Lexie rolled her eyes. “You both really need to get a life instead of worrying so much about mine.” Lexie focused on the computer behind them. “So what were you two up to before I woke up? Practicing some of the things I taught you?” she asked her grandmother.
“Well…I…”
“We were just…”
Lexie looked over the stammering women’s shoulders but a screen saver prevented her from seeing the actual screen. The words Born Free wound their way around the monitor in 3D.
Lexie narrowed her gaze. “I didn’t set that up.” And it would take someone pretty proficient with a Mac to know how to do it.
“Oh, I did,” Sylvia jumped in. “I wanted to prove to your grandmother that I was smarter than she is, so while you’re giving her private lessons here, I’m taking my own at the Apple store. And voilà!” She swept her hand toward the screen. “Try doing that, Miss Giggle Me a Bachelor Blog.” Sylvia grinned, obviously proud of herself.
Lexie laughed at the women’s one-upmanship. “Grandma, you’re going to have to step up your game if you want to be able to keep up.”
“I’ll show you, Ms. Smarty-Pants,” Charlotte said to her friend. “Watch how computer savvy I’ve become, thanks to my brilliant granddaughter. And speaking of my granddaughter, when did you start lying to your grandmother?”
“Lying?” Lexie crinkled her nose, confused by the accusation.
“The date that wasn’t a date was actually something much more.” Charlotte pinned her with the stare that used to have her confessing all when she was a teenager, attempting to avoid her parents’ mandatory ice-skating practice sessions. Grandma would uncover the truth, then help Lexie ditch the routine of practice for side trips to museums in the city behind her parents’ backs.
“Grandma, let’s try being straightforward. What are you talking about?”
“Pictures don’t lie. Not only did you have a real date last night, but it was with that sexy Bachelor Blog reporter.” Charlotte waggled her already penciled eyebrows. An early riser, she always had on a full face of makeup before Lexie woke up.
“Pictures?” Lexie asked warily. Charlotte and Sylvia glanced at each other, then with a shrug, Sylvia pushed the mouse. The movement shut off the screen saver, revealing the Web page beneath.
Lexie adjusted her eyeglasses and leaned in for a better look. The caption on the morning edition of the Bachelor Blog read, Newest Bachelor Works Fast. Is an Engagement Next? and below it were two grainy photos. The first was of Coop showing Lexie the ring. And the other was of Lexie wearing said ring while Coop looked on with an adorable grin on his handsome face.
“Oh my God!” Lexie muttered. She hadn’t seen anyone take a picture. Boy, people could be sneaky.
“Look how smitten he looks!” Sylvia said dreamily.
Smitten? Before Lexie could reply to that, her grandmother walked up to her and poked her on the shoulder. “How could you lie to an old woman?” She placed her hand over her heart.
Sylvia returned to surfing the Net.
“Cut the dramatics, Gran. I didn’t lie. He’s a client. I’m doing his Web site.”
“And the ring?”
Lexie hoped she didn’t blush more and give herself away. “He was just showing it to me.”
“Does it really look like my necklace?” Charlotte asked.
Two sets of eyes stared at her, waiting for an answer.
“Actually, there are similarities.” Lexie didn’t want to get her grandmother’s hopes up, in case the ring was stolen and had to be returned. Until she knew more, she couldn’t set the older woman up for potential hurt and disappointment. “But there are also differences. Seeing the ring got me wondering how the necklace originally came into Grandpa’s possession.”
Charlotte and Sylvia exchanged a long, pointed glance. Those two could practically read each other’s minds, which often left Lexie struggling unsuccessfully to interpret the meaning.
Charlotte cleared her throat. “Your grandfather was given the necklace as a substitute for payment for services rendered.”
“Driving services?” Lexie asked. Her grandfather had been a chauffeur to various wealthy families over the years.
Charlotte nodded. “So when can I see?” she asked.
“The ring?” Lexie asked.
“No, silly girl. When can I see your suitor? I want to meet the man you are going to marry! Then he can show me the ring.”
Lexie rolled her eyes and waved her empty left hand at her grandmother. “I’m not engaged, Gran.”
“Pictures don’t lie,” Charlotte and Sylvia repeated in unison.
They each had a one-track mind and Lexie realized that until she humored them about Coop, her grandmother would keep changing the subject away from the necklace.
Lexie closed her eyes and silently counted to ten, breathing in deeply as her yoga instructor had taught her. “I’ll see what I can do,” she said, buying herself time.
No way was she bringing Coop over here. That would open up a can of worms she wasn’t ready to deal with in more ways than one.
“Good! You let me know when and I’ll plan a meal.”
Lexie forced a smile. “Mind if I check out the news online?” she asked, hoping to end all discussion involving meeting Coop.
The two women stepped aside and Lexie lowered herself into the chair. Not even massive doses of caffeine could prepare her for the tornado that was Charlotte and Sylvia.
She clicked onto the Daily Post, Coop’s paper, for a quick glance at the Crime Beat. She wanted to see more about his writing and his work—and was shocked to find another even more disturbing headline.
Crime Beat Reporter on Opposite Side of Beat—Again. Coop’s apartment had been broken into last night, though the details were sketchy. The article went on to describe Coop’s recent heroics, his status as the current Bachelor and some more speculation about his relationship with the as-yet unnamed woman in the photo. At least she had anonymity for now.
But her mind wasn’t on the Bachelor Blog, it was on the robbery and when it had occurred—before or after their date last night? If it was afterwards, there was a possibility the ring had been stolen in the break-in. The thought churned Lexie’s stomach, but even more upsetting was the notion that Coop might have been hurt.
Lexie excused herself and ran for the shower… Next stop: Coop’s apartment to check first on the man and then on the ring.