Rex finally managed to get the two florists to their corners and extricate himself from the middle. He came out into the hallway shaking his head and letting out an exhausted sigh. Thinking quickly, I grabbed a glass of champagne from a waitress’s tray as she passed by.
When Rex neared me, I held out the champagne and said, “Rex, you poor thing. You look like you could use this.”
He snapped his attention toward me. “Do I know you?”
I smiled. “No, but I knew Josie. She got me this gig and had nothing but nice things to say about her friend Rex. I thought I should look you up while I was here. I saw your nametag and figured there probably weren’t two Rexes running around.”
Something flashed in his eyes for a moment, and then he smiled and accepted the champagne. Holding it up, he said, “To Josie.” He drained the thing in one swallow. “Thanks. I really did need that. What’s your name?”
“Leslie Kaufman.”
“How did you know Josie?”
“Mutual friend. A big group of us hung out fairly often, and—”
Rex’s phone rang, and he gave me an apologetic smile. “Mrs. Leonidas. You don’t let the boss lady go to voicemail.”
With a wave, he hurried away to find a quiet spot to take the call. Crap. My talk with Rex was right on track before we got interrupted. I’d have to make sure to speak with him later. Dejected, I turned to make another sweep to try to find Candace and literally ran into the arms of Xander Leonidas.
“There you are, Leslie. I’ve been looking all over for you,” he said, clamping his arms around my waist so I couldn’t pull away.
As handsome as this guy was, he was a serious creeper. I didn’t get why he felt the need to use his position to coerce women into liaisons with him. He wasn’t my type, but still he seemed to be a decent enough catch. Surely that alone could get him nearly any woman he wanted, yet he never passed up an opportunity to be skeevy. At least at the end of the day, I would never have to deal with him again, which made it decidedly easier to play along. I couldn’t imagine how the female Leonidas employees endured his nonsense day after day.
Smiling up at him, I cooed, “Oh, Mr. Leo—I mean, Xander. I’m happy you found me.”
“I hoped maybe later this evening we’d have some time to continue our conversation from this morning.”
I took his silk tie in one hand and gave it a tug. “Why not now?”
A quiet growl emanated from the back of his throat. Gross. “I’d love nothing more, but now I have to go oversee the setup of the ceremony site and reception.” Leaning down, he nuzzled my ear and added, “But later—”
“Alexander,” hissed a voice next to us.
It was his mommy. The old broad was insanely good at sneaking up on people, too.
Still not letting me go, he turned his head toward her. “Hello, Mother,” he said flatly.
Mrs. Leonidas’s gaze landed on me. “You again. First the help and now my son? You’re fired.”
Damn it.
Xander released me and stood up to his full height in front of his mother. “I won’t let you fire her for talking to me.”
She sniffed. “You were doing a lot more than talking, son. I can only imagine what you’ll be doing to her later.”
Another chill shot down my spine. I was beginning to get a bad feeling about this Xander guy, even more than I already had. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be alone with him.
“She’s staying.”
Mrs. Leonidas eyed me angrily while she addressed Xander. “Well, then I hope she’s worth what I’m paying for her.”
Oh, snap. If I hadn’t been half-scared and busy feigning being offended to keep my cover intact, I would have been laughing my ass off. I liked Mrs. Leonidas’s spunk. I supposed you didn’t build an empire like hers by holding your tongue.
She gave us one last sneer and stalked away.
Unfazed, Xander pulled me around the nearest corner, away from the milling crowd, and got back in my personal space. “Where were we?”
“Thanks for standing up for me to your mom. I hope she doesn’t tell that Kacey girl about this. We got off on the wrong foot this morning, and she’s been making it miserable for me all day.”
He seemed perturbed. “I’ll speak to Kacey.” He shook his head. “She hates everyone. I honestly don’t know why we keep her around.”
