Sushi for One? (16 page)

Lex rose on shaky legs. Aiden held her elbow as he guided her to the door. One of the women slung Lex’s purse over her shoulder.

Mr. Babysitter had sat there while the women cleaned up the baby with wipes, then mopped up his pants. As Lex headed toward the door, he rose to his feet and faced her, looking like a bulldog. “These were Giovannis. I should make you buy me new ones.”

Aiden expected a blazing hot answer from her, but Lex just peered at him, her eyes dazed.

The guy slanted his beady eyes at her. “I might be more forgiving if you can get me Giants’ tickets.”

Lex inhaled a raspy breath and swallowed hard before answering.

“It’s only college games, you doofus.” She turned toward the door.

Aiden put a steadying hand on her waist, but a jolt of tension tightened her entire abdomen at his touch. He immediately removed his hand.

She didn’t seem to mind his grasp of her elbow. Her weight sagged against his hand. He shuffled her out the door, and someone slammed it behind them.

When he opened the door to his SUV, she flinched away from his leather seats. “My pants.”

Where had he put those extra T-shirts? Trunk? No, backseat. He spread them over the leather and let her climb in gingerly.

He got behind the wheel. “Home?”

“Blossom Hill and 85.” She sat with eyes closed.

The tears spilled down her face. She wouldn’t open her eyes. He wondered if she wanted to shut out the world.

Somehow he knew it wasn’t sickness. Her entire body had seemed to shrivel where she sat. How many people had ever seen her weak and vulnerable? Her hand clutched the door handle, knuckles white.

Some knight you are. Catching her at her worst. I’m sure she’s thrilled about that.
He caught the tremble in her lower lip before she drew them tight.

“It’s okay. I’ll take back roads and drive slow.”

A small smile appeared on her face. His heart expanded.

He punched it down immediately. Dummy. She was Trish’s cousin and a Christian. Wasn’t Trish’s hypocrisy enough?

“Drmmmnn.”

“What?”

She reached down for her backpack purse at her feet. “Drm-mmnn.” She fumbled inside, then pulled out a foil packet of tablets.

Lex looked at him, finally, as she held out the packet. Her bleary gaze captured his eyes, pleading, but somehow calm. Trusting.

He pulled over and took the medicine from her. “Dramamine?”

He popped out an orange tablet.

“For the nausea.” She bit down on the tablet, then pulled a bottle of water out of her purse.

Aiden drove on, listening to her directions. Her voice started to slur, her eyes drooping with sleepiness. “It’s the medicine. Makes me tired.” She yawned. “Follow Santa Teresa all the way down. A few miles.” She sighed. Then sighed again. “I’m so sorry, Aiden.”

Knight in Shining Armor. “It’s okay.”

“I’m so glad you came.”

“Well, I needed my phone.”

“Forgot about that. You’re so nice to come pick it up.” She yawned with a little sound at the back of her throat. “You don’t make me feel bad. Not like those girls.”

“They made you feel bad?” He shouldn’t be encouraging her to talk, not with her disoriented like this.

She snuggled back into the leather seat, eyes closed. “They snipe. You don’t. You don’t fuss either.”

She fell into a restless doze. She roused with a slurred, “Wedding cake.”

“Dreaming about a wedding?”

She smiled but didn’t open her eyes. “Mm-hm. You’re not a bad guy.”

“I’m glad you think that.”

“Really. I could like you.” She turned her head toward the window and sank deeper into the seat.

“Huh?”

She gave an enormous yawn and mumbled something that sounded like, “Will you marry me and save me from Grandma?”

He jerked the wheel back before he crashed the truck.

TWENTY

F
or the first time in weeks, Trish had come to church. Lex had come alone, not expecting her cousin to show up, but then Trish had slipped into a seat at the back about twenty minutes late.

Lex fidgeted in her pew, craning her neck to make sure Trish didn’t slip out before the worship leader finished the closing prayer.

“Amen.”

Lex shot out of her seat and scurried toward the back of the church. Trish had already slipped out the door.

If Trish had been at Mariko’s shower, Lex wouldn’t have said whatever she said to Aiden to make him unceremoniously dump her at her front door and sprint away. She had been so sleepy from the Dramamine, she couldn’t remember. At least she’d remembered to go with Dad and get her car back from Mariko’s house.

“Lex.”

She skidded to a halt and turned around. “Venus. You didn’t go to your church today?” Venus had switched from Lex’s church after one too many of the single guys had been too persistent in their attention.

“No, I came here. I wanted to see you.”

