Blazing Midsummer Nights (Harlequin Blaze) by Leslie Kelly Page B

he’d never made the perceptive comments Xander had made to her today. And he’d never asked her what Mimi stood for.
That was the moment when she realized she might have made a big mistake. Because, up until then, being around a sexy, flirtatious guy was just a little dangerous. Now she realized she was spending time with a very perceptive and very nice one, too. Nice. Sexy. Smart. Charming.
And, uh, not the guy she was dating. Not the one who had been handpicked by her father. Not the one who fit into her neatly ordered future. Not the one who was low-risk, who wouldn’t hurt her.
Oh, she was in serious trouble here.
“You know,” she said, suddenly lowering the flowers and turning away from Xander, “it’s getting late and it’s a work night. I think I’m going to head in.”
“Thanks for your help, honey,” said Anna. “Let’s do this again next Saturday to welcome my daughter and grandson, okay?”
“ Our daughter and grandson,” Obi-Wan interjected.
Anna ignored him. “Helen and Tuck will be arriving from Atlanta late Saturday afternoon.”
“I know you must be very happy about that,” Mimi said.
“We are,” said Obi-Wan. “Our daughter needs us. Both of us.”
He and his wife exchanged a look, and Anna slowly nodded in agreement. Here, at least, they would always be united. Maybe having Helen and Tuck around would be good for them…if they had a joint cause, perhaps they wouldn’t allow petty misunderstandings to keep them apart. Of course, even if Anna gave up her Shakespearean “boy-toy,” something else would happen to set off Obi-Wan’s jealous streak again in a few months. Still, a few months’ peace would be good for everyone.
Saying good-night again, and ignoring Xander’s curious—somewhat accusing—stare, she went inside.
While she hadn’t been kidding about needing to head in because it was a work night, she had a problem. She wasn’t tired. Not at all. She couldn’t stop thinking about the day, the way Xander had plucked her out of the air like some kind of swashbuckling hero. That sounded familiar to her, for some reason—probably from some romantic movie she’d seen. Nor could she stop replaying their conversations, both personal and not, both serious and light.
After taking a long shower, she tried watching TV, then reading. She was alert for sounds in the hall, and knew exactly when the house party broke up. Which meant she also knew when Xander was back in his apartment, alone. Probably getting ready for bed. She hoped he had a better night’s sleep than she was in store for, because she didn’t think she’d manage to close her eyes for hours.
Then, suddenly, she remembered something. “The tea!”
There was more of Obi-Wan’s wonderfully soothing tea in the small bag he’d given her Friday night. She couldn’t remember exactly how it tasted, she just knew it had helped her fall asleep almost immediately. She’d slept like the dead, hadn’t been conscious of a thing until the next morning and had awakened feeling refreshed and full of energy.
Heading into the kitchen, she brewed a cup. As she stirred it and carried it back to her room, the aroma tickled her nostrils and that familiar warmth hit her. But it wasn’t until she actually took her first sip that something else did.
Memories.
“That crazy dream,” she mumbled, suddenly remembering the strange adventure with the dragon and the flying man. “Weird.”
She didn’t imagine the tea had caused the dream, but it had apparently knocked her out enough to make her forget all about it until just now. It was potent stuff.
So potent that she was asleep again within minutes of finishing the cup.
Asleep…and dreaming…
* * *
     
I T WAS EVENING. Not yet dark—minutes before sunset, perhaps. The sky was a sherbet-swirl blend of pink, orange and purple. The day’s last golden sunbeams pierced the clear sky, sending warmth cascading down on the earth, a shower of sun drops, a heavy rain of dazzling heat. Mimi