.

  What right did he have to snatch that possibility out of their hands? He knew how much she wanted the truth. She didn’t care if he was protecting her.

  “But what if she’s right?” she asked as she watched her sister walk away. “What if somebody knows something?”

  “There are better methods to use. Stirring the pot like that would only bring up things from the bottom.”

  Things like what? Her parents? What if they were still out there? What if they wanted to make contact?

  Lexie turned in her chair. “Is that why you agreed to come here tonight? To pay her off? Don’t you think we should have discussed it?”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I’m a fixer, honey. I patch up holes and seal up cracks, but it’s not always pretty.”

  No, it wasn’t.

  Unease settled over Lexie. She didn’t care how ugly things got. She was aware the story behind her adoption could be something she didn’t want to hear, but she wanted to understand what had happened. At this point, it just might be the only way she could move on. “You can’t make decisions like that. It’s my life, my—”

  Roxie was suddenly back at their table. “I forgot. Your sister is here. She wants to talk to you.”

  “My sister?”

  “The kid.”

  Oh God. Lexie was on her feet in a flash. She did a quick search, and her stomach dipped when she spotted a familiar blonde head. “Blaire? What is she doing here?”

  “Looking for you.” Roxie shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’ve been keeping an eye on her. Only decent one in the bunch…”

  She headed back to the bar, but Lexie’s attention was on her younger sister. Blaire wasn’t legal yet, and she was still in college. This was absolutely the wrong place for her. She stood out in the crowd like a shiny new penny.

  “What was she thinking coming here by herself?”

  Cam let out a sound of disbelief. “I was asking myself the same thing when I came here looking for you.”

  Lexie waited nervously. Her baby sister was catching more than one admiring glance as she worked her way through the crowd. One more leer and Lexie was dragging Blaire out of here.

  “Hey,” Blaire said when she finally reached their table. Her gaze bounced back and forth between the two of them. The look was filled with surprise and confusion but, unlike Roxie, she didn’t comment on it. She just stood there, gripping the back of the empty chair with both hands. She made no move to sit but didn’t seem any more comfortable standing.

  “Hey, yourself.” Lexie pulled her into a hug. “What are you doing here?”

  The tension left Blaire’s body, and she squeezed back hard. “Looking for you. I’ve been calling all day, but you wouldn’t answer. I’ve been all over the city, and this was the last place I could think of to find you.”

  Lexie felt her purse against her foot. She had her cell with her, but she’d turned it off a long time ago. She hadn’t wanted to talk to anyone. “I’m sorry I worried you.”

  “And I’m sorry for what happened earlier today. I had no idea what Mother and Daddy had done. None of us did.”

  “That was pretty clear on everyone’s faces.” Lexie’s knees weren’t feeling so steady. She sat and pushed her Diet Coke away. The last thing she needed right now was more fizz.

  Cam slid out the empty chair for Blaire.

  She eyed him speculatively but sat too.

  “You shouldn’t have come here on your own,” Lexie scolded.

  “Roxie said that too. She made me stay within ten feet of her at all times, but I wasn’t going to leave until I saw you.” Blaire glanced at Cam again. “I didn’t know where you were.”

  Uncomfortable with the examination, Lexie hooked her hair behind her ear. Was the change between them that obvious? Were their pheromones screaming to the world that they’d had sex?

  “Would you like something to drink, Blaire?” Cam asked.

  She pointed at Lexie’s drink. “One of those?”

  “I’ll get it for you.” Pushing back his chair, he left the two of them to talk in private.

  Blaire watched him go, the furrow over her brow deepening. “Have you been with him?”

  “Yes.” And yes. Heat rushed up Lexie’s neck, but she doubted her sister intended the double-entendre of the question. She cleared her throat and was happy for the dim lighting in the bar.

  Blaire pinned her with a look. “Since when are you two close?”

  Lexie fought not to squirm. “He’s not that bad.”

  “The hatchet man?”

