Her Irresistible Troublemaker (A Town Named Eden Book 3) (12 page)

“Absolutely. My treat. No arguments.”

“You want to go shopping with me?”

“I do have to find a tie.”

“This’ll take our relationship to a whole new level.” She took a sip of water. “It’d be interesting to see your eyes glaze over with boredom.”

Jack didn’t see any chance of that happening. Every moment he spent with her seemed to be engraving itself in his memory. “Shopping is serious business. It will either make or break the relationship.”

“You’re either a committed shopaholic who thrives on the experience or you’re so methodical, you do a walk in, grab and run and call it the best shopping experience ever.” She raised her hand. “No, don’t tell me. I’d like to see for myself. I’m not free tonight. How about tomorrow night?”

“That’s cutting it close, but okay.”

Chapter Twelve

“What are you wearing?” Lexie tried to sound nonchalant but her throat had dried up turning her voice into the crackling sound of a radio station out of tune. She watched her sister stride out of the bedroom and then stop in her tracks to look down at herself.

“Shorts and boots.”

“Yes, I can see that. I guess I should have asked why you’re wearing—” Shaking her head, she set her grocery bags down on the kitchen table. “Don’t worry. I’ll…” She’d what? Reserve judgment? Suspending it sounded like a sensible option. At least until she understood what she was dealing with. She’d spent the previous night trying to engage Maggie’s attention and while her sister had at least agreed to a game of Scrabble, the words she’d kept coming up with had been a dead giveaway to how she’d been feeling. Dead. Dire. Doom. Gloom. Lexie suspected an inkblot test would have produced similar results.

“Okay.” If her sigh had been any heavier, the windows would have rattled. “Don’t make a big deal out of it. I’m trying out a new look. Did you get chocolate fudge cookies?”

“Sorry, I forgot.”

“But I put them on the list.”

“I’m not good with lists. I either forget I have them with me or I lose them.” Lexie pulled out her cell and put her fingers to work. This had gone on far enough. She’d given it her best shot. She’d given Maggie time to resurface. She’d tried coaxing her into sharing. All to no avail. It was time for a serious intervention.

Help me. You’re my only hope.

“Feeling up to going out today?” she asked. To her credit, Maggie appeared to give the suggestion some thought.

“Maybe. I don’t know. I was thinking of getting my hair done.” She gave her locks a dismissive flick. “Changing the color or something. It’s… so brown. What do you think?”

That if Maggie found a cause, she’d be fully powered up and charged to rebel. And then… watch out. “That sounds like fun. I could do with a trim. How about we have a nice big salad first—”

“Salad?”

“Yeah, I have the occasional health binge.”

Maggie pulled a face.

“Fine, we could go out for lunch and then trot down to my local hairdresser.”

“You have a regular hairdresser you go to?”

“I’ve been known to frequent the same salon.” Whichever one offered the cheapest cuts… “Or we could go shopping and check out some sales,” she suggested as she strode over to Melville to sprinkle some fish food into his bowl. “We could even make a day of it and go see a movie.” She stooped down to watch Melville zipping from one end of the bowl to the other.

“I quit my job.”

Lexie peered at Maggie, the fishbowl distorting her sister like a theme park mirror, making her eyes and head look bigger.

Maggie had quit her job…

Her sister had walked away from the job that had claimed the last seven years of her life? The topnotch position she’d fought so hard to claim as her own? She must have had good reason. And she definitely had a plan. A direction. She had to. She’d been mapping out her life since she’d learned to read and write. Who knew what could happen to her if she went completely off the rails…

“Um. Are we happy about this?”

Maggie stooped down to look at her from the opposite side of the fishbowl.

“I don’t know about you, but I am, or at least I’m working up to it.”

“You have bigger fish to fry?” Melville hovered for a moment mid-motion and then zipped around the bowl as if trying to find an escape route. Lexie mouthed an apology.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

Not good. Not good at all. Twelve months before, Lexie had lost the plot but she’d found it again through her comic strip. And until a few days before, Lexie had again been in need of direction but that was nothing unusual for her. With Maggie… It could mean the end of civilization.

