give up the school. Men desperate enough to murder over land wouldn't let the little complication of a lease stop them. Besides, he liked coming home at night to the sound of Maya's laughter and the kids giggles. He was even beginning to enjoy the purple monstrosities growing in his dining room. He liked even better the idea of slipping home when the kids weren't—
"That little girl of yours sure has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" Headley broke into his reverie. "You know, there used to be a kid from Texas named Alyssum who came into the grill in your father's time. Married a local girl. You think it's some relation?"
Axell glowered at the old man. "Maya's parents are dead." He returned to staring at the building next door—the one Maya and her former lover occupied, though on separate floors and for different reasons. It still drove him nuts thinking about it.
Headley was right. Maya had him wrapped around her little finger and it had very little to do with Constance's welfare or protective instincts or any of the other crap he'd been rationalizing.
He'd do a damned lot for his daughter, admittedly. She hadn't asked to be brought into this world. He accepted the responsibility for that. But he didn't think it was for Constance's sake that he worried about Maya and her school. He'd already provided a permanent solution for Constance by marrying her teacher.
No, the hell of it was, now he was worrying about the damned teacher.
Instead of solving several problems with his marriage, he'd multiplied them into hordes the likes of which Genghis Khan had never known—because of a wisp of a female with big blue-green eyes and hair the color of sunset.
Reaching for the phone, he started to call to see if Alexa was any better.
Instead, he dropped his hand and got up. He'd go next door and see for himself.
He ignored Headley's laughter as he strode out.
Chapter 25
Give pizza chants.
Maya barely looked up as the shop chimes rang and Axell entered. She was furious and embarrassed with herself, and not entirely happy with him. This morning he'd grabbed a cup of coffee, kissed the kids on the head, and escaped before they could exchange two words. She didn't like being given a taste of her own medicine. Axell was Virgo, dammit, not Pisces. He wasn't supposed to slip away like that.
His cautious approach warned he was treading as warily as she. He glanced down at Alexa sleeping in her cradle. "How is she?" he whispered.
Damn, he set every one of her nerve endings on fire just by his presence. Maya glanced up from the shoe she was painting and studied him from beneath her lashes. Axell never looked uncertain. He always looked self-confident and in charge. But today... Did she detect just a hint of tension in the way he loosened his tie? He'd apparently left his coat in his office. Even that was a sign of something. She just didn't know what.
"The doctor says I should expect fevers with colds and allergies. If I'd been able to breast feed, she'd have had more immunity. I'm not supposed to worry unless the fever lingers or gets worse."
"We're not supposed to worry," he corrected, not looking up from the cradle. "We're in this together."
"We" was a hard concept for Maya to wrap her mind around. She'd never really been part of a "we" and wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Axell was trying to teach her, and she appreciated his efforts, she really did, but she'd had the supports pulled out from under her once too many times in the past. She'd taught herself to be smarter than Charlie Brown with his football.
She painted the dragon's breath a brighter orange and didn't reply.
Axell leaned his hip against the counter beside her, and Maya could smell his shaving lotion. Last night, she'd gone to bed with that scent on her hands. Tonight, she could easily go to bed with the scent of the whole man on her. The quivering in her lower abdomen warned that was a path she shouldn't take with Axell standing this close. She didn't like being dominated by macho men, she reminded herself. His size alone could diminish her. His superior attitude would wipe her up off the floor.
"I thought maybe I should take you out to dinner tonight."
Out of the corner of her eye, Maya could see Axell confidently crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter. For