"Put it out of your head." When Mark was met by silence, he said, "I mean it, Josh. Don't play the hero."
"What am I supposed to do? Sit back and let her be scared to death?"
"Do you want my honest opinion?"
"You know I do."
"Sure, Stanley's probably behind it. But he feels Lexa is a woman he can scare off with a few threats. Con artists are scared to death of getting caught. That's why they defraud and move on. If Lexa keeps her distance, she'll be okay. I mean it, Josh. I don't feel she's in any danger. Bring the note in and I'll check it. If anything else happens and you can prove Stanley's involved, of course I'll take action."
"So you're not going to do anything," Josh grumbled.
"There's one thing I can do. I'll notify patrol cars in Lexa's area to keep watch. Will that make you feel better?"
"Some." But not enough. "Thanks, Mark. I know you'll do what you can. Call me as soon as you find out about Stanley. Anytime." He gave Mark Lexa's number and address. "If I'm not home, I'll be at Lexa's."
Mark tried to be comforting. "Who knows? We might get lucky with those prints."
The next morning, Josh wasn't willing to hope they'd get lucky. He didn't want Lexa in any danger, physically or emotionally. She had awakened in the middle of the night with a nightmare and slept fitfully after that. He hadn't slept much either because he was too busy planning what he was going to do.
After he dropped the note at the police station, he went to Stanley's office. Striding in purposefully, he stopped at the secretary's desk. "I want to see Mr. Stanley. Now," Josh said firmly and calmly.
"I'm afraid that's not possible at the moment. Mr. Stanley's on the phone."
Josh's chin jutted out with determination. "I'll wait. But not long."
"And you're name, sir?"
"Flannigan. Joshua Flannigan."
"This in with regards to...?"
"A personal matter."
When the secretary saw Stanley's phone light go off, she buzzed him. "There's a man here to see you. A Mr. Flannigan."
With a "send him in," Josh went into Stanley's inner office and ignored his gesture to sit down. "I don't need to sit, Stanley. I came to make one thing perfectly clear. Stay away from Alexandra Kittredge. Don't make any more phone calls, don't go near her office or home, and keep your hands off of her property. If you don't, you will have to deal with me and the police department."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Mr. Flannigan."
Josh knew better. He saw the creases in Stanley's brow, the shift of his eyes, the worry around his mouth. "I know you do. I stopped in to let you know if one intelligent woman can guess your game, it won't be long until others do, too. So watch your step, Stanley."
Stanley recovered his smooth exterior. "Your accusations have no substance, Flannigan. Of course I'm not happy with Ms. Kittredge's ideas of my business acumen. Her comments have been somewhat detrimental. But this is America and everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and expression of them. Now, if you don't mind, I have business to attend to."
Josh lifted the heavy bronze paperweight on Stanley's desk, held it in his palm, looked at Stanley, and set the object back down with a loud thump. "I'll leave. But remember. You step on Alexandra Kittredge's toes, you step on mine. My temper is not nearly as placid as hers." With a last piercing look at Stanley, Josh turned his back and left.
Josh insisted on taking Lexa out to a posh restaurant for a late dinner that evening. She seemed to be her usual self, simply a little quieter. Afterwards, he took her to his apartment. When she laid her coat over the back of the sofa, he came up behind her, turned her around, and gave her a bear hug. She burrowed into his shoulder and held tight.
"You can tell me what you're feeling, Lexa."
She leaned back and looked up. "I just feel restless."
He didn't believe that for a minute. "Not afraid?"
"No." She pulled away, frustrated by her need to be held in his arms. She was afraid if she needed him too much, she'd be swallowed up and she wouldn't know her place in the world. As an independent woman, she did. As a person in control of her own life, she did. As a caregiver, she did. This relationship with Josh was stirring up a hornet's nest of needs she had either denied or forgotten.
"It's okay to be scared," he said softly, moving his hands down to cup her elbows.
