She watched as Cam rubbed the back of his neck.It made the muscles in his back stretch, yet she could have sworn she saw his spine stiffening.
The phone snapped shut, and he turned.
She met his gaze.“It was my father, wasn’t it?”
“I need to go in to the office.”
She stared at him.She knew she was supposed to say that she’d go in too, but she couldn’t force the words past her lips.She’d been told to fix things, yet they were more complicated now than ever.She had to figure out how to deal with that—and with what was surely to come afterwards.But she wasnoton top of her game.
“We have to go get tested,” Roxie reminded her.
The DNA test.They’d scheduled it yesterday when they’d both still been coherent.Lexie latched on to the idea.Yes, that would help.She needed to get things organized.She needed to know where everything stood before she did anything.Most of all, she needed to straighten herself up and clear her head.
She needed to regain control.
“Don’t tell them,” she said to Cam.“Please?”
Beside her, Roxie inhaled sharply.
Cam’s eyes narrowed as he slid his cellphone into his back pocket.“Are you sure?”
Lexie stared down at her toast.She already felt like roadkill, but the icky, tangled web of Underhill dynamics was wrapping around her all over again.“I have to figure out how to tell my father.”
“Tell him what?”Roxie said in disbelief.“That I exist?”
Lexie took too long to respond.
With a flurry of expletives, Roxie climbed down from her barstool.She stomped towards the bathroom, and the door slammed shut.
Lexie flinched.That wasn’t what she’d meant.Well, it was, but her sister didn’t understand.
As happy as she was about the turn of events, the situation was complicated.Roxie didn’t have another family, but Lexie did.She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or make anyone feel threatened or unwanted—especially her newfound twin.She just needed time to sort through things.
Rowe sighed.“I’ll go in and feel things out.Don’t worry, we’ll figure out how to handle this.”
Lexie was still staring at the bathroom door.“There is no we, Rowe,” she said tiredly.
He hesitated for the briefest of seconds.“No?”
A tingle of warning went down Lexie’s spine, and she turned to face him.“No.”
His dark eyes sparked.
She was saying the wrong thing to everyone.
She felt the need to escape but, before she could, he moved in.Her breath caught as his hand settled on her chair, effectively trapping her.Another slid around to the small of her back.She lifted her hands defensively, but the moment she touched his chest, all that delicious heat buffeted her again.
She went still and their gazes locked.
“I think yes.”
Ever so slowly, he pulled her forward.Lexie gasped, but he kept going until her hips were balanced precariously on the edge of the stool and she found herself clutching at him for support.She spread her legs for balance but moaned when he stepped between them.
He pressed his hips into her, and his mouth was suddenly against her lips.“I want you,” he said roughly.“I don’t know what everyone else’s game is, but mine’s that simple.I want you, and I don’t want you hurt.By anyone.”
He kissed her then, and Lexie’s head spun.His mouth was hot against hers.Hot, determined and devastating.Their lips sealed and their breaths meshed.His body overwhelmed hers, and memories of last night’s embrace came back sharp and clear.
He felt as good as she remembered.Better.
