Chapter LEXI
LEXI
Four days, several thousand dollars in replacing, cleaning, and windows later, Lexi climbed a ladder for what she wished was the last time. She knew it wouldn’t be.
The sun on her shoulders burned on the outside just like her muscles were burning on the inside. At least they’d gotten lucky with a few days of nice weather. She’d been prepared with sheets of plastic for the windows just in case it rained, but it hadn’t.
Unable to afford a cleaning company, Lexi had spent the last two days with rental equipment and extended-length scrub brushes, cleaning the graffiti off her gym.
She’d been up at least two of the last three nights, not including the actual night of the break-in.
She’d only stopped to nap when her arms had given out sometime between the pressure washing and the insurance paperwork.
Maybe. She didn’t really remember, she just knew she hadn’t been back to the duplex in days. Lexi hitched up her baggy cargo pants as she adjusted her footing on the ladder.
All she knew was that the police had cleared her to start cleaning up the morning after the break-in, and she’d gunned into action and hadn’t stopped since.
The insurance guy had met her as soon as she’d gotten back from the hardware rental place, and her security company was stumped.
No one could pinpoint why the system had failed.
Yet, they told her. They’d find it. She was supposed to trust them.
Lexi snarled as she wiped yet another coat of steel grey paint on her back wall.
She didn’t need to trust them - she needed to pay them to do their goddamn jobs.
Which hadn’t received the greatest response when she’d yelled it at the guy yesterday.
They were sending someone out to do an assessment of some kind, but she’d heard nothing for the last day.
“You know, it’s not the wall’s fault,” called up to her from behind the ladder.
Startled, she jostled her paint brush, and trying to catch it, managed to smear paint directly across her chest as the brush fell to the gravel below.
Lexi froze, and shoved her ball cap aside to press her forehead to the cool metal of the ladder.
It felt good. Maybe she needed a break anyway, plus she could go swipe some more coffee from Mama Troisi.
With a sigh, she lidded the paint can and carried it down in her left, securing her descent every step down with her right.
Two rungs before the bottom however, she felt a hard body right behind her on the ladder and watched as masculine hands braced on the ladder in front of her, effectively caging her in.
“I was about to bring you up a new paint brush. I’m sorry I startled you.”
“Here,” she said, shoving the paint can behind her. She felt a nudge of satisfaction at the grunt. The big hands moved away and she dropped the last foot to the ground.
“Are you done with this for now?”
Lexi nodded as she took off her ball cap and held it between her knees.
“Yeah,” she managed, before dragging her t-shirt off over her head, desperately hoping she hadn’t just gotten paint in her hair.
She’d done that yesterday and it had been a bitch to get out, even with the solid water pressure of the gym’s showers.
The tapping of the lid being tamped down joined the rock music pouring out of the gym, and added to her headache.
Standing in her sports bra and cargo pants, Lexi snagged her bottle of water from the base of the ladder as she set her cap back on over her shades, shielding her from the worst of the midday sun.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was in the neighborhood,” Marshall said with a shrug. He’d also been in the neighborhood after his double shift two days ago, coffee in hand, and had spent an hour with her, going over ideas for fixing the gym back up.
Lexi swung her shirt, now inside-out, over her shoulder and hiked her pants up - again. Marshall’s gaze went from the wet patch of wall to where her cargo pants hung at her waist.
A light smile flashed white teeth against a great looking mouth. It occurred to Lexi he was crazy hot, and obviously interested in her. So why didn’t she care?
“Old pants?”
Lexi frowned and looked down. They weren’t old, dammit. She shrugged and turned away from Marshall.
“As soon as they finish installing the new windows this afternoon, I’ll be able to replace the trim, finish painting, and it’ll look better than it did before. If I didn’t want to kill whoever did this, I would almost thank them.”
Lexi took the gravel-speckled paint brush from Marshall, and knelt to dunk it repeatedly in a dirty-water bucket.
Marshall rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at her.
“You probably shouldn’t say things like that in front of a cop, Lex.”
She looked up.
“Am I with the cops, Marsh?” she asked. “I thought I was with an old high school friend.”
“Is that what we are, Lexi? Friends?”
Honey-toned eyes bore into hers from above her, and she didn’t know what to say.
GRAYSON
However he thought he might find his Alessandra, kneeling at the feet of another man would never have made the list of possibilities. He felt the bottom of the box indent in his hand as he stopped walking, and took an intentionally deep breath.