"I wish you'd stop analyzing what I'm feeling. If I want you to know, I'll tell you."
"Will you? Lexa, don't you understand the relationship I want with you? The kind of sharing? I don't want simply your time. I want you. Why are you fighting me?"
She pulled away from his hands until she was standing free. "Sometimes I don't know who I am when I'm with you. You make me need and want, and that scares me."
"Tell me when you're scared. I'll do what I can to fix it."
She started shaking her head before he finished speaking. "I don't want you to fix anything. I have to sort all this out, Josh, and I have to do it alone."
He was going to protest, but the doorbell interrupted him.
Lexa asked, "Are you expecting someone?"
"No." Josh answered the door, and let Mark Gibson inside.
The detective said, "I have news for you."
Mark nodded to Lexa. "Hello, Ms. Kittredge. I'm the one who's been looking into Ted Stanley's background."
She motioned for him to sit down while she and Josh sat on the sofa.
Mark took the chair across from them. "I got the lowdown late last night. It seems Mr. Stanley has as many aliases as a tree has branches. He's wanted for fraud in three states and only God knows how many people he's rooked."
"How long has he been doing this?" Josh asked.
Mark looked at the note pad in his hand. "The last five years as far as we can tell. He's never in any hurry. He planned to settle down for a year or so, take in as much as he could, then move on. That's his MO. But something scared him off." Mark gave Josh a speaking glance. "Or someone. When we arrived at his office with a warrant, he was packing up ready to skip town. Any idea why, Josh?"
"How would Josh know?" Lexa asked, confused.
"Got me. What about it, Josh? You were pretty hot under the collar last night."
"Josh?" Lexa asked.
"Look. I knew you wouldn't accept an around-the-clock bodyguard, so I paid Stanley a visit this morning."
"You didn't!" One stark thought crossed her mind. Josh had put himself in danger for her. "You told me to stay away from him. Why didn't you? Who knows what he might have done."
"Simmer down." Josh capped her knee. "Last night Mark as much as told me con-men are cowards."
"I never told you to confront him, Josh," his friend said with a baleful glare.
"I wasn't being foolish. I used the information you gave me and made a calculated decision. All I did was warn him Lexa was off limits."
"You threatened him," Mark translated.
"No. I encouraged him to stay away from Lexa."
"He could have skipped town. I'd have to arrest you for obstructing justice."
When Lexa looked at Josh with astonishment, he squeezed her knee. "This guy's trying to throw his weight around. It makes him feel important."
"The point is..." Mark began.
"The point is," Josh interrupted, "He didn't skip town and you caught him. I am sorry I interfered, but Lexa had to be my main concern."
Mark shook his head and muttered, "Stubborn Irishman."
Lexa couldn't scold Josh when he had her interests at heart. She admired him more than she had ever admired any man. But she was concerned about her friends. "What about the money Stanley took? Will it be returned?"
"When we confiscated his records, we found a slew of checks that hadn't been cashed. My guess is he was going to do it soon, but hadn't gotten around to it. Those checks are null and void. For the ones he did cash, the money can probably be recovered, but claims will have to be made, papers filed, a court process gone through. It will take ti
me."
He stood, his business finished. "I won't take up any more of your time. Both of you have been a big help." He looked at Josh. "Stay out of trouble."
Josh saw Mark to the door. When he returned to the living room, he looked boyishly delinquent.
Lexa couldn't be angry with him. "Thank you."
He sat down close to her. "For what?"
"For protecting me. For putting yourself in danger."
His smile was tender. "I wasn't in any danger. I'm six inches taller than Stanley is and twice as fit."
"Still..."
He brushed her bangs away from her forehead. "I'd do anything to protect you."
"Josh, I'm a big girl."
"I know. But even big girls need protectors now and then."
Could she accept him as that? Could she accept his need to be a white knight?