“I guess I could start by looking for an apartment.”

Lexie surged to her feet. “You left Sydney for good?”

Maggie shrugged. “I put all my stuff in storage.”

And their mother didn’t know, otherwise she would have broken every speed limit to get to Melbourne and set Maggie back on track. Something told her she was going to get blamed for this.

“Please tell me it wasn’t anything I said or did.”

Maggie shook her head.

“Please tell me that was a definite no,” she said just as the front door buzzer rang. Ava to the rescue, she hoped. It took a combination of willpower and effort to keep her steps casual and not dive for the front door. She opened it and taking hold of Ava’s hand, drew her inside. “You’re here.”

“I wasn’t far away and—”

“Come and meet my sister.” Ava looked her usual fantastic self, dressed in a vintage pink jacket with a zipper running diagonally across the front and a body hugging skirt in charcoal gray. Her hair and makeup looked as fresh as if she’d only now had an entourage of hangers on working on it. “Wave your magic wand, please,” she said under her breath. “Any minute now, Maggie could start frothing at the mouth.”

Ava’s arrival had an immediate impact on Maggie.

Lexie could not have anticipated the change. It all happened so quickly. One moment her sister was rising to her feet and the next…

She transformed into her old self, stretching her hand out to meet Ava’s, her posture relaxed and screaming confidence.

Rather than interfere with Ava’s good vibes, Lexie chose to hover in the background, making herself busy in the kitchen, preparing a light lunch. Even when they sat down to eat, she focused on her meal, the flow of chatter washing over her. Maggie’s instant connection with Ava made sense. They were both on the same wavelength. Both alpha females. Both successful in their chosen fields.

“Marianna always squeezes me in. I’ll ring and let her know we’re coming. Are you in, Lexie?” Ava asked.

“What?”

“We’re going to the hairdressers for a bit of pampering and then out to dinner.”

“Oh… I can’t. I have stacks to do for the comic strip and… tonight… I have a previous thing. Thanks.” She had her late night shopping date with Jack, something she’d been trying not to think about, because if she did she wouldn’t get any work done.

Maggie sprung to her feet. “I’ll go change into something more appropriate.”

Lexie waited until Maggie had disappeared into her bedroom where she’d stowed her luggage before turning to Ava. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.”

“Are you okay? You were very quiet at lunch.”

“I didn’t dare break the flow. You did such a great job with Maggie. Clearly you have lots in common.”

“Big sisters rarely listen to their younger siblings. Nothing you did or said would have worked with Maggie.”

“Makes sense.” Yet she’d wanted to save the day. She’d wanted to be the one to pull Maggie out of her misery. “I bow to your greatness and aspire to achieve a smidgeon of it.”

Ava shook her head. “You have your own brand of greatness. It takes a smart person to delegate.”

Lexie tilted her head and smiled. “Mm, I’ve been calling it being in way over my head and passing the buck. But, what the heck, I’ll go with delegating if it makes me look good.”

* * *

After hogging the bathroom for an hour, Maggie emerged looking like a picture perfect version of her old confident self. Lexie couldn’t help wondering if she’d imagined the last few days. Maggie had returned from the hairdresser’s with highlights and a light spring in her steps. The transformation appeared to be complete. Maggie’s smile confirmed it.

“You look great.”

“Thank you. Are you sure you don’t mind me borrowing your friend?”

“There’s enough of Ava to go around.” Lexie smiled and shook off the concerns that had been piling up since her sister’s arrival. Maggie had probably never had a girlfriend and, in a roundabout way, she’d done her part by introducing her to Ava. “That must be her now.” At the sound of a light rap on the door she jumped to her feet.

But instead of Ava, she found Jack.

Looking as sexy as hell.

