by Jenna Harte
“Yeah, well, Oliver has a hard time when Lexie’s gone, so I like to check in. Where’s Martha?”
Had Lexie been right about Claire having a crush on Oliver? “Who?”
“Martha. The weekend nurse?”
“I haven’t seen anyone.” He moved past her and headed to Oliver’s room. He’d agreed not to work with Oliver, but it didn’t seem right to not to check in with him, especially considering his illness.
“You still here?” Oliver griped when he saw Drake enter his room. Despite the sun streaming through the windows, Oliver’s mood was gloomy.
“Yes.”
“Did you have fun with Lexie last night?”
Drake shifted in the chair. “She has an interesting group of friends.”
Oliver shook his head in dismay. “None of them appreciate her.”
“How do you know?”
“She’s a wonderful girl who thinks no one will love her. She can only think that because the people she’s around don’t tell her how wonderful she is.”
Drake gaped. “You never told anyone how wonderful they were. It’s a wonder Derrick and I didn’t end up becoming bank robbers or murderers.”
At first, Oliver scowled, and Drake waited for the barb about how he and Derrick weren’t wonderful. But then his expression turned pained. “I regret that. You were both good boys. Strong. Smart. I’m proud of you.”
Drake’s knees would have buckled if he weren’t already sitting.
“Dying has a way of making you re-evaluate your life. I wish I’d done better by you two. Of course, you can’t complain too much. You’re both rich, well-connected, and successful. You can be or have whatever you want in this world, Drake.”
Drake was both touched and surprised by his grandfather’s comment. “Thank you.”
Was Lexie right? Had Oliver changed? Maybe he wanted to atone for his wrongs. What kind of grandson would he be if he didn’t at least try to bridge the gap between them? “Want to play cards?”
Lexie rolled over, winced, and then grinned at the soreness in her hips. The sun cast a warm glow over the hotel room. The only thing missing from the beautiful morning was Drake. He’d left in the early morning darkness. They’d agreed it’d be better if Oliver didn’t know about their tryst, which meant he needed to get back to the house before someone realized he hadn’t been home during the night. When he asked about her, Lexie informed him she usually stayed with Chelsea on her nights off. Chelsea had inherited her mother’s house, and Lexie was helping her paint and fix it up. He offered to give her a ride or pay for a cab, but Lexie wasn’t ready to leave the comfort or warmth of the bed. She’d just give Chelsea a call in the morning. Chelsea would happily give Lexie a ride, in exchange for gossip.
“Did Mitch have a fit?” Lexie sat in Chelsea’s kitchen drinking coffee.
“He said all the things a big brother should say when his sister disappears with a strange man, but I don’t think he was really worried. He knows you can take care of yourself.” Chelsea was like a sister to Lexie. Their whole lives, they’d been friends and shared many commonalities. They were both short and had reddish hair, although Chelsea’s was the more beautiful hue of auburn. Their other commonality was that they both had no love life. In Chelsea’s case, though, it was from a lack of trying. With two jobs, she didn’t have much time for a social life and her mountain of debt scared away any potential husband.
“I’m sorry I didn’t let you know what I was doing.”
Chelsea snorted. “We all knew what you were doing.” Her expression turned serious. “Are you sure you should’ve been doing it, though?”
Lexie sighed. “I’m sure we shouldn’t have, but …”
Chelsea nodded. “He’s a potent man. I can’t blame you.”
“We agreed to just one night.”
“But you’re worried you won’t be able to stick to that?” Chelsea looked at her over the rim of her cup as she sipped her coffee.
“Just the opposite. I’m afraid it won’t happen again.”
“That good, eh?”
“Mind-blowing, earth moving … all that stuff you read in books but don’t think is true.”
“I think I’m jealous.”
“You should be.” Lexie grinned.
Chelsea put her glass down. “You realize, don’t you, that you’ve just had an affair?”
“I know.” Lexie waggled her brows for effect. “It sounds bad, but it wasn’t sordid. I’ve always tried to live my life seizing the day, but working for Oliver has reminded me how important that really is. Anyone else, I might regret having slept with him, but not Drake. He’s a hard man, but he respects me.”
