Armed and Fabulous (Lexi Graves Mysteries) (44 page)

"You told him you thought you were in labor, right?"

"Yes. He told me the dinner was too important to miss and I'd have to cross my legs and wait it out."

Lily pulled a face. "He knows babies don't care about dinners, doesn't he?
And if you were in labor this early
,
you would need to be in
the
hospital right away?
"

"More importantly, does Ted know he's an asshole?" I asked.

"He really is an asshole
,
isn't he?" Serena groaned and stretched.

"Yeah. And anytime you think you're going to pop, call me first. I'll come straight over. You won't have to cross your legs for as long."
My only
hope
was
that Ted
would arrive
before
it got
gory.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Aww. I'd hug you
,
but I don't think my arms can fit around you," I teased, but it was partially true. Serena was huge.

"Raincheck. I'll be skinny in a few months again. I've already booked post-pregnancy boot camp."

"What the hell is that?"

"Military
-
style weight loss and toning. I can even bring the baby."

"Sounds awesome." Sounded hellish, but that was Serena for you. "Can I get you anything before we take off?"

"No. I'm fine. Sorry for calling you out
here
for nothing."

"Not a problem."

We climbed back in Lily's Mini and buckled up. "So," she said. "Chinese?"

"Yes. I'm starved."

"Wing's?"

"You bet."

Lily backed out of Serena's driveway and pointed the car towards Wing's, both of us lost in
our own
thought
s
momentarily. M
in
e
were
mostly
on
the menu
, which
I had half memorized.

"You ever wanted to be a mom?" asked Lily, surprising me.

"I don't know. I guess." I pondered that some more. I had a crappy job, an okay car, a nice apartment
,
below market rate thanks to Lily's parents, and a distinct lack of commitment from a man. "Not any time soon though."

"Me either, but one day. I want to be a stay
-
at
-
home mom. It sounds nice."

"Nicer than working the clubs, eating out, drinking cocktails and sleeping in?"

"A different nice."

"Better than being skinny?"

"There's boot
camp and I have great genes."

"I can see you being a mom."

"Me too. I bet Maddox would make beautiful babies."

"You want to have babies with Maddox?" My voice came out an octave higher than intended.

"No! Besides
,
he wants to make them with you."

"He might want to have sex with me. I don't think babies are on
his
agenda
."

"What about Solomon?"

"I suspect he eats babies."

"Eugh!"

"Not really. I don't see Solomon as the type to change diapers and wear a
Snugli
. He's silent and dangerous."

"He's sexy and dangerous."

"You think too much about Maddox and Solomon."

"At least I'm thinking."

W
asn't
I
thinking about them
too?
I was probably thinking too much
.
S
o far
,
Maddox had starred in
enough
dreams
that I’d lost count
.
Solomon had popped up in one,
startling
me enough
to wake me
up
,
panting
.
But
back
to
real life, both had kissed me, and both held me when I needed them,
their
arms
like steel girders around me
.

I considered myself a powerful, in
-
control woman
,
since
I hadn't gone in for a sneaky squeeze or given them the come
-
on. Well, I might have given them some indication that I liked them. But when I thought about that, I
remembered
Maddox kept inviting himself over, and the way he angled to get closer to me didn't strike m
e as
strictly
professional
. Of course
,
that made me think about Solomon and
his
slow, sexy smiles
.
T
he way he looked at me with smoldering eyes and had no hesitation about crashing our not-a-date
,
or rescuing me when I needed
him
.

"What's the sigh for?" asked Lily.

"I just saw Wing's," I lied, firmly
relegating
Maddox and Solomon
to the back
of my mind while Lily p
ark
ed in the lot. We ordered, loitering in the small
,
tiled
,
lobby
area while
it
was
being
prepared
. Then,
with
the hot paper sack filled with dinner in hand, Lily yawned, handed me the keys and we climbed back in
to
her car.

For some reason
,
the main road
into West Montgomery
was all snarled up, so instead of twiddling our thumbs in traffic, I drove away from home
and u
s
ed
side streets
.
W
e
managed to
bypass the majority of the traffic,
backtracking and
rejoining where it petered out and pointed towards home.

I pondered the Maddox slash Solomon thing as I drove
and
Lily snooz
ed
, her head
nodding
towards the side window. Glancing in my rearview mirror as I switched lanes
, I noticed a large
,
black car mak
ing the same
maneuver
. Perhaps they were just impatient, but like a good spy, I glanced in the mirror every few minutes
. I
signaled
left
but didn’t turn
,
and slipped
through
the light traf
fic
, while
watching as the car
matched our movements.

Hmm. Suspicious!

The SUV had tinted windows and I couldn't see who was driving, or the passengers
.
N
ow
, however,
I thought
this
was
becoming
less exciting and more
scary
, especially as Lily's Mini was
just
the right size to be their car's baby. I put my foot down and accelerated, trying to ignore the dial on the dashboard as it crept over the speed limit. The SUV
never left
us.

"Lily
?
" I whispered, "Lily
?
"

"Uhhhnn-err," snorted Lily.

"Lily
!
" I hissed, a little more loudly this time, finally shouting, "Lily!"

Her whole body shook as she jumped, her eyes flashing awake. "What? Was I t
alking in my sleep? I swear to G
od
,
none of it is true!"

"No, you weren't
,
but I think we're being followed."

"Whaaat?" Lily started to turn
,
but I shot my arm out
,
blocking her
.

"Don't turn round. They'll know we're onto them."

"Why would anyone be following us? Are you speeding? You are so paying the ticket!"

"I'm not speeding." Actually, I was, but that wasn't the problem as I eased up on the gas. The problem was the car that
stayed
a regulation three vehicles behind
u
s,
kept
weaving
through the traffic whenever I did,
and
speeding
up
when
ever
I went faster.

"What's going on, Lexi?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Don't play dumb with me, missy. I've known you too long. There were two dead dudes in the street last night
,
and now someone is following us." Her suspicious face, combined with the dark
sky,
infiltrated by the flashes of streetlamp
s
ahead, made me shrink lower in
to
my
seat.
Her mouth dropped open. "Oh my God! They really
are
following us!"

"They might not be following us," I squeaked.

"Tell me the truth!
"