“Thank you, dear. I will.”
She waved to him and walked inside behind the men pushing the gurney.
“The dining room would be best,” he heard her say before she closed the door behind her.
Sebastian looked through the window of Max’s house. Part of the main floor had been converted into a makeshift hospital room. There was a medical bed in the middle of what was the dining room. Beside it as an oxygen tank and other equipment positioned around the bed.
He turned around and headed back inside, hoping Max would be fine. Grabbing the plate and carrying it indoors, he took it to the kitchen and shoved the plate in the fridge. He went up to his bedroom and looked through his window. He had a clear view of Alexandra’s old bedroom across from his on the third floor. He felt for her, and begin to wish she was not playing this dress-up game. He could be there for her, probably in the way she needed it right now.
He stepped away from the window. There was nothing to see, anyway. Alexandra kept her curtains drawn all the time. If she was herself with him, he could be more of a friend. He started to think he should play the part, the same way she had been doing as Alex. Lexxi might have been out of his league, but what about Alexandra? Sebastian was not blind. Alexandra was physically attracted to him. It was obvious. They were also closer now. She accepted him as a friend. Maybe it was time to throw her some hints.
Two can play that game.
In the couple of weeks she had been home, his visits to the Storme household were probably the bright spots in her long days. It must have been hell for her, spending all that time in the hospital. He could only imagine what it would be like between them if she was herself—as Alexandra, not ‘Alex’. If she gave him a chance, he could show her how little her celebrity meant to him. He knew her long before she became famous, and frankly was more impressed with Alexandra. She showed spunk and was resilient as she faced a tough time in her life. She already had to cope with the loss of a parent, and now had to face the potential loss of her last remaining link. He had been there, with his own parents. It was not an easy thing to face.
Sebastian went back to bed and turned on the TV. Out of habit, he pulled out his phone and wandered down his ‘pretty good lay’ list. He placed the phone back on the night table.
Who am I kidding? I don’t want anyone in there.
He wanted the woman next door.
As he relaxed, he wondered whether she needed help as she took care of Max. He wanted to be there for her. He planned that after the medics left in the ambulance, if she was still up, he would go over and check in on her…on ‘Alex’. So what if Alexandra thought he was gay? He was no more gay than she was a guy. Her game had to end eventually, but while she was playing, he could play too.
A slow smile crept up his face. That was his opening.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ALEXANDRA awoke with a startle. She had been dreaming again. Three days had passed since Dad came home. She sat up in bed, tears on her face. The dream was still fresh. She was Alexandra and Lexxi Rock, in two bodies at the same time. Alexandra had been watching Lexxi perform on stage, except it was not her rock star self. She was not singing. She just stood there, smiling and putting up a cheerful front until her face cracked and fell to the floor. No one in the audience noticed what had happened; no one but Alexandra. They kept screaming and cheering and bursting into rounds of applause for her cracked face on the stage floor. It felt more like reality than a dream. The fact was, that was her life.
Now, she was in a different kind of reality. It was far from the hollow glitz of Los Angeles and the world of rock stardom, but she was happier here. She hopped off the bed and tapped the alarm to turn it off. It had been set to remind her of all the times her father needed his doses of medicine. His next home health nurse would arrive soon to relieve another from her night shift. Just in case she didn’t arrive, Alexandra would take care of him. She got dressed in a pair of plaid skater shorts and a black t-shirt, which she covered over with a tan button-down shirt. She spritzed a tiny amount of cologne at her chest, coughing.
“That should do it,” she mumbled, stepping into some masculine flip-flops before strolling out of her bedroom to start the day.
The sun had not yet crested over the horizon when she went downstairs. The old house was drenched in milky gray shadows, as thin, weak light tried to penetrate the dense blinds and closed curtains. She looked around. She had practically turned their home into a mausoleum. She threw open the curtains as she walked by. She would shop for some items to brighten up the space next time she went to the department store.
It was time to help take care of Dad. She had effectively gone through a crash course on how to take care of him, but now that Rosa was out of town, she felt ill-equipped for the job. Alexandra was grateful Rosa had the twenty-four-hour nursing service start before she left. She had not paid much attention to why Rosa had to go out of town. All she remembered was something about a building Dad owned that needed better property management. Whatever the reason, Rosa’s absence meant it was entirely up to Alexandra to stay on top of things.
“Good morning, Dad,” she said to her sleeping patient.
He was out of it with the meds they had prescribed, but she chose to believe he could hear her. She nodded to Lynn, the overnight nurse. Lynn was already gathering her things, so she could leave as soon as the day nurse arrived for her shift. Anxious to get home, no doubt, but who could blame her. Working late nights could not be fun.
“Good morning, Lynn. Thank you for taking care of him last night.”
“Of course, Alex.”
“Anything I need to know? Any changes?” she asked.
“Nothing serious to report. He did wake up for about twenty minutes during the night. That was a couple of hours after you went to bed. He was fine, though. He asked for something to drink, and was back to sleep in no time.”
“Great. Thanks again.”
“No problem, Alex. I’ll see you tonight.”
She picked up her bag and headed to the main floor bathroom to change into her street clothes.
