I haven’t been in girl clothes in over a month.
God, how I miss shapely clothes and bright colors.
The last time she had worn this particular dress was sometime in high school, probably at a football game.
“I wonder if it still fits me,” she mused.
The sleeveless lavender shift dress was gauzy, ultra-short and leggy, with a high waistline that screamed two thousand and seven. Alexandra could not resist dropping the suspenders from her shoulders, unbuttoning the shirt and shimmying out of her pants. She slipped the dress over her head and let it fall down her torso.
Gleefully racing over to the sooty mirror, her eyes widened at the effective transformation. The person staring back at her was not quite Lexxi Rock, but it was close. She was not styled to perfection, dressed up in designer digs, or sporting impossibly high heels, but looked younger, freer. There was no makeup to hide the almost invisible freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her hair was a tousled mess, but she found it cute.
She grinned at her reflection and burst out laughing. Lifting up her heel, she looked at the black Chuck Taylor’s paired with the lavender dress in the mirror.
“Hey, the shoes are a nice touch.”
Out of nowhere, there was a loud thump downstairs. She spun around to face the bedroom door. Standing still, she strained to hear. The house remained absolutely silent, so she chalked it up to the old place settling. She turned back to her reflection with a dismissive shrug.
“Note to self,” she whispered. “I have to make this one of my new looks when I get back to LA.”
Alexandra heard a door close, and distant footsteps that began to slowly clomp up the stairs. There was definitely someone in the house. Her eyes darted around her bedroom in search of a weapon, just in case it was not the cleanup crew. It could be anyone. It was no secret in the neighborhood that the house would be vacant. She was not about to be caught unprepared by a potential burglar. She grabbed the dusty baseball bat forgotten in a corner and hefted it to her shoulder, ready to swing.
CHAPTER FIVE
ALEXANDRA stood near the door ready to swing the baseball bat and inflict some damage if the need arose.
“Alex, is that you up there?” Bash called out.
The baseball bat dropped from her anxious fingers at the sound of Sebastian’s voice. Her heart skipped a beat, and she now stared in horror at the girl in the mirror.
“Holy fuck!” she mouthed in alarm.
She quickly tried to pull the dress up over her head and it snagged on the silver chain she was wearing. She managed to tear it free with some more colorful expletives as Bash got closer. He was walking up to the third floor now, and sheer panic set in.
What in hell am I going to tell him now?
She shouted out, “Hang on a sec, Bash! I had a bean burrito for lunch, and I’ve got killer gas, dude! You do not want to come in here just yet.”
Alexandra bought herself some time with the shameless lie. Her shirt and trousers had been flung around thoughtlessly, and now sat somewhere in the pile of clothes from the closet. She dug through the pile, coughing as she searched high and low to find them. Once found, it seemed to take an eternity to put them back on.
Bash was laughing so hard, standing right outside her bedroom door.
Crap. The door isn’t fully closed? Shit.
Silently cursing at herself for being so careless, she could only hope he did not look through the open crack to see her jumping around in her underwear, trying to yank the damned pants up her legs.
“I promise I won’t judge you,” he chuckled. “Are you all right in there?”
He tapped on the door, and it gently swayed wide open. Alexandra stood there, chest heaving, trying to catch her breath. That had to be some record, getting dressed in twenty seconds flat.
Bash stepped into the bedroom, looking around. “I’m sure there’s something in my medicine cabinet that can take care of that stomach for you.”
She flashed him a nervous, embarrassed smile. “No thanks. I’ll be fine.”
“What are you doing here? I drove up as Rosa was leaving, and noticed you going inside. I got a bit worried when you didn’t come back out.”
“I’m just, just, um…” she stammered, feeling guilty and distracted by how everything the man wore made him so damned sexy, including this simple pair of khaki slacks and the polo shirt.
I can’t even talk around him now. Christ.
“Are you packing up those things on the bed?”
“Yes. That’s it.”
“I can help you with that, if you want. There’s something about physio that makes me appreciate the shit I can still do, now that there are so many other things that I can’t.” He sighed. “This damn knee is a real headache.”
“You look like you’re getting around a lot better than you were this morning,” she pointed out.
“Yes. It’s not as sore as this morning. All that stretching on those machines warmed it up a bit.”
Alexandra turned slightly and noticed the dress she had tried on was now tossed across the pile of clothes on her bed. Wincing at the carelessly left clue, she took a slow step to the right to put her body between the dress and Sebastian’s view.
“Good. Well, I dropped in to see how much progress the cleaning crew made today. I plan to take care of all the renovation details until my uncle gets released. While I was here, I figured I would check to see what clothes I could still use if I need to meet with construction companies or contractors. I got this, man. I don’t need much. You can go on next door. I’ll be over in a second.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she waved him off. “I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay, cool. Holler if you need anything.”
The second she heard Bash descending the second floor stairs to the main floor, Alexandra rubbed her temple and collapsed dramatically into her bed. She stretched her body out like a chalk outline, arms raised in surrender and legs at awkward angles. The laughter that bubbled up was inevitable.
“Are you trying to get yourself found out?” she asked softly, gazing up at the ceiling.
