Susan Mallery - Under Her Skin

Lexi instinctively moved closer to protect Skye, but she was too late. Dana was already there, touching her shoulder and looking horrified.

“I’m sorry,” Dana whispered. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. I lashed out. You guys were playing the sister card and that always makes me feel left out. I’m sorry. Ray was a great guy and you loved him.”

“I did love him,” Skye said slowly. “More than you know.” She paused to gather herself, then tossed her gloves into the box in the corner of the gym. “It’s fine. We won’t tease you about Martin anymore. It’s not our business.”

There was a moment of awkwardness. Lexi felt torn, wanting to protect Skye, but still caring about Dana. She didn’t ask any more questions, suddenly afraid that in her moment of contrition, Dana would say more than she wanted. That she might confess something that none of them wanted to hear.

Secrets, she thought again. They all had them.

Dana drew in a breath. “So,” she said brightly. “You and Cruz were seen in town this weekend.”

“We, ah, went to breakfast at the Calico Café,” Lexi said. “Then I took him to Venus Envy where he got a massage.”

“The happy-ending kind?” Skye joked.

Both Lexi and Dana stared at her. “How do you know about that?” Lexi asked.

“I hear things,” Skye told her primly.

“Apparently,” Lexi said. “And no, not that kind. We don’t do that at my spa.”

“I thought you might make an exception for your fiancé.”

“I have to work there.”

They walked to the locker room.

“What else did you two do over the weekend?” Dana asked. “Or don’t I want to know?”

“We went to Louisiana,” Lexi said, then told them about how they’d gone to watch Justin race. “It was so cool. He’s just a kid with big dreams, living in this small town. It would be a long, hard road if it wasn’t for Cruz swooping in and handing over his business card. He changed this kid’s life forever. It was a great moment.”

“He’s searching for new talent?” Skye asked.

“Uh-huh. Apparently he does this a lot. He says he would rather build a team than buy one, which is also pretty cool. Changing someone’s future like that must be the best feeling in the world. I can give someone a job, but it’s nothing like what he does.”

Dana and Skye exchanged a look. Lexi took a step back.

“What?” she demanded.

“You’re glowing,” Skye told her. “Seriously, we could practically read by the light you’re giving off. It happens every time you talk about Cruz.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Lexi said. Why would she glow about Cruz? Yes, she’d been impressed with him yesterday, but that didn’t change anything.

“It kind of does,” Dana said, looking meaningfully at her, as if reminding her that she and Cruz didn’t have a real love affair. They were business partners in an unusual deal.

“It’s not a bad thing,” Skye said. “You’re marrying him. He’s supposed to make you glow. I think it’s wonderful.” She pointed at Dana. “Martin doesn’t make you glow. You might want to think about that.”

“Have I mentioned how annoying you are?” Dana asked.

Skye laughed. “Once or twice.”

They kept talking, but Lexi wasn’t listening. She was thinking about what they’d said about Cruz. Glowing? She couldn’t. He wasn’t the one. He couldn’t be. They were both moving on. She was fine. More than fine. She was safe with her heart firmly out of reach, no matter what.

LEXI ARRIVED HOME shortly after five in the afternoon and walked in through the garage to the kitchen. As she headed for the stairs, she heard the sound of voices.

Cruz had a housekeeper who came through a couple of times a week. She and her staff took care of cleaning, the laundry and stocking the kitchen with basics. But they were always gone by three or four. Had one of them left on the TV?

She walked into the hallway, then followed the sound to the media room. The massive flat screen was on and a teenage girl lay on the leather sofa, C.C. curled up on her stomach.

“Can I help you?” Lexi asked, annoyed that some neighbor’s kid had just strolled into the house. Now what? Did she just let her go? Call her parents?

The girl looked up and saw her, then muted the TV. After moving C.C. off her lap, she sat up and stretched.

“Hi,” she said. “Who are you?”

“That would be my question. Who are you and what are you doing in this house?”

The girl was maybe fourteen or fifteen, with long, dark, wavy hair and big brown eyes. If she’d backed off on the makeup, she would have been pretty. As it was, she looked like a caricature of a hooker with thick eyeliner and too much lip gloss. A too-tight T-shirt rode up on her stomach.

The girl stretched again, then yawned. “Let me guess. You’re the new flavor of the month. That is just so typical. And does my dad bother to mention me? Of course not. Why am I surprised? It’s not like he remembers me when I’m not here.”

