Page 5 of The Love Fix (The Sunrise Cove #8)

A rooster crowed loud enough to peel skin back, and Lexi jerked awake and very nearly out of her own body. Gasping, she put

a hand to her chest to keep her heart inside her rib cage and pried open her eyes. There was just enough of dawn’s light to

jump again at the teenage members of NSYNC smiling down at her from that ancient poster on the wall.

“Cock-a-doodle- dooooo !”

With a groan, she pulled the pillow over her head. “What the actual f—”

“His name’s Cluck Norris.”

Lexi yanked the pillow off her head and peered bleary eyed at Ashley, standing in the doorway, looking far too chipper and

put together for... She took in the circa 1990s digital clock’s red numbers on the dresser. “Oh my God. It’s six. In the morning .”

“Yep.” Ashley sipped from a mug of what looked and smelled like the coffee that Lexi could use more than her next breath.

“Why?” was the only word she could manage.

“Because I’m excited.” Ashley, the caffeinated bee-yotch, grinned. “You’re here. You’re really here.”

They’d stayed up late last night, just the two of them, sitting in the kitchen with not enough ice cream (dairy-free, but beggars didn’t get to be choosey) and way too much wine, if her headache meant anything.

As they had all their lives, they stayed away from problematic topics, instead mooning over their favorite TV shows, books, and which celebrities were their future spouses.

Lexi claimed Idris Elba.

Ashley claimed Emily Blunt.

No matter that they were both already married... When Ashley had finally gone to bed, Lexi still hadn’t been tired. She’d

flipped on the small TV over the dresser. Unable to find the remote, she’d been stuck watching a documentary on Ted Bundy,

and gave herself nightmares.

Or maybe that was from agreeing to stay here for the next six weeks. Insanity, really. She’d been subleasing a room in a large

house the past month, with five others. All hardworking people who’d been nothing but nice, if a bit distant.

Okay, maybe the distant one had been her.

In any case, the rent would be going up next month, and she’d given her notice. Which meant on top of everything else wrong

in her life, she was soon to be homeless.

Cluck Norris did his screeching thing again, and she nearly fell off the bed.

Ashley laughed so hard she had to set her coffee down on the nightstand. She was still cackling when Lexi sat up and scooped

the coffee, claiming it as her own.

“Rude,” Ashley said.

“So is that damn rooster. When did you get him?”

“Oh, Cluck Norris isn’t mine. He gets in through the break in our fence to eat my homegrown romaine lettuce.”

Lexi blinked. “You grow lettuce?”

“I grow a lot of things. Those trees along the back? They’re crab apple trees. You should taste all the stuff I cook with

the fruit they provide.”

Once upon a time, all Ashley would eat was junk food. She’d believed sugar was its own food group. Now there was no junk food

in the entire kitchen—yes, Lexi had looked—with the exception of the coconut ice cream, which hardly counted. “Who are you,

and what have you done to my sister?”

Ashley gave a small but genuine smile at the “sister” comment, but only shrugged. That wasn’t unusual. But the break in eye

contact was. “People change,” Ashley finally said.

“Not in my experience, at least they don’t change in the ways that matter.” Lexi paused. “You’re pale. You feel okay?”

“Of course. I’m fine. Why?”

“Because you’re in a big, baggy sweatshirt instead of one of your flower-power skirts.”

“It’s laundry day.” Ashley shrugged again. “Plus, I love sweatshirts. Am I wearing a bra? Who knows. Am I wearing what I wore

to bed beneath it? Maybe... It’s anyone’s guess.” She paused. “Did you mean it?”

Lexi didn’t need clarification. “Yes. I’ll stay and do what we have to.”

“And your job? You’ll be able to extend your leave?”

Lexi worked at keeping her expression blank, since she’d lied about the taking leave part. She’d been flat-out fired. But

that was a story for another day. Or never. “I’ll make it work.” And before any more questions came at her, she added, “I

don’t break my word.”

“True,” Ashley said. “You never once flaked on a promise to visit. Because you rarely promised. Or visited.”

Lexi felt the one-two punch of those words. “I came when I could. And I didn’t want to be Mom, promising to come to my middle school graduation and then not showing up. Promising to be at my dance recital and then not showing up. Promising—”

“I get it.” Ashley hugged herself tightly. “And I know how hard it was for you to grow up without her, but—”

“If you’re about to tell me she did the best she could, save your breath.”

Ashley flushed.

And this. This was why she and Ashley shared wine and ice cream, not deep emotions. Suddenly exhausted all over again, Lexi flopped back

onto her pillow. “I take it going back to sleep isn’t going to happen.”

In answer, Ashley tossed an envelope onto the bed.

Their first delivery.

“I thought you might want to get the clock ticking,” Ashley said.

Lexi read the name on the envelope. “Margo Schutz.”

“She lives in Placerville. It’s a two-hour drive, give or take. I’d like to leave in the next half hour, I’ve got a class

later this afternoon.”

“A class?”