Maybe I am.
***
It was easier in theory than in practice to avoid this man who let Alexandra share his living space.
She woke up hungry the next morning, and needed to find something to eat right away. Opening her door a crack, the peered out and listened for Bash. Nothing moved. She did not hear a sound. She hurriedly tiptoed downstairs, discovering which steps creaked and which ones did not as she headed down to the kitchen, hoping he was not up yet. After having seen him in just a towel, she couldn’t predict what her sex-deprived body might do if he was around and almost naked again.
Sneaking around the place got tricky too, considering she was not familiar with the layout of his house. Finally finding the kitchen, she opened each cabinet with her body tensed up and eyes nervously sealed shut, praying the hinges would not squeal. Sebastian’s pantry looked about as well stocked as any bachelor’s.
What was I expecting?
She pulled down a box of cereal and gave it a shake, only to hear nothing but crumbs rattling around inside. A glance in the fridge revealed a ton of stuff that required cooking, and she was not the world’s best cook. Sighing, she pulled out a carton of orange juice, avoiding the bacon and eggs, and searched out something easier to fill her growling stomach.
“Okay. Here we go,” she whispered when she found a box of toaster pastries in the back of a cabinet. She tossed a couple of them into the countertop toaster oven. The ticking of the timer was a quiet tap, certainly not loud enough to be of concern. Relaxing at last, she found a glass and poured a cup of orange juice from the carton, waiting for the pastry to warm. After a few minutes without a ding, she checked it. The toaster was not even hot.
“Oh, come on.” She blew out an exasperated breath, her anxious eyes darting to the kitchen entrance in case Sebastian was coming.
It’s
fate. Seriously, fate hates me.
Fate is conspiring to put me and Sebastian in the same room, but I am master of my own destiny, and I’m not about to let it run me like this.
Swearing, she yanked the toaster oven forward to examine it.
I haven’t broken the thing just by touching it, have I?
There had to be a reason it would not work. Maybe it never worked. She picked it up and shook it slightly.
“You’re up early.”
Fumbling with the oven, Alexandra swiftly shoved it back on the countertop all in one move.
“Bash!”
Like I said, fate.
Tensing, she watched him as he approached with a sleepy smile. She swallowed hard, trying not to notice he was only in pajama pants. His chest was bare, and a fuzzy beard covered his cheeks and chin, making him look extra…edible.
“Try plugging it in,” he told her, reaching for the dangling cord as he got closer.
Fuck. I must look ridiculous.
“What? I don’t get it. I heard it ticking before.”
“That’s the clock.”
Crap.
Suppressing a groan, she quickly plugged in the device and set the timer. “Thank you,” she answered awkwardly.
Alexandra tried not to gawk as Sebastian leaned on the countertop directly in front of her, launching in into a lazy conversation about his plans for the day. She barely registered a word he said, finding herself staring at his tanned skin with something like craving. She was not even hungry any more. What she needed, she could not have. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
Sebastian touched her forearm. “Alex? You okay? I asked if you wanted to try beating me on the video games later tonight.”
“Yeah. Yes, sure,” she answered. “I need to look into some construction companies so they can start work on the repairs at Dad’s place, but later tonight is fine.”
To avoid too much more interaction, she excused herself, stealing off with the pastry and darting back up to her room to eat.
***
Later that morning, Alexandra left the guestroom again to run downstairs for a bottled water. On leaving the kitchen, she ran right into Sebastian’s chest, although this time he was wearing a shirt.
Bash grabbed her by the shoulders and steadied her. “Hey, there. Watch out… are you okay?”
“Sorry,” she mumbled, pulling away and scurrying toward the staircase.
“Wait,” Bash called after her. “Did you find that information you needed? To get the repairs done?”
“I’m still working on it,” she shouted back.
“Well, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Will do.”
Alexandra did not find out anything about the repairs because she had not quite started looking yet. She had spent most of the morning on the internet, fixated on just how much damage the contrived Lexxi Rock trip to the French Riviera had done. The media had a field day with it. She returned to her spot in front of her laptop when she got back to the guestroom.
Five minutes later, she stumbled across another batch of lurid headlines. There were more and more articles she refused to read in full because they were all horrendous.
“This is unbelievable. ‘Lexxi Rock All About Fame, Not Fam’, and ‘Lexxi Rock Forgets her roots to Frolic with the French?’ Who comes up with this shit?”
Irritated, she grabbed her phone to call Rick.
It’s time I fix this before it gets any worse.
Eventually, she needed to get back in Los Angeles. She didn’t want this hanging over her head.
“Lexxi?” Rick answered.
“Rick, hi! I’m glad I caught you. I wanted to let you know everything is coming together.”
“Is Max okay?”
“Yes. Dad’s a lot better than we expected. He’s back to being his old self, thanks for asking. They’re keeping him at the hospital to be sure he doesn’t relapse.”
“That’s a relief, dear. Do you need me to make any special arrangements for him before you leave?”
“I’m taking care of those at the moment.”
“Good. So does this mean you’re heading back soon? Tomorrow would be great.”
“Not quite, Rick, but I’ll definitely be home in time to finish the song list for the album. We’ll have more than enough time to make the planned release date.”
