She thought she’d passed any test that the guys had tried to put her through. They didn’t realize that she had spent her summers with Evie and her brother Jackson. Between the two of them, she could take just about anything anyone dished out. She knew that Noah meant a lot to them so she knew they weren’t being mean. She felt like she’d given truthful answers to everything Ren asked when they’d had their one-on-one conversation, had even felt like they understood each other.
Lexi had Rafe sleeping on her as she relaxed back into Noah’s arms. She looked back up at him over her shoulder and over the baby’s head and swore she ovulated just by the look he gave her. They had a whole conversation without a word spoken. This was what he wanted. Her, having a child together, family sitting around in the evening, a simple life. It was a dream long forgotten by Lexi, but she wanted it, too. And she wanted it with Noah.
The spell was broken when Rafe started to wiggle in her arms, stretching and crying out. Dylan lifted himself off of the couch and came over to collect him and Lexi felt the loss of holding the baby and put her hand over where he’d laid. Noah wrapped his arms tight around her and nuzzled her ear with his nose. She closed her eyes, longing for the dream to become reality.
Dre stretched and stood up. “Alright guys, time to pack it up. We’ve got a big day tomorrow. That reminds me—Lexi, we’ll be here about ten in the morning.”
Lexi furrowed her brow in question. “What do you mean?”
Kenyon gave Noah a look as he shrugged and smiled at her. “The ladies are going shopping and to the spa tomorrow. The men are on kid patrol. Noah was supposed to tell you. Days ago.” She pointed a finger at him.
Lexi narrowed her eyes at him. “Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splainin’ to do.”
Noah ignored the laughs that erupted from the adults. “Must have slipped my mind with everything that’s happened.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Lexi rolled her eyes and turned to the ladies. “I’d love to come. Thank you for inviting me. I’ll be ready.” If someone had told her she would be excited about going shopping in L.A. with women she’d just met a few hours ago, she would have told them they were crazy. Now it just felt right.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Lexi fell back and closed her eyes to hide the piles of shopping bags at the end of the bed.
“Looks like you had a good time,” Noah said as he climbed into bed and laid down on his side, hand propping up his head.
She turned her head and opened her eyes. “Why didn’t you warn me that they were professional shoppers?”
He smiled and ran his hand over her hair. “What fun would that be? Besides, I knew you’d get all worried about it. This way, you could just go and enjoy yourself. Did you buy out every store?”
She closed her eyes, enjoying his touch. “It felt like it. They are really wonderful.” She smiled at him. “You’re lucky to have them in your life.”
He caressed her check. “And now they are in yours, too. You can trust them.”
“I know. I love my ladies at home, but I forgot how much fun it is to spend time with women my age. I don’t get much time with Evie anymore.”
“You’ll probably get in less trouble, too.” He winked at her.
She laughed. “You’re right. Plus, it was so amazing to walk around and see people I have seen on TV and the movies for years, shopping at the same places I was.”
“And all the paparazzi hanging out all over the place,” Noah said with a scowl.
“They didn’t bother us too much since none of the band was there. We were more in the way when they tried to get pictures of other people.” Lexi frowned in memory.
Noah sat up. “What happened?”
“Nothing, Noah, it’s really no big deal.” She got up off of the bed and started to take things out of the bags.
He grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. “Seriously, tell me what happened.”
She sighed and closed her eyes. “Some of the paparazzi recognized the ladies and that I was the woman who was with you at the airport.”
When she paused, he looked up at the ceiling, took a deep breath and then looked back down at her. “And…”
She looked down and started fidgeting with the clothes in her hands. “I didn’t know they would be so rude and pushy.”
“Come on, Lexi, just tell me. It’s like pulling teeth to get anything out of you.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “They got all up in my face, saying I was just the flavor of the month and that you’d be throwing me out like last week’s garbage in no time. They were yelling at me to give them my name. Then they saw Angelina and Brad come out of a store and almost knocked us down trying to get to them.” She raised a hand to stop him. “Kenyon is fine, both Dre and I were able to hang onto her so that she didn’t fall.”
“Bastards.” Noah started pacing the room. “I am so sick and tired of their bullshit. All they care about is the picture, not the people. They want the big photo that will make them a million bucks and who cares if someone gets hurt.”
They stood there in uncomfortable silence for a few moments, and Lexi found herself thinking about the fact that this wasn’t the place where she wanted her new beginning with Noah to start, wasn’t a lifestyle she wanted. From Noah’s body language, she thought maybe he was thinking along the same lines.