by Parin, Sonia
“I guess I could start by looking for an apartment.”
Lexie surged to her feet. “You left Sydney for good?”
Maggie shrugged. “I put all my stuff in storage.”
And their mother didn’t know, otherwise she would have broken every speed limit to get to Melbourne and set Maggie back on track. Something told her she was going to get blamed for this.
“Please tell me it wasn’t anything I said or did.”
Maggie shook her head.
“Please tell me that was a definite no,” she said just as the front door buzzer rang. Ava to the rescue, she hoped. It took a combination of willpower and effort to keep her steps casual and not dive for the front door. She opened it and taking hold of Ava’s hand, drew her inside. “You’re here.”
“I wasn’t far away and—”
“Come and meet my sister.” Ava looked her usual fantastic self, dressed in a vintage pink jacket with a zipper running diagonally across the front and a body hugging skirt in charcoal gray. Her hair and makeup looked as fresh as if she’d only now had an entourage of hangers on working on it. “Wave your magic wand, please,” she said under her breath. “Any minute now, Maggie could start frothing at the mouth.”
Ava’s arrival had an immediate impact on Maggie.
Lexie could not have anticipated the change. It all happened so quickly. One moment her sister was rising to her feet and the next…
She transformed into her old self, stretching her hand out to meet Ava’s, her posture relaxed and screaming confidence.
Rather than interfere with Ava’s good vibes, Lexie chose to hover in the background, making herself busy in the kitchen, preparing a light lunch. Even when they sat down to eat, she focused on her meal, the flow of chatter washing over her. Maggie’s instant connection with Ava made sense. They were both on the same wavelength. Both alpha females. Both successful in their chosen fields.
“Marianna always squeezes me in. I’ll ring and let her know we’re coming. Are you in, Lexie?” Ava asked.
“What?”
“We’re going to the hairdressers for a bit of pampering and then out to dinner.”
“Oh… I can’t. I have stacks to do for the comic strip and… tonight… I have a previous thing. Thanks.” She had her late night shopping date with Jack, something she’d been trying not to think about, because if she did she wouldn’t get any work done.
Maggie sprung to her feet. “I’ll go change into something more appropriate.”
Lexie waited until Maggie had disappeared into her bedroom where she’d stowed her luggage before turning to Ava. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”
“Are you okay? You were very quiet at lunch.”
“I didn’t dare break the flow. You did such a great job with Maggie. Clearly you have lots in common.”
“Big sisters rarely listen to their younger siblings. Nothing you did or said would have worked with Maggie.”
“Makes sense.” Yet she’d wanted to save the day. She’d wanted to be the one to pull Maggie out of her misery. “I bow to your greatness and aspire to achieve a smidgeon of it.”
Ava shook her head. “You have your own brand of greatness. It takes a smart person to delegate.”
Lexie tilted her head and smiled. “Mm, I’ve been calling it being in way over my head and passing the buck. But, what the heck, I’ll go with delegating if it makes me look good.”
* * *
After hogging the bathroom for an hour, Maggie emerged looking like a picture perfect version of her old confident self. Lexie couldn’t help wondering if she’d imagined the last few days. Maggie had returned from the hairdresser’s with highlights and a light spring in her steps. The transformation appeared to be complete. Maggie’s smile confirmed it.
“You look great.”
“Thank you. Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing your friend?”
“There’s enough of Ava to go around.” Lexie smiled and shook off the concerns that had been piling up since her sister’s arrival. Maggie had probably never had a girlfriend and, in a roundabout way, she’d done her part by introducing her to Ava. “That must be her now.” At the sound of a light rap on the door she jumped to her feet.
But instead of Ava, she found Jack.
Looking as sexy as hell.
She drank him in, gobbled him up and for a brief moment, forgot she wasn’t alone.
“Aren’t you going to say hello and invite me in?”
Lexie heard him speak but the words came at her as if from far away. Was she having an out of body experience?
“Lexie?”
“Oh… yes, sure.”
He leaned in and smiled. “You’re supposed to step aside now.”
“Oh, yes.” She engaged her brain and stepped back thinking she’d have to analyze what had just happened later.
“Hello, you must be Lulu.”
Oh, crap. Lexie closed the door and swung around. Her sister had resumed her residency on the couch, but instead of looking like a mound of misery, she looked like a model posing for the cover of a glossy magazine.
She snatched her bag from the hallway table. “I’m ready.”
* * *
She couldn’t be responsible for her sister developing a multiple personality. Her parents would never forgive her. Lexie worried her bottom lip and checked her cell phone for messages.
Ava’s assurances that she’d look after her sister should have been enough to clear her conscience but Lexie couldn’t help feeling like a failure. She should have been the one pulling Maggie away from that twilight zone she’d fallen into. She’d been handed the opportunity and instead of acting on it—
“You had your chance and you blew it,” she said under her breath, and putting her cell phone away she eyed the garment bag sitting on a chair next to her, her feelings swaying between regret and awe. She’d never worn anything so stylishly elegant, and after attending the function with Jack, she doubted she’d ever have another opportunity to wear it. “I wonder what the store policy is on returns.”
