Page 71 of Hollywood Undercover
Chapter 30
“Fuck my life,”Alexandra whined to Eva over the replacement phone she snuck out and bought the night before. Thank goodness all her contacts were securely stored with an online service. Eva was the first person she’d texted with the newnumber.
Her best friend had phoned her back via video call just after her shower, and now, on the other end of the line, she was chortling. Alexandra was in the middle of complaining about her dilemma, and Eva had the nerve to laugh in herface.
“This isn’t funny, Eva! This is a disaster,” she said,pouting.
“I’m sorry,” Eva answered. She struggled to get her fits of laughter under control, forcing a twitch of a smile out of Alexandra at her lack of success. “I know this is a big deal for you, but it’s a little hard to take you seriously when you’re, with you…wait, where in bloody hell are you,anyway?”
Alexandra began to giggle too at how ridiculous she probably looked, hiding under the covers this way. Morning sunlight speared through the blinds and penetrated the blanket where she camped out since waking up from that unnervingdream.
She sheepishly admitted, “I’m not ready to face him yet. Go ahead and call me acoward.”
“I’ll do no such thing. As much as I enjoy witnessing a good bitch fit, darling, you need to stop your whining and count your lucky stars,” she replied, with a soft British clip to her playful tone. “You say he has a fully stocked bar,right?”
“I thinkso.”
“Well, have you ever heard of a dry state? Because I’m filming in the bloody middle of one rightnow.”
“Where are you? Have you changedsets?”
“Yes, love. I’m in the town of Sibley, Louisiana. Oh, wait, parish—not town—it’s a dryparish. This place is so confusing. I’ve put the coordinates into my phone to be sure I never, ever stop here again. Anyway, you should just get sloshed and tell him, or you can just get sloshed and try again tomorrow. Just be sure to drink enough for me while you’re at it. There are plenty of tomorrows for thedeterminedprocrastinator, which you, my lovely, are mastering in at themoment.”
“Evangeline Heatherly Reese, you’re supposed to boost my confidence to get this confession underway, not talk me down from doing what I need to do! Gosh, you’re such a bad bestie right now. Is giving me the easy way out part of the contract? If it is, you’re definitely on yourmark.”
They laughed together while Alexandra tried to add a weak protest. Suddenly, she had a brilliantidea.
“You know what? It would be so much easier to pull this off if you were here! I think you should fly out here and help me salvage my integrity, best friend.Please?”
“You have got to be joking,love.”
“Nope. I think I’m dead serious. I want to tell him before I leave Tucson. He specifically stated he has a problem with liars, and I am leading him on in one of the worst ways possible. I need you, Eva. Pleeeaassse! I know this is probably one of the most childish things I’ve done in ages, but I need a wingwoman. I’m beggingyou.”
Alexandra pushed back the covers and peeked at the locked guestroom door, cocking an ear to listen out for Sebastian. It sounded like he was somewhere downstairs, doing whatever it was he did on the weekend. She hoped he was blissfully unaware of the fact that she was avoiding him at all costs this morning. She sat up in bed and surveyed her surroundings now that it was daytime. Sebastian’s house showed his style everywhere, little masculine touches that made it clear this place belonged to abachelor.
Her guest bedroom was decorated in a neutral palette of browns and beige. It was clean and comfortable. For the briefest second, she wondered what things would be like if he was straight and they were dating. What were the tastes and interests he might not share with one of his boys but would expose to his girl? What was his bedroom like? She gnawed on her bottom lip, eyebrows furrowing at thethought.
“Sweet Mary mother of God! You’re falling in love with him, aren’t you, Lexxi?” Eva whisperedscandalously.
The face cam displayed Eva’s flashing eyes and impish smile, her familiar brown face. Only then did Alexandra remember Eva could see her daydreaming over here. She snapped out of the fantasy with a vicious shake of her head, denying Eva’s comment. This was the woman she had shared all her deepest secrets with for the past four years. Alexandra could barely admit to herself how she felt about Bash, so confessing to Eva was out of the question. It couldn’t belove.
“Love is such a dirty, dirty word, Eva. For the sake of the friendship between Bash and me, I just don’t want to burn any bridges, which is exactly what will happen if this isn’t handledwell.”
“Right. Because friends get the feels for each other, naturally.” Sarcasm dripped from her everysyllable.
“Dammit, I hate it when you’re right. I have no idea why I agreed to stay here atall.”
“You and me both,darling.”
“Well I know why, logically, but in hindsight I wasn’t being practical. Before I ended up here in his house I had already damn near given myself away at every turn. I have to be crazy, trying to pull this off with my hormones on alert every time I get anywhere near theguy.”
“Why couldn’t you just stay at a hotel orsomething?”
“You know I would end up having to use my Lexxi Rock ID. I couldn’t say I’m Alex Roberts. Even that might be enough for some of the hellhound paparazzi to sniff me out. My mother’s maiden name is no secret and neither is my real firstname.”
“What about Rosa’splace?”
“Not possible, hun. She lives across town, and travels a lot more now that Dad is ill. Besides, I didn’t want toimpose.”
