Stranger things have happened, but not around here.
She took his hand, and he held the handshake a touch longer than he should have, mostly to watch her blush a deeper shade of red.
“Yeah, um, I’m visiting for a few weeks. I mean, I’m here to help look after him and stuff. He’s been sick, you know, so….yeah…”
“I heard. Sorry he’s going through a tough time. Please send him my regards.”
“I will.”
“So did you say you’re here to look after him? On your own? You look a little young for that. How old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen?”
“What? No, man, I’m twenty—um, twenty-one.”
Right.
Alexandra Storme was two years younger than him, but it probably occurred to her that she could never pass for a twenty-four-year-old guy. Sebastian stepped back, realizing she was going to stick to her story—and a crappy one at that. He was not going to blow her cover.
He nodded his head to leave and replied, “Well, it was nice meeting you, Alex. See you around.” He was tempted to wink at her, just to see what kind of reaction he would get after her blush-fest, but thought better of it. She probably had enough to deal with already.
As he made his way back to his house, the UPS truck pulled up. He waited at the bottom of the front steps to accept the delivery. He paused before heading inside, and looked over at the house next door. Alex was climbing into Rosa’s SUV just as the UPS driver left.
He smiled with intrigue, walking into his place and shutting the door behind him.
Well, this is going to be interesting.
CHAPTER NINE
ALEXANDRA labored up the front steps of her father’s house. Rosa followed behind. The two of them were loaded down with armfuls of shopping bags.
“Do you really think you can pull off this reverse-drag, dress-like-a-guy thing for the entire time you’re here?” Rosa asked, passing her to unlock the front door. She did not seem entirely convinced.
“I’ll have to be careful, but I think I can do it. Think about it. No one knows who I am. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve walked a mall without being swarmed for autographs, pictures and God knows what?”
“It won’t be easy, Alexandra. The longer you keep it up, the more likely someone will figure it out.”
“True, but maybe by then, Daddy will be better, and it won’t matter.”
“All right. I hope it works, honey, for your sake. Let’s get these bags right upstairs.”
They climbed the two sets of stairs to get up to Alexandra’s old room.
“By the way,” Alexandra continued, “I have to say, I can really appreciate what actors must go through now. I never knew how hard it would be to constantly remind myself to walk, talk, and act like a twenty-one-year-old guy.” She grunted and kicked open the door to her room. “Ugh! This stuff is heavy. Dammit, see what I mean? Guys wouldn’t say that. Okay, just put everything down right here.”
They dumped everything into a pile in the middle of the bed. Rosa stood back and chuckled as Alexandra went through everything. The shopping bags mostly contained her wardrobe for whatever duration of time she would remain in Tucson. With her petite build, her figure could fool the unsuspecting if she dressed in loose-fitting clothes. Rosa complained the whole ride home that she couldn’t figure out why Alexandra still needed to go incognito, now that she had made it safely to Tucson.
“I just wonder if it’s necessary. In the few days since you’ve touched down, you’ve barely left the hospital, and you travel discreetly by private car or with me. Couldn’t you wear reasonably chic, fashionable women’s clothes? I’m sure you wouldn’t be recognized as Lexxi Rock.”
“Oh, you don’t know how persistent the paparazzi can be, Rosa. One time, I had a particularly dedicated creep follow me around for three weeks without me even knowing. It bordered on stalking. No, wait. It was definitely stalking, because Lilly found him swimming in my pool one morning while I was on tour. After the court put him on a restraining order, do you want to know how he kept it up? He wore a fat suit…that’s right, a fat suit. He dressed up as an old lady, hiding his camera in an oversize handbag! I never even would’ve found out, if he didn’t park his same beat-up old Lincoln on the hill outside my gate every day.” She rolled her eyes and grumbled, “Paps scum.”
Rosa smiled. “Well, that must have been an interesting experience.”
“If that’s what you want to call it. I know it seems like I’m going to great lengths here, but I don’t want those piranhas swimming around right now. I have enough on my mind without having to worry about what they’re printing or that they’re swarming around the hospital, trying to get into Dad’s room for an interview, or just for a photo of me. And the problem is once one of them sinks in their teeth, the freak show turns into hundreds of them, all invading Tucson. They’ll be everywhere, including your place, Rosa.” Alexandra sat on the bed. “I think it’s best if Rick keeps the story going that I’m having a sunny, fun vacation out of the country.”
She upended a bag filled with men’s cologne, sticks of deodorant, and hair gel for her new shorter look. Uncapping one of the colognes, she took a whiff. She coughed at the strong scent and quickly held it at arm’s length. “God, that stinks…but I can’t keep showing up around the nurses and doctors smelling like roses and lilacs. Let me tell you, Rosa, this has to be as close to method acting as I’ll get. Maybe I should go into acting after this. I’m going to have to call Viv and let her know what I’m doing. She’ll be so proud.”
She snickered at the thought of what Viv would have to say about all of this. With that idea, she stopped what she was doing, grabbed her phone, and took a quick selfie for the next time they talked. Vivienne would appreciate the dramatic lengths she was going to, if no one else did.