“You don’t like your dress?” Jack asked.
She loved it, but the price tag had been intimidating, as for the shoes Jack had insisted she had to have...
Lexie thought they should come with a warning label. One step and she’d be possessed by a sashaying sassy she-devil.
“I have to admit I’ve already developed an unhealthy attachment to the dress.”
“So why ask about returning it?”
His casual tone made her squirm in her chair. And that was something else. She’d never been to a store that provided customers with comfortable chairs to snuggle into. “It’s sophisticated. I can’t even picture it hanging in my wardrobe. It’s going to give all my other stuff a serious inferiority complex. And when am I ever going to wear it again?”
“You never know.”
“Actually, I think it disapproves of me.”
“You have a healthy imagination.”
“If I say something snooty, I’m going to blame the dress, and—” She looked up and watched the salesperson helping Jack ease into his suit jacket. It fit him like a glove, and made him look like the type of man male models aspired to be like. She couldn’t let Jack Riley anywhere near her parents. If they ever met him… “This isn’t the first time you’ve worn a suit.” From the moment they’d arrived at the up-market boutique, the salesperson had treated Jack like a treasured customer.
“Time to pick a tie, Lexie.”
“I’m afraid to.” What if she picked something garish? Not that she could see anything fitting that description. “That one.”
“You just pointed at an entire rack of ties.”
They were all gorgeous. “No, I didn’t. I specifically pointed at the one next to that one. Although, the other one next to it is stunning too.” To her surprise, Jack had turned out to be a methodical shopaholic, enjoying the process of choosing, and taking his time to consider his options. And to her amazement, he p
aid attention to details and that included looking at the label to determine the quality of the fabric. Not only did he have an incredible eye for detail, but he’d also steered her toward colors and styles that actually complimented her. “I like the pale green.”
“Excellent choice.” He turned to the salesperson and asked for the tie to be included with the suit and shirt he’d selected.
“Um… you’re not adding a backup tie?”
“Why should I?”
Because her choices weren’t always the best? Or so she’d been told her entire life.
“I trust your judgment.”
Her lips parted. “Thank you.” It seemed only polite to show her appreciation of his trust in her. In her experience, everyone had always known what was best for her, and no one had ever bothered to ask her opinion. Suddenly, it felt as if someone had sprinkled fairy dust on her.
“Now we can find a place to have dinner and discuss strategy.”
More trust. Jack was relying on her to offer the necessary buffer between him and his stepsisters. Talking strategy and perhaps discussing the laying down of a few rules sounded good to her.
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m naming my next goldfish after you. Maggie got up at the crack of dawn to go out for a run… of all things. Then she went out after lunch and she just called to say she’d been held up.” Lexie set the bowl of kitty treats on the floor for Ulysses who’d followed her into the apartment for one of his brief visits, and grabbing the phone off its cradle, she strode into her bedroom to look at the dress Jack had insisted he should pay for because after all, Lexie needed to be compensated for giving him her time and bailing him out.
Lexie shook her head. No matter how many times she ran it through her mind and justified the purchase, it still didn’t feel right.
“Maggie needs some time to chill and maybe do some things she’s been missing out on,” Ava explained. “She hasn’t had a vacation in years. She’ll be fine. Don’t worry about her. Once she gets her motivation back, there’ll be no keeping up with her. I actually called to ask about you. How’s it all coming along?”
“I think I’m getting in too deep.”
“Too much too soon?”
“We went shopping for a new dress. I’m trying not to read too much into it, but I think it’s a sign, of what I’m not sure.”
Ava hummed. “We’re talking about implementing the new ideas, the ones Mason, the marketing guru, helped you come up with? Why would he take you dress shopping?”
“I’m talking about going dress shopping with Jack. It’s all I can think about because suddenly, he is all I can think about and that’s not going to do me any good because he’s not interested in me. He only wants a platonic relationship and I thought I did too, but now I’m not so sure. And that’s why I should focus on Mason and his suggestions for exploiting Lulu.”
“Now we’re on the same page and you need to take a deep breath and calm down.”
“Mason has some great ideas but I’ll have to hire an assistant just to keep up with him. There was even talk about a Lulu doll, then again, you know that already. The T-shirts and mugs I can live with, but having a replica of Lulu would probably freak me out.” She drew in a calming breath. “I’ve already agreed to attend this wedding reception with Jack, but after Saturday I’m going to have to knuckle down and—”
“Focus on the graphic novel?”
“Yes. I’ll throw myself into my work body and soul and—”
“Spend the next twelve months looking out the window and watching life pass you by?”
“I’m going to be too busy for that to happen.” She’d have to make sure of it, because by then Jack would have moved on and she couldn’t afford to spend any time obsessing about what might have been.
“Busy is good, finding a healthy balance between work and play is even better.”
“Let’s talk about you for a change. You said you found Mason attractive but you think he’s a player.”
