Maxie (Triple X) (27 page)

“Mmm, coffee. I’ve usually had two cups by now.”

“Babe,” Cam said, reaching for her.

“Lex—” Maxie began.

“Eee—” Zac finished.

Roxie had beat them all to the draw. Well-mannered Lexie took an appreciative gulp of the hot liquid, but jerked the moment it hit her tongue. She looked as if she’d bit into a lemon, but she was too classy to spit it out. With a tear sneaking from the corner of her eye, she forced it down. “Ohh, that’s just…” She shuddered and stomped a foot against the floor.

Maxie passed along her tea. “Here, this is good, I swear.”

Blinking fast, Lexie sipped carefully. As graceful and elegant as she was, she threw an elbow into Roxie’s side. “You could have killed me.”

Cam rubbed his lover’s back. “I told you she was the evil one.”

Zac grabbed all the coffees before anyone else dared a sip. “No use risking assault charges.” He tossed the lot into a nearby garbage can.

“The pastries aren’t bad, though.” Cam stole a bite of Roxie’s funnel cake and backed out of reach before she could pinch him. “I’ll go get everyone some tea.”

“Orange juice for me,” Roxie called. “And see if you can do something to restructure her business plan before she kills someone.”

“That’s not such a bad idea,” Maxie mused.

Zac pushed at the crumbles that were left on his plate. “Her muffins are the only thing that got me through all that bad java.”

“Really, Sheriff.” Lexie clicked her tongue in disapproval. “You shouldn’t be talking about other women’s muffins when you’re dating my sister.”

Maxie laughed. It was so nice to be sitting here with people she felt affection for. The upheaval in her life had caused stress, but now that things were righted again, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun.

“I’m going to miss you guys,” she said.

“Stupid work,” Roxie muttered. She stuffed another bite of powdered-sugar deliciousness into her mouth.

“You’re going to come down for our grand opening, aren’t you?” Lexie asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it.” Maxie caught Zac’s hand underneath the table. “We want to see this company you and Cam are building.”

Roxie’s face lit up. “Charlie and Skeeter down at the bar would get a kick out of meeting you. They nearly flipped the first time Lexie walked into the Ruckus. The place would overflow if word got out that there are three of us.”

Maxie toyed with her tea. That brought up something she wanted to discuss with them but hadn’t quite known how to bring up. “Know who I’d really like to meet?” She took a deep breath. “Our mom and dad.”

Roxie looked at Lexie sharply. Surprise was clear on both their faces.

“Are you sure?” Lexie folded her napkin and settled it in her lap. “I thought you didn’t have any interest in that.”

Under the table, Maxie squeezed Zac’s hand.

“I do,” she admitted. “I’ll always love the parents who adopted me and the grandmother who raised me, but…”

“But blood is blood,” Lexie surmised.

“And… Well, I found something.” Maxie’s heart began beating faster when she picked up her purse. “It was in my grandmother’s treasure box, the one where I found the adoption papers.”

She pulled out a heavy-duty paper picture folder. That hadn’t been in the box, but she’d wanted to protect what she’d found. She opened the folder with care, and her heart squeezed just like it had the first time she’d seen the delicate paper inside.

“What is it?” Roxie asked.

Maxie turned the frame around and slid it across the table. Her fingers shook as she did so.

Lexie inhaled sharply. “It’s a sketch.”

Roxie leaned in for a closer look. “Of you when you were little!”

The drawing had been a surprise. When Maxie had first found the old keepsake, she hadn’t been able to process what she was seeing. The paper itself wasn’t that large, only notebook sized. The medium was simple, paper and pencil, but its impact was huge.

She was laughing in the sketch, delight showing in her sparkling eyes. She was still a baby, but even then she’d had a good head of hair. The dark strands swooped down from a bow atop her head, and her grin made her cheeks look even chubbier. The sketch had been done by someone with talent, but it was more than that. The work had been personal. Feelings and emotions radiated from every line.

Roxie clapped her hand over her mouth when she saw the writing down in the bottom right-hand corner. “
Maxie
,” she read aloud. “
Love, Mom
.”

Lexie ran her fingertip across the plastic covering the signature. “
Mom
.”

“This made her real to me,” Maxie said huskily.

Her mother, Mary, hadn’t been able to draw a box. The tightness in Maxie’s throat dropped into her chest, and she leaned into Zac. He settled his arm over the back of her chair.

It was only a few days ago that she’d learned she was adopted, and she hadn’t spent much time thinking about her birth parents. They’d just been shadowy figures in a story that was only starting to unfold. One look at that sketch, though, and they’d come to life. Another mom and another dad. Real people with emotions, pressures and dreams.

Roxie’s chair rocked on its front legs when she leaned over the table, trying to get a better look. “Do you think she drew that? Was she an artist?”

Cam returned to the table and set down the drinks. His head tilted when he saw the sketch that had everyone’s attention. “It doesn’t look commissioned.”

“Our mom did it,” Lexie said throatily. She caught his hand, and the emotion that passed between them was thick and heavy.

“She loved you,” Lexie said, eyes blinking fast.

“She loved us.” Maxie snuggled more tightly against Zac. That was the question she’d held deepest within her heart, but with that sketch she had her answer. “I want to learn the truth. I want to know why we didn’t grow up together as a family.”

“They kept us until we were two,” Roxie defended. “They went through all the sleepless nights, the diapers, teething and learning to walk. Something must have happened.”

Maxie stared at the sketch, even though it was upside down. They’d been kept together long enough that she’d formed bonds that had carried with her even after they’d been separated.

“Maybe it was just her.” Lexie pulled her hand away from the picture frame, but curled her fingers as if she didn’t really want to. “Maybe the three of us were too much for a single mother.”

