“I can’t believe you can’t drive. I’ll teach you.”
She glanced at him. So he wasn’t planning on vanishing from her life. That really shouldn’t make her feel all warm and fuzzy. Again. But it did. She didn’t particularly want to learn to drive, and she suspected deep down that she was afraid. Her mother and father had been killed in a car crash. She’d been in the vehicle with them at the time, and while she couldn’t remember anything of the accident, the memory was probably loitering somewhere in her subconscious.
“That would be nice,” she heard herself saying.
“So why do you think he’s here?” Josh asked, nodding at the car.
“I imagine to spy for my grandmother. She suspects something.” She turned and patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I don’t expect you to get embroiled with my family problems. We’ll think of a really good reason you have to leave town for a while.”
He opened his mouth as if to answer, then slammed it closed again, a frown drawing his brows together. Lexi shrugged. As she pushed the door open, a whole load of dogs started barking. They nudged open the kitchen door and rushed out to greet her. She bent and rubbed a few ears, then headed for the door they had come through, Josh close behind her, or as close as he could get with her surrounded by dogs.
Harry sat at the kitchen table. He wore gray pants and a white shirt. His blond hair was perfectly cut, and she felt the familiar wave of irritation. And for the first time, she recognized where her animosity had come from. Harry was three years older than her, Melissa a year older. Lexi had been seventeen when they’d first met, and the two of them had been…perfect. Perfectly dressed, perfectly groomed. Lexi had been far from perfect and well aware of the fact. They’d made her feel inadequate, and she’d responded by pushing them away.
However friendly they’d been, she wouldn’t have liked them. And they hadn’t been particularly friendly. Then again, maybe they’d had their reasons. It occurred to her that perhaps they hadn’t been over the moon about their father marrying her grandmother. She was a decade older than Daniel and not exactly a motherly figure.
Harry stood up as they entered the room. She came to a halt by the table, and then she jumped as Josh’s arms came around her from behind, pulling her back against him.
Aw, he was pretending to be her loving husband. He was sweet. Those now familiar warm, fuzzy feelings spread through her chest. She didn’t even want to think about what to call those emotions. She just wanted to enjoy this for a moment.
She relaxed in his arms, pressed her bottom back against him, and felt him go still.
Harry watched them one eyebrow raised. “Valerie said the two of you were like newlyweds.” His lips quirked. “I don’t think she meant it as a compliment. Your friend Jean let me in by the way. She said it would be okay to wait for you in here.”
“It’s fine. You want a coffee?”
“Love one.”
She pulled away. Josh’s arms tightened for a moment, then he let her go. After switching the coffee machine on, she turned around, leaning against the counter to study the two men. Despite both being blond, they were totally different. Josh had a rough edge, an air of danger. In fact, he was radiating menace as he faced off against Harry, whose lips were still curled in a slight smile, as though he found the whole thing amusing.
“I’d actually come to tell you that I wouldn’t be staying,” he said as he resumed his seat at the table. “I didn’t want to intrude—you know, the whole newlywed thing. But I’ve so far met three people who also claim to live here. Are you running a hotel?”
“They’re just friends.”
She filled three mugs with coffee and carried them over, placed them on the table with milk and sugar, then took a seat. “Sit,” she ordered Josh. He was making her nervous by looming over them like that.
“Anyway,” Harry continued, “I decided, why not stay for a while? Obviously you two lovers aren’t going to be alone, so one more won’t make a difference.”
“That depends on why you’re here,” Josh said, and he sounded far from friendly.
Harry gave an elegant shrug. “Can’t I want to spend some time with my baby sister?”
She got the distinct impression that he was trying to wind Josh up. Probably not a good idea. “Did you know Josh used to be in the SAS?” she asked.
A look of mock alarm crossed his face. “Oh my God. He’s a lethal weapon. I’d better be careful.”
She glanced at Josh and saw his lips twitch. “So why are you here?”
“My remit is to spy and report back.”
Well, it was hardly a surprise. Though, what was a surprise was Harry actually admitting it. Her heart sank a little. She’d been lucky up to now and maybe gotten a little complaisant. She should have known it couldn’t last.
“Spy on what?” Josh growled.