“That’s my girl! I knew you’d see the light! Los Angeles doesn’t have a thing to offer without Lexxi Rock, honey. When will you get here?”
Her gregarious manager would not stop with the question of her exact date of return, and Alexandra had to laugh at his enthusiasm. She almost forgot how frustrated she was the last time they spoke. Almost, but not quite.
“I hope you realize how much you upset me during our last conversation, Rick Bernstein. You know I hate getting into it with you, but last time…you really made me feel like you couldn’t care less about what I have going on here in Tucson, like work was more important to you than Dad.”
“You know me, doll. I might ruffle your feathers, but I’m not in this to clip your wings. This is just how the business is. There are no stand-ins in the real business, hun. I can’t sweeten reality any more than to tell you it’s either you show up, or you don’t. You’re free to make whatever decisions you want to make. I’m just happy you’re almost ready to fly back to LA. So, when will you touch down?”
Rick covered the phone and shouted muffled orders to someone in the background. Something that sounded like, “Get TMZ and Celebrity Buzz on the line.”
Alexandra rolled her eyes. There was no changing this guy. Her career was his passion at the moment.
She sighed. “I initially had my flight scheduled for the end of this week, but I may need more time.”
“A week is allowable, but anything else—”
“I thought you weren’t clipping my wings,” she reminded him.
He laughed. “All right, all right! What do you want to do?”
“I was just online reading some of the trolls on my Twitter feed, and I had an epiphany, Rick.”
“How do you mean?”
“With everyone bashing Lexxi for partying in the Riviera while Dad was ill, don’t you think I could make a brief appearance out here in Arizona? I want my true fans to know I’m not completely heartless. Dad almost died, after all.”
“Sure. That could work. Listen, I’ve been giving your return considerable thought, too. Do you know what occurred to me? You don’t look a thing like the old you. I haven’t seen you yet, so I can only imagine, but you cut off your hair, Lexxi. Your perfect purple hair!”
“True, but I’m already over it. Plus, we were talking about new looks for the new album, right? I bet we could merge some of the old with the new.”
“I’m not so sure about doing that right away, honey. We can talk about it further down the road. Let me think about it and get back to you, but right now your fans need to see the Lexxi Rock they know and love. I took the liberty of hiring a wigmaker to recreate your old hairstyle. I was planning on giving it to you when you made it back to LA, but if you’ll do an appearance in Tucson, I can ship it out to you.”
“That’s why it’s hard to hate you, you tyrant. You keep all my bases covered. Send it by overnight courier under the name Alex Roberts. The sooner it gets here the better.”
“Text me the address and consider it done.”
“Will do. Thanks Rick.”
“You don’t know how relieved I am that you got in touch with me, Lexxi. All right, I’ve got venues to call, interviews to schedule and people I need to work on to get back in their good books. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Great.”
“You know you just tripled my workload, don’t you?” he joked.
“Yes, and you love it.”
“I’m not sure I would put it that way, but be glad I’m not angry.”
“You know you’re ecstatic. Come on, admit it, Rick.”
�
�Maybe a bit. Oh, by the way, a certain someone who shall not be named has been asking around about you.”
“Let me guess. My least favorite cheating country crooner?”
“Yes. Wilkes Barracks, your annoying and conniving ex-asshole, pardon my French. The last I heard, he was on a Nashville TV station, confessing that the little fling he had with Lydia Daniels was a cold-feet reaction to his plan to propose to you. Did you hear about that?”
“Dammit. He’s gone public with that garbage?”
“The man is an opportunist, Lexxi. Always was, and always will be, but who am I to meddle with these punks you seem to hover around?”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. I have horrible taste in men. Gosh. I’m not looking forward to bumping into him when I get to LA. Have you told him anything?”
“Only that you’re out of the country enjoying an extended vacation. I don’t know what the label has told him, but I wouldn’t put it past them to stand behind him on his engagement story. Should I have told him more?”
“No. You did well. He knows how to reach me. The bastard has tried to convince me I’m the one for him. It’s nonsense, and I already told him something to that effect. He just does not want to hear what I have to say. Anyway, Rick, I have to go. I need to get organized on this end. I’m so ready to do a Lexxi appearance here in Tucson! I’ll be in touch with you in a few days, okay?”
Alexandra got off the phone and stared at the guest bed. Just two nights ago she had been writhing in that bed with dreams about being with Sebastian Sullivan. Now, it was time to make this move and let Bash know who she was. She was not his fantasy lover.
What will happen to us when I reveal Alex Roberts is Lexxi Rock?
CHAPTER SIX
SEBASTIAN picked up their used dishes from the dining room and took them into the kitchen. Dinner with Alexandra was unnaturally quiet. She was distant, distracted, and could barely keep eye contact with him this evening. He quickly washed the dishes and put them to dry on the rack, mentally running through everything that had happened. Before the fire, they had this connection. As crazy as it seemed, her disguise made it easier for him to get to know her. Now under his roof, she would not get anywhere near him.
Reveal: A Contemporary Romance (Billionaire Rock Star Romance Book 2) Page 3
