“That’s what I’m here for.”
Twenty minutes later, Jesse had fed Paul all the info he’d garnered from follow-up calls to the hotel and the police. He informed him of the attempted break-in at the gallery. “It might be a good idea to tail Holstead for a while and take an in depth look at Andy Larson and Benny Whitaker. It wouldn’t hurt to get a handle on all of the males in her life. Andy seemed like a walking time bomb and Benny seemed as if he hung the moon on Alexi’s fingernail.”
“You got it. I’ll have answers if they’re there to find.”
“Good.” Jesse tossed a twenty on the table and stood.
“I’ll get started right away.” Paul took the last swallow of his drink then stood.
* * *
“I brought you something, special, Lucy girl.” Alexi tucked her head into Lucy’s hospital room, glad to see Jesse’s balloons dancing at the little girl’s bedside. It had taken her longer than she anticipated at the hospital’s gift shop to find the right bow and bag to cradle her present to Lucy, and Alexi was afraid Jesse would get back before she’d seen Lucy. Some things were just too private and painful to share.
“Oh, Miss Alexi. Did you hear the good news today?”
“Not yet. So you get to tell me.” Alexi bent down and kissed the top of Lucy’s head.
Lucy sat up straighter in the bed and turned off the TV. “Missy’s surgery went really good. Nurse Jones says that Missy will probably be back here in a week.”
“That is good news.” Smiling, Alexi placed the beribboned gold bag in Lucy’s lap. “This is for you. You are the only one special enough to take care of what’s inside.”
Lucy’s blue eyes widened. “Miss Alexi, I’m not that—”
“Yes, Lucy. You are that important.”
Little fingers smoothed down the ribbons streaming from the golden bow as Lucy pulled the bag close. “It’s almost too pretty to open.”
Alexi laughed. “Aren’t those the best presents and the best birthday cakes? The ones that are almost too pretty to open or too pretty to eat?”
Lucy giggled. “Yes. This is great. Mr. Jesse brings me balloons, Missy’s all right, and now a golden treasure.”
Alexi laughed with Lucy, enjoying the good feeling. Karin was right. The new medicine did have Lucy feeling better.
With one last pat to the golden bow, Lucy stuck her eager hands into the bag and her eyes went wide again. “A doll. Oh you got me a doll! Thank you.”
Lucy pulled Amanda Lee out of the bag and Alexi breathed deep as a knot of emotion wrapped tightly about her heart. “She’s a very special doll that my mommy gave me when I was a very little girl, even littler than you. She helped me grow up and to be strong.”
“She’s so beautiful, Miss Alexi and she has golden hair just like you. What’s her name?”
Alexi blinked away tears and smiled. “Do you want to give her a new name?”
“No. I want to call her what you called her, and maybe she’ll help me to be as strong and beautiful as you.”
Alexi didn’t stop the tears this time. “Her name’s Amanda Lee. And she’ll love you best just like she loved me.”
“I love her already.” Lucy frowned. “Are you sure you’re not going to be sad like I was when I gave Angela away?”
“I’m sure. These are happy tears because Amanda Lee now has a special place to be. And I promise that if I miss her, I’ll come and see her, and I’ll get to see you, too.” Joy that she could pass on the special love that her own mother had given her flooded though Alexi. Her heart filled as she watched Lucy with Amanda Lee and suddenly, she realized that the sad part in her own heart—the tiny place that had always yearned for her mother—wasn’t sad any more.
Lucy hugged the doll. “Do you hear that, Amanda Lee. Miss Lexi’s going to visit us twice as often as she already does. Why she’ll practically have to move into the hospital.”
Alexi laughed. “You might just be right about that.”
* * *
Jesse hovered outside the doorway to Lucy’s room, a clog of emotion cutting off his ability to breathe. Shit, he turned around and walked back down the hospital corridor. He wasn’t supposed to feel the stuff that was churning around inside him. It was all he could do to stop himself from walking into Lucy’s room and putting his arm around Alexi just so he could be near her.