“I don’t think it, I know it. Have you seen how many female friends he has on facebook?”
Lexie cleared her throat. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you only have four female friends. The rest are all men.”
“Thanks for reminding me. As soon as you have your first product ready, you’ll need to post something on my page and start promoting your stuff. These guys are always short of gift ideas. Needless to say, there’ll be advertising space for you in the magazine and we might even run an article. An inspirational piece. From doodle to comic strip to must have merchandise.”
“You’ve caught my sidetracking bug. Either that or your brain never sleeps.”
“Both, and I’ll find someone special when I least expect it. That’s why I’m always ready.”
Lexie stood in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom and took in her reflection. Last night, she’d turned down Jack’s invitation to dinner in favor of coming home to do some more work. Changing out of her street clothes, she hadn’t given any thought to the mismatched flip flops she’d slipped her feet into, or the cut-off jeans and the T-shirt that had been washed so many times she couldn’t even remember the original color—one more wash and she might have to bid it a fond farewell. Today, her choice of work from home clothes hadn’t improved. What would Jack think if he saw her now dressed as she was? That she took her downtime seriously. Lexie poked her tongue out at her own reflection and turned away.
She’d either make an effort and work on her wardrobe or she’d hold out for true love, the sort that saw beyond surface appearances.
“So, tell me more about this dress Jack bought for you.”
* * *
“Was I expecting you?”
“That’s no way to greet your favorite sister.”
Jack waved Steph in and closed the front door.
“I came by last night but you were out.”
“I went shopping with Lexie.”
“Interesting.”
Jack folded his arms. “That’s your answer to everything I say. I always feel I should lie on the couch so you can delve into the inner workings of my mind.”
“By interesting, I meant that both you and Mason are manifesting symptoms of adaptability.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re both bending over backwards for women without expecting anything in return and I want to know why.”
“Beer?” he offered.
“Sure,” Steph said and made a beeline for the sofa.
He checked his watch. Steph looked like she’d settled in for the long haul, so he had to cancel all thoughts of calling Lexie, something he’d been thinking about since she’d opted out of having dinner with him the night before saying she was working on a deadline and needed to get home early. “Here you go.” He handed Steph a beer and sat on the opposite side of the sofa. “So, how exactly am I bending?”
“You’re doing stuff you wouldn’t normally do, like shopping with a woman.”
“Is that what Mason’s doing?”
“No, he’s doing something really scary, and I’m not supposed to tell you because you’ll never let him live it down.”
“It serves him right if the new woman in his life is driving him up the wall. He’s had it easy all his life. Time for him to see how the other half struggle.”
“You’re only saying that because he’s not here.”
He lifted his beer in a salute. “First chance I get, I’ll say it to his face.” He grinned. He’d been waiting a long time to get stuck into Mason and give him a taste of his own medicine. “Are you going to tell me what he’s doing or do I have to find some arm-twisting threat to get it out of you?”
“I promised to stick to my code of confidentiality. If I break it, Mason will never confide in me again. As for you forcing the information out of me,” she shook her head, “I don’t have anything to hide. Therefore, you have nothing to use against me. Not now, not ever.”
“Your day will c
ome.” Jack watched her shift on the sofa and wondered if he’d imagined her look of discomfort. “Sooner rather than later, I think.” He brushed his hand across his chin. “Your slanted gaze and pouty lips are a dead giveaway. Something’s up with you.”
She gave him what sounded like a forced laugh.
“Women don’t hold exclusive rights on intuition.”
She laughed harder. “Next you’ll try to convince me you’re sensitive.”
“Now you’re being unfair. You know we have sensitivity beaten right out of us in the playground.”
“I’m not taking pity on you.”
“Come on. It’s your turn to be pathetic.”
She sat forward. “What does it mean when a guy—” Shaking her head, she pushed out a sigh and sat back.
“Man trouble?” It would be a first for Steph who remained constantly pragmatic, liaising with men on a trial basis, always giving them the benefit of the doubt until they invariably shot themselves on the foot and proved how right she’d been to be suspicious of them in the first place. Jack took a sip of his beer and stretched his legs out on the coffee table. “Do I have to beat someone up for you?” That got a half-hearted chuckle out of her.
“It’s not what you think. This guy is so busy, he hired me to decorate his new apartment, but instead of getting on with whatever keeps him so busy he hangs around the place, day in, day out.”
“Is he bothering you?”
“You can roll your sleeves back down. I’m so over you guys saying one thing and meaning another.” She jumped to her feet. “Thanks for the beer.”
“Hang on, you can’t leave now.” She didn’t look upset, but she did look preoccupied. “Sit down and spill. Then you can go. Or you can have one too many and use the spare bedroom to crash for the night.”
She nipped the edge of her lip. Her face relaxed and she took a step toward him. “Give and take. You first. Tell me about Lexie. What are you doing with her?”
Because this was Steph and he trusted her opinions, Jack launched into an explanation, covering everything from his initial meeting with Lexie to their shopping spree the previous night.