  Lexie grabbed a peanut and cracked it in half. It hadn’t been that long ago that she and Blaire had coined him that, but it had been a while since she’d seen that side of him…until just moments ago. Why hadn’t he told her what he’d planned to do?

  Because he was as protective as he was decisive.

  “He’s been good to me, Blaire. Really good.”

  Blaire wasn’t convinced. She looked over her shoulder and nibbled at her lower lip. “Are you sure? He was on the phone all afternoon with Daddy.”

  Pieces of the peanut shell dropped onto the table. Cam had talked with Julian? Today? After what had happened?

  As if feeling her gaze upon him, Cam turned. The moment their eyes connected, heat ran through her. Heat and uncertainty. She was attracted to him. She’d slept with him, but both her sisters were right. He’d made his move on her rather quickly.

  His brow crinkled, and she looked away. Seeing Roxie’s pile of peanut shells, she carefully brushed hers into the mix.

  As steady as her hands were, Lexie’s mind was spinning. Cunning, ruthless, unemotional… She’d heard about his reputation before she’d even met him and, in the three months he’d been trying to clean up Underhill Associates, he’d lived up to every word. Just a few days ago, she’d barely been able to bring herself to talk to him. He’d been too intimidating. Forceful. Yet once her world had started tilting out of control, he’d been the only one she could hold on to.

  She shot another peek at him. He was still watching her with that intense stare she’d felt for months. For some reason, the tension in her chest eased.

  He was cunning, ruthless and unemotional—when it came to business, and business was pretty much his life. People hired him to be that way. He was used to making tough decisions without consulting anyone. She might not agree with his tactics, but she had to admit he got results.

  “You’ve only seen the business side of him, Blaire. He’s different away from work.”

  Strong, protective and caring. Those words defined him just as well, and he was nobody’s toady. His allegiance wasn’t to her adoptive father, not that she could see. He’d been hired to fix their company’s problems, not the family’s dysfunction. And he had the ability to separate the two.

  She was learning that she couldn’t.

  Blaire kept nibbling at her lip. “Well, I’ve got to admit, he is hot.”

  Lexie’s chin snapped around so fast, her neck protested.

  Her sister cocked her head as she watched Cam at the bar. “Especially in those jeans.”

  “H
ey!”

  Blaire’s eyes flared triumphantly, and she jabbed a finger at her. “I thought so! You two are together together.”

  Lexie caught her soda glass, suddenly thirsty again. Cameron Rowe was hot—too hot for her too-young sister to understand. And in those jeans, he was downright irresistible. “It’s new,” she confessed.

  “I’d say. A week ago you couldn’t look him in the eye.”

  Yet this morning she’d wrestled him onto the bed. Stripped him down and straddled him…

  Lexie took a long, cold drink. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going to happen next or what I want to do, but I don’t think I can go back home. Could you pick up some—?”

  “Already done.” Blaire smiled when Cam set her soda on the table in front of her. “Thanks.” She took a sip. “I brought you some clothes, your laptop and your toothbrush.”

  There was no disguising that double-entendre. Cam slowed as he sat in his chair, and Lexie felt him watching her like a hawk. He’d made it no secret that he wanted her to move in with him, but she’d been holding him off all day on the subject.

  When Blaire continued to beam, he seemed to make up his mind. He dug into his front pocket and pulled out his keychain. He worked one of the keys loose and grabbed the set Roxie had thrown on the table. The apartment key was soon in Lexie’s possession.

  As moves went, it wasn’t subtle, but it was clear. His leg bumped against hers, and her thighs clenched. Damn the man. He was making it virtually impossible for her to say no.

  “I can get whatever else you need from the house,” Blaire offered, double-teaming her.

  Lexie started to decline, but something suddenly occurred to her. She had two sisters and one determined lover watching out for her. As much as they distrusted and fought one another, they were all fighting for her.

  She was wanted.

  “Okay. Fine,” she said, her throat thick. Wasn’t that all that had ever mattered to her? She swept the peanut shell remainders into a pile in front of her and took the keys. She dropped them into her purse and sat back in her chair. Crossing her legs, she let her calf rub against Cam’s shin.