Lexia (The Deadwood Hunter Series) (10 page)

“Don’t have all day, Lex.”

“Coming,” she sighed. Putting her foot onto the mesh fence, she winced as she put all her weight onto her ankle.

She felt quite pleased with herself as she climbed to the top of the fence without much effort, but as her foot swung over the top it got caught. It twisted painfully and Lexia lost her grip, falling to the ground. She braced for the impact but it never came because she landed in the strong, warm arms of Lincoln.

“Got ya,” he whispered, his eyes burning with hunger and Lexia found her eyes dropping to his parted mouth. She licked her bottom lip, biting it slightly as an image of him kissing her popped into her head. Her heart beat faster as his head lowered towards her; she held her breath waiting for the moment when his lips would touch hers. Her whole body tingled with anticipation, then it dawned on her what she was doing. This was Lincoln—this was stupid—they’d never work.
What am I doing?

She looked one last time into his eyes and pulled back, his lips millimetres from hers. She struggled out of his arms until he placed her feet on the ground; her foot throbbed as it took her weight. She paced off through the trees limping for real this time and cursing herself for being so stupid.

Lincoln watched Lexia as she marched off into the trees. She was limping again and she wasn’t even going in the right direction. He’d been so close to kissing her; what was he doing? He’d set out to find her weakness and now he was falling for her. He should have let her hit the ground but his instincts had taken over; he wasn’t the type of man to let a women fall. What he couldn’t quite understand was why she was so clumsy. The fence shouldn’t have been a problem for someone like her but the more he watched her the more she just seemed like an ordinary girl.
Well, maybe not ordinary, god dam sexy and confusing!

 He couldn’t see her anymore but he could still hear her noisy path through the forest. “Lexia! You’re going the wrong way!” Lincoln shouted.

He laughed when her mad face appeared through the trees.

“Why are you limping, beautiful?” He smiled walking towards her.

“I... well, I was attacked by a panther last night and I hurt my foot again in the fence.”

“A panther, really? Well, may I carry you? I’d love to feel that body of yours close to mine.” He winked at her.

Lexia couldn’t believe him, he was so crude and yet she wanted to laugh at his comment. “Lincoln! I am fine to walk, thank you.”

They walked in silence. Lexia stumbled along, cursing every rut and tree root that tripped her. She’d decided that Alice seeing him was far better than this trek through the forest with an injured foot. There were no trails here, but Lincoln seemed at home; the dense undergrowth and tightly packed trees didn’t slow him down at all. She watched him, fascinated, as his body relaxed; she couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “So what have you done today?”

He paused allowing her to catch up before saying, “Just a few business calls and organised some travel arrangements.”

“Oh... Are you leaving?”
Why did I have to sound so disappointed?

Lexia glanced at him noticing a slight smile on his lips. “Just for a few days, I’ll be back Friday morning sometime; I have a friend in Rapid City I’m going to meet.”

“Oh ok... So what business do you do then?”

“We run an investment company.”

“We?”

“It’s a family thing. I don’t really have much to do with it, never been one for business.”

“You just spend the money then?” she laughed.

“Not really a big spender either, my parents left me a lot of money when they passed and my grandfather and the company board deal with most things. I used to be more involved but living in the city and being cooped up in an office all day drove me mad.”

“Hmm, can’t really imagine you in a suit.” He looked at her as she laughed but there was a sadness in her eyes, he hated talking about his parents and was glad she’d not asked how they’d died.

“I’ll have you know I look sexy as hell in a suit,” he said in a mock serious tone.

They both burst out laughing and Lexia wiped the tears from her eyes. She was so caught up in the moment that she never noticed the root that snaked in her way. She tripped, twisting her foot as she fell; her eyes widened then she felt Lincoln’s strong hands stopping her, putting her back on her feet. She looked up into his face, “Thanks.”

“Best stop laughing at me and pay attention,” he laughed.

Lexia glared at him but it never reached her eyes, how did he make such simple things so much fun? The more time she spent with him, the more her reasons for not seeing him seemed so silly.