She’d given her doll to a little girl in the hospital. So what was the big deal? It wasn’t something that should grab him by the gut and yank hard. Trouble was, no matter how hard he tried to deny it, she hadn’t just given Lucy a doll. She’d given Lucy her heart and that did weird things inside of him. He went down to the hospital lobby and paced for a while.
He and Alexi were going to be late to his brother’s birthday, but Jesse wanted to make darn sure that Alexi had no idea he’d overheard her with Lucy. That meant he had to wipe the emotions off his palette before she saw them. Setting his mouth into a grim line, he marched to the elevators and stabbed the up button. The doors opened and, not thinking, he stepped forward. He ran right into Alexi who was stepping off.
“Jesse,” she said grabbing his shoulders for balance.
Jesse couldn’t help it and he couldn’t stop himself. He took one look at her and kissed her like some fool who’d just fallen off a turnip truck. Besides the women in his family, Jesse knew this was the first time in his life that he’d kissed a women without sex being the first thing on his mind. This was not a good thing.
It’s temporary, he told himself. This stuff jumping around in his stomach was just temporary. It’d wear off just as soon as the sexual itch she’d fanned to life was satisfied. Just because things were entirely too comfortable with Alexi around didn’t mean anything.
* * *
The Weldon’s took a birthday bash seriously. A jaunty tune being played by a first class southern fiddler danced in the air and a singer melodiously belted out lyrics about a man besting the devil by playing a fiddle. People danced in the yard. Kids played on the bales of hay that served as seats. A game of horseshoes waged on the sidelines and Alexi couldn’t absorb everything around her fast enough.
Her foot tapped to the infectious beat as she sat fascinated. She’d always thought the Walton’s close family unit was a scriptwriter’s fantasy, and to find it alive and well in the Weldon’s backyard seemed like a miracle. She didn’t quite belong in their midst—hay bales for seats, dancing in the backyard, and Mason Jars for glasses didn’t quite mesh with her idea of a party. She’d only known ballrooms and crystal. But she couldn’t deny the luring appeal of the whole atmosphere.
And no sane woman could deny the appeal of Jesse’s brothers. Jackson was older than Jesse by a couple of years and Jared and James, identical twins were a few years younger. Together they were four lethal, black-haired, blue-eyed devils.
Jesse had just left to get her a drink, and the minute he disappeared inside, his three brothers descended.
One of the twins sat on the hay bale next to her, crowding her left thigh; the other sat on her right, nearly squashing her in the middle. The only way she could tell them apart was that Jared wore a blue shirt and James wore a green one.
Jackson, who seemed moodier and more withdrawn than the rest, parked in front of her, his strong legs poured into snug jeans and black boots. She gasped in air, but it didn’t help. The devastating testosterone crowding her seemed to have sucked all the oxygen away.
“So Jesse, was telling us about his black eye,” Jared said.
“Yeah, that was a wild thing,” James added.
Heat flooded Alexi’s cheeks. “It was such a silly accident. I didn’t mean to hit him with the rock. It just flew out of my hand when I lost my balance.”
“That’s what he said.” Jared shook his head. “Can’t remember where he said you all were.”
“By a creek off some dirt road.” Alexi fanned her cheeks as she recalled what she and Jesse had done there. “I lost my balance and fell in while he was showing me how to skim r
ocks.”
All three brothers nodded and the look that ping-ponged between them made her heart thump nervously. How much did Jesse share with his brother’s? Had he told them about her, about what she’d done with him? You told Nan.
“Uh, that’s how I hit him with the rock. When I lost my balance I mean.”
“Y’all must have been at the old grist mill,” Jared said.
“Great, place,” James added.
“So how many skips did he best you by in his wager? He beat Sue McCallahan by a hundred to one.”
What? Did Jesse run a rock-skipping racket?
“You two had better run. Jesse’s on his way back and he doesn’t look happy,” Jackson said.
“I think I’ll stick around. I like her,” James said.
“Me, too.” Jared scooted closer.