CHAPTER NINE
Lexa snuggled next to Josh the following evening and dipped into a bowl of popcorn while they watched a movie. She'd never felt more contented in her life. She hadn't told Josh again that she loved him since she'd said it in the heat of passion. She did love him--with all her heart. And that made her even more afraid to tell him her secret. What if she lost him?
Every time she started to say it, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and she longed for just another day of not facing his reaction. If she told him right now...
The telephone rang and she breathed a sigh of relief. Josh pushed the button on the remote, stopping the DVD.
Reaching around him to the end table, Lexa picked up the receiver. "Hello."
"Lexa, it's Dani."
"What is it?"
"I fell. Now, it's nothing to worry about so don't get upset."
"Are you okay? Have you seen your doctor?"
"Yes. This happened last night. He says I'm fine, that babies are well protected. But I'm scared."
"Do you want me to come get you and take you home?"
"I don't want to go home. I want to stay here. Can you come up for a few days? Please?"
"But what about your roommate?"
"She can bunk in with a friend. She says it's okay. Please, Lexa. Can you come up? I do feel okay, but the whole thing scared me. I'd feel so much better if you were here."
Lexa thought about her schedule for the next few days--the appointments, meetings for the teen center, Josh. But the habit of caring for Dani for years made her ask, "Honey, are you okay for tonight or do you want me to come right away?"
"I'd like you here as soon as you can come, but tomorrow morning's okay. I'm sorry about this. I didn't want to call."
"Don't worry about it. I'll leave early tomorrow morning. You take care of yourself, you hear? And call the doctor if you have any problems."
"I will. I'll see you tomorrow."
Josh asked, "What's wrong?"
Lexa told him, then picked up the phone again. "I've got to call my secretary. She should be okay tomorrow, and I won't have to worry about the weekend. If she feels she can handle the interviews, I'm going to let her keep my appointments."
While Lexa was on the phone, Josh was thinking. The doctor said Dani was all right. Dani was in a dorm surrounded by people if she needed any help. He could understand Lexa wanting to visit, to see if Dani was all right, but the plans she was making made it seem as if she was going to stay for a long visit.
After Lexa gave her secretary directions and Dani's number in case something cropped up she couldn't handle, Lexa hung up. Her brow was creased with wrinkles of worry.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Josh asked.
"No. I have to pack, stop at the office tomorrow morning for some files before I go."
"What time are you leaving?"
"About six."
"Do you have to go so early?"
Lexa hooked her hair behind her ear and picked up a pen and note pad to jot down reminders. "She wanted me to come up tonight."
"Lexa, don't you think you might be overreacting? The doctor said she's okay. Why don't you wait, call him tomorrow morning to get specifics, and then decide what you're going to do and how long you want to stay. I can take you up if you want to spend the day and make sure she's okay."
Lexa's head jerked up. "Josh, I'm going to stay more than a day. I want to make sure she's taking proper care of herself. A few days of rest will do her good. She'll get that if I'm there. She needs me."
"Does she? Or does she want you there?"
"At the moment it doesn't matter." When he frowned, Lexa said, "Josh, you've never had brothers or sisters. You don't understand how she depends on me."
That was the problem. "She's twenty-one years old. The dependence has to stop sometime."
"It can't stop now. She doesn't have anyone else to give her moral support."
"I don't believe that, Lexa. Certainly she has friends at college. There are counselors."
"That's not the same. She's my sister. I have to do everything I can."
"As usual."
Lexa gave him a wary look. "What's wrong, Josh?"
He knew he was going to tread on sacred territory.
Lexa went still. "Just say it."
"I think you're too accessible to Dani. She calls and you go running. I don't think it's good for her and I don't think it's good for you."
Lexa was shaking her head even before he finished. "I don't agree."
"I didn't think you would." He shook his head. "Tell me something, Lexa. If I had called, would you have dropped everything, forgotten about work and meetings to help me?"
"Of course I would."
His eyes narrowed.
"Don't you know that?"
"I know that you do as much as you possibly can for everyone." He debated with himself, then added, "But I'm not sure how your priorities line up."
