Nicholas shook his head, motioning to his younger brother. “Don’t give in. He’s just looking for somebody he can beat, ‘cause he’s got no chance against me.”
“That’s so not true!” Adam piped up.
Lilo tossed the omelet mixture into the hot pan, before looking back at the two teenagers. “I’m sure you’re both very good. But I never got into playing videogames.”
“So what did you do then?”
“Read.”
“Sounds boring,” Nicholas commented.
“Not really,” Lilo said, flipping the omelet in the pan, so it could brown on the other side. “Some books can take you on quite an adventure.”
Nicholas shrugged, disinterested. “Okay.”
Adam’s eyes widened a little, showing that he wasn’t quite as blasé about books as his older brother. “What kind of books?”
“I like mysteries and thrillers.”
Adam grinned. “You mean with lots of blood and gore?”
She laughed out loud. Figured that a teenager would be interested in that. “Not necessarily. But with lots of suspense.”
“Oh, yeah, well.” Clearly, she’d lost Adam’s interest now, too.
But she loved a challenge. And maybe there was a way of winning Adam’s interest again.
She tossed her omelet on a plate and walked to the table, joining the two boys. After the first bite, she said casually, “You know, I write books for a living.”
Both boys’ heads snapped up.
“You’re an author?” Nicholas asked, suddenly all ears. “You write, like, real books?”
“What do you write?” Adam wanted to know, his eyes now even wider than before.
She smiled to herself. One nil for Maxim Holt! Of course, she couldn’t tell the boys what her pen name was. It was a closely-guarded secret, particularly because she wrote under a male pseudonym, a necessity in order to be taken seriously in the male-dominated thriller genre. If it came out that the writer behind the Morgan West Bounty Hunter series was a woman, millions of male readers would feel cheated.
“I write thrillers and mysteries. You know—” She winked at Adam. “—with barely any blood and gore, but with lots of suspense.”
“Wow, that’s cool,” Nicholas said. “So, can we have one of your books? I mean just to see what they’re like.”
“I don’t have any on me right now.”
“You can probably order them online somewhere, right?” Adam tossed her a hopeful glance.
“Sure.” What had she started? All she’d wanted was to show the boys that reading didn’t have to be boring, and now they were eager to find out about her books. She’d have to stall them. “I’ll check on that later.”
Adam pointed to a nook where a laptop was sitting. “You can use that computer. There’s no password on it.”
Lilo shoved another forkful of her omelet into her mouth, buying herself a moment before answering. It turned out she didn’t have to, because the door suddenly opened. A young Asian woman with a boy entered.
She stopped, looking surprised. “Oh, hi!”
“Hey, Sebastian!” Adam called out and jumped up. “You wanna play videogames?”
Lilo rose from her chair and walked up to the woman, stretching her hand out and perusing her. Her black hair was straight, and shimmered when she moved, and her almond-shaped eyes were dark and mysterious. She looked exotic, graceful, and gorgeous.
“Hi, I’m Lilo. I’m just visiting.”
“She’s Blake’s friend,” Nicholas interjected. “She stayed overnight.”
At Nicholas’s words, Lilo felt like cringing. This wasn’t the impression she wanted to give everybody: that she was some one-night stand Blake had dragged in.
The woman smiled and took her hand, shaking it briefly. “I’m Ursula, Blake’s sister-in-law.” Her eyes followed her son who was heading for the refrigerator now. “Sebastian, you just ate.”
He looked over his shoulder. “Yeah, but I’m growing.” He ripped the refrigerator door open.
Ursula rolled her eyes. “Can’t argue with that, can I?” She smiled at Lilo. “So, you’re visiting Blake. He didn’t mention that he was expecting anybody.”
“Oh, uh, it was very last minute. I, uh…”
Ursula made a dismissive hand movement. “Don’t worry. I’m not prying. I just wanted to drop off Sebastian. He likes hanging out with these hoodlums here.”
“Ursula, you shouldn’t call us hoodlums,” Adam said in a strict tone. “We’re very well behaved.”
“With a father like Zane, who wouldn’t be?” She winked at the boys, then turned back to Lilo. “Don’t tell me you got roped into watching them.”
“No, Wesley is here while Blake is at the office.”
Ursula’s eyebrows snapped together. “At this time of day?”
Lilo tossed her a surprised look. It was afternoon. Why would she find it strange that Blake was at the office?
“I mean,” Ursula added hastily, “I thought he was on the night shift.”
“Oh, yeah, he is, but we’re looking for my friend. Hannah. She disappeared. That’s why I’m here. I flew in from Omaha yesterday, and Blake is helping me find her.”
“Ah, I see. I didn’t realize you were a client. Well, your case is in the best hands.” She looked at her wrist watch. “I’d better go. I have some shopping to do. I’ll be back in a few hours to pick Sebastian up.”
A howl of disappointment came from Sebastian, who turned a pleading look at his mother. “I thought I could spend the night. They are.” He pointed to Nicholas and Adam.
“Yes, because they somehow managed to convince their parents to go to New Orleans without them.”
Nicholas snickered. “It was a stroke of genius to suggest to Mom that this could be like a second honeymoon for her and Dad.”
Ursula turned her eyes to the ceiling. “How manipulative.” Then she looked back at her son. “How about I pick you up at midnight?” She opened the door and stepped through.
Surprised, Lilo followed her. “How old is Sebastian?”
“Twelve. Why?”
“At his age, I was lucky to be allowed to stay up till nine.”