“I should have known I would find you up here.”
She turned to find Mitch standing at the top of the stairs, arms folded over his chest.
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t come up here.”
She shrugged. “I believe you issued an order. I never agreed to it. This is nice, though. Very macho.”
“Is there a particular reason you’re up here?”
To annoy you. “I was looking for you.”
“Really? Because I told you I would be in my room, unpacking.”
“I must have forgotten.”
“What did you want?”
“To warn you that my father has invited us to dinner at the Cattleman’s Club tomorrow night at seven.”
“I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“That’s what I told him. He said that if you want his support, you’ll be there.”
“Well, then, I guess I’ll be there.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“My brother left me a message. He said that Kate would like you to join her for a welcome-to-the-family lunch on Thursday.”
“Family?”
“She is your sister-in-law.”
Oddly enough, Lexi hadn’t even thought about that.
She had a family now—someone other than her father, that is. But she couldn’t help wondering if it would be weird going out to lunch with the woman who had stolen her fiancé. “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”
His expression darkened. “You think you’re better than her?”
“Of course not! Kate seems wonderful. I just thought it might be awkward.”
“Fine, I’ll tell Lance you don’t want to go.”
“I didn’t say that. I’ll go, okay?”
He shrugged, as though it didn’t matter either way to him, yet she had the distinct feeling it did. “She said to meet her at the Cattleman’s Club café at one.”
She nodded, wondering how she was going to get there. If she asked Mitch to send a car for her, he would probably just accuse her of being spoiled. Unfortunately, her father had never allowed her to learn how to drive. Having his driver take her everywhere was just another way for him to keep track of her every move. Maybe Tara could drive her. And maybe, if she asked Tara nicely enough, she might teach Lexi to drive. She was twenty-four years old. It was high time she began asserting her independence.
“I talked to the real estate agent. We have a 10:00 a.m. appointment tomorrow. He said he has several properties to show us.”
“That was quick.”
“I called him last week and told him we’d be looking. The state of the economy being what it is, he said if we decide to buy, there’s a huge selection right now. Building new would take considerably longer.”
She shrugged. “Whatever you want. As long as I’m free by four.”
“Why?”
“I have an appointment with my gynecologist.”
His expression darkened. “Speaking of that, I think it would be best if we kept the…situation to ourselves.”
She was tempted to tell him that the situation had fingers and toes and a beating heart, but she didn’t see the point. He obviously wasn’t ready to acknowledge the life growing inside of her. “Fine.”
“Also, I think it would be best if people are led to believe that we’re happy.”
She pursed her lips. “Then maybe we should forget those cooking lessons and get me some acting lessons, instead.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit. In Greece you had me snowed.”
That’s because I wasn’t acting, you moron, she wanted to shout. But what good would it do? His mind was made up about her and she would never forgive him for it, so they were more or less at an impasse.
“Define happy,” she said.
“I think we should act like newlyweds, show each other affection.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “How much affection?”
“I’m not suggesting we publicly maul each other. I’m talking about little things like holding hands, and maybe occasionally smiling at each other.”
“But no kissing,” she clarified. Not that she didn’t enjoy kissing him. Quite the opposite. Every time his lips touched hers she got so hot her brain shortcircuited. If that happened she might do something stupid, like sleep with him again. And because he did amazing things to her body, she knew once wouldn’t be enough. If she slept with him too many times, she might begin to forget how awful he was.
“No kissing,” he agreed.
Good.
So why did she feel disappointed that he hadn’t put up at least a tiny fuss?
His cell phone rang and he looked at the display. “It’s Lance. I have to take this.”
“I’ll be in the kitchen getting something to eat.”
She brushed past Mitch and headed downstairs, hearing him call after her, “The fire extinguisher is in the pantry.”
Smart-ass. She should burn the place down just to spite him.
“Welcome home,” Lance said when he answered. “Did you get my message?”
“Yeah. In fact, I just talked to Lexi. She’ll meet Kate for lunch.” He didn’t mention that Lexi hadn’t looked all that thrilled with the idea. Mitch knew that she and her father looked down on people of Kate’s past station in society.
“I’m glad,” Lance said. “Kate is pretty excited about having a sister-in-law.”
“Seriously?”
“The truth is, she credits Lexi for us finally getting together. If I hadn’t planned to marry Lexi, Kate probably never would have quit, and I would still be walking around with my head in the clouds, not realizing how important she is to me.”
That was an interesting way to look at it.
“Speaking of marriage,” Lance said, “how was the honeymoon?”
“It was okay,” Mitch told him, which wasn’t a total lie. It had gone pretty well, right up until the moment Lexi showed her true colors. Unfortunately, if Mitch was honest about how truly miserable he was, not only would Lance feel guilty as hell, he might want to know why. It would be best for everyone involved if even Lance believed Lexi and Mitch were happy.
“Just okay?” Lance hedged.
“Better than okay,” Mitch said. “I think this just might work out.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said, sounding relieved.
Mitch wasn’t yet sure how he planned to handle the news of Lexi’s pregnancy. Lance wasn’t stupid. He would do the math and realize when she’d conceived. Mitch would just have to admit to his brother that he and Lexi slept together in D.C. He could lie and say they were drunk, claim they had been so out of it they had forgotten to use protection. He just hoped Lance wasn’t too pissed at him, although Mitch wouldn’t blame him if he was.
But that could wait a while, at least another month or two, until Lexi started to show.
“Any news about the fire?” he