She put the pen and pad on the coffee table and slid toward him. While she caressed his cheek, she fitted her soft curves into his hard body. "I love you, Josh. Believe me, I do."
He stroked up and down her back. He wanted her to need him. He wanted to come first in her life. After Dani's baby was born, would Lexa turn all her devotion to the child? Would she have time for a husband? Their relationship had to come first for a marriage to be strong. Marriage? When had he begun thinking about marriage? And how could he even contemplate it when Lexa didn't trust him enough to tell him she couldn't have children?
He could lead her into it. He could ask her a few probing questions like– Would she rather use another form of birth control? Or, if she had children, did she want them to look like her? Or... No. He wouldn't bait her. He wouldn't force her. She had to tell him freely. On her own. He just wished she'd do it.
***
Josh's lower body stuck out from the cabinet under Clare's sink. His voice was muffled as he stuck his hand out. "Wrench." Clare put the tool in his hand.
A few minutes later, Josh swore. When he emerged from the cabinet, he said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I can't fix it. I'm not a plumber."
Clare wagged her finger at him. "Don't you dare give me a rendition of 'I told you so'."
He bit back a grin. "I'd never do that." At Clare's harrumph, he laughed. "But you'd better call a plumber before that stream under there becomes a river."
"It started with a little drip."
"Most leaks do. Although I'm very handy to have around, this is beyond my expertise." He picked up the dishpan on the floor next to him and set it under the dripping pipe. Taking a dishcloth from the door handle, he mopped up small puddles.
After he stood, he washed his hands in the sink. "I can turn the water off for tonight and you can try to get a plumber first thing in the morning."
"All right. I made a chocolate cake today. We had it for supper but there's some left. Would you like a piece?"
Josh glanced at her over his shoulder. "Do I ever turn down your chocolate cake?"
Clare lifted the top on the cake holder. "It was a rhetorical question." She sliced a large wedge. "When's Lexa coming
back?"
Turning off the spigot, Josh dried his hands on a towel hanging from the oven door's handle. "She called last night and said she's taking Dani to the doctor's tomorrow to make sure everything's all right before she comes home."
"How did she sound?"
"Tired. I don't see why Dani couldn't have gone home and just stayed. It's only another week or so until her Christmas break."
"Maybe she can get more work done up there."
Josh grunted. "I don't think she's doing much work."
"But is she feeling all right?"
He reached for a glass in the cabinet and crossed to the refrigerator. "Lexa says she is. I get the impression Lexa's worrying for two, but she won't say so. She's so damned independent."
"Joshua, that's a good quality and you know it. You wouldn't want a clinging vine." Clare set the large piece of cake on the table.
"No, I wouldn't. But sometimes I'm not sure how much she loves me," he confessed.
"You can measure it?" Clare asked wisely.
"Of course not." He poured himself a full glass of milk. "But if she depended on me a little more..."
Sitting down at the table, Clare advised, "Give her some time. She's a loving, intelligent woman. She'll work it out."
Josh pulled out a chair with his foot and sat down. "She's too loving, Clare. She doesn't save much for herself or for us."
"Maybe you expect too much."
"I don't think so." He cut a piece of cake off with his fork and lifted it to his mouth. He swallowed, took a swig of milk and smiled in appreciation. "As great as always." Scrutinizing Clare carefully, he asked, "So. Despite the plumbing, do you like life here?"
"I love it. I do the cooking. Trudy cleans and we all do the laundry. Jim takes care of the outside work, dishes, and repairs. But plumbing's not his thing either."
"He must be a brave soul living with two women. I bet he doesn't get to say much." Josh noticed a new flicker in Clare's eyes. "Does he?"
Clare ducked her head and wiped a few crumbs from the table. "He says what he thinks."
"And what does he think?"
She met Josh's gaze squarely. "He wants to take me out for lunch this week."
"So go."
She waved her hand in the air as if he was suggesting pure foolishness. "I'm too old for that nonsense."
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