“The girl who hired me was nice, though. I think her name was Josie.” At the mention of her name, his eyes became strained, so I pressed on. “I bet she’s a great employee.”
Clearing his throat, he looked sad as he said, “Um…yes. She was. Great. She’s…dead.” Interesting reaction.
I widened my eyes and placed a hand on his arm. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Were the two of you close?”
Smiling slightly, he replied, “Yes, but…I want to talk about you and me. Where were we before my mother interrupted us?”
“Before you very gallantly stepped in to save me? You were saying you didn’t have time for me,” I replied, sticking out my lower lip.
He ran his hands down my arms and gripped my wrists. “Yes, not right now. But later, I’m going to give you my full attention. I have a suite reserved for us upstairs.”
That was never going to happen, but he didn’t have to know that. I needed to try to squeeze what I could out of Xander now so I could try to avoid him the rest of the night. “Mmm. Sounds perfect. You know, after a long day of working, I’m going to need a little pick-me-up so I’m able to go all night. Do you know of anyone around here who might be able to help me in that department?”
Lowering his voice, he replied, “I do, but you don’t need to take anything because of me.”
What was with these people and their endless connections? If I wanted drugs, I wouldn’t know who to ask. I gave him a coy smile. “Trust me, with some extra energy, I can do all kinds of things. I also want to get a little something for you. I make a combo that will blow your mind.”
He frowned. “None for me, thanks.” He got a business card and pen out of his jacket pocket and scribbled something on the back. “Here’s my cousin’s cell. She’ll hook you up.”
Sweet! Easy access to Candace. I accepted the card and stuffed it slowly into my cleavage, which of course made the horny bastard nearly salivate. “Thanks. So I’ll see you soon, then?”
“We can duck out early from the reception.”
“I’ll be counting the minutes.”
I took a step back, thinking I was finally going to be free from his clutches, but he grabbed the back of my neck and pressed his mouth against mine, hard. He wasn’t a terrible kisser, I had to admit, but the way he was manhandling me was not pleasant. He finished by giving me a nip on my lower lip with his teeth. I supposed he was intending to be sexy, but it only served to irritate me more. It was way over the line for a first kiss between two people.
Luckily, he left me abruptly, so I didn’t have to swallow my true feelings any longer. I angrily wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand, realizing too late that some of my makeup came with it. Oh, well, I was nearly done for the day, so it didn’t matter. Although something Xander said had confused me—he’d mentioned he had to help set up for some kind of ceremony and reception that would happen later. I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Gross. Did I really just see you kissing that ass-clown?” Pete asked, coming up next to me. He was back in his tux.
I rolled my eyes. “He ambush-kissed me, and I did not enjoy it.”
“In that case, I won’t tell your boyfriend.”
“Hey, what happens undercover stays undercover. Which is why I won’t tell your girlfriend you spent all day flirting with other women.”
“At least I didn’t kiss any of them,” he retorted. “But speaking of flirting, I had a chat with everyone’s favorite well-endowed receptionist and found out she has no clue what’s going on around her. Our conversation was pretty useless.”
“You don’t say.”
“And I mad
e a smidge of headway with tight-ass Alexa. I mentioned Xander had taken a liking to you, and she wanted me to warn you to stay away from him.”
“I think I figured that out on my own.”
His face was grim. “I’m serious, Jules. She said he doesn’t take no for an answer, even if he has to be forceful.”
“No shit. He was giving off a plenty rapey vibe just now.”
“Then you’re done with him.”
“As a matter of fact, I am.” I reached into the top of my dress and produced the business card. “He gave me his dealer’s phone number. We now have a direct line to Candace.”
“Excellent. Let’s hit her up.”
“Wait. Do you know anything about some ceremony and reception Leonidas is having here later?”
“You really didn’t read any of the informational materials, did you?”
I gave him a withering look.