Alexandra quickly headed to the kitchen. She placed her cup in the coffeemaker. Caffeine was a must if she was going to stay awake for up to eighteen hours today. She was also hungry. She threw a pre-made pouch of her breakfast smoothie in the blender. It reminded her to check on his medication. She padded across the converted dining room and looked at the medicine lined up on the side tray beside the bed.
“Hey Daddy,” she said softly when she returned to his side. “Do you remember how Mom joked around every time you gave her those awful meds? She’d say you finally found a way to tone her down.”
She smiled down at him, remembering how cheerful Mom had been through her illness. Remaining at his bedside, she watched his chest slowly rise and fall. She could not wait to talk to him now that all the tubes were gone and he was only wearing a breathing mask. The new medications were supposed to keep him pretty out of it for the next few days. Already, he looked so much better than he had in the hospital. He was in his favorite pajamas and was tucked in under his own comforter.
The doorbell rang, breaking Alexandra from her sentimental thoughts. She went to let the day nurse inside just as Lynn came out of the bathroom.
“Good morning. Right on time, Felicia,” she said on opening the door.
“Hi there, Alex!” Felicia beamed back at her with the thousand-watt smile women reserved for guys they were hoping would pay attention to them.
Felicia completely ignored Lynn. Alexandra ducked her head, feeling slightly embarrassed at the interest this day nurse had been sending her way for the past two days. Unlike Lynn, who was middle aged, Felicia was in her twenties. Even with the spray-on tan, she was an attractive woman, and Alexandra noticed that because she envied her slightly—Felicia had a body with the fit curves she had never been lucky enough to have.
Today, her fine chestnut brown hair was pulled back in a twist, and she was wearing pink scrubs. S
he looked like the type of woman who was used to getting the guy she wanted. Alexandra seriously wished the nurse would stop throwing herself at her while she was being ‘Alex’.”
“See you later, Lynn,” Alexandra said, to make up for Felicia’s blatant neglect of her colleague.
She looked out at the neighborhood as Lynn stepped out and Felicia came inside, her eyes trained on Sebastian’s Jeep parked next door. The thought of a visit from Bash later in the day sent waves of heat shooting through her, but there were things she needed to do before she could socialize. Felicia followed her to the dining room, and Alexandra did her best to steer clear of the nurse’s come hither stares.
“So, how’s Mr. Storme this morning?” Felicia made small talk as she checked her patient’s vitals.
“He’s been sleeping peacefully, as far as I can tell.”
Alexandra moved to the opposite side of the room and crossed her arms as Felicia prepared her father’s cocktail of medications.
“My father has always been such a busy guy. It’s weird to see him like this, laid up in bed. Usually by this time of day he’d be down at the office for hours, talking to clients on the other side of the world.”
“Oh, he’s your dad? I didn’t know Mr. Storme had a son. I was watching on MTV the other night about his daughter Lexxi Rock being somewhere out in France. What a sister you have, huh? How does it feel to be related to such a self-centered person?” Her annoyed expression ended on a gulp when she noticed the expression on Alexandra’s face. “I’m sorry. I meant no disrespect. Sometimes this mouth of mine gets away from me.”
She licked her lips seductively and pulled her bottom lips between her teeth. Alexandra struggled not to roll her eyes.
“That’s my cousin,” she said, trying to backtrack to keep her cover. “Lexxi Rock is my cousin.”
“Okay,” Felicia said slowly, clearly confused.
Alexandra shook her head. The woman must have thought they had some weird family triangle going on, where her sister was also her cousin. People preferred to think the worst of celebrities, but Alexandra was not about to add fuel to the fire for Lexxi Rock.
“Let me clarify. Maxwell Storme is my uncle,” she told Felicia, correcting her cover story. “He’s like a father to me. I look up to him…I guess you could say he raised me. And, Lexxi is my cousin, but she’s not selfish. You have no idea who she is. Don’t you think what you said was a little insensitive?”
Alexandra got some satisfaction from the embarrassed blush on Felicia’s face as she looked away. “I just meant…”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Alexandra wandered out of the dining room, fuming at the awkward situation that had her defending herself to a perfect stranger. She grabbed her coffee and breakfast shake from the kitchen, and stomped upstairs to her bedroom.
Maybe now she’s stop with her flirting.
Standing in the doorway, she looked around, searching for her to-do list. She had the day all planned out, and had already decided to make herself scarce while Felicia was around. She sat at the edge of her bed and took a few minutes to have breakfast. After that, she got to work. First on the agenda was to get this new set of storage containers to the basement. Okay, dragging it to the basement.
With the newly found space, she emptied the remainder of her shopping bags, and put her new things in the closet. When that was finished, she stepped outside the bedroom and listened from the top of the stairs. Felicia spoke to Dad as she worked. It sounded like things were under control.
Alexandra went down to her father’s home office to check some new files Rosa had left behind for her to review. It was a contract and paperwork for her father’s firm to acquire a top tier product design company. He had been brokering mergers and acquisitions as an investment banker for thirty years—until falling ill. It was unorthodox for him to leave the work to someone outside of his office to complete, but he knew Alexandra could handle the trade better than anyone else in the firm.