She walked the rest of the way chatting to him about the places he’d visited, how she longed to leave this small town and travel. She stumbled a few times but Lincoln was always there to steady her, his warm touch doing funny things to her tummy. When she reached her driveway she found she didn’t want to leave him, she had a night of studying and avoiding her dad ahead of her; her final exam was tomorrow.

“I’ll see you in a few days then?”

“Maybe,” he said with a mischievous smile and ran his fingers across her cheek then he turned and walked away without another word. Lexia stood frozen for a minute watching him walk away, her cheek tingling from his touch. How did he do this to her? She shook her head clearing the fog and walked down the drive.
Yes, he’s so wrong for me but I don’t think I care anymore.

When the house came into view, Lexia breathed a sigh of relief, he’s not home yet. As she started to open the door the phone started to ring; hurrying, she ran into the house and picked it up, “Hello?”

“Hello, may I speak to Professor Burton, please?”

“Sorry, wrong number.” She went to put the phone down but the lady screeched into the phone.

“Wait! I must speak to him; it’s a matter of great urgency!”

“I’m sorry, no professor lives here.”

“He must, this is the number he gave me for emergencies, a Professor Jonathan Burton.”

“Nope, no Jonathans, sorry.” The door opened, Lexia looked up to find her dad walking through the door, and the woman on the phone was still shouting.

“I said wrong number,” and she put the phone down.

“Who was that?” asked her dad.

“Someone asking for a Professor Burton, I told her no Professors lived here but she wouldn’t shut up, kept going on about a dire emergency... Crazy woman.”

For a second Lexia was taken aback as her dad turned white as a sheet and a look of panic crossed his face.

Confused she asked, “Are you alright?”

“Erm, yes, fine. Did she say what the emergency was?”

“No. Anyway I’m off to go hide in bed, leg’s killing me.”

He looked down at her leg seeming to just remember she’d been injured. “Do you need it changed?”

“No! I... The nurse at school did, said I was very lucky.”

“Hmm, yes,” he mumbled, walking off.

God he’s so up and down lately, I never know where I stand with him!

“Can you bring me supper, please?” No answer.

“Dad?”

“Oh what? Yes, supper.”

“He’s lost it,” she mumbled, pretend limping up the stairs.

Chapter 11

The next morning she woke to find twenty missed calls from Alice.  She groaned, “I’m going to be in shit when she finds me.”

Her dad still seemed distracted when he drove them to school. He didn’t have a meeting this morning so Lexia only had thirty minutes to wait until the bell rang and class started, but when she turned the corner to walk in the front doors she met the face of a very pissed off Alice.

“Hi,” she said weakly. Alice glared.

“Explain now!” She growled; Alice could be scary as hell when mad.

“I... Er... well my dad wanted to drive me home and he got mad when I said I wanted to walk and you know how he’s been lately, Alice, so I kind of just ran, well not ran, limped fast and well, then I felt like crap when I got home so I went straight to sleep. I just wasn’t up for speaking to anyone, I’m sorry.” She took a huge breath and smiled at her.

“Please forgive me?”

She looked at Alice who seemed even more pissed off and hugged her; as Alice’s mouth neared her ear she whispered, “Lex. I saw your dad here so he never took you home, which means one thing: you are hiding something or someone.”

Lexia gulped and started to walk away from her.

“How’s the foot?” Alice asked sweetly.

Shit limp! “Erm, better thanks.”

She walked into school towards the gym, where their exam was being held; she pretend limped at a slow pace wondering how she was going to get herself out of this one.

By third period Lexia had had enough, she needed to escape; all the whispering and staring was driving her mad, why did she run out of the school gates? Everyone was whispering about the hot older guy at the gates and how she’d ran straight to him. They either talked about how she must be dating an older guy or that she’d faked the whole panther attack for attention.

If she sat here a moment longer she was going to explode, her anger had been slowly building throughout the day. The fact that Alice hadn’t spoken a word to her since this morning, wasn’t helping her mood either.