He smiled. “At six-thirty, there’s a mass wedding ceremony with a reception afterward. It’s basically a fancy wedding for a couple and eight of their closest friends and family members, if they don’t mind having to share their special day with a few hundred other people they don’t know. You get a Leonidas luxury event at a fraction of the price since everyone is chipping in. These geniuses have found a way to squeeze money out of people who would normally have no chance of affording their services.”
My shoulders slumped. “So our day is not even close to being over? I thought we could meet with Candace, poke around a little more, and then be done.”
“Nope. We models even have to pretend to get married at the ceremony so it looks like there are more couples participating than there actually are.”
“What?” I squeaked.
“Relax. It’s not real. It’s not like they’re making us apply for a marriage license.”
“Still. These Leonidas people are all nuts.”
“True that. We’re supposed to go back to the dressing rooms to get our faces fixed before the big event. I think there’s going to be food back there, too, because being the help and all, I’m pretty sure we’re not allowed to eat at the reception.”
“You said the magic word. I’m starving.”
—
I shot a text to Candace as we hustled to the dressing rooms. Since I dropped Xander’s name, I got an immediate text back that said she’d meet me after the mass wedding ceremony in the stairwell by the restrooms in the back corner of the conference area. Great. I’d just made my first appointment to buy drugs. My parents would be so proud.
When I got to my dressing room, it was totally devoid of food. Pete took pity on me and smuggled me out a slice of pizza from his. When I paraded past the “twig bitches,” as Boz had put it, with my food, I got some horrified stares. I sat down at Boz’s station, and he chuckled.
“Seems you also didn’t get the memo that the only thing the ladies are getting to eat is a ‘model’s meal’ tonight.”
Taking a big bite of the heavenly pizza, I mumbled, “What’s that?”
“Didn’t you see it?” He gestured toward a small table off to the side, with several cases of diet soda and a couple of packs of cigarettes scattered on it. “Cigarette and a Diet Coke. No seconds.” He cackled at his own joke.
“Well, when I’m the only female model who hasn’t passed out from starvation by the end of the night, we’ll see who’s laughing then.”
“I like you, Red,” he said, winking at me as he began tucking a few errant locks of my hair back into my updo.
“Hey, guess what?” I asked. “I seem to be Xander Leonidas’s pick of the day, just like you said. He’s got a suite reserved for us upstairs.”
Boz’s face fell, and he stopped fixing my hair to place his hands on my shoulders. “Oh, honey. I hate to break it to you, but that suite of his has a revolving door. I’ve heard four other girls say the same thing today. They had to come back to get some touch-up work done. Bed head, you know.”
Even though I wasn’t planning on actually going to Xander’s suite with him, I was still offended. “What? You mean he’s juggling several of us today?”
He nodded. “From what I hear, he even juggled a couple girls at the same time.”
“Eww!”
Shrugging, he replied, “Hey, don’t knock it till you try it.”
Again, eww. “I think I’ll pass. Thanks for pointing out that I’m not special.”
He squeezed my shoulder sympathetically and got back to work. “My pleasure.”
“So what’s the deal with his twin, Alexa?”
“She is one uptight bitch,” he murmured, then slapped his hand across his mouth, feigning surprise. “Did I say that out loud?”
I smiled. “Is she demanding and arrogant like her mother and brother?”
“Eh, not so much. She craves perfection and order, so I suppose you could call her demanding. She’s not arrogant, though. I’d call her…a type A in need of a good lay.”
Snickering, I replied, “Speaking of a good lay, what does she think of her brother’s indiscretions with the staff?”
He rolled his eyes. “It drives her mad. I’ve seen her actually slap the shit out of him over it. Not that I blame her for being embarrassed by it, but she needs to dial it down and not become so absolutely unhinged. It’s not like he’s going to change his ways anytime soon, so all she’s doing is making herself crazy.”
Good to know. “So you’re saying if I want some fireworks, I should go have a heart-to-heart with Xander’s sister about him.”
Boz’s eyebrows shot up. “Vindictive much?”
