Double-Cross My Heart (15 page)

Eventually wasn’t soon enough, as far as Alex saw it. “I still want Bryan to look into some legal options—“

“No!” His sister’s sharp reply wasn’t in character. Lauren held the record as the most unflustered person he’d ever known.

Alex frowned at her.

She said more calmly. “I know you’re used to giving an order and making things happen, but I don’t want Bryan doing anything, at least nothing about Jim. Really. We’re okay. The girls have you. You’re a really important part of their lives. They’ll be okay. You can make a man pay to support his kids, but you can’t make him act like a father. Let’s don’t even try.”

Glancing back out the window to where his nieces still ran shrieking around the backyard, Alex said slowly, “Who knew that being together with someone would be the hardest thing most of us would ever do?”

“Well, it’s complicated,” Lauren said, her usual good humor back in place. “It is the hardest thing people do, outside of raising kids.”

“I guess so,” he agreed, going over to join her at the kitchen table.

“So,” she said with a sisterly grin, “are you dating anyone?”

Alex glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. “And if I am?”

Lauren’s grin grew into a smirk. “Let’s talk about your life for a while. Does she let you boss her around or is she smart enough to stand up to you every once in a while? Who is she and are we ever going to get to meet a woman you’re seeing?”

“Hell, yes, she stands up to me,” he acknowledged with a sudden smile. “And, yes, you may get to meet her.”

Lauren’s surprise was evident. “Finally. I’d begun to think you were too busy making money to actually get involved with anyone—I mean, involved more than sleeping with them.”

Raising his hand, Alex said with mock seriousness, “We can only talk about my sex life if we also talk about yours…which would mean you’d have to go out there and get one first. You have no room to criticize me on the relationship front. You’ve hardly had a date since Jim left.”

“Not true,” Lauren corrected him. “You don’t know everything, little brother. I’ve had a number of dates. I went out a couple of times with a guy who teaches at the same school. You just haven’t heard about my dates because I haven’t found anyone interesting.”

“Maybe the same holds true for me,” he said significantly. “Huh? Could be?”

She laughed. “Okay, but something tells me you’re really into the one you’re dating now. What’s her name?”

“Eden,” he said easily, conscious of the blossom of warmth in his chest.

“So?” Lauren pressed. “Details? What does she look like? What does she do? Does she have kids?”

Despite his life being so different from hers, Alex loved his time with his sister. They’d been through more than the usual family stuff together. He grinned at her now.

“She’s got short, dark hair. Really sexy. She’s an executive at a large cosmetics company, and, no, Eden doesn’t have any kids.”

Lauren raised her eyebrows inquiringly, “So, is Eden the woman to tempt you into taking the plunge?”

“Possibly,” he said. “She sure as hell tempts me in general.”

Lauren laughed at that, their camaraderie comfortable.

“Have you told her about mom?” his sister asked, compassion in her eyes.

“No,” Alex said. “It hasn’t come up.”

“Well,” Lauren said, getting up to refill her cup, “make sure you tell her. If you can talk about something as personal as the insomnia thing, you’ll know you really trust her.”

“True.” Alex said, aware as he spoke that he did trust Eden. And she was now trusting him with her business. It made him feel warm and solid inside.

***

“Alright! Alright,” Eden croaked, levering herself up off the couch and dragging the afghan with her. She didn’t know why she couldn’t get warm, she’d turned the thermostat up to “Sahara” more than half an hour ago.

She stumbled over her briefcase, still sitting on the floor where she’d dropped it when she came home the night before.

The knocking on the door hadn’t stopped despite her feeble attempt at communication.

Leaning against the door, she struggled with the deadbolt, finally getting the damn thing to flip open. Pulling the door open without checking the peephole, Eden leaned against the polished wood surface.

“Yes? What do you want?” She was having trouble focusing and her knees felt strangely uncooperative.

“Eden, sweetheart!” Alex was there next to her, his strong arm around her for support. “Honey, you look terrible.”

“Thanks,” she managed, despite an uprush of severe embarrassment. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been calling you all morning,” he said, leading her back to the couch and her beckoning pillow.

“Was that you?” she asked vaguely. She hadn’t bothered with the phone since she’d called the office this morning to tell Cheryl she couldn’t make it in.

“Yes, it was me.” Settling her back on the couch, he disentangled the afghan and draped it over her. “I called your office, giving no name, of course, and your assistant said something about you being sick, which you apparently never are.”

“No,” she mumbled into the pillow. “Never sick.”

Alex leaned forward, tucking the afghan around her chin, his fingers blessedly cool against her skin. “Damn, Eden. You’re burning up. Have you taken anything for the fever?”

“I’m fine,” she said, attempting to wave her hand dismissively before she realized it was tucked under the afghan. “Never sick. Just tired. Been working a lot.”

“I’m sure,” he said grimly. “But this is more than overwork. I think you’ve got the flu, honey.”

“
No,”
she disagreed, allowing her eyes to shut against the harsh light from the lamp. “I don’t get sick.”

“Okay,” he said, an amused tolerance in his voice. “You sit there and don’t move.”

“’Kay,” she said, suddenly mortified. She’d just remember how she looked! After waking up freezing cold in the pre-dawn hours, she’d put on a ratty pair of thick sweats. With her hair smashed and uncombed, and her teeth not brushed yet, she must look like hell. Even in her achy, chilled state, she couldn’t keep from feeling really self-conscious. This was not the way to look when a boyfriend…or whatever Alex was, showed up.

She ought to get up and take a shower while he was gone out of the room. But her body balked at the thought, leaving her slumped ungracefully under the afghan. Eden closed her scratching, aching eyes again. In a minute, she’d get up.

