Lex grinned. Of the two, his father was the more sentimental and likely to break down in tears. But only in the presence of family.
His mother, graceful and elegant even in jeans and a screen-printed shirt that Elia had given her for their unofficial anniversary, slid her fingers between his.
“Thank you for the gift, Alexander. It’s wonderful.” She smelled of coffee and bitter chocolate still, remnants of earlier that evening when she and his father had been exiled to a nearby coffee shop so the kids could take care of dinner.
“You’re welcome, Mama.”
His father came up behind her, looming tall and distinguished in the new gray-flecked goatee he’d been trying out for the last few weeks. “Although we don’t say it nearly enough, we’re very proud of you.” He shared a look with his wife and Lex wondered where this was coming from. Then he remembered the photos he’d uploaded in the frame, especially the ones of him as a teenager smirking at the camera, looking like he was on the hunt for trouble. “The success you made for yourself,” his father continued. “The peace you found once you came back to us whole and settled all those years ago.” He was talking about Jamaica, the end of Lex’s rebellious phase. And Lex couldn’t help but think about Margot and the role she had in that.
“You came back to us better than we ever dreamed,” his mother said. “We’re so happy you made it.” Unspoken was the reality that he could very easily have burned himself out and ended up hurt or worse.
His father rested a hand on his shoulder, a light and loving weight. “Very happy.”
Lex squeezed his father’s hand and swallowed the lump of emotion in his throat. “I...just came to call you for dinner.” He cleared his throat, cursing the tremor in his voice. “Don’t let the food get cold.” Then he turned and left them before they could see the wetness in his eyes.
He’d come a long way since he was eighteen and breaking his parents’ hearts with just about every decision he made. It had taken a conversation or eight with Madame M—with Margot—to make him realize what he was turning his back on. Family. The people who loved him unconditionally even when they were tired of his mess and trying to help him clean it all up.
Downstairs, Lex turned into the first room he came to: his mother’s office. With the smell of his mother’s fragrance around him—his mother who’d never cried but clung to him like he was a precious thing she had almost lost—Lex fumbled for his phone. He brought up Margot’s number and, after a moment’s hesitation, sent her a text.
I’ll do it.
* * *
Soft conversation rippled through the tea shop where Lex stood. He lurked near the intimidating wall of loose-leaf tea selections, trying to decide what he was in the mood for. The display of teas was impressively large. He wanted to bury his nose in every single metal container and inhale their particular scent until he could decide what it was that he actually wanted. It also helped him to stall and wait for what he was really at the tea shop for.
It wasn’t long before his patience was rewarded and Margot walked in. She pushed open the door, talking with a woman who came in just behind her, a woman whose face Lex couldn’t immediately see. There was something familiar about her body though, lushly made with high yet heavy breasts covered in a gray V-necked T-shirt and a cascade of tiny gold chains, hips that curved sweetly under blue jeans and made something low in his belly jerk to attention. Maybe she was an actress from a movie or television show he’d seen once. Then he saw her face.
Lex’s hand brushed one of the tins of loose-leaf tea, and the tea tumbled off the shelf, spilling golden chamomile flowers all over the tile floor. He winced when every eye in the place, including Margot’s, swung to him. He was certain he saw her amused gaze before she turned back to the woman with her, her sister. The same woman he’d seen at the gallery. The universe was either seriously messing with him or giving him a gift straight from heaven.
He tore his eyes away from the woman and dropped to one knee to gather the spilled chamomile the same moment someone came from behind the counter with a small broom and dustbin. Lex apologized for the mess while the man waved him away with a smile, saying something about accidents happening all the time. But although Lex was trying his best to deal with the tea and man and the sudden gallop of his pulse, his attention was still firmly focused on Margot’s sister.
Only two weeks had passed since he saw her, but his body jerked tight and grew warm like it was only yesterday that it had hardened for her. As his body reacted to her presence, Lex felt like he was on display, the priapic man unable to control his reaction to a seductive woman walking into a place where he’d expected duty, only to be faced with desire. He shook his head at his own dramatics and backed away from the tea display and the guy with the broom before he could do any more damage.
After ordering a smoothie, he stood to the side and watched the two women while trying not to be obvious about it. The only features the two women shared were their above-average height and nut-brown skin. Otherwise, they were night and day. Margot was so beautiful and strikingly slender that, if Lex hadn’t known her, he’d have thought she’d just stepped off the plane from a fashion show in Milan. Her smiles were wide and inviting, but there was no warmth in them. Her sister, though, was...all heat and invitation, even though she wasn’t smiling. Objectively, her face was pretty enough, but there was nothing in it to inspire a league of Instagram followers. Square-ish jaw. Long-lashed eyes. A full and slightly downturned mouth. He very deliberately did not look any lower than her chin.
The sisters stood at the back of the line without paying him the slightest bit of attention. Which he was grateful for. Soon enough, they stepped past him, Margot’s sister saying in a soft voice what teas she liked. Margot only said a few words until they were at the front of the line, where she ordered tea service for two and two curry-chicken sandwiches. Once their order was placed, they sat an empty table to wait. That was Lex’s cue.
He dialed a number and, a few feet away, Margot made a sound of surprise and reached for her own phone. Once she answered, he hung up, but she kept the phone to her ear and said something into it Lex couldn’t hear. When she put the phone down, the look on her face was all apology.
“I’m really sorry about this, Noelle, but I have to go.”
“What? Now? We already ordered.”
Because of her soft voice, Lex had positioned himself to hear her conversation, but then he had to step back from the counter when someone else came up to place their order. Margot apologized again—a little too profusely, it seemed to Lex—and then kissed her sister’s cheeks even as Noelle was still sputtering about not wanting to drink a whole pot of tea and eat two sandwiches by herself.
“Why don’t you share the service with someone here?” Margot asked. “That way, it won’t go to waste.” She apologized again before pushing her way out the door. Noelle sat at the table, stunned for a few seconds, and just as she got up, probably to get the order to go, Lex stepped close to her table with his most charming smile.
Damn, she was even sexier up close. Her body one curve after delicious curve, her lips glistening with clear gloss.
“Excuse me, miss. I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation.”
“Didn’t your mother tell you not to eavesdrop?” Noelle looked up at him with suspicion and then she blinked, her eyes going wide. Lex felt a surge of satisfaction. She remembered him too. “Oh, hi...” she finished, her voice a little breathless.
“My mother told me a lot of things,” Lex said, drowning in her dark-rimmed eyes that shone with just a touch of sadness. “One of them was to always speak to a beautiful woman since you never know if she’ll be the mother to your babies.” He hoped his mother would forgive him the lie. Any advice about women she’d given him had always been about wearing raincoats and not every date being a keeper. He widened his smile.
“Your