Lexi and some jacked guy sporting a sprayed-on t-shirt were holding serious eye contact, and only when Lexi broke it to look back to the ground did he realize she was actually doing something, not kneeling in front of him.
Still in the shadow of the corner of the building, he consciously took in the entire scene. Lexi was working on something - manual labor, judging by the power tools and supplies.
He spied the ladder and watched Lexi stand and shake water out of the paintbrush. He felt a little like a creep standing there watching, but he wanted to get a better gauge on whatever was going on.
Lexi turned her back to the guy to stare at the back of the building. She adjusted her pants and he frowned. He could see her lower ribs clearly delineated above her abs, and her hip bones were jutting out more than they had a week ago.
His eyes narrowed as t-shirt guy stepped up close behind her and put a hand on her hip. Couldn’t that asshole see she needed a break and a meal, not to be felt up? He stared intently at Lexi’s face. She’d told him she wasn’t seeing anyone. Was this new? Was it his business or not?
He couldn’t see much of her face, but even from a distance her mouth looked drawn and tight. She wasn’t happy, and he didn’t like the feeling knowing that gave him in his gut. Was this guy the ‘working through some things’ Eddie was referring to?
To Grayson’s satisfaction, Lexi stepped away from t-shirt guy.
The guy didn’t seem that upset by it, but tucked his hands in his pockets.
Gray decided it was a good time to see exactly what his little sub was up to.
And make her eat something. With purposeful large strides on the gravel lot, he made plenty of noise fully coming around the corner.
Two sets of sunglasses turned his way, and he raised the hand holding the coffees.
“Mama Troisi sends her love, with coffee, and a snack,” he said from a few feet away. Lexi was smiling, and he smiled back. She hadn’t smiled at t-shirt guy. She set down the paintbrush she was holding and stepped up to him.
“Which one is mine?” she asked.
“The one that smells like sugar, Miss,” he said quietly.
From behind her sunglasses he could see a small blush erupt high on Lexi’s cheekbones and he was satisfied.
She only responded to him. She took one of the coffees and inhaled slightly, wrinkling her nose.
Not hers. She quickly switched out his for the one in his hand and took the lid off before he could blink.
“God bless Mama Troisi.” Lexi murmured, before she dipped the edge of her tongue in the foam. Grayson had to agree.
Not only did her tongue look sinful, but he wouldn’t have known to come back here, and with a ready reason.
He placed the bakery box on a small makeshift table, which was holding up a surprising amount of paint.
He cleared his throat and both looked at him, Lexi blushing again as she realized she wasn’t alone with her coffee.
“Grayson, this is Marshall. Marshall, Grayson. He’s a cop,” she said, looking at Gray. “He’s a club guy,” she said to Marshall, and that seemed to be the extent of her introduction as she went back to the coffee.
Was that what she thought of him? As a ‘club guy’? That would need to be corrected. He held his hand out to the guy with a mildly feral smile. This guy wanted what was his.
Marshall shook his hand, using strength but not enough to try and be intimidating.
“You work at the clubs?” Marshall asked.
Grayson’s smile kicked up.
“I own the clubs.”
This was news to Lexi, he knew, but all she did was blink once and shrug before taking her phone out of her pocket.
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something was wrong with the way she was moving.
It wasn’t ungraceful, but… disjointed, maybe?
It looked almost like her body was out of step. Was she on something?
“Alessandra?” he asked, and she turned to look at him. “Are you alright?”
She gave him a thin smile and nodded. That wasn’t her real smile. There was still something he was missing. He turned to Marshall.
“Was there a problem here, officer?”
Marshall offered a sharp smile of his own. “Detective, and not at all. I just stopped by to see if Lexi wanted any help.”
His gaze dropped to Lexi before coming back to Grayson.
“Lexi and I are… old friends.”
Gray didn’t miss the hesitation, and looked to Lexi, who was furiously texting with one hand. He turned to face the back of the building. She’d blown him off for maintenance?
From what he could see, most of the wall had a fresh coat of paint, and there were gaps where it looked like someone was about to replace the windows. Was she doing this all herself? He looked at her but she was still on the phone.
“Windows are going in this afternoon,” Marshall said from behind him.
It grated on him that this guy was more informed about Lexi’s life than he was, but all he did was nod. Her assistant manager was trying to get rid of him; she’d blown him off for maintenance at her job; she had unknown involvements with other guys.
For at least the hundredth time, he wondered if she really wanted to work with him. Be with him. Because clearly, Lexi had burned the memo that said ‘we need to get to know each other’.