Lee tilted his head to see his jaw and slid his razor up his neck.
“Don’t know.”
“I didn’t even know we were open today! We have to get down there.”
“Dolores didn’t seem upset.”
“Dolores lives with Duke and thinks he’s cuddly. She works at The Little Bear where people throw around their underwear. Dolores isn’t a good judge of when to get upset!”
Lee looked at me in the mirror. “I’m thinkin’ at this point, you aren’t either.”
I was dressed, khaki low-rider shorts (not Britney-Spears-low-rider but they showed a hint of back), sky-blue, fitted t-shirt with the word “Xanadu” across my chest in glittery lettering and a wide dark-brown belt with a thick matte-silver buckle.
I walked out and went to the closet and grabbed a pair of flip flops with ribbon straps with sky-blue funky shapes against khaki. I slid them on, snagged my purse and pulled it on my shoulder. I walked back to the bathroom, snatched up my phone and dropped it in my bag. Then I rested my hip on the edge of the counter and clicked my nails against the top, my other hand on my hip.
And I stared at Lee.
He grabbed a towel, wiped his face and threw it in the sink.
“Hey! You can’t just throw your towel in the sink! Who’s gonna fold that towel and put it back on the rail? I’ll tell you who it won’t be. Me!”
That’s when he grabbed my hips, pulled me to him and grinned.
“You’re tryin’ to break the land speed record for gettin’ an offer to move in rescinded, aren’t you?”
“No. And it was hardly an offer as much as sexual blackmail.”
His grin widened into a smile.
Fucking Lee!
“Hello!” I called. “Fortnum’s? My bread and butter? The family business for the last…” Wow, I didn’t even know how long it had been in the family, I’d have to wing it. “Umpteen years! Crazy Italian guy? Duke’s homicide threat? Ring a bell?”
He drew me closer to him. “Have I told you you’re cute?”
Grr.
* * * * *
We walked into Fortnum’s and my crazy morning got crazier.
Terry Wilcox, Goon Gary and The Moron were all facing off against Duke.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I walked in, my stomach lurching. You could feel the bad energy in the room.
No customers (thank God, kind of) and Jane was nowhere to be seen (thank God again).
“This idiot has brought the Italian guy back after the police took him away. Says he’s a f**king present,” Duke said.
“India. You look well,” Terry Wilcox said, his eyes sliding down the length of me.
Yuck.
I was getting that queasy feeling that my body seemed to save for my encounters with Terry Wilcox. I was hoping they would only number two, this one and the last.
Luckily, Lee’s hand felt warm and strong where it settled at my hip.
“Coxy,” Lee said.