“You two are going to make her pass out if you don’t lay off. I don’t think she’s remembered to breathe in the past three minutes.” Jackson shook his head, but a reassuring grin rested on his otherwise stern face.
Alexi managed to breathe.
“Then you can give her mouth to mouth,” James added.
“And have Jesse clean my clock? No thanks. It’s going to be more fun watching him pound you two in the ground now that you’ve dug up all the details about his black-eye.”
Alexi gasped. “Dug them up?”
James and Jared shifted nervously.
Jackson smiled. “Yeah. Jesse said he ran into a door.”
“But, but…” She played the conversation back and realized she’d been duped. “You two tricked me!” She elbowed James and Jared in the ribs then she glared at Jackson. “And you stood right there and let them.”
“Yep,” he said unashamedly.
“Why I never—” All of her anger fizzled beneath the sudden need to laugh at her own gullibility. “You got me good. You belong in the CIA.” She let her laughter peel out and Jesse’s brothers laughed with her. She laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks. When Jesse walked up, she couldn’t even speak.
“What did you clowns do to her?” Jesse handed Jackson the drinks in his hands, pulled her up from between his other brothers and glared at them. Alexi was still laughing.
“She’s the best one ever,” Jared said.
“She’s the only one ever,” James said.
“You two are hanging yourselves.” Jackson shook his head.
Alexi gasped. “So, Jesse, how many kisses did you get out of Sue McCallahan at the creek?”
“Bye,” James and Jared jumped up and ran.
“Remind me to kill them, later,” Jesse said to Jackson.
“Gladly,” Jackson handed Jesse the drinks. “Meanwhile, I think I’m going to ask this charming lady to dance.”
Jesse shoved the drinks back at Jackson. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
Jackson smiled, taking the drinks. “I am. Just getting you where you need to be.”
“I can do that myself just fine.” Jesse turned to her, and held out his bent arm. “May I have this dance?”
Wiping the last laughter tears from her eyes, Alexi slid her arm through Jesse’s. “You may. I do believe that was part of our wager, wasn’t it?”
“How many do I owe you? Three?”
“Five or was it more?”
“No way.” Jesse looked at Jackson. “Tell Hank to play five slow ones in a row.” He grabbed her. “Come on. I’ve a feeling our wager is costing me more than I ever bargained for.”
Laughing, she followed as he led her to a darker corner of the yard where a barn-like structure cast shadows in the moonlight. Then he slipped his arms around her, pulling her close. She leaned her head back to see the stars.
“What are you staring at?” Jesse swung her around.
“The stars. I remember something my mother told me. That even though I’m a tiny speck in the whole vastness of the universe, I was still special enough to have the heavens wink merrily at me every night just to tell me goodnight.”
“Nice thought.” He pulled her closer still.
“It’s a good memory.” She rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She didn’t tell him the rest. She didn’t tell him that the stars were angels waiting to catch her dreams and make them come true. Instead, she molded her body to his and let the magic of the music, the man, and the night slip inside of her.
“Lexi,” Jesse said whispering into her ear.
“Hmm.” She roused herself from his shoulder. Only then did she realize the change in the sounds about them. The music and noise of people talking had faded to a low happy hum and she could no longer see the stars. Jesse had danced her away from the party into the shadows behind the barn-like building.
“Have you ever seen the stars over a pasture?”
She shook her head.
“Then let me treat you. My brothers and I used to hike out to the middle of the pasture and sleep under the stars when we were kids.” He swung her around and brought her back up against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. Still swaying to the music, he leaned down and kissed her neck just below her ear.
She gasped, tingling as much from his kiss as from the brilliant canopy of stars spreading over the night sky. Away from the lights of the city, the stars shone brighter than ever. If stars were angels catching dreams, what would she dream?
Jesse kissed her neck again, molding himself to her back and she realized that when he touched her, when he drew her into his arms, when he looked into her eyes as he moved inside her, she didn’t feel alone. And she knew if she could have one dream from the stars it would be that deep connection with a man that being with Jesse made her feel. It would be the knowing of the sum of all things depicted in the Adam and Eve photographs.
