Brenda Jackson - Millionaire Magnates

“I know.”

He was very aware of Kate moving behind him and he knew that she was concerned about the emergency, the same as he was.

Lexi was sitting on a bench between two paramedics. Her face was flushed.

“What happened?”

“Heat exhaustion as near as we can tell,” the paramedic said.

“Are you okay?” Lance asked Lexi.

She nodded, seeming embarrassed by the entire thing. “I should have had more water.”

“It’s okay. Does she need to go to the emergency room?” Lance asked.

“No. She’d be fine sitting in a cool room and just letting her body recuperate from the sun exposure.”

“Let’s get you up to the house,” Lance said.

Kate hovered nearby. The look on her face told Lance that it was past time to end things with Lexi. But not now. Not like this.

He helped Lexi to her feet. She leaned on him and he looked over her head at Kate who shook her head and walked away.

He had no choice but to let her leave and he didn’t like that at all. But right now his hands were tied. He couldn’t go after Kate until he took care of Lexi.

He got Lexi settled on the couch in the living room.

“Thank you, Lance.”

“For what?” he asked. He hardly knew Lexi. She was a stunningly beautiful woman but other than a couple of dinners, he hadn’t really even talked to her.

“For taking care of me just now. I’m sorry if that was embarrassing.”

Lance shrugged. “It was nothing. I’m going to go change. Will you be okay?”

She nodded.

“I have a butler of sorts around here—Paul. He’s not much company but I will ask him to check in on you.”

She shook her head. “Please don’t. I’ll just sit here in the quiet.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Lance left her and walked up the stairs to his own suite. He called Mitch on his way because he hadn’t been able to find his brother in the crowded yard.

“Brody here.”

“It’s Lance. Can you come up to the house? Lexi had a problem with heat exhaustion. I need a shower but I don’t want to leave her alone for too long.”

“Is she okay?” Mitch asked.

“Pale and weak but otherwise okay,” Lance said.

“Does she need to see a doctor?”

“No. The paramedics checked her out. Where were you?”

Mitch didn’t answer. “I’m on my way to the house.”

“Good. I’m upstairs. She didn’t seem to want company but I don’t like leaving her alone when she’s not at her best.”

“I agree. I’ll take care of it.”

Lance hung up and quickly showered and changed. He thought about the two women that were a part of his life right now. It didn’t matter that Lexi wasn’t the woman he wanted, he still owed her respect—and the truth.

He realized this mess was of his own making. He finished getting dressed and headed downstairs, determined to talk to Lexi. He couldn’t marry her—not while he felt what he did for Kate.

Kate was the woman he couldn’t live without. He knew without a doubt that Kate was the one woman that he wanted. He couldn’t get her out of his system.

He hurried downstairs, anxious to talk to his brother and fiancée. He had a text message from Mitch saying that he was going to take Lexi to the hotel.

Having made up his mind about Lexi and Kate, Lance felt much better. He liked the changes in his plain-Jane secretary and today he’d realized that he wasn’t going to let her slip away from him—no matter what.

Lexi Cavanauagh was a stunningly gorgeous woman by anyone’s standards. The fact that she was his fiancée should have made him feel lucky. But she was essentially a stranger and he felt awkward around her. Not at all like he felt with Kate.

Kate . He’d already decided to end things with Lexi. But he had to be careful. He needed Lexi and her connections but he couldn’t just break things off with her.

Lance came back down the stairs to the sound of raised voices. “Everything okay?”

Mitch and Lexi were standing across the room from each other. Lexi’s fists were clenched at her sides and a sheen of tears glittered in her eyes.

“Lexi, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she said.

“Mitch?”

“We were discussing an event we attended in D.C.,” Mitch said.

Lance nodded. “I’m glad to see you feeling better, Lexi. I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the family. You already know Mitch and I think you will see that we are a close group despite there being only two of us.”

“I have noticed that your brother will do anything for you,” Lexi said.

Mitch gave her a tense look.

“And I for him.”

Lance walked across the room to the foyer where he’d left the neatly wrapped gift box. It bore the emblem of his favorite jeweler and a discreet white bow. He carried it back over and smiled at Lexi.

She didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him. “Do you need to sit down?”

“No. I need to go home,” she said.

“Then I will take you,” Lance said.

She shook her head and noticed the box in his hands. “Is that for me?”

“Yes,” he said, handing it to her.

She took it. He noticed that her nails were long and manicured. And for the first time he tried to imagine what it would be like to take Lexi to his bed. He couldn’t. The only woman he pictured there was Kate.

Kate’s long brown hair on his pillow. Kate’s pretty brown eyes staring up at him… Kate was the woman he wanted.

Lexi sat down and opened the gift box carefully. Lance stood across the room with the first niggling of doubt since he’d asked her to marry him. Had he made a colossal mistake?

She held the box in her hands, not opening it. “Why did you get me a gift?”

“To thank you for agreeing to be my wife.”

She put her head down and opened the box. He heard her breath catch and took that as a good sign.

He glanced over at his brother and Mitch stared at Lexi… the way Lance realized he stared at Kate sometimes. Damn, was his brother into Lexi?

“Will you help me put it on?” Lexi asked.

Lance started toward her and saw Mitch do the same.

His brother shrugged. “I’m just used to filling in for you.”

“Thank you for that, Mitch. Without your help, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Lexi stood up and lifted her hair. Lance fastened the diamond necklace around her neck.

“Yes, thanks, Mitch, for filling in for your brother so well,” Lexi said.

“It was no big deal. I’m used to dealing with problematic heiresses.”

“Are you?” Lexi asked.

“Indeed. Our mother was one.”

“She sure was. But Lexi isn’t anything like Mom,” Lance said, not sure what was going on between his brother and Lexi.

“No, she’s not,” Mitch said. Mitch’s cell phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.

Lance found himself alone with his fianceé for the first time since she’d agreed to marry him. And he needed to know if there was any chance this relationship was going to work between them. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her in his arms.

She looked up at him. Her eyes wide but not with passion, more with… he couldn’t identify the emotion.

He brushed a kiss against her lips and found that her mouth was dry and the kiss was rather blah.

Lance worried that he’d be trapped in a passionless marriage. It was clear that Lexi wasn’t attracted to him and he knew he wasn’t to her.