Maxie (Triple X)

by Kimberly Dean

  It was Lexie who moved. She went to the shelves and lowered a photograph of a smiling couple. Maxie huddled against Zac. The people in that picture were precious to her. She’d only had them for seven years, and she’d lost them too soon. Her memories of them were sketchy and limited, but what she could remember was happy. She didn’t want those memories marred.

  Lexie’s fingers trembled as she traced the faces underneath the glass. “They look happy,” she murmured. “Nice.”

  “They were,” Maxie said.

  “What were their names?”

  “Pete and Mary Miller.”

  Over in the corner, Roxie rolled her neck. She turned and determinedly walked back across the room. Looking over Lexie’s shoulder, she took in the picture for a long, long time. “That’s not our parents.”

  Lexie whipped her head around. “What? How do you know?”

  “They’re my parents.” Maxie’s voice was sharp, and her guard was immediately back up.

  “I remember our mom,” Roxie continued quietly.

  Lexie’s jaw dropped. “You never told me that.”

  Roxie didn’t respond. She just reached past her and grasped the picture. She was gentle with it and respectful, but she put it back in its place on the shelf. “This woman has red hair. Our mom had long, dark hair, and she smelled like lilacs.”

  Lilacs.

  Even as Maxie prepared to fight for her mother, the statement caught her off-guard. Lilacs had always been her favorite flower. She loved the purple blooms and the aromatic sprigs. They came and went too quickly, but she enjoyed them in the early spring while they were there. That scent. She could inhale it for hours.

  “Maxie?” Zac said into her ear.

  Roxie sat on the desk. “It’s all I remember, but it’s enough to know that that’s not my mom.”

  Confusion and hurt lay in the air, bumping up against anger and distrust. Maxie didn’t know what these strangers wanted out of her. That was her mom. She might not have taken after her, but that was her mother.

  Yet she resembled these women more than either of her parents. Or her grandparents. And then there were their birthdays, the birthmarks and the lilacs.

  The sheriff stroked her hair, and her leaping nerves eased a bit.

  “How did you two find each other?” he asked.

  Yes. More information. She needed more information.

  “A billboard,” Lexie said, laughing softly. “An outrageous one. She modeled for it, and I got blamed.”

  “And how did you find Maxie?”

  Maxie nodded. Yes, she wanted to know that too. He was asking the questions she couldn’t formulate in her own head.

  Roxie grabbed her bag. The thing was the size of a suitcase, but the only thing she pulled out of it was a manila file folder. “Here’s everything the PI came up with.”

  “Can we have some time to look at that?”

  We. He’d said we, but Maxie was okay with that. He was thinking more clearly than she was, and he was a cop. He’d figure this out. He’d make sense of the jumble, find some explanation that wouldn’t turn her entire life upside down. She trembled, feeling choked up. She didn’t want another family; she’d loved the one she had.

  “You can keep it,” Roxie said. “I made this copy for you.”

  Zac took the folder, but Maxie pulled away from it like it was a time bomb.

  “We had a DNA test run, and it came back as a match.” Lexie folded her hands together. “We’d like you to do one too, if that’s okay.”

  Maxie stiffened. Absolutely not.

  “Why don’t we hold off on that?” Zac suggested.

  She wanted to turn around and hug him—and keep on hugging him. This whole thing had come at her from out of the blue. She didn’t know how to act or how to respond. Her very foundation was suddenly unstable. It was all so personal, so private. Her parents weren’t here to defend themselves, and her grandmother had passed away nearly a year ago. These two women had each other for support, but all she had to hold on to was the man who’d let her take his hand.

  “Can we at least spend some time with you?” Lexie asked. “We’d like to get to know you.”

  “But I’m not your sister,” Maxie insisted.

  “Yes, you are,” Roxie said, an edge entering her voice. “I can feel it.”

  Lexie caught her sister’s shoulder. “How about dinner?”