“Why?” Lex saw Trish duck into the women’s room. Good. She had time to talk to Venus.

“I heard about the bridal shower.”

A low moan rumbled out of her throat. “Let’s not go there.”

“How about a detox mud wrap?”

“Huh?” Lex frowned. “My stomach is still sensitive, Venus.”

“No, dummy, a detoxifying skin treatment. It’s at Belview Spa.”

“I don’t think my skin’s that important.”

“It’s to
relax
, idiot.”

“Oooh. Wow, that’s nice of you, Venus.” She saw Trish exit the women’s restroom. “Hang on, I need to talk to Trish. Trish!”

Her cousin didn’t turn around. She raced out of the building as if Mrs. Cathcart was chasing after her, asking her to teach Sunday school. Lex detoured around a few clusters of people chatting, then followed Trish out the door.

She stumbled out into the parking lot in time to see Trish nip into a cherry-red Mazda convertible with a slick Asian man at the wheel. They peeled out of the church lot.

Left behind. A hollowness ached in her stomach. Trish had never run away from Lex before. Why would she not want to be with her?

“Was that her boyfriend?” Venus’s heels clunked against the blacktop.

“I guess.” Lex couldn’t hide the soft snuffle as she cleared her nose. “She didn’t want to talk to me.”

“Her loss. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Come on.” Venus walked toward her car, a silver convertible. “I’m driving.”

“Pfffaugh. I can’t look, I’m going to puke . . .”

Venus gave an exasperated snort. “You don’t have to look at it. Close your eyes.”

“When I do, all I see is brown goo. Ugh . . .” Lex’s stomach shifted, as if uncertain whether to be nauseated or not.

She squeezed her eyes shut and sank deeper into the tub of mud. Actually, the heat felt amazingly good. Her old lower back injury —from the chair at work — had felt like a rock shoved at the base of her spine, but as she stretched out in the mud, the pressure slowly receded.

She heard the mud slurp as Venus shifted in her own tub. “Feels good, doesn’t it?”

One thing about this sticky soak, it gave her mind license to wander into places she’d rather not go. Like why Trish had run away. The hurt at being left standing in the parking lot.

No, let’s not go there. Think happy thoughts.
Her brain didn’t oblige, instead moving back to Mariko’s shower. The mud looked a little like —

“Relax.” Venus practically barked it at her.

“Your tone isn’t very relaxing.”

“Your face is all screwed up, so I know you’re worrying about something.”

She glanced over at Venus. “Did you hear Dad sold the house?”

“No, when?”

“Wednesday. But I have to move out in two and a half weeks.”

“Where to?”

“Uh . . . I’m looking.” Lex needed to get going and look harder for a place to stay. Maybe she could rent a room from a house instead of a whole apartment. “Did I tell you I got into Wassamattayu tryouts?”

“That’s great! When are they?”

“Next weekend. Problem is the high deposit fee.”

“They charge for tryouts?”

“They refund it if you don’t get picked. They want to be sure you can afford the league fees to play.”

Venus sank deeper in her mud. “I’ll pay for it for you.”

“No!”

Venus gave her a lazy sidelong glance. “It’s not a problem.”

She knew Venus had a high position at her game development company, a few levels down from the corporate stratosphere, but Lex wouldn’t be indebted to her. Not like that. “No, I have money saved.”

“I thought that was for a down payment on a condo. Isn’t that why you suffered through all those years living with your dad?”

“It’s not enough for a 5 percent down payment. It’s not enough for the girls’ playoffs this summer either.” Lex fidgeted, and the mud slapped against the sides of her porcelain tub. “That’s why I was thinking I’d use it for Wassamattayu.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to use it for playoffs and then try to raise only a little more?” Venus shot her a sharp look.

Wassamattayu was the pinnacle of her volleyball career, but posh gym-member Venus could never understand that. “Wassamattayu membership isn’t just for me. The club is filled with wealthy, sports-oriented yuppies. It’s the perfect place to look for a sponsor for the team. For any of them, the cost for the girls’ playoffs would be hardly a blip in their checking account, and they could get a tax write-off.”

“Assuming you can convince one of them. Kind of a gamble, isn’t it?”

Venus’s dry voice sent a fizzle up Lex’s spine. “They’re athletes. We speak the same language. They’d understand my dilemma and be happy to sponsor the team.”

“If you say so.”

Her skepticism decided it for Lex. “I think it’s a good idea. I think I’ll use the money for Wassamattayu.”

Aiden was beginning to think God liked playing practical jokes.

