that passed that Lexie was growing more distraught.
She nibbled on her lower lip and looked tense enough to shatter if anyone would reach out and touch her. He finally called a halt. “It’s time to go home, Lexie,” he said. “You’ve done all you can do for today and you’re only getting the same answers over and over again.”
For a moment he thought she was going to protest, but then her shoulders fell and she nodded wearily. “You’re right. It’s been a long day and we aren’t getting anywhere.”
Once again she was quiet on the ride back to Lauren’s and Nick wished he had some encouraging words to give her. But there was no question that Lauren’s disappearance was troubling. As the day had worn on his hope that she’d gone off with Bo had faded. If that was the case, then why hadn’t she returned Lexie’s phone calls? Why didn’t she answer her cell phone? Surely she’d know that Lexie would be worried sick.
They had gotten one piece of information from one of Bo’s neighbors who told them that Bo had mentioned visiting some family in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If Bo was with family in Oklahoma, then where was Lauren? The whole thing was growing more and more troubling with each minute that passed.
“Thanks for your help today,” Lexie said as she pulled up next to his truck in Lauren’s driveway. She stared at the house as if dreading going inside.
“Look, we haven’t eaten since breakfast. Why don’t I take you out to dinner?”
She turned to look at him. “Why would you want to do that?”
He shrugged. “Because I need to eat. You need to eat and we might as well eat together. Why don’t I pick you up in an hour?”
She turned and looked at the house again, a frown pulling together her delicately arched eyebrows. “I have a bad feeling about this, Nick. I don’t think she’s ever coming home.”
He reached across the seat and took her hand in his. “You can’t lose hope already,” he said softly. “Maybe she took off with Bo and her cell phone went dead. That would explain her not answering your calls.” Her hand felt small in his grasp.
She stared at him as if desperate to believe his words. “Maybe you’re right,” she finally conceded. She pulled her hand from his. “I guess I’ll see you in an hour.”
They both got out of her car and Nick stood by his truck and watched her walk to the house. There was no question that something about Lexie touched him in a place where nobody had touched him in a very long time.
There was an awkwardness about her that he found oddly charming. The pink streak in her hair spoke of a woman seeking attention and yet he’d never seen a woman who appeared more uncomfortable with any attention she garnered.
As he got into his truck he wondered what in the hell he was doing. He’d spent the day with her and now had invited her to dinner, as if he couldn’t get enough of her company.
And yet he knew nothing could come of his attraction to her. She’d given him no indication that she felt the same kind of attraction to him that he did for her, and even if she did he wouldn’t follow through on it.
He’d had the one great love of his life and he’d blown it and the consequences had been devastating. He was responsible for his wife’s suicide, and he’d never allow himself to get close to a woman again.
Chapter Three
She shouldn’t have agreed to dinner, Lexie thought as she entered the house. She shouldn’t have agreed to dinner with him. Nick Walker definitely made her slightly nervous, although she’d been grateful for his presence during the long day.
Still, she should have thanked him for his time and let it go at that. She didn’t need the distraction of spending time with a man who made her just a little bit breathless when he gazed at her, a man who made her feel a strange mix of both anxiety and anticipation.
And yet she didn’t consider calling him to tell him to forget dinner. She had to eat and she’d rather do it someplace else, anyplace else instead of in the horrible quiet of Lauren’s kitchen.
Before she did anything else she checked the answering machine in Lauren’s office to see if any calls had come in throughout the day. There was only one from somebody who had apparently stopped by for their appointment with Lauren while Lexie and Nick had been out. The woman, who said her name was Anna, only said that Precious had missed seeing Lauren and asked that Lauren call to reschedule the training session.
Lexie vaguely remembered that when she’d looked through the folder of contracts there had been one signed by an Anna. She made a mental note to contact the woman the next day and let her know that, at least at the moment, Lauren wasn’t available for taking appointments.
Zeus followed Lexie to the bathroom where she quickly took off her clothes and stepped into the shower. As she stood beneath the warm spray, her thoughts whirled over what they’d learned that day, which had been darned little.
She still hoped they would discover that Lauren had gone off someplace with Bo Richards and that she’d return home any minute, feeling guilty and sheepish at causing so much unwarranted worry. Maybe she’d made arrangements for somebody to take care of the dogs in her absence and whomever she’d hired had just blown off the job.
She got out of the shower and changed into a clean pair of jeans and a Kelly-green lightweight sweater. Zeus sat at her feet and watched as she applied a light coating of both mascara and lipstick. As she finished with her hair and turned away from the mirror he whined, as if protesting the fact that she was leaving him again.
She checked her watch and realized she had another twenty minutes before Nick would be back to get her. “Come on, baby, let’s see if I can find you a treat,” she said to the big dog, who followed close at her heels as she went into the kitchen.
She rummaged in the cabinets until she found a bag of pepperoni dog treats. Zeus woofed his approval and she tossed it to him, laughing as he caught it midair.
He ate it and then headed for the doggy door cut into the kitchen wall that led to the fenced in backyard. She moved to the window and watched as the dog romped around in the grass next to the other fenced area and then lifted his leg against a bush.
As much as she wanted to believe that her sister had taken off someplace, it just didn’t feel right. Zeus was her baby and Lexie couldn’t imagine Lauren just taking off for days and leaving him behind. She would have at least made arrangements for him to be fed and watered by somebody she trusted to do the job.
The ring of the doorbell pulled her from her thoughts. Nervous energy danced in her stomach as she hurried out of the kitchen to the front door.
Nick had showered and changed as well. He wore jeans and a long-sleeved gray dress shirt and, as if his physical attractiveness wasn’t enough, he smelled like clean, crisp cologne mixed with the faint residual scent of shaving cream.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded. “Just let me grab my purse.”
Her heart hammered with inexplicable quickness as she got her purse from the kitchen counter and then rejoined him at the front door. “Ready,” she said, knowing that Zeus would return to the house through the doggy door.
The