“Mitch is right; you like him.”
“Well, of course I like him.”
“I mean more than in a lustful way. If he asked you to go to New York with him, would you?”
Lexie shook her head. “He wouldn’t.”
“But if he did. Once Oliver passes, you don’t have a job. I bet they have nursing jobs in New York. And it’s not so far you can’t visit your family and friends here.”
“He won’t.” But Lexie was unable to prevent the small glimmer of hope that he might.
“But what if he did?” Chelsea pushed.
“I still wouldn’t.” At least, that’s what she told herself, because she knew he wasn’t a forever kind of man. “Drake isn’t a guy that has relationships. His grandfather messed him up so all he does is work.”
“Even successful businessmen get married and have families.”
“Drake won’t. His grandfather made sure of that. So if he asked me to go, which he wouldn’t, it would be as a mistress. I like him, but not enough to do that. I want more than that. I deserve more than that.”
“You do.” Chelsea put her hand on Lexie’s. “So, you have him for a short time. Maybe you can sow your oats before he leaves. You’re living in the same house. You can have your way with him.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears. Great day, is he good in bed.”
Chelsea snorted. “How about you work off sexual frustration by painting the guest room?”
Chapter Fifteen
After losing three straight hands of gin rummy, Drake left his grandfather with nurse Martha, a dowdy, middle-aged woman who acted more nurse-like than Lexie but didn’t have the same presence. As he passed the kitchen door, the smell of cookies baking hit him. They smelled like real cookies, not healthy cardboard ones. He considered finding out when there was a knock at the front door.
He’d nearly reached the door when Claire came into the hall.
“I’ve got it,” he told her.
She nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen.
“Mr. Carmichael.” Bobby Lee and Kelly stood on the porch.
Drake frowned, wishing he’d let Claire answer the door after all. “Lexie isn’t here.” He started to close the door.
“Could you tell her we stopped—”
“We can talk to you.” Kelly interrupted her husband, pushing her hand forward to stop Drake from closing the door.
“We should go—”
“No, Bobby Lee. Mr. Carmichael is a part of this now too.” She cast Drake a saccharine sweet smile that made his teeth hurt.
Bobby Lee shot her an annoyed look but apparently didn’t have the spine to stand up to her.
“Do you have a few minutes, Drake? Can I call you Drake?” Kelly cooed and batted her eyes. No doubt that was what had led Bobby Lee to her bed.
Drake wasn’t impressed. Feeling surly, he said, “Mr. Carmichael.”
Her forced smile dropped.
“I have a few minutes, though.” Drake stepped aside so Bobby Lee and Kelly could enter. “We can talk in the beau parlor.”
“I’m sorry to bother you on a Saturday, but after seeing you and Lexie last night, we wanted to talk to you about an issue between Lexie and me.” Bobby Lee helped Kelly sit on the couch and then sat next to her.
“Issue?” Drake sat in a chair across from them, one
ankle perched over his knee. He wanted to project a disinterested but casual air, though he was very interested in Lexie and Bobby Lee’s “issue.”
“I don’t know if Lexie mentioned it, but at one time, we were engaged.”
“She didn’t mention you at all.” Drake gave Bobby Lee a satisfied smirk. “But her brother and friends did.”
“Well, of course she didn’t,” Kelly chimed in. “It’s so humiliating. If I were Lexie, I wouldn’t mention it either.”
Drake turned his dark, menacing eyes on Kelly, who shrank back in her chair.
“The thing is,” Bobby Lee continued. “The wedding was all planned and paid for but, of course, didn’t take place. We weren’t able to get refunds on much of the services, so I’ve been helping Lexie pay the wedding debts. But seeing as she has you now, I was hoping I could stop helping her.”
Drake sat forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “Let me get this straight. You want to stop paying your half of the debt incurred for your wedding to Lexie because she’s with me?”
Bobby Lee swallowed hard. “Well … yes.”
“It’s just that with the baby nearly here and your being in such a good financial situation—” Kelly rubbed her very pregnant belly.
“Mr. Carmichael.” Claire’s voice interrupted from the beau parlor entryway.
Drake glared at Kelly for a moment before turning his attention to Claire. “Yes.”
