Page 19 of The Model

“Goodbye, Lexie.”

I stood rooted to the sidewalk as I watched him walk away. We’d only gotten to know each other for a few days, so it shouldn’t have been so difficult to say goodbye. Instead, it felt as if he’d taken a small part of me with him.

10

Lexie

2 Weeks Later

True to his word,Ryder had sent me a text when he landed in Moscow. Since then, he’d called or texted about every other day when he got up. I wasn’t sure how he did it because there was no way in hell I could wake up day after day at three or four in the morning to go workout. Let alone with the time zones. I didn’t even work out per se; I hiked the trails around LA three to four times a week, and they kept me in shape and toned, and that was good enough for me. I didn’t want to be stuck in a gym when I could enjoy the outdoors. I couldn’t imagine how much time Ryder spent in the gym to look the way he did.

Raine had figured out it was Ryder who called every afternoon at four, so she tried to help me out so I could take his brief calls. Today, though, we were doing business stuff, and I’d been at my desk for hours emailing, scheduling, and ordering supplies. When my phone started to ring, and I saw Ryder’s name pop up at two, I was worried something was wrong. Why the hell was he awake at one in the morning?

I stood from my desk and answered the phone as I started pacing. “What’s wrong?”

Ryder’s soft chuckle filled my ear. “What makes you think something is wrong?”

Making my way up to the roof for some air and sunshine, I stopped at my apartment door. It was cracked open, but I thought nothing of it. I had Raine grab my iPad earlier from upstairs, and she probably hadn’t closed the door all the way. Closing the door, I slowly made my way up the stairs.

“It’s one in the morning in Russia, and you’re a good little boy who makes sure he gets all of his sleep.”

“My shoot was over early, and we went out to celebrate. I thought I’d call you before I went to bed since I plan on sleeping in before I do some sightseeing tomorrow. What are you doing?”

“Working. Always working. I have a client who wants me to find the models for a big campaign they’re doing. They want me to plan everything.”

“Is that normal?”

“I’ve never had to do this much, but they’ve given me some of the details so I can pick a location. They want me to be creative with it and find the perfect models for it. First thing, I’m trying to find the perfect place and date that’s in the time frame they’ve given me.”

“Sounds like a lot of work, but it could be great for you.”

“They are paying me an insane amount of money, which I like. But I’ve only just started, and I know I don’t want to organize this much ever again. It’s so much work.” I sat down on the edge of the pool and put my feet in the water.

“You’ll do great at it; I know you will. I can let you go if you’re too busy…” Ryder paused. I knew he didn’t want to get off the phone, so I saved him.

“No, I needed the break.”

“Lexie, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I noticed your door was open, and wanted to let you know.” Raine looked unhappy to interrupt my time with Ryder.

Cocking my head to the side, I scrunched my nose at her. “Are you sure? It was open when I came up and I closed it. Let me go look. Maybe I need to send someone out to fix the door because I don’t like the idea of it creeping open.”

“Is everything okay?” Ryder asked from the other end of the line.

“My apartment door keeps opening today.” I sighed with annoyance. “I thought it was Raine who left it open, but I guess not.”

Ryder yawned, and it made me smile. He was like an old man and could barely stay up past eleven o’clock unless he was working or busying doing something else. “Maybe I should let you go so you can investigate.” And so he could go to sleep, but I didn’t say anything. “It will probably be a few days before I call again. I’ll be headed to Rio on Thursday.”

Another long flight. “I’m sorry we couldn’t talk longer, but you should probably get to bed before you fall asleep on the phone. Maybe we’ll talk this weekend once you get settled.” I headed back downstairs to my apartment.

“I’ll call, Lexie. I always call.”

He did, but I couldn’t trust how long that would last. It hadn’t been that long since we saw each other.

“Good night, Ryder. Safe travels.”

“Night,” he replied before he hung up.

Placing my phone in the back pocket of my jean shorts, I opened the door to my apartment, my gaze immediately going to the window that had been replaced from when Ben jumped out of it. The cops hadn’t found him yet, but I wasn’t sure how hard they were looking. I had a feeling he wasn’t a high priority. Raine had convinced me to get a restraining order against Ben, but since no one had been able to find him, they hadn’t served him the paperwork, and a court date had never been set.

---