Give pizza chants.
Maya barely looked up as the shop chimes rang and Axell entered. She was furious and embarrassed with herself, and not entirely happy with him. This morning he’d grabbed a cup of coffee, kissed the kids on the head, and escaped before they could exchange two words. She didn’t like being given a taste of her own medicine. Axell was Virgo, dammit, not Pisces. He wasn’t supposed to slip away like that.
His cautious approach warned he was treading as warily as she. He glanced down at Alexa sleeping in her cradle. “How is she?” he whispered.
Damn, he set every one of her nerve endings on fire just by his presence. Maya glanced up from the shoe she was painting and studied him from beneath her lashes. Axell never looked uncertain. He always looked self-confident and in charge. But today... Did she detect just a hint of tension in the way he loosened his tie? He’d apparently left his coat in his office. Even that was a sign of something. She just didn’t know what.
“The doctor says I should expect fevers with colds and allergies. If I’d been able to breast feed, she’d have had more immunity. I’m not supposed to worry unless the fever lingers or gets worse.”
“We’re not supposed to worry,” he corrected, not looking up from the cradle. “We’re in this together.”
“We” was a hard concept for Maya to wrap her mind around. She’d never really been part of a “we” and wasn’t entirely sure how it worked. Axell was trying to teach her, and she appreciated his efforts, she really did, but she’d had the supports pulled out from under her once too many times in the past. She’d taught herself to be smarter than Charlie Brown with his football.
She painted the dragon’s breath a brighter orange and didn’t reply.
Axell leaned his hip against the counter beside her, and Maya could smell his shaving lotion. Last night, she’d gone to bed with that scent on her hands. Tonight, she could easily go to bed with the scent of the whole man on her. The quivering in her lower abdomen warned that was a path she shouldn’t take with Axell standing this close. She didn’t like being dominated by macho men, she reminded herself. His size alone could diminish her. His superior attitude would wipe her up off the floor.
“I thought maybe I should take you out to dinner tonight.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Maya could see Axell confidently crossing his arms as he leaned against the counter. For whatever reason, the combination of his tentative statement and confident pose struck her funny bone.
“You thought maybe a bed would be more comfortable than a kitchen table,” she translated for him, biting back a giggle.
That shut him up briefly. Then he grunted. “It’s a damned good thing that table weighs a ton or I would have slammed it against the wall.”
Maya grinned in relief. So, maybe they’d both come a little unglued. “I vote we reserve the table for special, nonkid occasions,” she replied noncommittally.
“Dinner?” he persisted, not letting her off the hook.
A cautious step on the stairs prevented Maya’s immediate reply. She’d heard the shower earlier. Stephen never got up this early. Nervously, she glanced at Axell. He was watching whoever descended with that narrow, Norse god look, as if he’d shoot thunderbolts at any person who dared invade his cloud.
His expression turned from anger to wariness. A few months ago, Maya would have sworn Axell had no expressions, but she recognized the signs now. She glanced over her shoulder.
“Cleo!” she shouted with joy.
Axell caught the paint pot as Maya leaped from her seat and ran to embrace her sister. He should never have allowed Maya to leave a key out for an unknown factor like her sister. Although he could see the resemblance between them in the redhead coloring and delicate bone structure, the similarities ended there.
Maya’s sister exhibited a tough, sharp edge that would cut a man in two if applied deliberately. She wore her dark red hair in a clipped, rough cut that emphasized the harshness of her cheekbones and the thinness of her lips. Partially tinted glasses hid her eyes, preventing any comparison with Maya’s open, honest turquoise. Even as Maya enveloped her in a hug, Axell could sense Cleo’s cold gaze on him. This was not a woman he’d like to meet in a dark alley.
“Come meet Axell,” Maya said eagerly, urging her sister forward. “Axell, this is my sister Cleo.” She didn’t give either of them a chance to respond but leapt to the next question. “Why didn’t you call? I wanted to come and get you. How did you get here?”
“I’ve got friends.” Cleo dismissed the question curtly.
“You didn’t have trouble finding the key where I told you it would be? And I fixed everything just like you had it before.”
“It’s fine, I found it just fine.” She glanced down at Alexa. “This your kid?”
“Isn’t she beautiful? Would you like to hold her?” Without waiting for an answer, Maya lifted Alexa from the cradle and offered her to Cleo.
Axell wanted to grab his daughter and shield her from this hard-eyed woman. He had to start remembering that Maya had more in common with this ex-convict than she did with him. Alexa didn’t belong to him in any form. Stephen had refused to sign any release papers allowing Axell to adopt her. He bunched his fists at his sides and watched as Maya’s sister inspected Alexa but refused to hold her.
“Where’s Matty?” Cleo demanded, pulling back from her niece’s ruffled pink blanket.
Axell thought he ought to leave the sisters to their reunion, but his stubborn protective instincts wouldn’t surrender to logic or politeness. He wouldn’t see Maya hurt.