Slowly standing, Lexia limped towards the teacher at her desk. She looked up, confused as to why she was being disturbed. “Miss Emerson, may I go find my dad? I’m in a lot of pain.”

“Oh yes, of course Miss Granger, I hope you are feeling better soon.”

All eyes in the class watched her as she left and her phone vibrated against her leg as she left the class.
Alice is still my friend after all then
.

Wat U doin?

I need 2 get outa here cum over later if ur still speaking 2 me?

No reply.

Once she was alone, Lexia stopped limping and hurried through the school to her dad’s classroom, but when she got there, she found it empty, his bag had gone.

Strange, I thought he was taking me home?

“Can I help you, Miss Granger?”

Lexia turned around to face the principal. “I was looking for my father, sir.”

“He went home to deal with an emergency.”

“Oh, is he okay?”

“I wouldn’t know but I suggest you head back to class, Miss Granger.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sighing, Lexia limped away. When she was nearly to her classroom, she glanced behind her to find herself alone and decided to escape. Racing towards the exit she burst through the doors into the bright sunshine and smiled; she was free.

When Lexia made it home there was a strange car in the driveway parked next to her dads. She stopped, who was with her dad?

When she started forward again, her every step was silent, not even the gravel under her feet crunched; she’d turned into someone else. Like the panther that had stalked her, Lexia became the predator, her every move calculated, controlled.

A small voice in her head asked her why she was doing this. Why did she need to stalk her own father as if he were prey? Lexia couldn’t answer that voice because she didn’t understand. The person she was now came from deep inside her, some lost piece of herself that she’d never known was there, this part of herself acted on instinct alone and those instincts right now told her something was wrong. Her dad was hiding something and she was going to find out what.

The front door opened silently and Lexia slipped into the house like a ghost; she knew every creaky board and joint. She paused like a shadow, blending into her surroundings and waited, listening.

“You should have never come here!” Her dad said.

“This is important. You can’t hide away from the truth any longer, no matter your feelings.” Said a strange woman’s voice.

“You could have led them right to us; I don’t care what you’ve learnt. You must leave now before we are found.”

“Is she all you care about? Do we mean nothing to you anymore?” Said the woman.

“She’s my daughter, she will always come first.” Her dad snapped.

Lexia snapped back to herself and gasped at her dad’s words; what did he mean? She felt sick and confused; so many questions ran around in her head. Her foot moved and the floorboards squeaked.

“Silence!” Her dad ordered.

For a second the house was deadly silent before Lexia called, “Dad?”

“Leave now,” her dad said in angry whisper.

“You must tell her, she needs to know.” But her father got up from his chair, the legs scraped across the floor, and Lexia never heard the rest of the conversation. She heard a scuffle and then more banging.

“Dad?” She pushed open the door, walking into the kitchen to find her dad closing the back door. “Whose car is in the drive?” He didn’t say a word for a minute just stood with his hands on the door and his head slightly bowed.

“Dad, are you alright?”

“Yes, it’s someone I met a long time ago before I knew your mother. She... I... well, it’s complicated but she’s not a nice person, but don’t worry she won’t be back.”

“What was her name?”

“It’s not important. I actually need to go out and I may be home late, will you be okay alone? Can you order in dinner?”

“Oh yeah, sure, I’ll have Alice over.” He looked at her once, his eyes a minefield of emotion that she couldn’t quite work out then he was gone, leaving Lexia to feel confused and alone.

Alice was walking into Lexia’s drive when Mike flew past her in his car; she jumped back as gravel flew up from his tires, the sharp sting from the stone making her swear, “Fucking hell!”

When she ran up to the house, the door was open. “Lex?” Walking into the hall Alice called to her again, “Lex, is everything okay? I saw your dad driving out of here, he nearly knocked me over, the fucking idiot.”

Lexia looked up as Alice walked into the kitchen. As soon as she saw her face the tears she’d been holding back over the last few days spilled from her eyes. Alice was holding her seconds later and Lexia held onto her best friend and let out all her emotions.

“Better?” Alice asked when Lexia’s tears finally ran dry.

“Hmm, I’mm sorry for breaking down on you.”