Page 57 of Finding Lexie
His warm breath brushed her skin, making Lexie long to grab his hand, tow him up to her room, throw him down on her bed and have her wicked way with him. Never in her life had she been this turned on, and he hadn’t done anything but touch her hair.
She was a goner.
Lexie opened her eyes and started to turn around to… She wasn’t sure what she planned to do. But right that second, a homeless man walked by and nearly sideswiped her with the oversized bag he was carrying on his shoulder.
Luckily, Midas already had his hands on her, easily pulling her back against him and out of the way, preventing her from being smacked in the face by the man’s belongings.
“What the fuck?” Midas said under his breath, but Lexie recognized the man and had already taken a step toward him.
“Good morning, Theo,” she said gently. He was one of the regulars at the Food For All building. He was fairly tall at six feet or so, and lanky, with longish brown hair. Most of the time it was unkempt and greasy, making him seem a little scarier somehow; it looked as if it had been quite a while since he’d had a shower. She guessed him to be in his mid-forties. He was also…intense. Had a habit of staring at people, not seeming to know, or care, that he was making them uncomfortable.
Some of that was probably because Theo wasn’t in his right mind. He mumbled under his breath a lot, and Lexie didn’t know the details of his mental illness, but the few times she’d seen him, he didn’t seem to even know where he was.
She couldn’t help but worry about him. She was concerned about all the people she met. It made her job stressful, but she had a driving need to do everything in her power to help those who visited Food For All.
Theo mumbled something under his breath, then turned to meet her gaze. It was one of the first times he’d looked directly at her, and for some reason it startled Lexie, making her take a step back reflexively.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said quite clearly.
“Oh,” Lexie said, not sure how to respond.
“She’s allowed to stand on the sidewalk,” Midas said, shifting her so he was mostly in front of her.
“Food building, not this one,” Theo replied, then lowered his head to stare at the crack in the sidewalk at his feet.
Putting her hand on Midas’s back, she leaned around him and said, “I’m not working today, but Jack and Natalie should be there. They’ll get you some breakfast,” she told him.
“Don’t like waffles,” Theo said robotically.
“There’s lots of other things you can have,” Lexie soothed.
Theo then muttered something else and shuffled down the sidewalk toward the Food For All building without another word.
Lexie felt more than heard Midas sigh in relief.
“He’s harmless,” she said.
“You’ve known him, what, three days?” Midas asked. “You have no idea what he’s capable of.”
“I don’t know what you’re capable of either,” Lexie retorted a little more forcefully than she’d intended. “But you don’t see me being an asshole to you or crossing the street when you’re approaching, do you?”
Midas ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry,” he apologized immediately.
Lexie sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I have a tendency to be protective of the people I serve at work.”
“I’m protective too,” Midas replied. “It’s who I am. I doubt I’ll ever be one hundred percent comfortable with you interacting with people like him.”
“What? People who are hungry and just want something to eat?” she fired back.
Midas didn’t rise to the bait. “No. Mentally ill. They’re unpredictable, and no matter how well you know someone, he could turn on you in a heartbeat.”
Lexie knew he was right. She’d seen it firsthand a time or two throughout the years. But that didn’t mean she had to like it. And you didn’t have to be mentally ill to turn on someone. So-called “normal” people did it every day.
“I would never hurt you. Ever,” Midas said softly, as if he could read her mind. His blue eyes were piercing in their intensity as he stared at her.
Lexie sighed. “I know. I just…there’s no good solution for people like Theo. He needs assistance, obviously, but there’s no one to facilitate getting him that help. He has no money, so it’s not like he can pay for meds or a doctor, anyway. Bringing back the insane asylums of old isn’t the solution. They were horribly abusive and did more harm than good. But letting Theo and those like him simply wander the streets to fend for themselves isn’t the answer either. Neither is arresting him. The prison system is no place for someone with a mental illness. Sometimes I’m the only friendly face they see all day. People are cruel, Midas, and I do what I can to mitigate that.”
He turned abruptly, pulling her against his chest. It startled Lexie, but she melted into him as she rested her forehead on his shoulder.
