LITMIR.BIZ

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a tense look.

      “And I for him.”

      Lance walked across the room to the foyer where he’d left the neatly wrapped gift box. It bore the emblem of his favorite jeweler and a discreet white bow. He carried it back over and smiled at Lexi.

      She didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him. “Do you need to sit down?”

      “No. I need to go home,” she said.

      “Then I will take you,” Lance said.

      She shook her head and noticed the box in his hands. “Is that for me?”

      “Yes,” he said, handing it to her.

      She took it. He noticed that her nails were long and manicured. And for the first time he tried to imagine what it would be like to take Lexi to his bed. He couldn’t. The only woman he pictured there was Kate.

      Kate’s long brown hair on his pillow. Kate’s pretty brown eyes staring up at him… Kate was the woman he wanted.

      Lexi sat down and opened the gift box carefully. Lance stood across the room with the first niggling of doubt since he’d asked her to marry him. Had he made a colossal mistake?

      She held the box in her hands, not opening it. “Why did you get me a gift?”

      “To thank you for agreeing to be my wife.”

      She put her head down and opened the box. He heard her breath catch and took that as a good sign.

      He glanced over at his brother and Mitch stared at Lexi… the way Lance realized he stared at Kate sometimes. Damn, was his brother into Lexi?

      “Will you help me put it on?” Lexi asked.

      Lance started toward her and saw Mitch do the same.

      His brother shrugged. “I’m just used to filling in for you.”

      “Thank you for that, Mitch. Without your help, I don’t know what I would have done.”

      Lexi stood up and lifted her hair. Lance fastened the diamond necklace around her neck.

      “Yes, thanks, Mitch, for filling in for your brother so well,” Lexi said.

      “It was no big deal. I’m used to dealing with problematic heiresses.”

      “Are you?” Lexi asked.

      “Indeed. Our mother was one.”

      “She sure was. But Lexi isn’t anything like Mom,” Lance said, not sure what was going on between his brother and Lexi.

      “No, she’s not,” Mitch said. Mitch’s cell phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.

      Lance found himself alone with his fianceé for the first time since she’d agreed to marry him. And he needed to know if there was any chance this relationship was going to work between them. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her in his arms.

      She looked up at him. Her eyes wide but not with passion, more with… he couldn’t identify the emotion.

      He brushed a kiss against her lips and found that her mouth was dry and the kiss was rather blah.

      Lance worried that he’d be trapped in a passionless marriage. It was clear that Lexi wasn’t attracted to him and he knew he wasn’t to her.

      “Thank you for the gift. It’s very pretty.”

      “You’re welcome,” he said.

      A horn honked outside and Lexi glanced at her watch. “That should be my cab.”

      “I would’ve taken you,” Lance said.

      “I didn’t want to be a bother. Thank you for inviting me to the party today. I really enjoyed the chance to see what kind of a company Brody Oil & Gas is.”

      “You’re welcome. Kate said she was going to invite you to attend a meeting with the party-planning staff.”

      “Sounds great. I’ll look forward to her call,” Lexi said as she left the house and walked to her cab. She kept talking brightly the entire time and Lance held the door for her as she got into the cab.

      She smiled up at him as she said goodbye and he closed the door, standing there watching her be driven away.

      He rubbbed the back of his neck, having a bad feeling that his marriage to Lexi was going to be a mistake. And he prided himself on not making any mistakes. He wondered if he should have ended things with her today, but he couldn’t have. There was something vulnerable about Lexi. He needed to talk to Mitch about his feelings for her, as well.

      There was more between the two of them than he could guess at. But that was a worry for another day. Right now he had a party to host and several staff members to take care of and that was exactly what he was going to do.

      After he found Kate.

      He needed to talk to her and see her. She had always been his touchstone at Brody Oil & Gas and he realized he needed her by his side now.

      Kate was glad when the sun set. Soon it would be time for the Fourth of July fireworks to go off. They had always been her favourite. She’d spent most of the afternoon and evening trying to avoid Lance.

      She felt… well, stupid. She was supposed to be getting over him, not falling deeper in love with him each day.

      It was silly, really, but seeing the way he’d reacted to Lexi’s being sick had affected her. For all his rough ways, she knew that Lance was the kind of guy who’d stand by his friends, no matter what.

      And there had been a part of her that had realized that he treated Lexi like a friend and nothing more. Much the same way he’d been treating her for all these years until she’d quit.

      What Kate needed was another job in another town, but she really couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than south Texas. Unlike some of her friends from high school, she’d never wanted to live anywhere except here.

      She liked the warmth and humidity that came with Houston. She liked the cosmopolitan city aspects of the area and the wide-open spaces that were only a few hours’ drive away.

      A few kids were running around with sparklers and Kate felt a lump at the back of her throat as she thought about the families.

      She’d always wanted one of her own but it had never really seemed like she’d have one and now… well, now she seemed no closer to having kids and a husband than she’d been for a while.

      “Hey, girl!” Becca called.

      “Becca! I’m so glad you could swing by here. Thanks for coming.” Kate gave her friend a hug and they walked up the tiki-light path toward the viewing area for the fireworks.

      “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Sorry it took so long to get here.”

      “Not a problem,” Kate said. “I think Lance is going to the Texas Cattleman’s Club later for an after-party and I just wanted…”

      “A friend,” Becca said. “I get it. So how was everything today?”

      “Well, good, I think. I kissed Lance and it was…”

      “What?”

      “Everything I imagined it would be. But then Lexi had heat exhaustion and he had to go to her.”

      Becca slipped her arm through Kate’s. “Was she okay?”

      “Yes. But it made me realize I don’t want to have an affair with Lance. I want to be able to have a relationship with him where we can be seen as a couple. Not one where I have to hide.”

      “Good for you. Being a mistress isn’t something that would suit you,” Becca said.

      “Would it suit you?”

      “Hell, no.”

      Both

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