them out of the air
and her heart pumped up a notch. She darted a glance around the
restaurant. How in the hel did he think he could get away with that in
public? People were bound to notice. “You’re going to hocus-pocus them?
No thanks. I’m good.”
Too good. Her full, sexy mouth was ripe for kissing. He wondered what
factoid she’d have relating adversely to that. “You’l get little white
crinkles beside your eyes,” he told her, trying not to look too admiringly at
the pale, creamy, velvety, damp swel of her breasts above the tank top.
Not too much, not too little. Her breasts were damn near perfect, as far as
he could tell.
Everywhere he looked he saw something about Lexi he wanted to touch,
taste, smel . “Then you’l have to come back here for some painful
treatment to get rid of them,” he managed, sliding a pair of Italian
designer glasses across the table. “Here. Put on the glasses. Who cares
where they came from?”
28
Night Shadow
She put them on. He was sorry he’d offered, because now instead of her
soft gray eyes looking back at him, he saw himself reflected in the lenses.
No good deed goes unpunished, he thought wryly. “Tel me about your
family.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear before picking up her fork and
stabbing an innocent shrimp with the tines. “Why?”
She had cute ears. Had he ever noticed a woman’s ears before? He didn’t
think so. They looked . . . nibbleable. “Because it’s a beautiful day and I
don’t feel like shooting anyone. Come on, Lex, let’s just have a nice lunch
and talk about something other than chaos and destruction.”
“Exactly.”
The waiter returned with the bread he’d offered earlier.
“Obrigado.” Alex speared a pat of butter onto his side plate, then ripped
off a chunk of hot bread. “Exactly?” He offered the piece in his hand to
Lexi.
She shook her head. She’d had her carbs for the day. “You asked about
my family, but you don’t want to talk about chaos and destruction. Pick
another subject.”
Interesting. “Your family is chaos and destruction?”
“You’re going to be like a dog with a bone, aren’t you?” She took a sip of
juice and focused on her salad. “My parents were in their midtwenties and
pretty much hippies when I was born. I was an inconvenience. Oh, they
loved me to death, but it was tough lugging a kid around, one step ahead
of social services. We moved a lot. They had many creative and
impractical ideas on how to make money. Note I didn’t say make a living. ”
She sighed a little. He wondered if she even realized she’d done so.
“They were, stil are, charming, and persuasive, and God only knew how,
always managed to talk some bank officer into extending them a small
business loan. First it was the vegan restaurant in Denver. Of course it
never occurred to them that they had no idea how to run a restaurant, nor
about preparing food. Vegan or otherwise.”
“How’d they do?”
“They loved it. But of course the health department closed that down
within a month.”
“How old were you?”
“That time? Seven.” She paused to let the waiter refill her water glass.
“Where were you at seven?”
He chewed a bite of food before he answered. “San Francisco. My parents
had just died. My grandmother took in my twin, Victoria, but couldn’t
handle me. I went into the system.”
“I used to dream about being in foster care,” Lexi said dryly. “Are you and
your sister close?”
Alex smiled. “We are. Tory and I have a great relationship. Her husband,
Marc Savin, was one of T-FLAC’s founding fathers, so to speak, and he
and I were friends before he met her.”
He could tel her eyes widened slightly by the way the smooth skin of her
forehead moved. “Marc Savin is your brother-in-law? He’s a legend.”
29
Night Shadow
Alex smiled. “His reputation is wel deserved. They have a couple of great
kids, and a good life. Things turned out
and her heart pumped up a notch. She darted a glance around the
restaurant. How in the hel did he think he could get away with that in
public? People were bound to notice. “You’re going to hocus-pocus them?
No thanks. I’m good.”
Too good. Her full, sexy mouth was ripe for kissing. He wondered what
factoid she’d have relating adversely to that. “You’l get little white
crinkles beside your eyes,” he told her, trying not to look too admiringly at
the pale, creamy, velvety, damp swel of her breasts above the tank top.
Not too much, not too little. Her breasts were damn near perfect, as far as
he could tell.
Everywhere he looked he saw something about Lexi he wanted to touch,
taste, smel . “Then you’l have to come back here for some painful
treatment to get rid of them,” he managed, sliding a pair of Italian
designer glasses across the table. “Here. Put on the glasses. Who cares
where they came from?”
28
Night Shadow
She put them on. He was sorry he’d offered, because now instead of her
soft gray eyes looking back at him, he saw himself reflected in the lenses.
No good deed goes unpunished, he thought wryly. “Tel me about your
family.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear before picking up her fork and
stabbing an innocent shrimp with the tines. “Why?”
She had cute ears. Had he ever noticed a woman’s ears before? He didn’t
think so. They looked . . . nibbleable. “Because it’s a beautiful day and I
don’t feel like shooting anyone. Come on, Lex, let’s just have a nice lunch
and talk about something other than chaos and destruction.”
“Exactly.”
The waiter returned with the bread he’d offered earlier.
“Obrigado.” Alex speared a pat of butter onto his side plate, then ripped
off a chunk of hot bread. “Exactly?” He offered the piece in his hand to
Lexi.
She shook her head. She’d had her carbs for the day. “You asked about
my family, but you don’t want to talk about chaos and destruction. Pick
another subject.”
Interesting. “Your family is chaos and destruction?”
“You’re going to be like a dog with a bone, aren’t you?” She took a sip of
juice and focused on her salad. “My parents were in their midtwenties and
pretty much hippies when I was born. I was an inconvenience. Oh, they
loved me to death, but it was tough lugging a kid around, one step ahead
of social services. We moved a lot. They had many creative and
impractical ideas on how to make money. Note I didn’t say make a living. ”
She sighed a little. He wondered if she even realized she’d done so.
“They were, stil are, charming, and persuasive, and God only knew how,
always managed to talk some bank officer into extending them a small
business loan. First it was the vegan restaurant in Denver. Of course it
never occurred to them that they had no idea how to run a restaurant, nor
about preparing food. Vegan or otherwise.”
“How’d they do?”
“They loved it. But of course the health department closed that down
within a month.”
“How old were you?”
“That time? Seven.” She paused to let the waiter refill her water glass.
“Where were you at seven?”
He chewed a bite of food before he answered. “San Francisco. My parents
had just died. My grandmother took in my twin, Victoria, but couldn’t
handle me. I went into the system.”
“I used to dream about being in foster care,” Lexi said dryly. “Are you and
your sister close?”
Alex smiled. “We are. Tory and I have a great relationship. Her husband,
Marc Savin, was one of T-FLAC’s founding fathers, so to speak, and he
and I were friends before he met her.”
He could tel her eyes widened slightly by the way the smooth skin of her
forehead moved. “Marc Savin is your brother-in-law? He’s a legend.”
29
Night Shadow
Alex smiled. “His reputation is wel deserved. They have a couple of great
kids, and a good life. Things turned out
Similar Books