“Okay. Have it your way. It does look like fun, I have to admit.” Rosa laughed and stood up. “I have a few things to take care of at the office for your father. By the way, Alexandra, I’d be happy to go over any of the legal paperwork with you when you’re ready. Your father has detailed instructions prepared…about his…his last wishes, as far as the business work is concerned. He set it all straight before his condition worsened. He wanted you to take a look at it at some point. There’s also a new acquisition deal he wanted you to look at. Everything’s in his office, if you get a chance.”
Alexandra swallowed thickly. For a few minutes, she got to pretend like the situation was not as dire as it was, but reality always intruded.
She forced a weak smile, and murmured, “Thank you, Rosa. I’ll get around to it. In the meantime, I’ll get these things put away. I’m going to see Daddy again in a few hours.”
She crinkled her nose at the pile on the bed. Rosa accepted the cue to leave and ducked out of the bedroom. Alexandra turned back to the shopping bags and shoeboxes with a frown. Spending the morning scouring racks at the mall for looks to fit the style of a twenty-something-year-old male without being too over the top was a worthwhile chore. Now she had a number of different jeans and slacks, t-shirts, button down shirts, sneakers, loafers, fitted caps, and hats. She especially liked the fedoras, which explained why she was staring down at six of them. She had even purchased men’s sunglasses, watches, and a wallet—anything that would help her transform herself. It would have been funny, if it weren’t for the reasons she was doing all of it—to protect Dad.
She glanced in the mirror of her rustic blue dresser. It reflected someone almost unrecognizable. She had coaxed her unruly black hair to go every which way in the front, and a professional hairstylist at the mall cleaned it up with layers in the back. It molded to the roundness of her head. The person in the mirror wore a button-down shirt with grey trousers cut off at the shin, and black combat boots. The only concession to her true gender was she still sported black nail polish on trimmed nails. She kind of liked the look, and wondered idly if she could incorporate something similar into the photoshoot for her new album.
&nbs
p; As she stared back at the heap of stuff on her bed, her forehead furrowed. She realized just how much work she had made for herself. It meant clearing out the old things in her closet—stuff that was left behind from her high school years. There would never be enough room for the new things otherwise. Her old bedroom and closet were not nearly as large as her room back home in Beverly Hills, not to mention that the place back home came with a maid.
Ugh. With me here, Dad’s going to need a maid soon.
She was still grateful. The homesick feeling she had in Los Angeles was gone, and it felt good to be back in the cozy comfort of familiar territory. Her room had not changed. The carpet was still a buff shade of off-white, the walls still painted buttercream. Her father had not done a thing in her old bedroom. The stability was a good thing at a time like this.
The dresser and bed were the same distressed cobalt blue color. The armchair and ottoman were also the same—a floral print her mother had fallen in love with. The effect was a country, shabby-chic theme, one hundred percent her mother’s doing. Beneath the stack of clothes, the king sized bed was covered with a handmade quilt in pastel hues. It was the last thing her mother had picked out for her shortly before she passed away.
There were framed pieces of art Alexandra painted back when art dominated her long list of hobbies. She smiled at the sight of the novice brush strokes and amateurish design.
I thought I was the shit back then.
Along with music, as a teenager she dabbled in creative writing, had a stint where she wanted to be a fashion model, and even thought she might have tried out becoming a dancer for a short while.
In the end, music won out because it was the one thing she could not go a day without. Her mother had once said Alexandra got her creative spark from her, and her brain for music theory from her father. A touch from each of us, she had said.
Looking around, she saw the influences of both her parents in the room. There was a shelf full of the knickknacks her father would buy her on his various business trips around the world. The trunk at the foot of her bed was filled with items the three of them put together to remember various stages of her life. There was the first rifle she had ever shot on a hunting trip with Daddy; photographs of the first cake she had helped her mother create when Alexandra was five years old.
In contrast to the lonely, spacious mansion out in Beverly Hills, she felt she had so much more in this room than out there. She contemplated taking it all back with her when the time came, but shook her head at the thought. She was not ready to consider that possibility, or even make a guess as to when she might have to go back. It meant possibly losing her reason for being here in Tucson in the first place. She glanced around her room again, ready to finish working on the pile of clothes.
“Nothing ever gets done thinking about how much you don’t want to do it, Lex,” she scolded herself.
Reaching into the closet, she grasped the first handful of hangers and threw them into a large plastic container. She would have to make a few trips to lug the old things down to the basement. As she planned, she became lost in thought. She wondered, like Rosa suggested, exactly how long she could keep up the ruse. So far she had only encountered her father’s overly friendly, and ridiculously hot neighbor. She was not sure how convincing she had been with him. He didn’t call her bluff either, which had to mean she looked the part. After potentially giving herself away by gawking at his scorching hot body and ravishing face, she was sure he would think something was strange.
Damn, there’s so much to gawk at on that man.
Just thinking of the neighbor, she felt a touch of hot tension at the center of her body. That man was delicious eye candy. When he had strolled up to the porch in his tattered blue jeans and black t-shirt to say hello, a ready smile on his sensual lips, she was tempted to bolt into the house to avoid contact all together. She had stuck around just to see him up close. His deep-set, dark brown eyes were mesmerizing, even in her memory. Hiding her instantaneous attraction to the man was a bit awkward because Alex Roberts was a “man.” Meeting the neighbor, however was definitely one point where she seriously considered giving up the act.