“Here, sweetheart, take these before you go back to sleep.” Alex knelt next to the couch, a glass in one and pills in the other.

“So tired,” she managed.

“I know,” he said. “These will bring the fever down so you can rest better.”

“’Kay.” With effort, she levered herself up on one elbow, took the pills from his hand and gulped them down.

Alex took the glass from her and stood up.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she said with a belated surge of protectiveness. “Germs. Don’t want to get the flu.”

She felt his hand brush against her forehead as he said cheerfully, “I’ll risk it. You sleep.”

“’Kay.” With an uncharacteristic obedience, Eden felt sleep close in on her
.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Here, sweetheart, drink this.”

Struggling with the confusion of fever and sleep, Eden felt him sit on the couch next to her.

“What?”

“You need fluids,” Alex said firmly, putting a cup into her hand. “Sit up and drink.”

Eden propped herself up and took a drink.

“I’ve got some soup warming in the kitchen,” he said. “You need to eat a little to keep your stomach settled.”

“You made soup?” she asked, the thought seeming incredible.

“I stopped at a deli and got some. Tomato bisque. I just warmed it up a little,” he said. “I’m actually a decent cook, but I didn’t think you required a culinary treat, right now.”

“No.” Eden sank back onto her pillow, realizing she’d heard him moving around in the kitchen while she slept.

He got up and left the room, returning with a bowl and spoon. “Here, eat a little. However much you want.”

“Thanks.” She wasn’t hungry, but knew he was right about her stomach. Taking the spoon, she ate a few bites as he held the bowl for her as if she were a child.

Alex reached out and brushed his free hand along her cheek. “I think your fever is coming down a little. Do you feel any better?”

She felt ridiculous and disheveled, but her head did pound less. “Yes.”

“Do you want any more soup?” he asked as she leaned back on the pillow.

“No.” Damn, just eating a few bites left her feeling exhausted and sleepy. She closed her eyes again, slumber beckoning.

In a moment, he was back, sitting next to her.

“You need to rest, honey.” His voice was gentle and she felt him sift a hand through her messy hair. “Just rest.”

The combination of medicine, food and comfort drew her toward sleep, his hand rhythmically stroking through her hair.

***

“Are you all right, Eden?” Sarah Briggs asked, standing next to her in the racquetball court looking tanned and fit three days later.

“Yes,” Eden replied, gasping for air as she leaning back against the wall. “Really. I’m fine. Just a little winded.”

Make that a lot winded. For a fifty-plus year old woman, Sarah was a whiz with a racquet.

“It’s the flu. You’re not really over the bug,” Sarah commented generously. “We should play again in a week or two.”

“Sounds great,” was all Eden could wheeze as she levered herself away from the wall. Somehow between now and then, she was going to have to fit in some racquetball lessons.

“It feels great to get the body moving, doesn’t it?” Sarah said, walking beside her as they left the court.

“Yeah, great. Darned flu has kept me from playing,” Eden offered as heartily as she could manage. In actuality, she’d bounced back from her illness after only a few days. Partly, she suspected from Alex’s comforting presence that day.

Walking down the chilly gym hall as she and Sarah talked, Eden still felt the lingering warmth of his care.

She could not understand him.

“This is a great gym,” Sarah said, energetically swinging her racquet for emphasis. The woman seem indefatigable.

“It’s very well equipped,” Eden agreed. “And convenient to work. I may have to switch my membership.”

She didn’t have a gym membership, but Jessica had been after her to workout.

“You should,” Sarah encouraged. “I’d love to get together and play every so often. You’re good. Even with the flu, you gave me a challenge.”

Eden had to grin. “You’re too kind. I sucked. You, however, are amazing. How do you do it?”

The older woman looked pleased. “Thanks. I try to stay fit. It’s important when a woman gets to be a certain age.”

“You certainly don’t seem to be aging at all in the six years I’ve known you,” Eden said with complete honesty. After chasing that damned blue racquetball around for the entire three games they’d played, she herself felt ancient. Maybe she should also look into Jessica’s suggestions about eating more vegetables, or at least, taking a few vitamins.

“I do my best to take care of myself. Can’t give into the clock,” Sarah said as they entered the empty locker room. “Speaking of getting older, I hear Michele is talking about dumping the Swiss scientist’s research project.”

Glancing up quickly from the bench she’d subsided onto, Eden said, “Really? I hadn’t heard. At least, nothing definite.”

“I don’t know how definite she is,” Sarah said. “There was some sort of memo to the board a day or two ago. Sol Klineman and Jolly Hampton and I all got copies. I think the entire board did. I don’t talk with Dave Sanders often, so I don’t know for sure if he got it. Anyway, Michele mentioned several different things she wanted to do to bring the company better revenues. Cutting the research on the skin-refinishing product was one. It would be a pity, really. As our population ages, that sort of skin-renewal product could really take off.”

“I agree completely.” Having to hear this from Sarah confirmed to Eden that Michele was attempting to shuffle her out of the loop. For the past five years, Eden had sent out all the communications to the board members.

It was foolish of the older woman since Eden was the one responsible for the development of the product. The Swiss scientist working on it communicated only with her. Once, Michele had trusted her implicitly.

Sarah’s shrug seemed impatient. “Michele said something about reassigning the Bergere money to the marketing budget.”

This was it, Eden knew. She had to capitalize on the moment to convince Sarah she could run the company more profitably.

“It will be a pity if Michele makes that decision,” Eden said bluntly. “Product development is critical. We have an aging catalog of products. I’ve been trying to correct that. In our field, we have to keep introducing new items to keep customer interest up. The middle-age, high-end clientele is underserved by our product lines.”