  Maxie chewed on her lower lip.

  “We’ll leave the paperwork. You can look through it, and then we can talk. That way you’ll know as much as we do.”

  Maxie looked at that folder, and her stomach turned. She was afraid to open it, but she wanted badly to disprove what it might say.

  The only way she’d know for sure was to read what they’d collected.

  Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes. She remembered the wish she’d made and instantly regretted it. She didn’t want to be impulsive, if that was what brought surprises like this. She didn’t want to do wild and crazy things.

  But that wasn’t quite what she’d wished for, was it?

  She’d wished to meet someone special, someone who would be impulsive with her. She’d meant Zac, but…

  But the twin pinpricks. Not one, but two.

  She worried her thumb over the bandage on her finger. The coincidence was too much for her to brush off. “I suppose we could do dinner.”

  That would be safe. On impartial ground. But there was no way she could deal with the two of them all by herself.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “What time do you get off duty tonight, honey?”

  The words were out before she comprehended what she was doing. She didn’t know who was more surprised—herself or the sheriff—but she had to give him credit. His body tensed, but that was the only sign he gave that she’d caught him off-guard.

  “Five,” he responded. “Would six thirty work?”

  Maxie tried not to blush when Roxie gave Zac a once-over and clicked her tongue in approval.

  What had she done? Honey?

  Her lungs expanded, close to bursting. What had possessed her? She rubbed her thumb over the bandage until the pricks on her finger ached. It had been a spur-of-the-moment impulse. It was the only reason she could think of to have him at her side, but she couldn’t believe she’d blurted it out.

  She didn’t take risks like that. She was a timid sort!

  “Where should we meet you?” Lexie was asking.

  Maxie shifted in discomfort. She couldn’t think of anything but the way she was still sitting on the town sheriff’s lap. A sound erupted from his throat, and his arm clamped around her waist, stopping her movement.

  “The Indigo Iguana,” he said, taking charge. “It’s on Riverfront, south of the landing.”

  The blush on Maxie’s face got hotter. Had she made an awkward situation worse? What must he be thinking? They’d barely even spoken before. The best she’d been able to do until minutes ago was spy on him through a cluttered window.

  Big, buff and blond. That was about all she knew about him.

  “Indigo Iguana?” Roxie scowled. “Seriously?”

  He grinned, and Maxie’s belly clenched. Oh damn. She’d missed blistering. The man was beyond hot.

  “Seriously,” he echoed. “The food is good and the setting is casual. Is that okay with you, Beauty?”

  Beauty?

  He tugged at her hair. He was talking to her. “Mmm-hmm,” Maxie murmured.

  She was in over her head. The man was muscled and warm and, she was beginning to suspect, wickedly smart. His touch was already dancing over her. He stroked her hair, patted her bare arm and smoothed her dress. Her nerve endings buzzed, and she was doing her best to ignore the hard press against her hip.

  What had she been thinking? Why had “honey” popped out of her mouth?

  Lexie clapped her hands. “Perfect. We’ll take in the sights, go see the Falls, and then meet up with you.” She wrote her number on the pad on the desk. “Here’s my cell.” She picked
up her purse and caught Roxie by the arm.

  Her sister stayed planted where she was. Maxie felt the stare and the emotion behind it. Roxie’s eyes were dark and deep.

  “Come on, Rox.”

  The twin didn’t budge. “You’ll be there,” she said, her voice tight.

  It wasn’t a question, yet it wasn’t quite a demand.

  Maxie nodded.

  Finally, Roxie gave up her ground. Lexie tugged her along but stopped halfway through the door and peeked back. “It was great to meet you.”

  Roxie walked backwards with a growing confidence in her step. She smiled deviously at Zac. “You too, Sheriff Sexy.”

  Oh God.

  The two were out the door in a poof, but suddenly Maxie didn’t want them to leave.

  Sheriff Sexy, indeed.

  What had just happened?

