'Alexi, dammit--' He came after her, caught an arm and swung her around. He knew she would have to clutch at him to maintain her balance. She did; she curled her fingers around his arms and swore softly under her breath, tossing back her head to stare at him. Her hair was drying and it was wild, he saw, a beautiful, disheveled golden mane to frame her exquisite eyes and perfect features. He inhaled sharply, remembering what it was like to feel her body. Fool, he chided himself. He knew why he was so angry. She had heard everything that Emily had said to him. Every damning thing.
And he wanted her. Really wanted her, as he had never wanted anything in his life.
'Alexi...I'm sorry.' Apologies weren't easy for him. They never had been.
'And I'm leaving,' she said.
He smiled. 'Back to the snakes?'
She looked down fleetingly. 'There are all kinds of snakes, aren't there, Mr. Morrow?'
He laughed. She had heard everything. 'Look, Ms. Jordan, I really am sorry. Be forgiving. After all, you cost me ten years of life with that scream this morning. Stay... please.'
She lowered her head. 'I feel--ridiculous. Your housekeeper must think that I'm--that I'm worse than what the tabloids say. And I can't wear a robe all day...'
'You can take it off,' Rex said innocently, which immediately drew a scathing glance from her.
He shook his head ruefully. 'No...you can't take it off. Look, sit down with Emily and have some breakfast. I'll go back over for your things. Maybe the exterminators will be there by now and I can get them started.'
'You don't need to--'
'I want to. Relax. Enjoy Emily's company.' He stepped away from her and whistled. 'Samson!' The German shepherd came bounding in. He was huge, and when he swept by Alexi, she teetered dangerously, trying to catch her balance again. 'Samson!' Rex chastised him, stepping forward quickly to catch Alexi. He smelled the soft, alluring scent of her hair as he caught her; he felt its velvet texture graze his cheek. He wanted to swear all over again.
'You'd better stay seated,' he muttered, lifting her swiftly and depositing her upon the couch. Another mistake. He felt too much of her body. Too much smoothness beneath the terry. Smoothness that reminded him that there was nothing beneath it.
'I'll be back with your things,' he said brusquely, then strode out, the shepherd obediently at his heels.
He was barely gone before Emily came to the doorway, smoothing her hands over her apron. She smiled shyly at Alexi. 'I have everything ready.' She frowned. 'Where''
Rex?'
'He--he went back over to my house. To Gene's house,' Alexi said apologetically. She flushed again, wondering what the woman must think of her. Rex Morrow-he was like a cyclone in her life. She never knew what to think. One moment she was fascinated; the next second she wanted to carve notches in his flesh...slowly. He was dangerous to her. To any woman, she thought, flushing all over again at the pieces of conversation she had heard. Oh, she couldn't be so foolish as to imagine having an affair with him. He was striking, sensual and sexual-- and she was still reeling from the impact of her marriage. If there was anything she didn't need, it was an affair with someone like him.
Emily smiled at her suddenly; the smile was warm, shy only slightly awkward.
“You really are beet red. I apologize if I gave you the idea that I was thinking...something...that I shouldn't have been thinking,' she added hastily. 'Rex told me about the snakes.' She shuddered. 'Ugh. I know they're harmless snakes--and I would have been in a tizzy, too, I assure you.'
'Thanks,' Alexi said, a little huskily. And before she really thought she murmured, “Rex told you--the truth?'
'Oh, he can be a pill, can't he?' She shook her head, but then it was clear to Alexi that Emily's affection for him rose to the fore. 'But he's really very ethical.' Emily laughed. 'Honestly. He can be hard--but he does play up- front, and he's a strangely principled man. For this day and age, anyway,' she added with a soft sigh. 'Oh, here I am, going on and on, when your food is nice and hot. I'll bring it out--'
'Oh, no, please don't bother! I can get to the kitchen with no problem, really. I have to start walking. I have a lot of things to do.'
'Let me help you.'
Alexi protested; Emily insisted. They walked back to the kitchen, Alexi learning to put a little more weight on her foot with each movement.
Emily sat down with her, sharing the omelet that Rex had left behind. Alexi found out that Emily was a widow with four grown children. She also learned that Emily counted Rex as an adopted fifth child--and adored him with a fierce loyalty.
There was something about Emily, she reflected. The woman was warm and open and giving, and Alexi found herself trying to explain what she wanted to do. It began when Emily asked her why on earth she would want to leave modeling.
Alexi smiled, then laughed. 'It's a miserable profession, that's why. People poke at you and prod at you for hours for a 'perfect' look. It's hour after hour under hot lights doing the same thing over and over again. But still, it isn't really that I'm trying to leave modeling.' She hesitated, smiled ruefully, and stumbled into a lengthier explanation. 'It's strange; I did come from money. But there's always been a golden rule in the family: everyone goes to work, Gene, my great-grandfather, owns a number of businesses, and everyone does something. We aren't expected to go into a family business, but there can be no freeloaders. My older brother is a lawyer; my cousins went into the business side of things. But then, suddenly, when I came along, no one thought that... I don't know; they didn't seem to think I was capable of anything! I went to college and studied interior design, and they all thought, Well, great, she can marry the right boy and be a perfect wife, mother and hostess. It was serious to me.' She sighed. 'Anyway, I walked out in a huff one night and wound up in New York City. Broke. And I wasn't about to call home. None of the design studios wanted much to do with a beginner--and I didn't have the time to wait for a job. Out of desperation I walked into one of the modeling agencies. And I was lucky. I did get work.''
“But you want to be a designer?'' Alexi chewed on her omelet, thought a minute, then shrugged. 'I don't know anymore. I lost a lot of confidence somewhere. But...' She paused, a grin curling her lip. 'Gene is great. He has always been willing to take a chance. He was desperate for someone to come take care of the house--he doesn't want it out of the family after all of these years. And he believes in me. So I want to do the house for him, and I want to do it right.'
Emily nodded as if she understood perfectly. 'And you will do it!' she said firmly.
Alexi laughed dryly. 'I'm not so sure. Last night I couldn't get the old key to work in the lock. This morning I ran in terror from garden snakes. I'm not proving very much, am I? And now Rex is out there with the exterminators and cleaners.'
Emily smiled and put her hand over Alexi's. 'Young lady, that doesn't mean a thing. That's one of the problems with people today--men and women! All this role business! Alexi, you'll do just fine. So what if you don't handle snakes well? That does not take anything away from your competence. We all need help now and then, and if people could just learn not only to give it but to accept it, the world would be a better place. And the divorce rate would be lower!'
'I don't know,' Alexi said, chuckling. 'I feel like an idiot right now. But maybe things will improve.' She cut off another piece of her omelet, feeling that maybe she had blurted out too much to a stranger, no matter how nice that stranger was.
'Emily, where did Samson come from? Is he Rex's dog or yours?'
'Oh, no! That beast belongs to Rex. Body and soul.' She went on to tell Alexi about Samson as a little puppy, and Alexi relaxed, feeling that the conversation had taken on a much more casual tone.
Tony Martelli, from Bugs, Incorporated, was just driving up to the Brandywine house when Rex reached it. He gave Rex a wave and hopped out of his truck, smiling. Rex waved back, smiling in turn. He liked Tony. He was a live-and-let-live kind of a guy. The man had a tendency to chew on a toothpick or a piece of grass and to listen much more than he talked. He gave Rex's house monthly service and was one of the few people Rex had invited to wander his beach when he had the chance.
'Snakes, huh?'
Rex laughed. 'And everything else under the sun.'
Tony squinted beneath the glare of the sun. 'Well, we'll spray, but snakes... Well, you kind of have to find the
