eyed the brothers, all gentlemen, and all still standing. “Sit. Please.”
Marc took his seat and gestured to his brothers with a grin. “Go ahead, she won’t let us eat until we’re all sitting.”
All three brothers dropped to their chairs, eyes riveted on the tray. Lexi smiled. Big, bad Italians were just like every other man on the planet, suckers for a good meal.
Positioning herself so that Marc couldn’t see inside the tray, she carefully removed the cover and slid the first two plates across the desk and stopped. Normally, had they been alone, she would have forked off a bite and, only after Marc promised to keep his eyes closed, fed it to him. He would moan and groan over the dish while she told him what he was eating. But with his brothers here, she set out the other two plates and placed them closest to Marc so he would be sure to try the best ones. Finally, she put a fork on each plate and took a step back.
Gabe took one look at the dishes and, with a few choice words and a grunt, dropped his head to his hands. All three brothers laughed.
Lexi didn’t laugh. In fact, she felt awkward and self-conscious. What was she thinking serving lasagna to a group of men who’d grown up eating ChiChi’s cooking? The comparison wouldn’t be flattering, Lexi thought, trying to figure out the best way to excuse herself.
A reassuring hand came to rest at the small of her back. “Gabe can’t eat dairy,” Marc said, his eyes warm and encouraging.
“Oh. Are you allergic?”
“No, his wife is pregnant,” Trey said, and they laughed again.
“At least no more Rocky Road for breakfast?” Nate offered.
“Regan claims it’s divine invention, therefore doesn’t count,” Gabe mumbled.
“More for the rest of us,” Nate said, digging into the traditional five-cheese lasagna and closing his eyes. “Oh man, this is incredible.”
Lexi felt herself beam. It wasn’t even her best one.
“Aw, Gabe. This is better than Nonna’s,” Trey said, polishing off her vegetarian lasagna roll, but not before darting a quick glance at the hallway and whispering, “She isn’t here, is she?”
“No, but one more moan and I might just tell her,” Gabe threatened, staring longingly at his brothers eating. Well, two of his brothers. Marc hadn’t tried anything, and Lexi didn’t know why.
“I could go make you one without cheese. I have some tofu in the fridge,” she offered.
“He has a wife. She can make him one if he wants.” Marc grabbed the cover and put it over the two closest dishes, right as Trey was about to fork off a bite.
“Hey,” Trey complained.
“You have a plane to catch and a client to appease,” Marc said, then turned to Nate, “and you have judges to contact.”
“What about Brock?” Nate asked, his eyes flickering quickly to Lexi and back to Marc.
“I’ll deal with Brock. You make sure everyone else is there on Saturday.”
Gabe, who had been silently watching everything unfold, stood and smacked the paper across his palm with a big smile, which was purposefully directed at Marc. “Right now a missing judge is the last of your worries, bro. But good luck with that.” He looked at Lexi, who immediately stopped fidgeting with her apron, and his smile grew larger. “Nice seeing you again.”
There was so much eye-darting and implied-but-unspoken communication going on that Lexi finally felt like laughing. Men and their code. It was obvious that they weren’t done talking and that whatever was so important wasn’t meant for her ears. But before she could make her exit, Marc had the guys out the door and he hadn’t even left his chair.
“Now,” he said, taking off the lid and, resting his arms behind his head, leaning back in the chair. His long legs were stretched out, his body relaxed, and his eyes were twinkling—up at her. “Which one first?”
She walked over to his desk and sat on the edge. “I’m sorry you lost Brock. What happened?”
“Food first, questions later.” With a wink he dropped open his mouth as though he expected her to feed him.
“You have two hands—use them.”
“All right.”
Before she could blink, he had straightened and rolled his chair so close that he had to part his legs so that they could slide around hers. Close enough that she could feel the heat from his body seep into her every pore, even though they weren’t quite touching.
He put his hands on her waist and gently lifted her so she was sitting on the edge of