This was something very few people knew or cared about Alexandra when she became Lexxi Rock. She had more going on upstairs than music and melodies. She had graduated high school, thanks to his help and encouragement. Her fans weren’t that interested to know that while she was living a starving artist lifestyle early in her music career, she was also juggling that with going to college.
So while she recorded her first album, she had also done her father proud by graduating from Berkeley with honors. It was also public knowledge that she went on to complete a Master’s degree in business finance—public knowledge that fell off everyone’s radar, because it didn’t involve drama, jet-setting, excessive shopping trips, cheating boyfriends, raunchy sex, starvation diets or whatever the media was usually after. Getting that far academically took a big sacrifice. There were no summers off during her time at college, no breaks, and she constantly had to juggle work with school demands and schedules.
Her father always wanted her to have a backup plan. He was adamant when it came to her education, in case the music thing didn’t work out for her. As is stood now, she technically never had to work another day in her life if she chose not to, thanks to shrewd investments cultivated by his business acumen. Even her great grandchildren were set for life, if she ever got out of the serial celebrity dating scene. Thanks to her father, she was probably one of the best kept secrets in Hollywood—a responsible, drug-free billionaire. And the funny thing was most of it had nothing to do with her alter ego, Lexxi Rock.
Other than Dad’s lawyer, who had been with him since the beginning, Alexandra was the only person outside of his firm that he trusted with the delicate work of projects like this. This one she looked at was supposed to have been his last project before retiring. She got down to it. Squaring her shoulders, she reviewed the contracts and got busy with phone calls and faxes to his office, wherever she needed verification or supporting documentation to tie up the loose ends.
Before she got too far into it, the oh-so-friendly nurse eventually yelled out to get her downstairs. Felicia gave her a detailed accounting of what she had done so far, and flirted some more. The button-down top portion of her scrubs was opened one button more than it had been when she had walked in through the front door.
Does this woman have no shame?
Alexandra listened, nodded, and made a few remarks. She may have been abrupt with her, but Felicia had officially gotten on her bad side. After Felicia’s report, Alexandra checked up on her father and headed back upstairs to finish what she started.
Hours later, with her head still swimming with figures and an excessive number of details about this transaction, she had completed her assessment, rolled up all of her recommended financial checks, and listed out next steps for Dad’s lawyer. Putting the file away, she stretched and she stood up. She rubbed her tired eyes and checked the clock. She had worked right through lunch, stopping only to check on dad periodically while simultaneously avoiding Felicia.
It was now after one in the afternoon. If her housekeeper Lilly were here, there would be a meal waiting for her and a lecture that Alexandra didn’t eat enough. She smiled at the thought and grabbed her phone before going down to the kitchen to prepare lunch. Alexandra rifled through the pantry and fridge for something to eat. She settled on a reasonably healthy meal, throwing it in the microwave before she darted into the dining room to check on Dad again while it cooked.
She talked to him about the acquisition. He would have probably been worried about his work even in his hospital bed under a drug-induced sleep. She teased him about his notoriously bad handwriting that she had found in some of his notes, most of which were near impossible to decipher. It almost felt like they were having a regular conversation. His fingers were cool and dry in her hand, and although he was still asleep, she was grateful to have him still here with her.
After a while, she dragged herself away to the empty, quiet kitchen. Sitting at the small side table, she ate the less-than-appetizing meal. She started thin
king about Bash, who had not come over in days. She was beginning to miss having him around.
Maybe I should drop by.
With a shake of her head, she laughed off the idea of taking the initiative. She wanted to see him, but did not want to send him mixed signals.
After she ate lunch, it was Felicia’s turn to leave for the day. She was replaced by Joanne, the mid-thirties nurse who appeared to be the most professional of the three. Alexandra fired off a text message to Vivienne. She gave her an update on how things were, and headed back to her father’s office. Rosa had asked Alexandra to give her a call when she was finished reviewing the documents. There was a lot to do to distract her from her preoccupation with Sebastian Sullivan. She needed to keep away.
The man is off limits.
Now was not the time to get caught up in another doomed-to-fail relationship. She had her father to consider. Not that she could have had a relationship with Bash, anyway. He was gay, with somewhere around eighty percent certainty.
He’s gay and I’m not really a guy.
Dammit, this was all so frustrating.
Rosa answered her cell phone. “Hello?”
“Hi. It’s Alexandra.”
“Oh, hi honey. How’s Max doing?”
“Good, I think. He’s still sleeping a lot from the meds. Hey, I just called about that acquisition he wanted me to look at. All the power of attorney paperwork is finalized. I signed the contracts, and dad’s end of the work is complete. I added some notes for the lawyer to check on, but it looks good overall. Whenever you get back in town, you can swing by here and pick up the originals to take to the attorney.”
“That’s great. Your father always said you were a whiz at this. I’ll arrange for a courier.”
“Perfect.”
“I can’t wait to get back there. I should be back before the week is out.”
“Great. Don’t worry, Rosa. Dad will be fine,” she told her. “Well, come back soon. We miss you.”
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