Page 86 of Hollywood Undercover
Chapter 36
ALEXANDRA was steaming.Bursting through the door of Dad’s house, she took some satisfaction from slamming it behind her. The noise echoed through the emptiness, making quite theracket.
“Damn it, damn it, damnit!”
She stomped past the mirror in the hallway and looked at herself. Her face was flush and her eyebrows furrowed from the mental exertion of wrestling a crazy jumble of thoughts and emotions that made absolutely no sense anymore. She clenched her eyes shut, picturing the vixen at the construction company office with her mid-level salon hair and breastimplants.
She is Bash’s ex-girlfriend?
Why am Iangry?
A small voice in the back of her mind answered. Alexandra was falling for him. Sebastian Sullivan was now in a league with the most conniving, most infuriating men she knew, except he was also the sweetest, sexiest, funniest guy she had gotten to know too. There really was nothing bad she could say about him. She was the problem. She was flat outwrong.
It’s not like he trickedme.
Shit, I’m still mad ashell.
She tried to convince herself that the most infuriating part was she had been so close to telling him who shewas.
She sucked in a miserable breath. That wasn’t true. She wanted to tell him, but had caved every time. She sat on the bottom step, running an anxious hand through herhair.
This is all onme.
Looking back now, she realized she had probably ignored all the hints from Dad and Rosa that Bash was straight, simply because it was convenient. It fit better into her situation. She saw it clearly—she had projected what she wanted onto the situation. Bash wasn’t remotely interested in Alex. He was just a nice, friendly next-door neighbor, and comfortable enough in his manhood to hang out with AlexRoberts.
I’m the fraudulentone.
I should be mad atmyself.
The anger turned quickly to embarrassment. One thing was clear—Sebastian Sullivan wasn’t gay. Now she needed to think about how best to move forward. The simplest next step would have been to confess who she was right now, and hope he understood her reasons. She also considered waiting for Eva to show up for emotionalsupport.
Either way, he might think I was playing him for afool.
Groaning with angst, she got to her feet and began to pace the hallway. The image of Bash’s ex-girlfriend played on her mind, and a third optionsurfaced.
I might as well keep up the Alex Robertsact.
I’m not his type anyway. I’m nothing likeAileen.
For a moment, it felt like the best option, and all Bash would know after she left for LA was that Alex Roberts went back home to his boring job as abartender.
I can disappear into obscurity and forget this craziness everhappened.
Thinking honestly, that wasn’t what she wanted. Bash had become a friend, in a murky, complicated, unusual way. The problem was still how to come clean. It was bound to squeeze the life out of that veryfriendship.
How can I expect him to feel anything but contempt for me afterthis?
* * *
Alexandra firedoff a text when she returned to Bash’s place and got up to theguestroom.
‘The plan is off, Eva. We’re not telling Bash about my realidentity.’
She sat cross-legged on the bed with her laptop, grimly pulling up her flight plans. There was no point making an appearance as Lexxi anymore. She could keep her original flight back to LA and forget about the chaos of the pastmonth.
Bash called through the door before Eva answered her text. “Alex? A courier just dropped off a package foryou.”
Crap. Mywig.
