The Outsider Series: The Complete Omnibus Collection

Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Andy couldn’t believe he was at the small local airport, a sterile building that catered to the wealthy, with small planes, charters, and private jets, to pick up Alexis, a woman he’d never met and didn’t have the slightest interest in getting to know better. He had things on his mind, and he was annoyed about everything here, from the airline clerks behind the counters to the swarm of people trickling steadily in and out of the small building. Even the cheap vinyl seats were an irritation, because he’d had to wait almost half an hour.

Andy knew he could have said no when his mother cornered him again in his library after he’d spoken with Aida. He even contemplated not showing up, but that was not only poor manners but poor business, which was something Andy didn’t do, especially when he’d already agreed.

Andy didn’t much like the senator, and he definitely wasn’t in the mood to spend any time with a spoiled rich girl. He shook his head as he glared out the glass, watching the planes take off and land. He wasn’t a man who could be guided around by his nose hairs, which was exactly what his mother was doing by having him pick up Alexis. It was why he was standing here now, staring out this glaring window that showed the fingerprints of every two-year-old who had touched it.

Under normal circumstances, Andy would have no problem not picking up this rich, prissy thing, and he certainly wouldn’t be bothered at all by what anyone thought. The only reason he was here now was because of Jed.

He loved his cousin. He’d come a long way in repairing the closeness of their relationship. Growing up, they had been inseparable, even when Jed had moved out here and bought that run-down acreage at a dusty auction on a whim one day. But when Diana came back and Jed married her, well, things were never the same between them. They were like two rutting bulls marking their territory, ripping up the ground, ready to rip each other apart, until the spring, when Jed had set out on the new chestnut stallion he’d got at auction for next to nothing. He had been training him, an unruly beast, to be his lead horse when he took riders out on the trails for pack trips. What Jed had been thinking, Andy still didn’t know. Andy shook his head as he remembered staring that stallion in the eye and taking a step back. But Jed loved a challenge, and that stallion had been nothing but. Red, the stallion, had thrown Jed past the open meadow where the trees just began to thicken, and it had been well past dark when he and a very pregnant Diana found Jed leaning against an old fir tree with a broken leg and cracked ribs. That night had brought them closer, helping to heal the hurt between them that had been caused by what he’d done to Diana as a child. It was his shame, not hers, and she was the one woman he would go to his grave loving, a woman who’d never be his.

Jed was the only Friessen to carve out something from that dustbowl piece of land for himself. He wouldn’t take a red cent from his daddy. Both he and Diana had worked damn hard to turn his unsuccessful horse-riding outfit into something with a reasonable income. Hell, Andy knew they struggled to get by, but they were happy, and by the way they looked at each other, loved each other, deep down he really tried to be happy for them.

But now, for whatever reason she had in that sharp, calculating mind of hers, his own mother was cozying up to Senator Johnston. He could still feel the ice shards ripping through his veins when he realized she knew about Jed and Diana’s expansion to therapeutic riding for disabled kids, and about the funding they had approached the state for. His alarm bells were shrieking.

He had to be careful with Caroline. Even though that sultry, stunning woman who could hold her own in any arena was his mother, he’d learned the hard way over many tears as a kid to be careful with her, making sure that she never knew his weakness. She was sly, much like the coyote, a trickster, with all the added characteristics of a black widow lying silently in her thick, silky web, just waiting for the right moment. It would be over quickly: The bite would be subtle, but a painful poison would quickly spread through him, burning his veins as it ripped apart his every sense of peace. Andy had sworn he’d never fall victim to her schemes, but here he stood in Paine Field, the small airport in Snohomish county, pacing the tiled floor, waiting for Alexis to disembark the private jet that was now taxiing down the runway toward the terminal, lights flashing.

Stairs were wheeled over, and the door popped open. A tall, leggy brunette dressed in dark pants, heeled boots, and a white fur coat climbed down and strode toward the terminal. She walked with confidence as workers scurried around her. The glass door was opened by a security guard. The brunette had long, wavy hair, and she stopped just inside the terminal. One of the workers had to step around her. She didn’t appear worried, but she seemed to take in everything as she swept her gaze around the terminal until she locked eyes with Andy. He, of course, could have made it easier and stepped toward her, but he was still pissed at being forced to be here, so his first impression of this chit was one of irritation. She may have been a nice enough girl or a snob, but even though she was quite lovely, he wasn’t interested in stoking her fire and definitely wasn’t interested in getting to know any part of the lovely body that he was positive was hidden under that expensive fur coat.

The woman didn’t smile. What she did do was stride straight toward him, her head high and her shoulders back, clutching a leather purse to her side. She had the confidence in her steps of a woman who knew exactly what she wanted.

“You must be Andy Friessen.” She stuck out her hand and stared at him with icy blue eyes.

“I am indeed. You must be Alexis Johnston.” He accepted her soft hand, a strong, firm handshake.

She smiled, flashing brilliant, straight white teeth. She reminded him so much of the women he’d dated in the past, but it had been a long while since he’d dated anyone, and she did nothing to entice him, even though she was extremely attractive.

“You have bags?” Andy asked, just as a man in black pants and a dusty blue sports coat pushed a squeaky cart with three large red suitcases toward him.

“Ma’am, where would you like me to put your bags?” the young employee asked Alexis before glancing Andy’s way.

“My truck’s this way.” Andy gestured toward the door and started walking, only stopping to glance over his shoulder when he realized Alexis wasn’t beside him or even following. She had a set of full red lips that at one time he’d have found a way to sample, even with the frown she’d pasted on now. “Is there a problem?” Andy gestured impatiently and waited while she let out a huff and then strode toward him and past him.

Why, he’d pissed her off! She must have expected him to give her his arm, but he wasn’t interested. She was one foxy lady, with that oval face, round cheeks, strong chin. From her open coat, he could tell she was slim and curvy. In her heels, she was the perfect height. Her head topped his shoulders, but there was something cold as ice about her, so reserved that he could feel her coil up and pull away, and it chilled him to the bone.

“The blue truck. Just toss the bags in back,” Andy said to the employee, who did just that, lifting the bags and tossing them into the back of the truck.

“Be careful with that,” Alexis said. “What’s in there is worth more than you’ll have in a lifetime.” She set her hands on her shapely hips. The tips of her red fingernails really stood out against the backdrop of the black silky blouse she’d exposed when she brushed open her coat. By her blue eyes, which were outlined in mascara and light brown shadow, Andy had no doubt she was a cold b***h, too. Andy glanced upward and then shook his head in sympathy at the young guy, who was looking to Andy for help as he held the last suitcase, then shrugged and tossed it in, too.

“Thanks,” Andy said, but then the guy just stood looking at Andy, not Alexis, and Andy didn’t miss the way Alexis tapped her toe and stared at him, raising one eyebrow. “Unbelievable,” he said as he reached into his jean pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing ten dollars to the airport employee. “Wait,” he said as he handed him another twenty. “For your trouble.” Andy glanced at Alexis when he said it.

“Thank you, sir.” The man actually smirked before he hurried back into the airport.

Andy started walking around the side of his truck. He didn’t have to turn and look to know Alexis was waiting for him to open her door, but he’d be damned if he was having any of that. He knew he was being a prick, but he hoped she got the message loud and clear. Evidently not, as she was still standing on the curb when he slid behind the wheel.

“Oh, for the love of God,” he muttered under his breath. He climbed out and strode around to the passenger door, yanking the damn thing open.

“Well, thank you. I was starting to wonder if all forms of courtesy were void in this part of the country.” As soon as she slid onto the leather seat, he shoved the door closed and smiled as he listened to the slam and her squeak of outrage.