She drank him in, gobbled him up and for a brief moment, forgot she wasn’t alone.

“Aren’t you going to say hello and invite me in?”

Lexie heard him speak but the words came at her as if from far away. Was she having an out of body experience?

“Lexie?”

“Oh… yes, sure.”

He leaned in and smiled. “You’re supposed to step aside now.”

“Oh, yes.” She engaged her brain and stepped back thinking she’d have to analyze what had just happened later.

“Hello, you must be Lulu.”

Oh, crap. Lexie closed the door and swung around. Her sister had resumed her residency on the couch, but instead of looking like a mound of misery, she looked like a model posing for the cover of a glossy magazine.

She snatched her bag from the hallway table. “I’m ready.”

* * *

She couldn’t be responsible for her sister developing a multiple personality. Her parents would never forgive her. Lexie worried her bottom lip and checked her cell phone for messages.

Ava’s assurances that she’d look after her sister should have been enough to clear her conscience but Lexie couldn’t help feeling like a failure. She should have been the one pulling Maggie away from that twilight zone she’d fallen into. She’d been handed the opportunity and instead of acting on it—

“You had your chance and you blew it,” she said under her breath, and putting her cell phone away she eyed the garment bag sitting on a chair next to her, her feelings swaying between regret and awe. She’d never worn anything so stylishly elegant, and after attending the function with Jack, she doubted she’d ever have another opportunity to wear it. “I wonder what the store policy is on returns.”

“You don’t like your dress?” Jack asked.

She loved it, but the price tag had been intimidating, as for the shoes Jack had insisted she had to have...

Lexie thought they should come with a warning label. One step and she’d be possessed by a sashaying sassy she-devil.

“I have to admit I’ve already developed an unhealthy attachment to the dress.”

“So why ask about returning it?”

His casual tone made her squirm in her chair. And that was something else. She’d never been to a store that provided customers with comfortable chairs to snuggle into. “It’s sophisticated. I can’t even picture it hanging in my wardrobe. It’s going to give all my other stuff a serious inferiority complex. And when am I ever going to wear it again?”

“You never know.”

“Actually, I think it disapproves of me.”

“You have a healthy imagination.”

“If I say something snooty, I’m going to blame the dress, and—” She looked up and watched the salesperson helping Jack ease into his suit jacket. It fit him like a glove, and made him look like the type of man male models aspired to be like. She couldn’t let Jack Riley anywhere near her parents. If they ever met him… “This isn’t the first time you’ve worn a suit.” From the moment they’d arrived at the up-market boutique, the salesperson had treated Jack like a treasured customer.

“Time to pick a tie, Lexie.”

“I’m afraid to.” What if she picked something garish? Not that she could see anything fitting that description. “That one.”

“You just pointed at an entire rack of ties.”

They were all gorgeous. “No, I didn’t. I specifically pointed at the one next to that one. Although, the other one next to it is stunning too.” To her surprise, Jack had turned out to be a methodical shopaholic, enjoying the process of choosing, and taking his time to consider his options. And to her amazement, he paid attention to details and that included looking at the label to determine the quality of the fabric. Not only did he have an incredible eye for detail, but he’d also steered her toward colors and styles that actually complimented her. “I like the pale green.”

“Excellent choice.” He turned to the salesperson and asked for the tie to be included with the suit and shirt he’d selected.

“Um… you’re not adding a backup tie?”

“Why should I?”

Because her choices weren’t always the best? Or so she’d been told her entire life.

“I trust your judgment.”

Her lips parted. “Thank you.” It seemed only polite to show her appreciation of his trust in her. In her experience, everyone had always known what was best for her, and no one had ever bothered to ask her opinion. Suddenly, it felt as if someone had sprinkled fairy dust on her.

“Now we can find a place to have dinner and discuss strategy.”

More trust. Jack was relying on her to offer the necessary buffer between him and his stepsisters. Talking strategy and perhaps discussing the laying down of a few rules sounded good to her.