Lexie caught herself up short. Aware she had already veered into dangerous territory, she said, “On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t be the one consulting with you on your new look.” It was too close to what she had done before. Taking on a man, making him her personal project. Helping him become everything he could be, only to have him leave her in the end. She did not want to go through that again. And she especially did not want to do that here in Laramie, Texas, under the watchful eyes of both their families.
Lewis grinned with a distinctly male satisfaction. “Too late,” he declared, cheerful as ever. “We already made a deal. I’m holding you to it.”
Lexie caught her breath, even as she wished he would kiss her again. Really kiss her this time. Not just tease her with the hope of what could possibly be.
“I’ll sack out on the sofa.” Lewis stepped back, ever the gentleman again. “That way, if you need anything, all you have to do is call,” he promised her softly. “I’ll be right here.”
Lewis McCabe had no idea how good that sounded to her.
Chapter Three
Lewis spent a good hour and a half thinking about the incredibly sweet and sensual kiss he’d shared with Lexie. He fell asleep dreaming about her and awakened to sunlight pouring in through the windows and someone pounding on the apartment door. Fearing all the ruckus was going to wake Lexie, he grabbed his shirt off the back of the sofa and struggled to his feet. Thrusting his arms in the sleeves, he rushed to open the apartment door.
Standing on the other side of the portal was a haughty-looking fiftysomething blonde in an expensive designer suit and high heels. Everything about her, from her immaculately coiffed hair to the heavy jewels adorning her body, bespoke tremendous wealth.
“I am Contessa Melinda della Gheradesca from Italy.”
Lexie’s mother.
Her glance drifted over his open shirt, bare chest and shoeless feet. Disdain coating every word, the Contessa demanded, “Who are you?”
Before he could answer, an equally disheveled Lexie stepped out.
It was Lexie’s worst nightmare come true, and then some. “Mother.” She trod closer, aware how the situation must look, since she was clad in another of her stepmother’s ethereal creations.
Melinda’s eyebrows arched even higher as she took in the plunging neckline of the black lace negligee Lexie was wearing. Lewis couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her, either. Trying hard not to blush, Lexie pulled the equally revealing black lace robe over her chest and folded her arms in front of her to keep it there. Steadfastly ignoring the flare of desire in Lewis’s eyes, she whirled back to the woman who had given birth to her, but never really nurtured her. “Mother. What are you doing here?”
Melinda touched a bejeweled hand to her immaculately coiffed hair. “Your father told me you were ill—I came as soon as I heard.”
That was a first, Lexie thought. Melinda hadn’t done more than telephone Lexie—albeit reluctantly—when she’d been hospitalized with pneumonia in the sixth grade. Nor had she ever tended to her personally if Lexie became ill when visiting. Instead, Melinda left her with a nurse until Lexie’s sniffles or tummy ailment cleared. Melinda was about as emotionally uninvolved a mother as could be, which made her appearance here now all the more strange. “When did he call you?” she asked.
“When he was en route with you from London. And I talked to him again two hours ago when my jet landed in Dallas. I must say, he did not mention anything about you—your new— Have you gone mad, taking a lover here in Laramie? Alexandra, for heaven’s sake! You can do so much better than this!”
Lexie flashed a deliberately cheerful smile. “Might want to be careful who you’re insulting, Mother,” she warned pleasantly. “This is Lewis McCabe, owner of McCabe Computer Games.”
Not a flicker of recognition, Lexie noted in frustration. “It’s the fastest growing computer game company in the country right now.” Melinda remained unmoved. Lexie took a deep breath and tried again to impress upon her mother why she should not denigrate Lewis further. “Or in other words, Lewis is a very wealthy and successful man, and destined to become even more so in the very near future.”
“Thanks for the stellar introduction,” Lewis said dryly, giving her a quelling look.
Lexie shrugged. Bringing up the cash value of anything was the quickest way to get her mother’s attention.
“I don’t understand,” Melinda said, as contemptuous as ever with someone she considered an underling. “Why is he here, Alexandra? Why are you both dressed—or maybe I should say undressed—like this? Your father never mentioned a boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Lexie interrupted quickly.
To her chagrin, Melinda sighed in obvious relief.
A uniformed chauffeur appeared behind Melinda, his arms full of luggage. “Where should I put these, madam?”
Melinda gestured to the middle of the room. “You can set my things here.”
Lexie gaped. “You’re staying with me?”
Her mother huffed. “Well, I can hardly bunk at your father’s ranch with him and Jezebel. And the lodgings in the area leave something to be desired. Actually, the whole town leaves something to be desired. I’ll never understand why your father left Dallas. When we were married, we had such a lovely home there.”
Here we go again. Lexie was aware that her mother blamed all of Lexie’s shortcomings on the fact that she’d been raised in Texas.
“And speaking of home, I better mosey on back to mine,” Lewis said tactfully, graciously closing the distance between them. His eyes met hers. He seemed to know she was as unnerved by her mother’s sudden appearance on her doorstep as he was. “Lexie—”
She nodded, letting him know his decision to depart was the right one. Glad he seemed to understand that she had no control whatsoever over her mercurial mother, she squeezed his hand and looked him in the eye. “I’ll call you,” she promised.
Just as soon as I find out what my mother is really doing here.
FORTUNATELY, ONCE LEWIS got to the office, he finally managed to shake off the unsettling encounter with the Contessa. He was able to strike a deal that would get his line of computer games shelved in yet another retail chain. The prototypes of two games showed substantial improvement, and the talented graphics designer he had been trying to hire to work exclusively for his company finally accepted his offer.
At four-thirty, his assistant, Maxine Cossman, stuck her head in the door. A whiz at organization, the stout fifty-year-old with the curly red hair and thick glasses kept him on track. “Lexie Remington is here to see you,” she remarked briskly. “I told her you had a prior engagement this evening. She hoped you would see her without an appointment anyway.”
Lewis rocked all the way back in his chair. This was a pleasant, albeit somewhat inconvenient, surprise. “Send her in. And Maxine, you can go on to your yoga class if you want.”
“Thanks.”
Maxine disappeared and a few moments later Lexie sauntered in. She was wearing a pair of slim black jeans, a long-sleeved white T-shirt, a cropped red corduroy jacket and boots. She looked amazing. “You’re supposed to be resting,” Lewis chided as she neared, enveloping him in a drift of exotic perfume.
“Been there, done that,” Lexie said sassily, perching on the front of his desk, just to his left.
Lewis tried to ignore the proximity of her long, sexy thigh next to his hand. Ignoring the jump of his pulse, he tilted his head at her and continued