The Renegade (The Moorehouse Legacy #3)(54)

God, his lips were so close. And so perfect. The lower one more full; the upper curved at the top.

Even though she knew it was a bad idea, she leaned in and kissed him softly. His lids flipped open and he jerked back.

He stared at her with hooded eyes, the midnight blue of his irises giving nothing away. Then he smoothed her hair back, pressed his lips to her forehead, and tucked her face into his chest.

Well, if that wasn’t just about the nicest refusal she’d ever had.

A moment later, Alex got up from the bed. He kept his back to her as he walked over to the door. He opened it, stepped outside and shut it partway.

“Good night, Cassandra. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

She put her arm across her eyes. “Of course. Sure.”

How could she have forgotten that his Miracle was downstairs?

*

“Captain?”

Alex looked across the interior of the Viper. He hoped Mad didn’t want to talk about the dinner party. He didn’t remember what he’d eaten, and had no idea what the bunch of them might have talked about.

“Captain?”

He shook himself. Evidently, his memory wasn’t the only thing he’d lost. His hearing had also checked out for the evening.

“Sorry?”

“I asked, what’s doing?” She parked in front of the shop.

He shrugged and opened the door. “Nada.”

Palming his cane, he levered himself out. Snow was falling yet again and he wondered how in the hell she was going to get back to Manhattan in the sports car. His next thought was that he didn’t have to worry. Mad could handle herself in any situation.

They went inside together and Mad took first crack at the bathroom. While she hummed that Star Wars theme and brushed her teeth, Alex stoked the potbellied stove and then waited at the desk, stewing.

No, he thought, wrong cooking parallel. He was steaming.

Alex was royally pissed. Angry enough to chew tin and spit nails.

If Reese had been alive, he would have done whatever he had to to get to the man—car, train, boat—and then he would have called his partner a bastard to the guy’s face.

Would have been tempted to haul off and hit him.

It wasn’t just that Reese had violated his marriage oaths and shamed Cassandra, although that alone was enough to shoot Alex into orbit. The sheer stupidity of the infidelity was offensive. If you had gold in your hands, why the hell would you go looking for stone?

“Captain, bathroom’s free.”

Alex nodded. And didn’t get up.

Mad walked over and propped her hip against the desk. “You want to talk about it now?”

“No, I don’t.” But then the words just popped out. “Did you know Reese was cheating on his wife?”

“Yes.”

Alex felt his eyes stretch. “God…damn. Why didn’t I know?”

“You never went to the parties, Captain. That’s when it happened. Everyone knew it. We assumed that’s why he never brought her along and why she never met any of us. He wanted his lives separate, obviously needed to keep them that way.”

Alex rubbed his palm over his face.

“There something going on between you and her?” Mad asked.

“No.”

“You lying to me or yourself right now?”

“You.”

“I won’t say anything to the boys.”

He got up, not trusting himself to say anything more. He was liable to spill his guts and he didn’t want Mad having to keep so much from the rest of the crew.

“Thanks, Mad.”

He went into the bathroom and tried to do a scrub job on his brain as he brushed his teeth. The former didn’t work, but he was so furious his chompers were gleaming by the time he was finished.

Probably had stripped off half his enamel in the process.

When he came out, Mad was getting into her sleeping bag. She was wearing that sports bra and underwear combination again only this time the two halves were navy blue.

He thought of Spike that morning, looking so completely overwhelmed when the two of them had met. The guy’s struck-stupids had persisted throughout the evening. He’d watched Mad the whole time, his lips zipped and his eyes super-focused. It was a total social reversal. At the New Year’s Eve party, Spike had been full of the yakkies around women. But with her, he was about as talkative as a ficus.

“So, Mad, I think you have an admirer,” Alex said as he got into bed.

She cocked an eyebrow while punching her pillow into shape. “Yeah?”

“Spike likes you.”

Mad grinned and settled herself on her side. Her eyes twinkled. “Oh, God, I really like him. He’s got such a terrific edge to him…you know, that slightly dangerous thing. Too bad he’s so shy.”

Shy? Spike wasn’t shy, he was enthralled. “I don’t think that’s why he’s quiet.”

“You know, it’s too bad we don’t need a cook. The rest of the boys would get a kick out of him. He’d fit right in with us.”

Alex shook his head ruefully. How could she be so clueless?

“Mad, you’re missing my point. He likes you. He’s attracted to you.”

She stared at him for a moment, the merry grin leaving her face. Then she slashed her hand through the air. “Yeah, whatever.”