“I have my moments.”
“Well, at least wait till I leave. It’ll be World War Three up in here, and I want no part of that. Now zip it and sit still so I can redo your makeup.”
—
Fresh-faced, I said my goodbyes to Boz and went off to find Pete. He had a frazzled yet enraptured-seeming Alexa Thorpe (who was even more beautiful in person despite her disheveled appearance) cornered over by the open area in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum theater. The place was glowing with candlelight and crammed full of flowers, all different shades of white and cream. This was where we were to be “married” soon. I gulped back a mini wave of nausea as I approached them and tried to get within earshot.
“You’re doing an amazing job overseeing this expo, Alexa. I know I couldn’t pull off a huge event like this,” Pete said, flashing her a dazzling smile.
“Oh, Jeff.” She sighed. (Jeff Bonham was Pete’s name for today.) “Thank you for saying that, and I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ve got several things to finalize before the ceremony. I shouldn’t have stopped to talk this long.”
“Can I help you do anything?” he asked.
“No, but it’s sweet of you to ask.” She waved goodbye to Pete and touched the headset on her ear, angrily spitting as she walked away, “Hadley, I told you a thousand times…”
I came up to him and pinched his cheek. “Way to go, Jeff. Look at you getting into Alexa’s good graces. And you said she was mean…”
He shrugged. “She’s kind of hot in a repressed sort of way.”
Ignoring his bizarre observation, I filled him in on what Boz had said about Xander’s multiple conquests for the day and Alexa going ballistic over his man-whoring. We had to quiet our discussion when Kacey marched up to us and got in my face.
She hissed quietly, “How dare you blab to Xander about me? I was only doing my job keeping you in line, you lazy little slut. Trust me, you’ll never work for Leonidas Luxury Events ever again. Or anywhere else for that matter.”
Leaning close to her, I whispered, “Ooh, should I be scared? Are you going to get rid of me like you got rid of Josie? Tell me, was murder really the best idea you could come up with to climb the corporate ladder?”
Kacey’s face turned white. She started making strangled grunts, then bolted at full speed in the opposite direction of the ceremony, which I was guessing was where she was supposed to be.
&
nbsp; Pete muttered angrily, “I thought you were taking a more subtle approach to suspects now that you’re a PI. That was old amateur-sleuth-Juliet stupid.”
“Don’t call me stupid,” I fired back in a hushed tone. “We’ve been playing nice all day and the only good lead we have is Kacey. She needed her feathers ruffled.”
Before we could discuss it any further, Alexa called, “Places, everyone!”
Pachelbel’s “Canon in D” began playing over the speaker system, and all the brides and grooms (real and fake) began forming a line to enter into the area where the ceremony would take place. Pete offered his arm to me, and I blew out a ragged breath. This was it.
Chapter 16
I reminded myself over and over again that nothing about this ceremony was real. Not only was I pretending to be Leslie Kaufman, the model, but Leslie Kaufman was also pretending to marry Jeff Bonham, and a good chunk of the people here knew that Leslie and Jeff’s vow exchange was fake as well. So there was no need whatsoever for me to have been jittery and freaked out by the whole situation. But I was. Big-time.
My legs were jelly as Pete escorted me into the area where the ceremony was to be held. My heart pounded as we faced each other, holding hands. My mouth became dry when it was time to follow the officiant’s request to “repeat after me.” My hands shook as I placed the ring Pete had exchanged with me earlier on his finger. It all just felt…wrong. So wrong that when we were supposed to kiss each other, I turned my head at the last minute so Pete’s lips landed on my cheek.
Noticing my inner struggle, he leaned over and whispered in my ear, “So this is super weird, right? It’s not just me?”
I let out a sigh of relief. “Yes. I’m glad you think so, too.”
He leaned back and searched my face. “But we’re good, though.”
I nodded. “Always.”
Brew or Die Page 13
