“Lexi? Jackson?” I called. There was no response. I did not have time for this. I circled the tree and found them in a clinch. “Really? You’re doing this now?”

They broke apart. Jackson was rumpled and Lexi looked dazed. Jackson said, “I was trying to take her mind off her nerves.”

“Mission accomplished,” I said. The sarcasm in my voice could have sliced through steel. “Come on, let’s get you ready.”

I took Lexi’s hand and hauled her to the ladies’ room. The attendant and I helped fix her mussed hair and she reapplied her lipstick. She looked lovely and fragile and completely petrified.

“I take it you’re afraid of public speaking,” I said.

“Afraid?” she asked. “Try I’d rather jump out of a plane, swim with sharks, or be forever lonely, like live alone in a tower with no Internet lonely.”

“You might have mentioned this before,” I said.

She raised her hands in the air. “I thought Nick would be here. I thought he’d come around. Whenever I’ve needed him, he’s always been there. Always.” She was shaking all over, and she looked like she was going to cry. “Until now.”

Fury bubbled up inside me. I was mad at Nick, I was mad at Lexi, I was mad at Soph for convincing me to come to Phoenix, and mostly, I was mad at myself because, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shut off the feelings I had for that man.

“Listen,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be a long speech. All you really need to do is go up there and say thank you to everyone for coming out and supporting New Dawn. I’ll have Jackson stand front and center and you just talk to him. And I’ll be right there with him. You can do that, can’t you?”

Lexi stared at me. She took a deep breath. “Yeah.” She nodded. “I think so.”

“Okay, let’s get it over with,” I said. I figured we’d better move while she was in the right frame of mind. The old “rip off the bandage quickly” strategy.

As we stepped out of the ladies’ room, Jackson was waiting for us. His face was scrunched in concern and he stepped toward Lexi. I shot up a hand and held him off. “Later, Romeo. Right now she has a speech to give and you’re going to help her.”

“Whatever you need, babe,” he said. The smile Lexi sent him was a stunner, and if they weren’t so darn adorable, I’d have been consumed with jealousy. I glanced at my watch. Yeah, there was no time for that.

“Let’s go,” I said.