Free Catching Lucas Riley by Lauren Winder Farnsworth

turned to follow the hostess, his client at his side.

A LEX COLLAPSED INTO thepassenger seat of Sealey’s car, her mind still reeling from the last ten minutes. Slamming the door, she scrunched down in her seat and refused to look in his direction.
    “So, uh, what happened?” Sealey asked with a deadpan look on his face. “Who was the scrawny dude with the kid?”
    “I really don’t care to discuss it,” Alex answered, a hand over her eyes. “Can you just take me home, please? I have a life to terminate. A couple, actually.”
    “I doubt Lucas would be interested in dating a murderer. You might want to rethink your diabolical plan,” Sealey pointed out, and Alex could almost hear his eyes roll.
    “I doubt he’d be interested in a deceased person too, which is why Lucas is no longer part of my diabolical plan,” Alex muttered. “From now on, my sole aim is to put myself out of my own misery and to take Eric Swithin with me.”
    “Eric Swithin?” Sealey asked. “Was he the panicky-looking guy with the toddler?”
    “Yes,” Alex confirmed, glaring out the windshield. “And he will die.”
    “Where’s the kid’s mom?” Sealey asked, ignoring the drama in Alex’s tone.
    “She’s dead . . . which is why I will never actually go through with my plan to annihilate Eric. Martin doesn’t deserve to be an orphan so young.” Alex sighed. “However, if you were to ask Lucas who Martin’smother is, he would say ‘Alex Foamer.’ ” She cringed, knowing she was seconds away from a hefty dose of Scorn a la Sealey.
    He was silent for several seconds. Alex waited, dreading the barrage of insults she was sure was forming in Sealey’s mind.
    “I’m sorry, what?” Sealey said finally, his voice dangerously soft.
    “Lucas thinks that Martin is my son,” Alex almost wailed. “I tried to correct him, but everything just got away from me!”
    “I . . . you . . .” Sealey seemed to be having a difficult time forming a coherent sentence. “How does a miscommunication that massive even happen ?”
    “I don’t know,” Alex said with a groan. “Seriously, the powers that be are combining against me. Everything is going wrong, and in the weirdest ways possible. First, I’m a tuna fish klutz, and now I’m an unwed mother.”
    “Well, luckily for you,” Sealey said, his voice still tight but regaining some of its assurance, “you have me.”
    “Pardon?” Alex asked, sounding wilted.
    “Well, if Lucas mentions to me that he ran into you tonight, I have no doubt that he’ll mention your ‘son.’ ” Sealey emphasized the word with his fingers. “I’ll just make sure he knows that he’s wrong about the kid. And if he doesn’t bring it up, I’ll find some way to introduce you into the conversation.”
    “Really?” Alex said in relief. “You would do that? Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
    “Stop groveling,” Sealey grunted. “I’m not actually doing it for you . . . by all accounts, you haven’t earned my help. But I have a stake in this thing too, so . . . ,” he trailed off.
    Ah, yes , Alex thought. Olivia.
    Alex contemplated her conversation earlier that evening with Meredith about Sealey’s romantic prospects. It would take a special kind of woman to steal Sealey’s attention and keep it. She felt very curious about this Olivia. What kind of a girl could capture the heart of the kindest and most handsome man Alex knew and also nab the interest of the most frightening? Olivia must be a force of nature. The thought made Alex nervous. How could she ever be successful in distracting Lucas from such a woman?

    In the following week and half, Alex made three more contact points with Lucas, the final two of which she hadn’t even had to acknowledge him. Just make sure he saw her. And they went blissfully without incident. The first of the three had been much more stressful, but thankfully just consisted of Lucas approaching her at church to apologize for assuming that