“At the school,” Maya replied happily, apparently not aware of her sister’s icy distance. “I think kids benefit from year-round school, and he loves it, so I enrolled him in summer sessions.” At Cleo’s silence, Maya continued defensively, “It’s my school. It doesn’t cost anything.”
Cleo nodded, and eyed Axell with suspicion. “Who’s the turd who tried to climb in my bed last night?”
“Stephen! Oh my gosh, I forgot Stephen!” Anxiously, Maya handed Alexa to Axell. “What did you do, Cleo? It’s my fault. I didn’t know you were — ”
Cleo cut her off. “He’s in Matty’s bed.” She continued staring at Axell. “I want my son back.”
Axell shifted Alexa to a more comfortable position. The more tense the situation became, the more he relaxed. It was an old defensive technique he’d learned long ago for defusing situations in the bar.
“That’s up to Social Services,” he replied blandly.
Cleo turned her glare on Maya. “He’s got your daughter and my son. What’s he doing, holding them hostage?”
Axell thought it might be time to take his leave, but a shout from above aroused his curiosity.
“Maya! Maya, are you down there? That bitch stole my best flannel shirt!”
This could very well turn out better than a Three Stooges farce, Axell concluded with glee, as he wiped baby dribble from Alexa’s chin and waited for the next scene in the drama. He used to hate emotional scenes, but since Maya’s arrival in his life, he’d learned to observe them with a measure of appreciation for her talent in manipulating them.
He let Alexa wrap her chubby fist around his finger and returned Maya’s harried look with equanimity. Her sister was very definitely wearing a man’s checkered flannel shirt.
Cleo shrugged. “He’s sleeping in my shop. It is still my shop?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes at Axell.
“The lease papers are ready for your signature.” He was having second and third thoughts about signing them, but he’d promised Maya.
That seemed to satisfy Cleo for the moment. She turned her attention to the man clattering down the stairs, half-naked. “You want your damned shirt?” she yelled. “Come and get it!”
Lifting an eyebrow, Axell watched Maya for some signal as to what she wanted him to do now. He shook his head at her irrepressible grin and dumped Alexa in her arms. “Shall I hire a baby-sitter or a lunatic keeper for tonight?”
Maya brightened. “That’s ideal! Cleo, you can come over this evening and stay with the kids so Axell and I can go out for a while. Social Services can’t object to that.”
That wasn’t ideal in Axell’s book. He didn’t want a drug addict looking after his kids. Their kids. Whatever. He opened his mouth to protest, but the blasted musician leaped into the fray instead.
“I’ll not have this pervert looking after my daughter!” Stephen shouted. “She nearly took my balls off last night. Why didn’t you warn me she was coming so I could have bought a gun?”
Maya’s grin faltered, but Axell thought he really might get into this scene if he hung around long enough. Watching Stephen and Cleo duke it out could provide amusing entertainment. Some other time.
“I’ve got a friend on the police force we can hire for the evening,” he informed them dryly. “I’ll instruct him to shoot the first one who yells in front of the kids. I want to take Maya out around seven. Suit yourselves.”
Giving Maya a peck on the cheek, Axell strode out, confident Stephen and Cleo would kill each other before they intruded on his safe, sane world. He’d call the baby-sitter and arrange for her to watch the kids just in case either of the idiots took Maya seriously.
***
“California is too close,” Maya muttered as she paced Selene’s office at the school. “I’m considering Alaska. Whatever made me think having a family was a good thing?”
“You didn’t think,” Selene replied bluntly, hitting the computer key that sent the monthly invoices to the printer. “You just have this weird idea that because you breathe love and laughter, everyone does. Well, it’s not so, girlfriend. Grow up.”
“I’m not naive,” Maya responded sharply, then took a calming breath before continuing. “I know Cleo has problems. Part of her probation requires she get counseling. What I need is some fairy dust to send Stephen back to Never-Never Land.”
“He’s not half bad looking,” Selene mused, watching Maya’s pacing with a foxy grin. “Want me to adopt him?”
“Your own personal boy toy?” Maya inquired dryly. “He’s not quite that malleable. He’s moody, irritating, and bad-tempered. I don’t know what I ever saw in him.”
“He’s talented, sexy, and you hadn’t developed a taste for hot-blooded Vikings at the time,” Selene concluded.
Maya shrugged. “I always thought Vikings were cold.”
Selene laughed out loud. “That’s because you know nothing about men. Axell’s been hot after your bod since the day you met. The man’s practically slavering. You want to get rid of Stephen, just mention it to Axell. He’ll have him transported to Siberia before you can take it back.”
“Stephen’s my problem,” Maya replied sulkily. She didn’t know when her life had become everyone else’s business. She was feeling trapped again. The footloose life had some definite advantages she hadn’t appreciated when she had them.
But even the fleeting thought of losing Axell caused a full-scale panic attack.
“Pfeiffer’s death is a bigger problem,” Selene pointed out. “I’ve contacted his lawyers for confirmation that our lease is still valid, but they haven’t got back to me.”
