Page 25 of Purr For Me
Chapter Seven
It was almost ten p.m. when Kade dropped Lexie off at Bad Boy Autos to pick up her car. He drove up to the office and cut the engine.
“Admit it. You had a good time tonight.”
Kade watched her closely, and Lexie couldn’t hold back a smile at his smug statement. “It was interesting, to say the least.”
Kade shifted in his seat to face her a little more. “C’mon, be honest. You liked it.”
Lexie crossed her arms over her stomach and nodded her head. “Okay, yes, I had a good time. I didn’t realize ministers could be so funny. Pastor Sal is hysterical, and I love the way he and Elouise razz each other.”
“Yeah, Elouise keeps her hubby in line,” Kade said. “They liked you, too, especially Elouise. She thought we were a thing until I explained the situation.”
Lexie said, “She said the same thing to me, but I set her straight right away.”
“Good. We don’t need any misunderstandings. I told anyone who asked that we were just friends,” Kade assured her.Easy does it.He didn’t want to look too closely at why he didn’t say “she’s my sister-in-law.”
Lexie looked out the windshield at the darkened garage as she pondered his words. “Friends. Are we, Kade?”
“Would that be so terrible?” He wished he knew what she was thinking.
“I’ve just never thought of you as more than Jason’s brother.” Something flickered in her dark eyes, but Lexie didn’t elaborate.
His left shoulder lifted in a nonchalant shrug. “I know, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get to know each other a little better while you’re working on my car.”
Toying with a zipper on her bag, Lexie said what Kade had been expecting for days. “You never wanted to know me better when I was married to Jason. I thought you blamed me for his behavior.”
Caught.What could he say to that? He opened his car door and got out. She smiled as she realized that he was coming around to open her door.
When he did, she alighted, but he blocked her path.
“Lexie, I don’t think you believe men and women can be just friends.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock, and she couldn’t respond for a moment. “What? Why would you think that?”
“You seem to think we can’t be friends, so maybe your only friends with other women.”
“That’s bullshit,” she shot back. “Most of my friends are guys, and you know it. Tom is my best friend, and Sully is like an older brother to me, and—”
“So, why am I different?”
Lexie took a step back. “Hold on, isn’t that what I just asked you? Why do you want to be,” her fingers made quote marks in the air, “friends.”
“Touché.”
They stood staring at each other; the silence sending his nerves screaming. One of his hands held the car door open and the other one rested on the roof, trapping Lexie. Her fragrance stirred every cell in his body.
“Kade, I think you’re a good guy, but I—”
“Don’t want any complications. So you’ve said.”
What had he expected? She was getting a divorce from his brother, for God’s sake. She’d probably never thought of him in the way he thought of her… or wanted her.
“That’s right. Look, I did have a really good time tonight, and you were right about the food being fantastic. Who knew a food-kitchen staff could cook like that?”
Kade smiled and stepped away from the car, his guilt flaring as usual when he was around her. “Well, it helps when the people running it are former chefs. There’s nothing they can’t make. They like feeding the less fortunate the same meals they made in their restaurant—albeit on a budget.”
Lexie took her keys from her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “You said they saved you. What did you mean?”