“Be reasonable, Lex,” she reminded herself out loud. “You can’t change your stripes for every hot body and ruggedly sexy face. That’s what got you into trouble the last time…and the time before that.”
She thought about Wilkes. No, not even the sexy neighbor next door was going to be enough to distract her from staying the course.
Time to know my limits and cut my credit cards.
She valued this newfound anonymity and her father’s privacy too much.
The show must go on.
With an exhausted sigh, she took a break from clearing the closet and stared at the five oversize containers stuffed with her old belongings. They ate up almost all the floor space in the small room, and she still had a few more old things hanging in the closet.
“How in hell am I going to get by in this tiny room?” she asked out loud.
She did not mind the work clearing out the closet, but one look at what was left made her realize she would have to finish up later. She wanted to get back to the hospital to have some time with her father before ICU visiting hours were over. Not knowing if his condition would worsen, she hated being away. She looked at the time on her phone. She was running behind schedule. Any minute, her private driver would pull up to take her over.
“Alright, let’s get this downstairs.”
She grunted from the exertion of trying to lift one of the heavy containers from her room and down to the basement. It was piled to the brim with folded clothing, and would not raise more than an inch above the floor. She rolled up her sleeves and licked the sweat beading over her lips to try again. It did not work. She could not pick it up.
After a few more attempts, she gave up.
“Rosa!” she called out, thinking between the two of them, they could get it down the stairs. In the back of her mind, Alexandra knew she was fooling herself. Her bedroom was on the third floor. At the same time, she refused to let this box of clothes beat her down. “Rosa!”
When no one answered, she remembered Rosa had already left for the office.
“Crap.” she growled in frustration and jogged down the stairs to see if the driver had arrived yet. She was sure he wouldn’t mind helping.
Just as she opened the front door to check outside, she spotted the neighbor taking out the trash. Bash. His name was Bash. Even his name was smoking hot.
Stop it, Lex. Just stop it.
She smiled and walked down the granite steps.
“Excuse me,” she yelled out to him.
Bash looked up. He seemed startled. Their stares connected, and she felt an immediate thrill.
Mmmm. He’s so tasty.
The way his V-neck t-shirt clung to his chest, she could barely look away from his chiseled pecs. She licked her lips without realizing it at first.
God, this man gets hotter every time I see him.
It took everything in her to settle the sexual tension and play the part of nephew Alex. She snapped out of the trance, and cleared her throat to deepen her voice.
“Hey man, could you give me a hand getting some boxes down to the basement…”
Alexandra realized something a moment too late—a twenty-one-year-old guy would not ask another guy to help him carry boxes. A fridge, maybe; a few boxes, not a chance. She flushed from embarrassment.
“Actually, you know what? Never mind.”
She turned to go back inside, but in her periphery, she saw that her neighbor was already headed her way.
Shit.
CHAPTER TEN
SEBASTIAN raised his eyebrows and smiled at the sight of her.
Yes. Lexxi Rock is definitely checking me out.
He grinned at the thought, taking long, deliberate strides across the lawn separating their properties to catch up to her. There was no doubt she was enjoying the merchandise, the way she licked her lips as sh
e stared at him. When he got closer, Alexandra turned to him and shrunk back up her front steps.
“No, man. It’s cool. I got this.”
“I don’t mind at all,” he replied lightly. “I’m used to Max asking for a little help around the house. All those stairs can be hell.”
He walked up the steps and across the porch toward the reluctant Alexandra. He was more than willing to assist the girl in disguise, if for no other reason than to spend some time with her, and maybe learn a thing or two. He had been thinking about Alexandra Storme from the moment he realized she had made it back home. In the week or so since she had arrived, she was proving to be elusive. Sebastian had been back and forth to the orthopedist, almost never home at the same time she was at Max’s place. It had to be sheer luck that he was taking out the trash at exactly the right moment for their paths to cross.
She backed into the open door and pointed at the stairs. “Um, are you sure? They’re all the way up on the third floor in my…in my cousin’s room.”
He nod, ignoring the fact that ‘Alex’ was sleeping in the girlish bedroom for the duration of ‘his’ stay. She blushed as if she had just realized how unusual that was. Sebastian climbed the stairs behind her, his eyes fixed on the womanly curve of her bottom in the masculine gray slacks. He caught her faint smell of masculine, woodsy cologne. It was out of place on her skin, but fit the persona she was portraying. He could easily imagine her wearing something sweet and floral.
“How’s Mr. Storme been holding up?” he asked, to make conversation.
They crested the top step of the second floor and carried on to the staircase that led to the third. Alex looked over her shoulder, a shy, concerned expression on her face
“Not too well right now, but I’m hopeful. They have him on a breathing machine and a steroid drip, but to be honest, nothing is helping this bout of pneumonia.”
He was stunned, and didn’t know what to say at first. He had no idea Max was that sick.
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