Chapter 173: Old Crush

Naomi glanced around the room. "Where is Lexie?"

"She went to visit a friend. They’ll both be here soon," Daniel replied.

"She has friends?"

Daniel laughed. "You noticed she’s a fire-breathing dragon too, huh?"

"It’s hard to miss."

"That’s actually one of her more charming qualities." Daniel studied her for a moment before his expression softened. "Look, I’m sorry if I gave you a hard time yesterday."

"You didn’t."

"I kind of did."

"No, you were protective of the family, and I get it."

Daniel nodded. "Thank you."

Naomi shrugged lightly.

After everything that had happened, she couldn’t exactly blame him for being thrown by the contract. From the outside, it probably looked insane.

To be fair, from the inside, it also looked insane.

"Where is Dorian?" she asked.

"Maurice’s study. Him and Maurice are trying to figure out who ordered the bounty on him."

"Any leads?"

"I don’t think they have it figured out yet." Daniel leaned back slightly. "But knowing Dorian... should be soon."

Naomi did the next best thing while her husband was unavailable. She kept her hands busy.

It was Sunday, and most of the household staff had the majority of the day off, which meant the kitchen was free.

Perfect.

Naomi took over. She decided on lasagna.

Something rich, warm and heavy enough to feed a full house without having to spend the entire afternoon cooking separate dishes.

By the time she had the meat sauce simmering, the cheese mixture ready and the layers assembled, her head had finally stopped spinning quite so badly.

She had just slid the lasagna into the final stretch of baking when arms wrapped carefully around her waist from behind. Naomi smiled before he even spoke.

"Hey, wifey..." Dorian’s voice came low near her ear. "Missed you."

Warmth slid through her immediately.

She turned carefully inside his arms, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Almost as good as new. The painkillers are vicious."

"Great," she muttered. "Just finishing with lunch. It’ll be ready in a few minutes."

Dorian glanced toward the oven. "Smells good." He kept one arm around her waist, clearly in no hurry to let go. "We should probably head back home in the morning."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Mum is coming with us, though. She says she has to take the first shift."

Naomi laughed. "I feel like a teenager again."

"Naah." Dorian shook his head. "Mum is soft. She’ll cave in within a couple of hours."

Naomi laughed again and gently pushed at his chest. "Go, before they send the cavalry in here to rescue my dignity."

Dorian stole another kiss anyway.

Naomi smiled against his mouth before pushing him away again. "Go."

He headed out of the kitchen.

Naomi turned back toward the counter, still smiling as she checked the lasagna.

Then she heard a squeal. A very feminine squeal.

Her smile vanished.

What the hell was that?

Naomi immediately stepped out of the kitchen. She nearly committed murder.

Right there in the middle of the Heathcliffe living room stood Dorian. And wrapped around him was a woman Naomi had never seen before.

She had practically launched herself into his arms, arms around his neck and was currently squealing about how long it had been.

Naomi stopped dead.

What in the Heathcliffe hell?

Dorian, at least, did not appear particularly enthusiastic about the situation. His arms were spread awkwardly at his sides. "Easy there, Lisa. Sore ribs here."

The woman immediately pulled back. "Oh, I’m so sorry. Silly me!"

And of course she had an accent. A beautiful, sugary British accent that somehow made every word sound expensive.

Naomi’s eye twitched.

"Lexie told me what happened, and I just had to come see you."

Naomi stood several feet away, completely gobsmacked.

Okay.

First of all, there was absolutely nothing wrong with an innocent hug.

She understood that. She was a secure, mature woman.

Emotionally balanced.

Perfectly rational.

But also, the man was married. And, bitch, I don’t know you. If I do not know you, perhaps you should not be hanging off my husband like a christmas ornament.

There were several other human beings in this house. Go hug one of them. Why Dorian? Then she got a proper look at the woman.

Absolutely fantastic.

Why did everyone around the Heathcliffes have to be so gorgeous? Was there some sort of attractiveness requirement before people were allowed into their social circle?

Lisa was beautiful. Perfect hair, lovely face, and then she had the added benefit of sounding like she had been educated somewhere that charged tuition by the hour.

Naomi turned back toward the kitchen with a scowl and shut the door harder than necessary.

Dorian heard it. He glanced over his shoulder, but she had disappeared.

Then he turned back to Lisa.

"I didn’t know you were still in town."

"Oh, I’ve been all over the place." Lisa smiled brightly. "But I came back about three months ago." She tilted her head. "I saw you in the media. Married again."

"Happily married." He made a point of saying it.

Because Lisa had been nursing a crush on him since she and Lexie were in high school, and while Dorian had never encouraged it, he had also learned a long time ago that Lisa’s flirting was not just a phase.

Lisa laughed. ""Missed my window again, huh? Well, there goes my childhood dream."

"You’ll survive."

"Cruel as ever."

Across the room, Daniel moved toward Lexie, caught her by the arm and pulled her several feet away from everyone else.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to start a war?"

"I have no idea what you mean."

"Will you stop pretending you aren’t engineering chaos."

"She’s my friend. She heard what happened to my brother and came to say hi."

"Lisa, who has had a crush on your brother since puberty?"

Lexie lowered her voice. "I told you what Dorian said last night."

Daniel folded his arms. "So?"

"So I started thinking."

"I hate it when you think."

Lexie ignored him. "Maybe Dorian isn’t the only one who needs a little nudge."