Millionaire Magnates: Taming the Texas Tycoon

Lexi Cavanauagh was a stunningly gorgeous woman by anyone’s standards. The fact that she was his fiancée should have made him feel lucky. But she was essentially a stranger and he felt awkward around her. Not at all like he felt with Kate.

Kate. He’d already decided to end things with Lexi. But he had to be careful. He needed Lexi and her connections but he couldn’t just break things off with her.

Lance came back down the stairs to the sound of raised voices. “Everything okay?”

Mitch and Lexi were standing across the room from each other. Lexi’s fists were clenched at her sides and a sheen of tears glittered in her eyes.

“Lexi, what’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she said.

“Mitch?”

“We were discussing an event we attended in D.C.,” Mitch said.

Lance nodded. “I’m glad to see you feeling better, Lexi. I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the family. You already know Mitch and I think you will see that we are a close group despite there being only two of us.”

“I have noticed that your brother will do anything for you,” Lexi said.

Mitch gave her a tense look.

“And I for him.”

Lance walked across the room to the foyer where he’d left the neatly wrapped gift box. It bore the emblem of his favorite jeweler and a discreet white bow. He carried it back over and smiled at Lexi.

She didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him. “Do you need to sit down?”

“No. I need to go home,” she said.

“Then I will take you,” Lance said.

She shook her head and noticed the box in his hands. “Is that for me?”

“Yes,” he said, handing it to her.

She took it. He noticed that her nails were long and manicured. And for the first time he tried to imagine what it would be like to take Lexi to his bed. He couldn’t. The only woman he pictured there was Kate.

Kate’s long brown hair on his pillow. Kate’s pretty brown eyes staring up at him… Kate was the woman he wanted.

Lexi sat down and opened the gift box carefully. Lance stood across the room with the first niggling of doubt since he’d asked her to marry him. Had he made a colossal mistake?

She held the box in her hands, not opening it. “Why did you get me a gift?”

“To thank you for agreeing to be my wife.”

She put her head down and opened the box. He heard her breath catch and took that as a good sign.

He glanced over at his brother and Mitch stared at Lexi… the way Lance realized he stared at Kate sometimes. Damn, was his brother into Lexi?

“Will you help me put it on?” Lexi asked.

Lance started toward her and saw Mitch do the same.

His brother shrugged. “I’m just used to filling in for you.”

“Thank you for that, Mitch. Without your help, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Lexi stood up and lifted her hair. Lance fastened the diamond necklace around her neck.

“Yes, thanks, Mitch, for filling in for your brother so well,” Lexi said.

“It was no big deal. I’m used to dealing with problematic heiresses.”

“Are you?” Lexi asked.

“Indeed. Our mother was one.”

“She sure was. But Lexi isn’t anything like Mom,” Lance said, not sure what was going on between his brother and Lexi.

“No, she’s not,” Mitch said. Mitch’s cell phone rang and he excused himself to take the call.

Lance found himself alone with his fianceé for the first time since she’d agreed to marry him. And he needed to know if there was any chance this relationship was going to work between them. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her in his arms.

She looked up at him. Her eyes wide but not with passion, more with… he couldn’t identify the emotion.

He brushed a kiss against her lips and found that her mouth was dry and the kiss was rather blah.

Lance worried that he’d be trapped in a passionless marriage. It was clear that Lexi wasn’t attracted to him and he knew he wasn’t to her.

“Thank you for the gift. It’s very pretty.”

“You’re welcome,” he said.

A horn honked outside and Lexi glanced at her watch. “That should be my cab.”

“I would’ve taken you,” Lance said.

“I didn’t want to be a bother. Thank you for inviting me to the party today. I really enjoyed the chance to see what kind of a company Brody Oil & Gas is.”

“You’re welcome. Kate said she was going to invite you to attend a meeting with the party-planning staff.”

“Sounds great. I’ll look forward to her call,” Lexi said as she left the house and walked to her cab. She kept talking brightly the entire time and Lance held the door for her as she got into the cab.

She smiled up at him as she said goodbye and he closed the door, standing there watching her be driven away.

He rubbbed the back of his neck, having a bad feeling that his marriage to Lexi was going to be a mistake. And he prided himself on not making any mistakes. He wondered if he should have ended things with her today, but he couldn’t have. There was something vulnerable about Lexi. He needed to talk to Mitch about his feelings for her, as well.

There was more between the two of them than he could guess at. But that was a worry for another day. Right now he had a party to host and several staff members to take care of and that was exactly what he was going to do.