“May I have a word with you? It’s important.”
At first, Drake was going to make her wait, but there was something in her eyes that insisted he talk with her. “Excuse me a minute.”
He stood and followed Claire to the kitchen.
“I swear I could scratch both their eyes out.” Claire lashed out when the kitchen door shut behind him.
“I take it you have something to say about Bobby Lee and Kelly.”
“I have a whole lot to say, but we don’t have all day, do we? Great day in the morning, those two are a piece of work.” Claire paced the room like a caged animal.
“Is there something specific you wanted me to know?”
“Yes.” She stopped pacing and looked Drake in the eyes. “First, Lexie has been paying half of the wedding expenses, including the honeymoon, which Bobby Lee went on with that nitwit wife of his.”
Drake’s eyes narrowed. “She’s paying for a honeymoon they went on?”
“That’s right. And what’s more, Bobby Lee’s family could pay that debt without blinking an eye. So could Kelly’s. They don’t need money for their baby. Kelly just wants to rub it in Lexie’s face she stole a husband and baby from her. Not that I’m not glad. I think Lexie dodged a bullet on that one, but still. The nerve of them.”
Drake nodded. “I understand. I’ll take care of it.”
“If you ask me, Bobby Lee and Kelly should pay that debt because of what they did to Lexie. I think the world of Lexie, bless her heart, but why she puts up with them, I don’t know.”
Drake wondered too. Lexie was no doormat.
“Don’t go telling Lexie I told you all this. She’ll be fit to be tied if she finds out.”
“I won’t say a word.” Drake returned to the beau parlor. The two appeared to be bickering, but stopped and looked at Drake when he entered. “I’m sorry for the interruption. Maybe you don’t know, my grandfather is dying.”
“We’re sorry. I guess this is a bad time. We should go, Kel.” Bobby Lee made a move to stand, but Kelly grabbed his arm and held him there.
“No, Bobby, we came here for a reason.”
Drake purposefully kept his tone neutral, even though he wanted to strangle them both. “Yes. You want me to pay off your half of Bobby Lee and Lexie’s wedding debt because you don’t have enough money for your baby, is that right?”
Fire lit in Kelly’s eyes. “We didn’t say we don’t have enough money. We’re not poor, Mr. Carmichael.”
“What do you do?” Drake asked Bobby Lee.
“I own a dry cleaning business with my father.”
“Bobby Lee has five dry cleaners throughout the county.” Pride came through in Kelly’s tone.
“Kelly, honey, you’re not helping.”
“What? Mr. Carmichael implied we don’t have money.”
“Do you think you do better than Lexie?” Drake asked.
“Well, of course. I mean, Lexie can’t even keep a job. Thank goodness she has you now. Otherwise, who knows what would happen to her.” Kelly’s concerned expression didn’t fool Drake.
Drake tossed Bobby Lee a look that said “you cheated on Lexie for this?” He was pleased when the man looked away. “So, if you’re better off financially, shouldn’t you be the ones paying off the wedding debt?”
The bulb finally went on in Kelly’s head. “Well…It’s not a matter of money, Mr. Carmichael. Lexie incurred the debt. She didn’t need to spend all that on a wedding. And we shouldn’t have to pay for her wedding anyway.”
“Her and Bobby Lee’s wedding,” Drake corrected.
“We should go.” Bobby Lee stood.
“Bobby—” Kelly’s voice whined, grating on Drake’s nerves. It was time to get rid of these two.
“Sit down, Bobby. How much debt is left?”
“Fifteen thousand,” Kelly blurted.
“Kelly, stop!” Bobby Lee reproached, then took a breath as he sat and turned his attention to Drake.
“So your half is seven and a half thousand?” To Drake, fifteen thousand on a wedding sounded like peanuts compared to the weddings he’d been to, but he understood most people didn’t live like he or his circle of friends did.
“Yes.” Bobby Lee nodded.
“What about the honeymoon?”
“The honeymoon was already paid for.” Kelly glared at Bobby Lee.
“But it’s on credit? It’s part of the debt?”
Bobby Lee reluctantly nodded.
“Alright then. If you want Lexie out of your life, write her a check for ten thousand, right now.”
