“What?No, I’m not.”
“She is not.”
That got a rise out of both of them.They spoke in unison, as if they’d spent their entire lives together rather than a day.Lexie tugged on her hand, and Roxie’s foot slammed down.
“She’s not going anywhere with you.”
A big, scruffy mountain of a man smoothly took his place at the barmaid’s side.“Is there a problem here, Rox?”
Cam judged the bouncer.The guy had a good fifty pounds on him, but all that mass would slow him down.
“No.Skeeter, don’t.”Lexie stepped between the two of them but lifted her hand to her forehead.“Whoa.”
“Are you okay?”Cam asked.
“Lexie?”Roxie said.
Lexie wove on her feet.“I don’t feel so good.”
“She needs fresh air.”Cam threw another glare at the barmaid.Lexie was beginning to feel the effects of all that alcohol, and not the good ones.It was going to be a long night for her.He needed to get her somewhere comfortable and soon.“I’m taking her home.”
He took a step around the huge Skeeter, but Lexie didn’t budge.
“No,” she said, tugging on her hand.
He looked at her face, hoping she wasn’t about to get sick.
She wasn’t.On the contrary, her eyes were suddenly clear.“I don’t want to go back there, Cam.”
He stilled.It wasn’t home she was thinking about, it was the Underhills.“It was a mistake, Lexie.Everybody makes them.They owe you an apology.”
“I don’t want to go back.Not tonight.”
There they were again, those emotions bubbling up and up.Her breaths were shortening and her shoulders were stiffening.He saw the worry in her eyes and immediately changed plans.
“Okay, we won’t.”He wasn’t going to push her on this.“I’ll take you to a hotel.”
“Over my dead body,” Roxie snarled.
“I…I want to stay here,” Lexie said.
“That’s fine with me.”Roxie wrapped her arm around her newfound sister’s shoulders and faced him, her jaw set.“She staying, Hatchet Man.That is what she calls you, isn’t it?”
Cam felt his shoulders tighten.He’d expected a fight when he came in here, but not one like this.“This is not the right place for her,” he said, trying to keep his patience.
“And you’re not the right guy.”
Touché.
He stared Roxie down, a vein in his temple throbbing.He knew her type.Cocky and hotheaded.Bold with no sense of class or respect for authority.She was everything that Lexie wasn’t, and he hated that she wore the same face, inhabited the same body.
He glanced at Lexie, hoping to reason with her, but she was paler than she’d been only a moment before.He needed to get her out of here fast.
“Lexie, you don’t even know this woman.She’s your sister,maybe.You need to get a DNA match to prove it, but right now you know nothing about her other than she looks like you, wears half the clothes and lets anyone driving down the I-67 get a real good look.”
“I don’t wear that many clothes,” Lexie grumbled.She tilted awkwardly towards the jukebox as she reached for it.“Besides, we have a DNA test scheduled first thing tomorrow.”
“Hold on.”Cam wrapped his arm around her, steadying her.Her body was almost too pliant.He looked at Roxie.He didn’t like backing down to her, but he knew how to pick his battles—and he sensed a lot more coming.“Fine.You win.Where should I take her?”