Zac nodded at Cam. “Have you checked into this?”

Cam sat down again and wrapped his arm around Lexie’s shoulders. “I’ve got a PI poking around, but he’s not making much headway. The records are sealed.”

“Is this the guy you used to find Maxie?”

“Same one.”

“He’s good.”

“But he’s been too slow,” Roxie said with disappointment. “I want to know where we get our hair color, our eyes and our smiles.”

“Are they even still out there?” Lexie sent a regretful look across the table. “Or did our parents have an accident too?”

Maxie caught Zac’s leg under the table. Oh God, she hadn’t even thought about that. She couldn’t take a loss like that again.

“Are they still together? Do they think about us at all?” Roxie muttered. “Does our mom still smell like lilacs?”

“I can add my resources to the mix,” Zac offered.

“Between all of us, we should be able to shake something loose,” Cam agreed.

Roxie’s expression became determined. “So are we all in? Are we all agreed that this is our next step?”

“It has to be.” Lexie stopped fighting herself and reached for the sketch.

Maxie didn’t even hesitate. She laid her hand over her sister’s, and Roxie piled hers on top. Cam and Zac joined in. This was her family now. There might be more to add or there might not. The truth may not be something any of them wanted to hear, but they had to have closure. They had bit and pieces. The Underhills, Mrs. Shimwell, and the adoption papers had provided different sides of the story, but they needed to end the mystery.

“Let’s go find our parents.”

About the Author

Kimberly Dean is an award-winning romance author of over twenty books. Her work has been sold around the world and translated into French, German, Thai and Japanese. She enjoys the freedom and creativity allowed in writing romance, especially with all the interesting cross-genres that have been exploding on the scene. When not writing, she enjoys movies, sports, traveling, music and sunshine. You can learn more about Kimberly and her books at
www.kimberlydean.com
and follow her on Twitter at
@KDean_writer
.

Look for these titles by Kimberly Dean

Now Available:

Blade of Moonlight

Triple X

Lexie

Desire is a double-edged dance.

Lexie

© 2012 Kimberly Dean

Triple X, Book 1

Lexie Underhill works her tail off in hopes of winning her adoptive father’s approval. It’s never enough. The stinging proof? He’s brought in a reorganization expert. As if the prospect of losing her job in the family business isn’t enough, Cameron Rowe’s sexy, intimidating presence makes her palms sweat.

When Lexie’s face appears on a scandalous freeway billboard, her protestations of innocence go unheard. With orders to save the family name—or else—she marches into the bar the billboard was advertising and comes face-to-face with an identical twin sister. Roxie is wild and free, everything Lexie isn’t. Before the night is out, she welcomes the chance to explore her own sensuality.

As she dances wantonly on the bar, suddenly Cam is there, kissing her as if he has the right. The sizzle between them breaks out in four-alarm desire, but Lexie has recalibrated her life plan. And the equation doesn’t factor in Cam—until she’s sure where his loyalties lie. With her…or her father’s company.

Warning: Not all business relationships are formal and stodgy. Suits and ties (actually, all clothing) are optional.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Lexie:

Uncertainty made her face fall, and she glanced back to the bar. “You said our eyes were different.” The uncertainty turned into a frown. “Is she prettier than me? Was that it?”

“No, that wasn’t it.” He cupped her chin and brought her attention back to him.

He sighed when he saw the glaze in her eyes. She wasn’t a sloppy drunk. She didn’t slur her words, and she didn’t get belligerent. Well, not that belligerent. Alcohol just seemed to break down the walls she constantly kept erected around herself. Let loose, her emotions were fighting over which could show itself first. Hurt, joy and confusion were all there for the world to see.

With her, alcohol brought out honesty.

Cam took a deep breath. He had to get her out of here. Sober her up and help her get things straight in her head. The misunderstanding with the Underhills needed to be cleared up as soon as possible—for her sake as well as the company’s. They’d hurt her this morning and without cause. She deserved an apology, and he was going to make sure she got one.

This newfound sister, though. He glanced over his shoulder to the bar. She was a different issue entirely.

He watched as Roxie flirted with a particularly ugly biker, checking out the tattoo on his shoulder. He didn’t like coincidences, and he didn’t like surprises. This woman was both, and he didn’t want Lexie around her until he had the opportunity to check her out.

And he had the resources to do a really close check.

He brushed his thumb against Lexie’s waist and pulled back. “Let’s go straighten things out with Julian.”

Her breath caught audibly. Face paling, her gaze flew to the door. “Is he here?”

Cam sighed. Damn that man. “No. We’ll go find him after you’ve had some coffee.”

“Is anybody else coming?” She rubbed her bare arms. Without her jacket, she seemed vulnerable. Ten minutes earlier, she’d been dancing around and having fun. At the mention of her family, though, she needed her armor.

He stroked her waist, trying to get her to relax. “You got me. Just me.”

“Oh.”

The emotions in her eyes tumbled again, and confusion won the battle this time. She glanced around the bar almost forlornly. Cameron braced his hand against the jukebox, wanting to punch it. She was so easy to read this way, but it was a painful read.

“Do you really dislike me that much, Lexie?”

“I don’t dislike you.”

Could have fooled him. “Then what is it? You’ve been avoiding me ever since I first started working at Underhill. Are you afraid of me?”

She shifted uneasily. She’d ventured into a biker bar and had made it her own, yet looking him in the eye seemed to be too much for her. “Kind of.”

Cam nearly winced. That honesty was a double-edged sword. “Why?”

“Why? You want to gut my family’s company.” Her brow furrowed. “I mean, Underhill Associates.” She shook her head, the confusion too much. “I have good workers. Smart people. They should know their jobs are secure.
My
job should be secure.”