  She had two women claiming to be her long-lost sisters, and she’d made the hunky town sheriff her imaginary boyfriend. She wasn’t doing crazy things on the spur of the moment. She’d gone insane.

  Chapter Three

  Zac waited until the bell over the door jingled before he squeezed Maxie’s leg. “Honey, huh? So how long have we been an item?”

  It was a joke, an attempt to ease the tension, but it was the wrong thing to say. She wiggled off his lap like a slick eel, snapping with energy. Before he could catch her, she’d backed halfway across the room. “I’m sorry,” she said in a rush. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  He swore underneath his breath. There she was again, the skittish mare ready to bolt.

  He rubbed his empty palms against his thighs. He hadn’t meant to add to her anxiety, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to send her running from his arms. She was under enough stress already. She’d just come face-to-face with a real-life game changer. “You were thinking that they’re strangers, and you don’t want to be alone with them. I get that.”

  She looked to the door where the two women had left and unconsciously touched the birthmark on her shoulder. “I just turned around and there they were. Where did they come from? What do they want from me?”

  “Right now, they seem to want to talk.”

  She blanched. Even that idea was a bit too much for her.

  “I shouldn’t have agreed to dinner.” She took a shaky breath. “And I shouldn’t have obligated you. You really don’t have to come.”

  The hell he didn’t. He dropped his foot from the bench to the floor and braced his elbows against his knees. “Why wouldn’t I come?”

  “I gave them the impression we were involved. I don’t know why. It just came out.”

  “They caught you unaware, and you wanted someone at your side.” He shrugged. “I can do that.”

  She rubbed her hands against her dress, and it swayed sexily. Everything about her was sexy. Understated and quiet, but sexy as hell.

  “I should have asked you first. The boyfriend thing was—”

  “Inspired.” Zac rose to his feet. He couldn’t have planned things better himself. If she hadn’t invited him, he’d have found another way to put himself at that table. He didn’t like the idea of her alone against the two of them. From all appearances, the pretty women could be telling the truth. Even so, they’d knocked her world off its axis. He was going to be at her side until she could tell up from down and he could tell scam artist from sister. If he’d had to do it in the capacity of town sheriff, he would have.

  But her way was much, much better.

  Pretty dots of pink colored her cheeks, and she pushed her hair over her shoulder. She hadn’t stopped fidgeting since she’d hopped off his lap. If she’d fidgeted like that when she was there, they both could have been embarrassed.

  “But it really has nothing to do with you,” she murmured.

  Okay, that verged on the edge of pissing him off. “It has everything to do with me. You’re a citizen that I’ve sworn to protect and serve. If these two are trying to con you somehow, it’s best if I’m aware of it from the start.”

  She went still. “You think it’s a con?”

  “Do you?”

  The pink faded from her cheeks. “Yes, but…”

  But they looked like her and they moved like her. There were the birthdays, the birthmarks and, apparently, the blood types. He knew what she was thinking; he was thinking the same things himself, only he had the virtue of distance.

  “They can’t be telling the truth.” She rubbed the bandage on her finger. “Can they?”

  “You tell me.”

  She appeared confused and scared and, most of all, alone. But she wasn’t alone. Zac took a deep breath around the knot in his chest.

  Thank God he’d suffered through one more crappy cup of coffee. He could help her with this. She needed answers, and that was one thing he was good at getting. He knew how to ask the right questions. He’d built his career out of following hidden trails of information. “Nobody ever said anything to you about being adopted?”

  Her head snapped back. “No! Of course not.”

  “Your parents died when you were young. It makes sense that they hadn’t told you yet, if that were the case, but what about your grandmother?” He nodded towards the photo on the shelf. “Did she ever say anything that struck you as off?”

  “Not that I can remember.”

  “What about people around town? Everybody in Indigo Falls seems to know about everyone else’s business. Is there anyone we can ask?”

