Free Lessons for Lexi by Charlene McSuede Page B

underneath it so they didn’t stick out. The conservative hairstyle helped
to tone down the brightness of her hair. She compromised by wearing only
lipstick and a simple sundress that she’d picked up on a WalMart clearance
rack.
    “Please tell me you aren’t developing a
crush,” Raj asked her from where he was splayed out on her bed, watching her
primp.
    Lexi toyed with a bobby pin. “Why would
you say that?”
    “I haven’t seen you have this much fun
getting dressed up since your last court date.”
    Lexi smoothed a stray hair. “That judge
was cute.”
    “I’m being serious Lexi,” Raj met her
eyes in the vanity mirror as he sat up. “Getting involved with JT Hussner is an
incredibly bad idea.”
    Lexi stared at the vanity table in
front of her and didn’t respond. A few days ago, she would have agreed with
him. But after the night she’d had with JT, she was hooked. His gentleness in
bed, coupled with his harshness earlier had her feeling strangely connected to
him. Almost protected by him. Which
seemed strange, because if anything, she needed protecting from him. But
it was almost as if he had done what he’d done to her because he cared. “It’s
fine. Nothing is going on.”
    “Then where were you all night?”
    “I told you, I went to see a friend.”
She turned around. “You guys got the pot plants moved, right?” If she never saw
those horrible things again, it would be fine with her.
    “Yeah,” Raj stood. “Pennypinch moved
them to just off a hiking trail on the 3 rd acre out. JT will never
find them.”
    Lexi shifted on her still sore bottom
and let out a little whimper. Sitting all day was going to be torture. JT told
her that he’d hold her personally responsible if he found anything on the
grounds. She wasn’t fully comfortable, because technically, where they moved
the plants had been on the grounds, even if it was highly unlikely to be found.
Unlikely wasn’t enough when the safety of her backside was at stake. “Do they
have to be on the ranch?”
    “They’ll be gone soon enough.
Pennypinch is planning to hit Hemp Fest in Tucson next week.”  
    “Thank god,” Lexi pushed herself up
from her chair. She was still walking with a slight limp. Both the punishment
and the sex had left her muscles sore. She walked to Raj. “You’re not really
going to wear a ‘Got Crabs?’ T-shirt to this thing are you?”
    “What’s wrong with it?”
    “Raj, it’s for the ladies auxiliary
party planning committee.” She picked up one of her pillows and gave him a
gentle whack. “For once, live up to your stereotype. Go change into something
tight, preferably shiny.”
    Raj sighed and heaved himself off her
bed to go to his room and change his shirt. Lexi gave herself another final
look in the mirror. She wasn’t as blindingly pretty as the pictures on the
billboards, but she was a vast improvement over what she had been. With a final
pat to her hair, she bounced out the door off to wait for JT to arrive.
    Twenty minutes later, she was still
waiting. She sat at the table, struggling to tie a ribbon around a bunch of peonies.
Seven other women were there and they were taking turns grilling Lexi about her
background.
    “Who are your people, dear?” A frizzy
haired woman in her mid-fifties peered at her suspiciously from across the
table.
    Lexi tensed. “What do you mean?”
    “Your face. I swear I’ve
seen it before. Who’s your family?”
    “No one
special.”
    “Where are you from?”
    Lexi kept it vague. “New England.”
    The woman shook her head. “No, that’s
can’t be it. Where did you go to college?”
    “Nowhere you’d know.” Lexi gave the woman interrogating her an apologetic smile and shrugged. “I might just have on of those faces.”
    The woman did not appear to be
impressed with her pedigree. Lexi sighed and continued to struggle with the
ribbon. The front doorbell rang and her heart quickened. “I’ll get it.” It was
a relief to leave the table and she