He drove all the way out here to south San Jose to run some hills, and whom did he see? The one person he’d be most embarrassed to talk to. Did she even remember her proposal of marriage?

Lex didn’t even live in this area. What was the deal?

She hadn’t seen him yet — she struggled up the hill, limping a bit.

It looked like her ankle was bothering her.

He should avoid her. She represented everything his alarm system warned against: friends with a pushy girl he’d had to reject pretty hard,
related
to same girl, fanatically Christian enough to go to church regularly versus just talking about it. Common sense should tell him to stay away.

Except she was also attractive enough to make him lose his good sense. And then there was the small fact that she happened to be on his volleyball team, stole his phone, proposed marriage, and then waylaid his marathon training course.

He picked up his feet to catch up to her.

She veered left down a side street and out of sight.

His stomach bottomed out and left a little hollow spot down there. He needed to continue on his training course or he’d never be in shape for the race. He lost a little of his kick as he climbed the hill.

The first hill stretched his lungs as he sprinted to the top. On the way down, he cut through an empty grocery store parking lot and turned right around the corner of a trash shed.

“Ooomph!”

He hit someone soft, light. He staggered. She went down.

Lex. He’d collided with Lex.
No way. God, you have a strange sense of humor.

He could have sworn he heard laughter.

“Are you okay? Your ankle — ” He offered a hand to help her up.

She waved it away. “I’m fine.” She hoisted herself up and took a few steps. “See?”

“You’re limping.”

“Am not.” Her bottom lip shot out.

His eyebrow shot up a fraction before he got his face under control. “Okay. You’re not.”

She glared at him. “Are you making fun of me?”

“Not at all.”

“Hmph.” She looked back up the hill, and her face sagged.

“Are you training?”

“How did you know?”

“You told me you never run except for training.”

“Oh.” Her pale cheeks flushed rosy in the morning sun. “I’m, uh . . . sorry I was so rude that time.”

His neck relaxed. “It’s okay.” A simple apology and he caved. He was pathetic.

“So, are you training?” Lex asked him back.

“Yeah.” He glanced at the hill. “I have a marathon in a few weeks.”

“Oh. Well, I’ll let you get to it.” She turned into the parking lot and pulled her car key from her pocket.

“But I thought you were running.”

She grimaced. “I feel kind of lazy today. I’ve . . . had a lot of stuff happen. Besides the bridal shower.”

“No, don’t do that. Come on.” He started jogging up the hill. “Come on.”

She stared at him with a confused, annoyed look.

He gestured her to come. “Don’t be a pansy.”

He knew it would spur her. Yup, she broke into a run after him.

“I’m not a pansy.” Her eyes on him were fierce.

“Of course not.” He turned his blandest face at her.

She frowned.

He grinned.

Lex had rarely seen Aiden smile. He was usually so reserved, so controlled. Gosh, it made him look like Orlando Bloom. Her heart did a little jump-skip before settling back into a steady rhythm.

He ran a
lot
faster than she did. She shouldn’t be so surprised. She’d never jogged with a true runner before. She usually set the pace with her volleyball friends, but here she struggled to keep up.

“Come on, you can do it. Just a few more feet at this pace.”

“Rah — ”
Pant, pant
— “rah.”

“I’m a physical therapist and a trainer.”

“So you’re — ”
Pant, pant
— “a professional bully.”

He laughed. “I thought you wanted to be in shape.”

“In shape.”
Pant, wheeze.
“Not dead.”

“Okay, now lift up your knees.”

Her legs burned hotter than the Arizona sun. Her lungs would burst any minute now.

“What are you training for?” Aiden asked her. He wasn’t even winded, the slime.

She gulped in air. “Wassamattayu.”

“Wow. Congratulations. Volleyball?”

“Yeah.”

“Pick up your knees more. When are tryouts?”

“Saturday.”

“Oh, just a week. Come on, don’t be lazy, pick up your knees. You want to do well, don’t you?”

Determination prodded her like a lance to her fanny all the way up the hill, down the other side, and up another one. Perversely, it pleased her when Aiden started to sweat.

They made it back to the grocery store parking lot none too soon. Lex’s entire body ached, even her skull.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t get a very hard run because of me.” If it had been her, she’d be mad and frustrated, but Aiden just shrugged.

“I had a harder training yesterday. I’ll do a little more after you leave.”

No way.

He cocked his head as he studied her. “You might want to close your mouth. There are a few bees around.”

She scrunched her face at him.

He smiled, transforming his face from nondescript to dreamy.