  “I don’t think we always lived here.” She nibbled at her lower lip, drawing him closer. “We moved here from…I don’t know where. It could have been Cobalt City. Oh God, Zac. I mean, Sheriff. What if it’s true?”

  “Hey now.” He caught her shoulder. Her skin was warm and velvety, but there was tension underneath. He gave her a comforting squeeze. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s keep it simple and start at the beginning. What about your birth certificate? Do you have a copy of it?”

  She wrapped her arms around her waist. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen it, but it must be around here somewhere.”

  “Okay, that’s one thing to look for. Are there any other papers you can go through? Any safety deposit boxes or the like?”

  “I looked through my grandmother’s things after she died, but I wasn’t searching for anything like this. I was taking care of issues regarding the house, the shop and insurance. The idea of adoption never…” Her hands lifted in a helpless motion.

  “It’s all right. You can do that today.” He rubbed her arm. “Do you have someone who can watch over the shop?”

  “The shop?”

  “It might be better if you took some time off.”

  “Right.” She massaged her temple. “Laura might be able to put in a few extra hours.”

  “Ask if she can take the whole shift.”

  She nodded, her energy focusing. When she picked up the phone, he retrieved the folder. Her gaze went to it like a laser beam. She was afraid of what they might find in there. It was clear on her face.

  “Let’s go to your place,” he suggested.

  She blinked, her eyes going wide like a deer’s.

  “I’m going to do background checks at the station and see if either of your so-called sisters have records.” He lifted the folder as if it were a grenade. “This will help me know where to start and what to double-check, but if you don’t want me to see this information, I’ll understand.”

  “No, you can look at it,” she said in a rush. “I want your eyes on it too.”

  “Okay. Then it would be best to do it in private.”

  Nervous again, she splayed her hands against her thighs. “All right.” She collected her things from her desk but acted lost as she surveyed the room. It might appear the same, but things had changed. “I’m ready,” she whispered.

  She didn’t look ready.

  Zac’s protective instincts were roaring. She’d given him her trust, and he didn’t take that lightly. He waited as she locked up, and his gaze settled on t
he coffee shop next door. He’d wanted to get rid of that last hundred feet that had separated them, and now it was gone. She’d found a way to attach them at the hip, and she’d be hard-pressed to get rid of him until they figured this mystery out.

  He touched the small of her back to guide her to his cruiser. As far as assignments went, it was the best undercover roll he’d ever been given. It would allow him to get close to her, to talk with her and touch her. Protect her.

  Boyfriend he could definitely pull off.

  Maxie was adrift. The only reason she ever left her shop this early was to make deliveries, but there were no flowers in her hands, and they felt empty. She curled her fingers around the strap of her purse for something to hold on to.

  She’d held on to the sheriff enough for one day, but his hand was warm against her lower back. Warm and steady and male.

  She concentrated on the steadiness because it was the one emotion out of millions that she wasn’t feeling. Two sisters? Identical? Her family wasn’t hers? Too much was coming at her too fast, and none of it she wanted to hear.

  “Let me get that for you,” Sheriff Ford said as he opened the door of his police car.

  This was not how she’d pictured riding off into the sunset with him, but she got into the cruiser anyway. He got in next to her, and the space seemed to shrink.

  Inside her head, Maxie understood that, physically, she’d been closer to him. She’d lain unconscious in his lap for longer than she knew, but she was alert and back to herself now—and more self-conscious and aware of him than ever. His shoulders were so wide his arm nearly brushed against hers as he reached for the microphone on the console.

  “Dispatch, this is Unit 64.”

  “Unit 64, go ahead.”

  “If you need me, I’ll be at 218 Wilshire.”

  “Affirmed, 64.”

  She looked at him in surprise. “You know my address?”

  The corners of his mouth curled upwards. “It’s a small town.”

  Yes, but not that small. She couldn’t spout off any of her friend’s addresses. She tangled her thumb in the metal loop on her purse. It must be a cop thing.