Rise (Rise & Fall Duet #1) - Grahame Claire Page 0,47

as the reason for my acute reaction, that wasn’t the cause.

It was her.

Lexie.

Not the fixed-up perfection version of her. It was the ugliest sweatshirt I’d ever laid eyes on, hair a disaster, mismatched socks version I craved.

Because I doubted anyone ever saw that Lexie.

Through that knowledge, I’d laid claim to it without even realizing I’d done so.

That Lexie belonged to me.

I shoved the file folder away.

No.

I couldn’t be responsible for her. Didn’t want to be.

As if she would ever allow that anyway.

But she’d surrendered something to me in that kiss. What, I didn’t know. I had no experience in these matters, but whatever it was, it felt fragile. Like I needed to hold it with both hands.

Or maybe it was what they had that I craved.

The simplicity.

Lexie wanted nothing I had to offer. I couldn’t buy her happiness, even if all my accounts were restored.

She had something special with her brother. Their experiences held more worth than all my assets combined.

I understood that on some level because of the relationship I had with my siblings.

But for over forty years, it had been ingrained in me that the measure of my worth was dependent on how much I had. That didn’t just disappear.

Lexie made me question if I’d been using the wrong measuring tool all along.

I leaned back in my chair and looked around my home office.

Before my apartment had been at risk, I’d have said it didn’t matter to me. It was a shelter. A place to rest whenever that time might come.

I’d have said the size of my bank accounts weren’t important.

Now that they were frozen and I had the potential to lose what I’d worked to build, I saw that perhaps those things meant more than I’d realized.

Because besides Teague and Beau, they were all I had.

My gaze locked on the painting Eric had given me.

There was something peaceful about the rustic cabin on the lake. The scene eased a piece of me, the one that couldn’t stay away from Lexie and Eric.

He’d given me a gift from the heart. Another thing all my money couldn’t buy. And of all the priceless art hanging on the walls of this apartment, this one held more value than all of them combined.

Irreplaceable.

I inspected the canvas more closely. In the window of the cabin there were three shadows. Only Eric knew their true meaning, but I interpreted them to be the three of us.

That piece inside me shifted again to an odd sensation I couldn’t decipher.

My life had been fairly predictable before I met Lexie and Eric. Since then, it had spiraled into chaos.

I wasn’t sure if they were the cause or if they’d arrived right when I needed them.

You don’t have them.

That kiss said otherwise.

The painting did too.

I tried to recreate the feeling from the previous evening of Eric’s genuine excitement I was at their apartment. Even Lexie’s apparent displeasure was satisfying.

But those moments were unique. The only way to get that high again was to see them.

I was setting a dangerous precedent. There was no room in my life for more people. I wasn’t capable of caring for anyone else. I had too much to be concerned over. It might take months to straighten out the mess I was in.

Prison was still a distinct possibility.

It wasn’t fair to form any kind of relationship with them when I might not even be around at some point in the future. And yet . . .

I removed the painting that hung directly across my desk. It was streaks of red paint on a white canvas. Anyone could have done it. And I’d paid three million dollars for the pleasure of it gracing my wall.

I tossed it aside and carefully lifted Eric’s generous gift. Once it balanced on the hangers, I stepped back, then straightened it.

Perfect.

Whether I wanted more people in my life was irrelevant. What I’d thought was priceless was all that lived here. What I was learning was priceless . . . well, I now realized I wanted that. The other thing I’d realized? I’d just let Lexie and Eric into my most private place.

My home.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lexie

“Good afternoon, Garrison.”

Eric and I swept into the shop loaded down with boxes.

“We’ve got two more in the van,” Eric said.

I’d put off this stop until the next to last this afternoon, still embarrassed from the scene with my father yesterday.

Garrison’s smile was tight as he glanced between my brother and me. “Eric, there are a couple of tins of treats for Grey Paws in