Page 62 of Finding Lexie
Midas held out his arms. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Lexie settled into his arms without fanfare, squirming and burrowing until she was comfortable. Midas had never been so thankful to have chairs that reclined than he was right that moment.
“I have to say, you’re much more comfortable to lie against without all the stuff on your vest.”
He chuckled. “You say that now, but you didn’t seem to have any trouble falling asleep on me in that hole.”
“True,” she said with a small sigh. “It’s so hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago,” she said softly.
Midas reached up and pulled the tie out of her hair, something he’d been aching to do all afternoon. He smoothed the locks away from her face, then ran his hand over them again and again. He petted her hair absently and felt her sigh of contentment against his neck.
“I wonder how Astur is doing.”
“At risk of making you fall for Baker and not me, I talked to him about Astur and her family,” Midas said.
Lexie lifted her head and stared at him. “You did?”
“Yeah. I promised Shermake I’d do what I could for them, so Baker is working on something for me.”
“What?”
“I want to sponsor Shermake, Cumar, and Hodan if they want to go to a university. East Africa University has a campus there in Galkayo. They specialize in computer science and engineering. There are also a few health science programs too. But if they aren’t interested in those, they can go to Puntland State University, also in Galkayo, or they can choose to go to a residential program at Mogadishu University.”
Lexie’s eyes were huge in her face at that point.
“Breathe, Lex, before you pass out,” Midas said, mildly concerned.
“You…why…oh my gosh, Midas!”
“I owe Shermake and his mother everything. They gave you a place to hide until I could get you out of there.”
“They gave you a place to hide too,” she told him, collapsing back onto him.
“No. Astur didn’t give a shit about me,” he said. “If she’d run into just me in that alley, she would’ve gone back inside her shop without a second thought.”
Lexie didn’t comment, which made Midas sigh. She knew he was right.
“I got to thinking about what Shermake said. About wanting to learn to do things for himself, to provide for his family and his countrymen without having to rely on charity. And while I can’t save the world, I thought maybe I could help Shermake become the best man he could be, so he could in turn do some good for the world.”
“Shit, now I’m crying,” Lexie said with a huge sniff.
“Don’t cry,” Midas soothed as he cupped the back of her head and held her against him. He loved how her hair latched onto his fingers as if it had a mind of its own. “I don’t know what Baker’s been able to find out for me yet. First, he has to find Shermake and his family. I don’t even know their last name. Then he has to talk to the universities and find out what the process is for providing a scholarship. Then set up a trust for the kids so the money will continue to grow and be enough when the younger ones are ready to go to college. And if they decide they don’t want to attend, the money is still theirs to do what they want with.”
Midas felt Lexie wipe her face on his shirt, and he chuckled. “Did you just rub snot on me?” he teased.
“No,” she mumbled. Then, “Maybe.”
Fuck, he loved this woman.
Whoa. Love… Was that even possible after such a short period of time?
Yeah, it totally was.
“Knock yourself out. My shirt’ll wash,” he told her.
She sniffed for a few minutes, but eventually Lexie lifted her head once more. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red, but Midas had still never seen anything as precious in his life.
“No one’s ever done something like that for me before,” she said softly.
