Free Lexie by Kimberly Dean Page A

this was not a mistake.
    “Who is this guy?” Double Trouble asked.
    Lexie’s lips moved but, as close as he was, even Cam couldn’t hear her.
    “Who?” Roxie repeated.
    “Ruthless Rowe.”
    The twin’s eyes flared. “Oh really.”
    Her gaze raked over him, from the way he was leaning into her sister to the way his hand still caressed the back of her thigh. “You didn’t mention he was hot.” One brow arched. “Or that you like his tongue down your throat.”
    Lexie’s reaction was immediate. She stiffened and pushed at his shoulders. “Get off of me.”
    Cam backed away, but he didn’t go far. It took everything inside him to remove his touch from her bare leg, but when he turned, he planted himself between the two women. He looked at the one who’d so rudely interrupted them and went straight into battle mode. “You got her drunk.”
    A second eyebrow lifted to match the first. “And you’re using that to your advantage.”
    Score tied. One to one.
    Roxie waggled her finger at his face. “You’ve got a little lipstick on you, lover boy.”
    He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth. He didn’t like this woman. He didn’t like her at all. “Do you have any idea how much trouble that billboard is causing?”
    “I have to disagree with you there. It brought my sister to me. I think it’s fabulous.” Roxie tilted her head, and her right foot rocked back. She balanced her weight on her heel with her toe pointing into the air. It was a gesture so tied with Lexie in Cam’s mind, for a moment he was thrown off his game.
    “Yeah, well, reunion time is over.” He got over the similarities fast and caught Lexie’s hand. “She’s coming with me.”
    “What? No, I’m not.”
    “She is not.”
    That got a rise out of both of them. They spoke in unison, as if they’d spent their entire lives together rather than a day. Lexie tugged on her hand, and Roxie’s foot slammed down.
    “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
    A big, scruffy mountain of a man smoothly took his place at the barmaid’s side. “Is there a problem here, Rox?”
    Cam judged the bouncer. The guy had a good fifty pounds on him, but all that mass would slow him down.
    “No. Skeeter, don’t.” Lexie stepped between the two of them but lifted her hand to her forehead. “Whoa.”
    “Are you okay?” Cam asked.
    “Lexie?” Roxie said.
    Lexie wove on her feet. “I don’t feel so good.”
    “She needs fresh air.” Cam threw another glare at the barmaid. Lexie was beginning to feel the effects of all that alcohol, and not the good ones. It was going to be a long night for her. He needed to get her somewhere comfortable and soon. “I’m taking her home.”
    He took a step around the huge Skeeter, but Lexie didn’t budge.
    “No,” she said, tugging on her hand.
    He looked at her face, hoping she wasn’t about to get sick.
    She wasn’t. On the contrary, her eyes were suddenly clear. “I don’t want to go back there, Cam.”
    He stilled. It wasn’t home she was thinking about, it was the Underhills. “It was a mistake, Lexie. Everybody makes them. They owe you an apology.”
    “I don’t want to go back. Not tonight.”
    There they were again, those emotions bubbling up and up. Her breaths were shortening and her shoulders were stiffening. He saw the worry in her eyes and immediately changed plans.
    “Okay, we won’t.” He wasn’t going to push her on this. “I’ll take you to a hotel.”
    “Over my dead body,” Roxie snarled.
    “I…I want to stay here,” Lexie said.
    “That’s fine with me.” Roxie wrapped her arm around her newfound sister’s shoulders and faced him, her jaw set. “She staying, Hatchet Man. That is what she calls you, isn’t it?”
    Cam felt his shoulders tighten. He’d expected a fight when he came in here, but not one like this. “This is not the right place for her,” he said, trying to keep his patience.
    “And you’re not the right guy.”
    Touché.
    He stared Roxie