“Let me show you the stars, Lexi,” Jesse said, seemingly reading her mind. It should have surprised her, but didn’t. She felt so connected to him. He slid his hand up from her waist to the buttons of her blouse and slowly slipped them loose, pushing the lacy cups of her bra aside until he bared her breasts. She thought about stopping him. They were only just out of sight of the party, but she wanted to feel his touch for just a minute, wanted to make that intimate connection with him beneath the stars. Her heart rate skyrocketed and she squirmed against him as he cupped each of her breasts, lifted them, and then rolled her nipples to hard peaks.
“We can’t do this,” she whispered. “Not with everyone so close.” Even as she spoke, burgeoning desire heated her cheeks.
“Shh. It only takes a minute to reach the stars. Let yourself go. Put your arms around my neck.”
She did. Reaching up and behind, she put her arms around his head, running her fingers through his silky hair, and breathed deeply of seductive cologne and his unique scent. The position made her breasts jut higher and pressed her bottom back into his upper thighs and hard erection.
“That’s it, Lex.” He moved one hand down her stomach, unzipped her skirt a little, and slipped his fingers inside the waistband of her denim skirt then into her lace panties.
She grabbed his arm, mortified at the thought than at any given moment someone could come around the side of the building and see them together. But instead of stopping him, she pressed his hand closer to her as his fingers brushed her clitoris.
He stopped then, but didn’t move from her. The heat of his hand hovered over her sex. “More, Lexi?”
“Yes,” she whispered, shameless in the need this one man evoked. “Take me to the stars.” Then she reached for his head again, burying her hands in his hair and twisting her head around to bring her lips closer to his.
Jesse laughed softly. “That’s it. Fly to the stars, Lex.” His touch was so light that she had to arch her hips to his hand, needing to feel more from him. He answered her need by moving his finger faster, harder. Her breath caught. Her breasts ached and she arched against him, undulating with need.
“That’s it, Sunshine. Burn for me. Burn like a star and when you come, I want you to make a
wish.”
She was too far-gone to give wishes any thought. Jesse made her body sing like a master musician. Her blood rushed and her body hummed to the tune he played. She groaned, her hips slave to his touch. She could feel her release rushing at her like a wild wind that picked her up and carried her to the stars. The moment she climaxed, Jesse kissed her hard, as if to absorb her orgasm into himself, and take flight with her. The stars never looked better.
“Jesse! Where are you, bro? It’s birthday cake time.”
One of Jesse’s brothers, one of the twins, she thought, called out and she heard footsteps behind them. She crash-landed in a panic, jerking her hands down to close her blouse, but her bracelet caught in Jesse’s hair.
“Shit. Don’t move,” Jesse said. He closed her blouse.
Jesse’s brother laughed. “Running into another door, bro?”
“James. This door isn’t half as big as the door that’s going to slam into you. Get lost. We’ll be there in a sec.” Jesse managed to button her blouse, but her bracelet was still attached to a large chunk of his hair.
James laughed again. “You know, bro. You’re going to have to adopt a different modus operandi for seduction. Creek sitting and stars over the pasture are high school tricks.
Mortified, Alexi groaned.
“Make sure you give mom a kiss before I get back to the party,” Jesse said. “It’ll comfort her at your gravesite.”
“It won’t comfort her half as much as seeing you with Alexi has. Mom’s the one who sent me over here. Guess you didn’t dance away as subtly as you thought. Ma says pa pulled the same trick on her when he came courting.”
“You’re going to die, and it’ll be a slow, torturous death.”
Laughter and retreating footsteps were James’s reply.
“Oh my God,” Alexi leaned against Jesse, her heart pounding with mortification. He untangled her bracelet, but she couldn’t move. Jesse’s mother knew! And she had to go and face her.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Relax,” Jesse said, urging her past the concealing shadow of the storage shed.
Wild Irish (Book 1 of the Weldon Brothers Series) Page 14