Lexi put up one hand to steady herself against the doorframe. The room seemed to tilt a little, then straighten.

“I’m Kendra, by the way,” the girl said, studying her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” Lexi whispered. “Cruz is…”

“My daddy. I can tell he didn’t say anything. You don’t look so good. Jeez, the man has the sensitivity of a cockroach.” Kendra sighed, then stood. “I’m his daughter. I don’t see him very much, but my mom has a business trip to Europe and she doesn’t think I’m capable of staying by myself.” The shocking statement was accompanied by an eye roll. “I’m fifteen. I’m practically an adult. But does anyone notice? Of course not. I’d normally go to my grandma’s but she just had knee replacement and is staying with one of her friends, so Dad was stuck with me.”

She scooped up C.C. and cuddled her. “Is the kitten yours? She’s really sweet.”

“He,” Lexi said automatically. Cruz had a daughter? He had a fifteen-year-old kid and he’d never mentioned it? Ever?

“Oh. What’s his name?”

“C.C.”

“For Cruz Control?” Kendra shook her head. “Man, you have it bad. Seriously, you’ve got to play hard to get. Guys respect that. If you give too much, you lose everything. At least that’s what my mom says. I don’t have a boyfriend. I’m not allowed to date. I can go out in a group, but that’s beyond lame.”

Lexi couldn’t take it all in. There had to be a mistake. Cruz had a child?

“So you’re, ah, staying here?” she asked.

“You catch on quick, don’t you? Yes, I’m staying here for a couple of weeks. We’ll be like a family. Won’t that be great?”

Lexi felt her stomach turn over.

Kendra pointed to her hand. “Nice rock. You’re engaged?”

“What?” Lexi glanced at the diamond ring on her left hand. “Um, yes.”

“Interesting. I wouldn’t get your hopes up, if I were you. He’s been engaged before. It doesn’t usually last.”

This was way too much information. “Do you have a room you usually use?”

The teenager’s expression turned pitying. “Hey, look, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine. I’ll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine. I’ve done this before. It’s not like you’re going to be sticking around very long, so we’ll never have to do this again. Okay?”

“But he knew you were coming?”

“Ye-ah.” She drew the word out to two syllables. “I think the only one who didn’t know was you.”

LEXI PACED IN THE kitchen until she heard the garage door, then raced out to confront Cruz. She waited impatiently while he got out of his car.

Thoughts swirled in her head, none of them making sense.

“You have a child,” she said as he approached. “A daughter. She’s fifteen.”

He frowned. “Are you telling me or asking me, because I already know.”

“I didn’t. You have a kid. And apparently she’s staying with you, with us, for a while, and you never bothered to mention it. We were together for the entire weekend. We talked about our past. We shared our lives and you never found a single moment when you could mention you had a daughter, and hey, she’ll be staying here for a few days?”

He walked toward the house. “I was trying to make alternative arrangements so she wouldn’t be here.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” She grabbed his suit jacket sleeve and tugged until he stopped and faced her. “Cruz, you have a daughter.”

“You keep saying it.”

“I want you to say it.”

He looked impatient. “I have a daughter. Sixteen years ago I got a girl pregnant. We were both kids, we didn’t want to get married. She decided to give up the baby for adoption. So we did the paperwork, but when the time came, she wanted to keep the kid. I didn’t. We made a deal. She would handle all of it and I would send money. Every now and then Kendra comes around for one reason or another, but that’s it. Nothing more. She won’t be here long.”

Lexi couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. Later she would wrestle with the specifics of what he was telling her.

“But she’s here now and you didn’t tell me.”

“I’m not going to stick you with her, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll take care of her.”

Lexi wished she was big enough to shake him. “That’s not the point. You didn’t tell me she was coming. You didn’t tell me she existed.”

“You didn’t need to know.”

There was a slap that would leave a mark, she thought, feeling the blow down to her stomach. “Apparently I did because she’s in the house.”

“Fine. I should have mentioned it. Is there anything else?”

There was a world of things they had to discuss, but it could all wait.

She held up her hands, releasing him so he could go inside.

He turned from her and walked out of the garage. She stood there, wishing she didn’t see so much of her father in him. Jed was another man who hadn’t much bothered with his daughters. Not until they were old enough to be of “value” to him. Cruz obviously didn’t care about Kendra.