“Write her a check?” Kelly jumped up as quickly as her eight month pregnant body would let her move. “We’re not here to pay more.”
Drake decided to stop playing around. He stood, towering over them both. “Lexie isn’t going to pay for any part of a honeymoon you took. I’m not going to pay for any of Lexie’s weddings that aren’t to me. You pay your half, plus the honeymoon, and we’ll all be done with it.”
“My checkbook is in the car.” Bobby Lee stood and took Kelly by the arm to escort her out.
“No, Bobby Lee.” Kelly extricated her arm and turned her angry baby-blues on Drake. “You can’t do that, Mr. you-think-you’re-a-hotshot-because-you’re-from-New-York.”
“Did I mention I’m a lawyer?” Drake asked dryly, using his business bluffing skills. “I could probably manage to have a judge order you to pay the whole thing. Maybe even some extra for pain and suffering…humiliation…” He tossed Kelly’s word about Lexie’s experience back to her.
Kelly recoiled but kept her mouth shut.
“Write the check, Bobby Lee,” Drake said. “You both owe Lexie at least that much.”
Bobby Lee nodded. Within a few minutes, Drake had Lexie’s check and Bobby Lee and Kelly were history. Too bad the headache they brought lingered.
He walked back to the kitchen to get more coffee. As he entered, a cup of fresh-brewed coffee and a plate full of real cookies sat on the table. He looked at Claire for explanation.
She shrugged and smiled tentatively. “That’s another thing you can’t mention to Lexie.” She nodded to the cookies.
Drake picked one up and bit. “You keep making these, and I’ll keep any secret you want.”
She grinned.
Drake sat to enjoy the coffee and chewy, fresh-baked cookies.
“So, you’re not going to pay for any of Lexie’s weddings that aren’t to you?”
Drake nearly choked. “They were under the impression Lexie and I are an item. I let them believe that, but—”
> Claire held up a hand to stop him. “I know. I know. There’s nothing going on between you two.”
The expression on her face told him she didn’t believe it for a second.
Lexie entered the house Sunday afternoon, unsure what was going to happen. She’d had the most fantastic sex of her life with, no doubt, the sexiest man alive. Regardless of what happened, she’d always be thankful for that, but now, it was back to real life and the awkward first meeting since their night of passion.
She met with Martha for a brief update on Oliver and then readied herself to see him and Drake in Oliver’s room.
“Good afternoon, Oliver.” She breezed into his room. “How was your weekend?”
“Do you hear that, Drake? The sun has returned.”
Lexie sent him her full-wattage smile. “You old charmer.”
“Drake told me what a good time he had with you on Friday.”
Lexie’s stomach fluttered. “Yes, what a surprise it was to actually see him smile. He’s not a stuffed shirt after all.” She picked up the chart by Oliver’s bed and pretended to read it.
“And sometimes, Lexie doesn’t open her mouth,” Drake replied.
She made a face at him. He maintained a bland expression.
Oliver looked from one to the other. “Well, I had a terrible time.”
“Gripe, gripe, gripe,” Lexie responded. It was their routine each weekend. “Let me guess, Nurse Martha didn’t stick you right.”
“Nurse Hack is more like it,” Oliver grumbled.
Lexie laughed. “I’ll be sure to get it right.” She held up the syringe. “This won’t hurt a bit.”
“Liar.”
Lexie could feel Drake’s gaze on her as she worked. It pleased her that he wasn’t as guarded, but she reminded herself they didn’t have anything more than one spectacular night. He was going to finish his work with Oliver and then return to New York. They’d had great sex, but that didn’t change the fact they weren’t compatible.
“I’ll leave you two gentlemen alone.” Lexie finished her exam. “Y’all know where to find me if you need me.”
Her medical tasks taken care of, she headed straight for the kitchen. She wished Claire was there; she could use the distraction. She also wanted to know where Claire hid the good cookies. She was certain Claire made them on the days Lexie wasn’t there and gave them to Oliver. She’d never said anything about it, because a few good cookies weren’t going to make a difference at this point in Oliver’s illness. She just wished Claire had left a few because she needed a chocolate fix.
