I looked at her. “And how would that have worked out for me?”

She glanced away. We both knew her adoptive father would not have tolerated that.

“Still, you should have . . .” Her words trailed off. It was a woulda, coulda, shoulda situation that I couldn’t have won. Anger made her mouth tight, and she snapped her head up. “Fine. Whatever. I still don’t want a bodyguard.”

“Listen, not that anyone is asking for my opinion,” Jackson said, “but I don’t like it either.”

Lexi opened her mouth to speak, but he boomed right over her as Jackson tends to do. “But it’s clear someone does not want you to build this place, and until we know who it is and how far they’re prepared to go, I’m going to be stuck to you like glue.”

Lexi’s eyes widened as she took him in, and then her gaze flitted away. Was that a spark of interest? Well, hell.

“I suppose I could put up with you very temporarily,” she said.

“Good enough,” he said. “I’ll be here at quitting time to pick you up.”

“Excellent,” I said. And then, a genius idea struck. I gestured to Annabelle and Lexi. “You can come to dinner, both of you, and we’ll nail down the required pieces of art in my house. We’ll make it a project and be done with it tonight. Be there at seven.”

The two women exchanged a look. Now they both crossed their arms over their chests and stared at me with the exact same expression of displeasure.

“What?”

“Wild guess, but I think they were looking for an invitation to dinner instead of a command appearance,” Jackson said.

Both women nodded.

“Fine,” I said. “Would you two care to join us for dinner tonight?”

Again, they exchanged a look. How had these two women bonded so tight, so fast? How did women do that? I mean, Jackson and I had been living in the same house for months, and I could no more read his mind than I could tell you what was in the back of my refrigerator.

“I think I’m available,” Lexi said. “How about you, Annabelle?”

“I’ll move some things around,” she said. Her gaze met mine, and it was full of unspoken challenge. I had a feeling I was in trouble for not telling her Lexi was my sister. I smiled before I could stop myself. There was just something about that look that called to me; it made me want to put my hands on her hips, pull her close, and kiss her stupid.

I forced my gaze away and said, in the driest tone I could muster, “Excellent. I’ll let Lupita know.”

“Should we bring something?” Annabelle asked. “I don’t want to put Lupita to trouble at the last minute.”