Diverted, Maya pursued this new path. “How do the police know he didn’t die a natural death? I can’t believe anyone would kill that nice old man.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I was going to visit and ask him about my grandmother. Now I’ll never know.”
“You said he knew Cleo. Maybe he told her.” Selene gathered up the printed invoices and handed half to Maya. “Start folding and stuffing. Until we hear otherwise, this is your bread and butter.”
No topic would distract her for long from the knowledge that her “date” tonight with her husband could only have one outcome. Maya wriggled in nervous anticipation as she stuffed envelopes.
Religious ceremonies had little meaning to her, but after tonight... Axell would probably expect her to share his bed on a regular basis. She didn’t know if she was prepared for that kind of commitment. Between the kids, the school, and the shop, she barely had time for herself. How would she find time for a husband?
She had to. She’d promised. Maybe he’d be satisfied with one night a week.
Maybe she wouldn’t.
***
“You didn’t really mean it about the policeman, did you?” Maya asked anxiously as Axell came home after she’d finished feeding the kids. “I called Dorothy and she said you’d already called her. She can look after Constance and Alexa while Matty and Cleo get reacquainted.” She nodded toward the bedroom wing. “Cleo’s reading him a book.”
Axell set his briefcase down on the table and glanced around the miraculously spotless kitchen. “Why am I getting premonitions of disaster?”
Maya dried her hands and surreptitiously watched him. He looked calm and reasonable tonight. No slamming doors, no wild looks melting her like candle wax. He’d combed the wayward strand of hair back from his forehead and apparently shaved before coming home. She could smell his aftershave as he approached. Nervously, she eyed his impeccable blue suit.
“I didn’t know how to dress.” She backed away. “I thought we’d be going somewhere casual. It’s a weeknight...” That was a stupid thing to say. Did she imagine the flare of heat in his eyes?
“I’ll order pizza and you can wear nothing,” he answered calmly, in that bland tone she knew concealed the workings of his mind.
The suggestion shot a shiver of arousal down Maya’s spine.
“But I thought we ought to attempt something civilized like a date first. There’s a place in Charlotte with good jazz. Do you like jazz?”
That offer fished her thoughts out of the gutter. A date. She could handle a date. “I don’t know anything about jazz, but I’ll learn. What do I wear?”
“Black is traditional,” he said solemnly. At her look of horror, a twinkle developed in his eye. “Anything that makes you happy is fine.”
Apparently his ability to push her buttons incited sufficient confidence for him to reach out and brush a recalcitrant curl from her forehead.
Just his touch ignited smoldering fires. Maya backed off.
Smacking him would make her happy. Getting this over with would make her happy. Even the spontaneity of last night was vastly preferable to his pragmatic approach. If it weren’t for the kids, she’d be tempted to walk into his bedroom and tear her clothes off and have done with it.
“I’ll only be a minute.” Scooping up Muldoon for reassurance, Maya fled.
Taking a deep breath to calm his rocky nerves, Axell wandered into the family room. In these last weeks he’d grown accustomed to finding Matty and Constance bent over some game together. It felt odd to see just Constance sitting in front of the TV. He hadn’t realized how much he’d miss Matty once Cleo took him. Would Maya be interested in giving him a son?
That was definitely not the direction to follow right now.
Constance threw him one of those suspicious looks he recognized as one of his own.
“Why can’t I go with you?” she demanded.
Well, at least she was talking to him. “Because sometimes married people like to do things alone.”
“You and Mama never did.”
He and Angela had few interests in common. Hell, he and Maya had few interests in common, but this time, he meant to develop some. He was capable of learning from his mistakes.
“We did sometimes, you just don’t remember,” he said quietly. “You get Maya all to yourself all the time. It’s my turn tonight, okay?”
She wrinkled her nose in disapproval and looked away. “Will the mean lady take Matty away?”
Maybe they shouldn’t go out tonight. Her whole world had been in a tumult for so long...
It wasn’t likely to get better soon. With a sigh, Axell stroked her hair as he’d seen Maya do. “Cleo is Matty’s mama, and Maya’s sister. She’s really sad right now, so maybe she says mean things. Try to be nice, will you?”
Constance shrugged, and he figured that was the best he could hope for.
Standing, Axell wondered for the millionth time if he’d done the right thing in marrying a woman like Maya, a woman a decade younger and a universe apart from his stodgy, conservative background. Maybe he should have tried harder with Constance on his own. Maybe he should have married someone like Katherine with the same background as his. Maybe he —
Maya appeared in the doorway wearing some kind of slinky blue-green dress he knew he’d never seen before. The hem hit just above her knees but the slit in the side shot clear up her thigh, revealing a silky, sparkly glimpse of stockinged leg so tempting his eyes nearly fell out. He could scarcely tear his gaze away to observe the rest of the...
One look at the peekaboo bodice and Maya’s bare shoulders rendered him incapable of walking across the room without crippling a vital part.
He thought maybe he’d take her to the nearest motel first.