Page 23 of Hollywood Undercover
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 wasn’t 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 ofclothes.
“Nothing ever gets done thinking about how much you don’t want to do it, Lex,” she scoldedherself.
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 wasn’t 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 wasstrange.
Damn, there’s so much to gawk at on thatman.
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 becauseAlex Robertswas a “man.” Meeting the neighbor, however was definitely one point where she seriously considered giving up theact.
“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 beforethat.”
She thought about Wilkes. No, not even the sexy neighbor next door was going to be enough to distract her from staying thecourse.
Time to know my limits and cut my creditcards.
She valued this newfound anonymity and her father’s privacy toomuch.
The show must goon.
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 thecloset.
“How in the hell am I going to get by in this tiny room?” she asked outloud.
She didn’t 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 herover.
“Alright, let’s get thisdownstairs.”
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 wouldn’t 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 didn’t work. She couldn’t pick itup.
After a few more attempts, she gaveup.
“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 theoffice.
“Crap.” she growled in frustration and jogged down the stairs to see if the driver had arrived yet. She was sure he wouldn’t mindhelping.
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 smokinghot.
Stop it, Lex. Just stopit.
She smiled and walked down the granitesteps.
“Excuse me,” she yelled out tohim.
Bash looked up. He seemed startled. Their stares connected, and she felt an immediatethrill.
Mmmm. He’s sotasty.
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 atfirst.
God, this man gets hotter every time I seehim.
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 hervoice.
“Hey man, could you give me a hand getting some boxes down to thebasement…”
Alexandra realized something a moment too late—a twenty-one-year-old guy wouldn’t ask another guy to help him carry boxes. A fridge, maybe; a few boxes, not a chance. She flushed fromembarrassment.
“Actually, you know what? Nevermind.”
She turned to go back inside, but in her periphery, she saw that her neighbor was already headed herway.
Shit.
