HERO (The Complete Series)

by Bella Love-Wins

  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.

  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 box
es, 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 9

  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 she 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.

  “I’m sorry to hear, Alex,” he told her.

  She shrugged casually, leading him over to her bedroom. She had to be going through a lot, with her father so ill. He remembered her at fourteen, a shy teenager sitting under the massive oak tree in the backyard of her house, crying her eyes out the day of her mother’s wake. Sebastian was tempted to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder. He didn’t know her well enough to do that, so he left it alone.

  “It’s these boxes here,” she said, changing the subject.

  He picked up the tremor in her voice and looked over at her. Alexandra had turned her face away, but not quickly enough to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. Without speaking, she gestured at the containers from the open bedroom door. Sebastian moved past her, respecting her attempts to be strong at a time like this. He was not the type to pry, and she probably wanted her privacy.

  He easily picked up the container with one hand. Placing it back down, he stacked another on top and walked back to the stairwell. Only his knee protested from climbing all those stairs. He ignored it. He could take a little pain for Alexandra.

  “Did you say you wanted these down in the basement?”

  “Yes. Thanks.” She cleared her throat and hurried ahead to show him the way. As she went downstairs, she asked “So, you know my uncle pretty well, do you?”

  “More or less, yes.”

  “How long have you lived next door?”

  “I’ve owned the house next door for about three years,” he answered, not wanting to tell her too much.

  That was just a little lie.

  He did not want to put Alexandra on guard by admitting he had lived there almost all his life, except for the four years he lived in his own apartment before his parents passed. It was clear she did not remember him. As to whether that fact was a good or bad thing, Sebastian was on the fence. He, on the other hand, remembered intimate details about her.

  “He’ll be happy to hear you’re thinking about him. People think my dad—umm, my uncle is bit of a recluse, but he’s just really busy and very private.” Alexandra brushed her hair back from her forehead and opened the basement door, switching on the light and directing him through the organized storage area. “You can set them down over there.”

  “Got it.” He put down the box and turned to her, suddenly very aware they were alone and that she was standing awkwardly close to him. Close enough that he saw her long eyelashes glistening with unshed tears.

  Damn, she’s gorgeous.

  Her eyes looked distant, like she was lost in thought and did not notice their proximity. Without thinking, Sebastian reached out and brushed away a tear on her face with his thumb. For a split second, all she did was look up at him. Their eyes locked again, and Alexandra stepped back.

  “Whoa!” She threw up her hands defensively.

  “I’m sorry,” he said.

  What the hell was I thinking?

  He took a step back, caught off balance because he knew who she was, and that she wanted to keep her ‘Alex’ cover intact. No straight man would reach out and touch another man’s face like that.

  Shit.

  “You just…you seem stressed out by what’s going on with your uncle,” he said, trying to explain his poor judgement in touching her that way. He stepped back again, almost falling backward onto the container he had just placed on the floor. “If you, uh, if you need to talk about it…or you know, whatever…I’m right next door. I’m off work for a while. I’m available. I mean…I’m there if you need me…to talk…or whatever.”

  Fuck. That did not come out right.

  Sebastian shook his head at his stupidity the second Alexandra turned and headed back to the stairs.

  “Don’t worry about it,” she said gruffly. She moved her hand to the spot on her face where his thumb had grazed her cheek. She let out a long breath. Sebastian had crossed the line. She probably didn’t know what to think. He didn’t either.

  “I’ll get the rest of those boxes. You just relax in the living room or something,” he said nervously. He put his hands in his pockets for the walk back upstairs. She was way too tempting. God knows what else his hands would touch on their own if he didn’t keep them in check.

  That was the problem. He knew who she was, and to him she was all woman. Everything about her was Alexandra Storme, even in those boyish clothes. He had walked the halls of the same high school as she had, fantasizing she would eventually notice him. He remembered the way she used to laugh—out loud and uninhibited. She didn’t care who saw her, no matter whether she was with her friends, in her backyard, with the popular crowd, or hanging around football games and school dances.

  He could tell when she would sometimes get that lonely, sad-eyed expression while sitting at her desk in the few classes they shared, when she thought no one was watching. He knew the girl who was fierce at one time and vulnerable at others. She had grown up into exactly the same. Who else would have the balls to try and do a gender swap just to hide in plain sight?

  Still, for all the toughness she put up as a front, she still had a soft side, and probably needed someone to be there for her—for ‘Alex’.

  Sebastian brought down the last three boxes. He didn’t say much more, not wanting to say or do the wrong thing again, and also because an idea was forming in his head. Alexandra Storme was an only child. Her mother had passed, and her father’s was in poor health. Other than Rosa, Sebast
ian had not seen anyone else stop in to visit.

  Where are all of Alexandra’s friends? Or Lexxi Rock’s throngs of celebrity pals?

  She was probably feeling more alone than ever, and if she dared reveal she was in Tucson and not on the French Riviera, the front lawn would be littered with fans and paparazzo.

  Alexandra, or ‘Alex’—whoever she wants to be—will need an ear, and maybe a supportive shoulder to lean on.

  And I’m the perfect guy to be both…without blowing her cover.

  He marched back up the basement steps and through the kitchen, full of resolve as he met her at the front door. Alexandra slapped his hand in an effort to give a more manly handshake.

  How cute.

  Sebastian was certain ‘cute’ was not at all what Alexandra was going for, but that handshake was not the least bit manly.

  “Thanks, man,” she said. “Hey, where do you work out? I’ve been, uh, thinking about getting a weight bench to bulk up.”

  Sebastian smiled. A weight bench would not help. Alexandra was a petite woman. She would never really pass for a guy.

  “Not a problem,” he answered, avoiding the weight bench question for the sake of her dignity, and to keep himself from laughing. “Hey, while I’m thinking of it, I know you’re busy at the hospital with your uncle, but if you’re free this weekend, there’s a get together at my place with a few of my friends and their families. You’re welcome to come hang out.”

  Alexandra pulled back and shrugged. “Um, I don’t know.”

  “Come on. You probably need a break.”

  “I don’t want to be away from my uncle for too long, you know?”

  “Well, think about it. Like I said, I’m right next door, so if you need to talk, I’m here. You don’t have to go through this alone.”

  His voice was somber and serious. He could control his attraction for her. Right now, she needed a friend more than somebody to lust after her. She nodded graciously, and through the open door Sebastian saw a dark blue car pulling up.

  “That’s my ride,” she told him. “I’ll think about it, bro. Thanks, again.”