Ashley turned back from the door long enough to say, “You told me last year, after I expressed being bored with my life when

I wasn’t teaching, that I should expand my horizons. So I did.”

“What kind of class?” Lexi asked, but the door had already been shut.

She showered quickly. Not because she wanted to, but because after four minutes, the hot water ran out. It might be summer

in Tahoe, but the mornings felt like the North Pole, and today was no exception.

The house felt silent and empty, so she headed outside.

Still no Ashley, but when she peered in the side window of the truck, she saw the keys in the ignition. She reached for the

handle to open the door, but froze at the spider nestled in the handle.

Correction: massive spider.

With a squeak, she jumped back, hand to her pounding heart. “Why are you so big?” Since no one answered, or miraculously appeared

to save her, she looked around for something to knock the spider loose. Grabbing a stick lying on the wild grass beneath the

sole towering pine in the front yard, she eyed her multilegged, hairy opponent again. New problem. The stick wasn’t nearly

long enough. Probably no stick would be long enough. So instead of knocking the spider off, she chucked the stick at it.

She missed, but the spider flew into the air and... vanished.

With a startled scream, Lexi flapped her hands over her entire body, certain it was crawling on her—

“Ah, the spider dance.”

Why. Why in the world did it have to be him to find her? “If you laugh, I’ll find the spider and put it in your bed.”

“No, you won’t. You’d have to touch it.”

Opening her eyes with a sigh, she turned to face Heath.

He stood there in another pair of sexy jeans, battered running shoes, and a black T-shirt acting like it was its job to perfectly

emphasize his broad shoulders and flat belly—which, for reasons she didn’t want to think about, annoyed the crap out of her.

He smiled. “My bed, huh?”

“I didn’t say bed. I said head. I’m going to put it on your head.”

When he laughed, she crossed her arms. “What do you want?”

He held up a finger, signaling he wanted her to hold on to that question.

Then he knocked the spiderweb she hadn’t even noticed from the truck’s door handle.

“Listen up, spiders,” he said to the morning air.

“I know you do good things, but you’ve got to stay out of sight or risk death by teeny, tiny stick. ”

Lexi sighed. “Again, what do you want ?”

He faced her, smart enough to make an effort at swiping the smile off his face. “Just making sure you ladies don’t need anything

before you head out.”

“In fact, I do need something,” she said.

“Name it.”

Name it? Was he nuts? “It’s your turn to do something embarrassing.”

He slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “I don’t do embarrassing.”

Of course not. “Okay, well, this has been a whole bunch of fun. Buh-bye, now.” She turned back to the truck to get in, then

hesitated because she still had the heebie-jeebies. She literally couldn’t force herself to touch the door handle.

“Worried the spider left behind a mate?”

“No.” She bit her lower lip. “I’m worried about the spider cooties.”

“Naturally.” Coming close, he opened the door for her and, with his free hand, gestured grandly, offering a mocking bow while

he was at it. She accidentally bumped her arm into his and... Why in the world did he smell so good? His hair was damp

and curling against the nape of his neck. He’d just gotten out of a shower. And why that made her mind spin, she had zero

idea. She tossed her purse behind the driver’s seat before looking at him, finding him with his head tilted back, face to

the cresting sun, eyes closed, a hint of contentment on his face as the light breeze rustled his hair.

Damn.

Luckily, before she could further humiliate herself by getting caught drooling, Ashley came out of the house, stopping short

at the sight of them. “Are we fighting some more, or...”

Lexi glanced at Heath, and realizing just how close they stood, she jumped back.

He just smiled at Ashley. “No fighting.”

Ashley beamed at him as she climbed into the passenger seat.

Okay, so clearly, they both adored Ashley, and just as clearly, that meant Lexi had to play nice with Heath—at least in front

of her sister. She yanked on her seat belt and cranked the key.

Nothing happened.

“She likes to play hard to get,” Ashley said.

Lexi turned the key again. This time, the truck roared to life with a little sputtering and a whole bunch of smoke. “Uh...”

“Betty’s just cold,” Ashley said.

“Betty?”

“That’s her name. Try again.”

Lexi had her doubts, but she put the thing into gear and hit the gas, only halfway sorry when Heath had to jump out of the

way or risk getting his foot run over.

“You did that on purpose.”

Lexi slid Ashley a look of innocence.

Ashley snorted. “Whatever, I’m not going to let you ruin this. It’s going to be fun.” Turning in her seat, she waved goodbye

to Heath.

Fun? Was she kidding? At the end of the street, Lexi turned the wheel and... nothing happened.

“You parked this beast yesterday, you know there’s no power steering. You gotta really crank it,” Ashley said.

Dear God. It took both arms and just about every other part of her body to muscle the truck into the turn.

By the time they hit town, Ashley had waved to no less than five people.

At each stop, she gestured for other cars to go first, even when they had the right of way.

“If you keep it up, you’re definitely going to miss your class,” Lexi muttered.

“I’ve got faith in us.”

Good thing one of them did.