I stepped off the plane in louboutin spiked heels and took the crowded concourse in quick New York long strides that outpaced more leisurely West Coast residents. Anson, the family limo driver answered my phone call immediately.
“I’m here. I’ll meet you at departures.”
“Do you need me to get your bags, Miss Alexander?”
“Not to worry. No time to pack.”
My next call was to my stylist, which went to voice mail.
“Hi, Rose. It’s Jacine Alexander. Just got back into town. Please curate a current West Coast wardrobe for night and day, including underwear as soon as possible. Oh, and I lost ten pounds, so size it accordingly. Since, I’ll be at the hospital with Dad for most of the day, just drop off the collection at the house. Thanks.”
Anson drove to the entrance, and I didn’t wait for him to open the door, but barreled into the vehicle.
“The hospital, please, Anson.”
“Yes, Miss Alexander. But you should let me get the door.”
“New York changes a person. You become more self-reliant.”
“And quicker, too,” he said with a mischievous grin.
I smiled for the first time since starting this trip. Anson wasn’t just an employee. He was family. Anson worked for the Alexander family for as long as I could remember.
His tone dropped. “Is there news about Mr. Alexander? The staff won’t tell me.”
“My father didn't fill out that form?” I sputtered with exasperation. That irascible parent of mine had promised to sign and submit the medical information release before I left for New York. My father worked long hours and was not always accessible. Anson was my pipeline to keep track of my father.
“He may have, Miss. The hospital didn’t have it on file.”
I whipped out my iPhone and typed a message to Tobias Marshall, my father’s lawyer and best friend, and put him on the case.
Me: Hey, it’s Jacine. What’s the update with dad?
Tobias: I’m at the hospital now with your father.
Me: I’ll be there as soon as traffic permits.
Tobias: That was fast.
Me: Not fast enough. How is he?
Tobias: Trussed up with tubes and wires and spitting displeasure. But they want to keep him for a couple more days to do tests to make sure he doesn’t have any more blockages.
Me: Good.
Tobias: He’s worried about the business.
Me: Of course. But I'll handle it while he recovers.
Tobias: He doesn’t like it.
Me: Too damn bad. See you in a few.
“Anson, he’s fine. Cranky as usual. But they are keeping him to run tests.”
“Good. I worry about him, with his schedule.”
My light and breezy tone was a total lie, but it wouldn’t do to worry Anson. He took his duties too seriously. He still called me Miss Alexander and my father Mr. Alexander even though he worked for us for the past thirty years.
Anson turned the radio a light jazz station, and I worked on business emails during the drive. The work of Alexander and Wells Public Relations didn’t stop just because the CEO of the company was in the hospital. I sent a message to the head of our IT department and told him I needed access to my father’s email. I’m sure neither man would like that, but damn it, I’m determined that my father takes time off. He’s a strong man, but Anson is right, my father does work himself into the ground.
As soon as Anson pulled up, I dashed out. He would return to the entrance at my call when it was time to leave. This was so much better than cabs and walking in NYC. But here in LA, everyone drove. No one walked unless it was on the treadmill in the gym.
“Dad,” I said as I entered. I kissed him, and his mouth twisted slightly in distaste. He was onto me and knew I didn't come just to act the dutiful daughter. I gave Tobias a quick kiss on the cheek before I turned back to my father. Tobias’s hand lingered a little too long at my waist, but I shoved away that thought. My father deserved all my attention.
“I will not stay here a minute longer than I need to, daughter.”
“And I don’t want you too.”
“And I will go right back to work.”
“Nope. I’m not wasting a perfectly good plane ride back so you can get yourself into trouble again.”
“It was a mild event. Hardly happened.”
“That’s because you are too damn stubborn to let that shriveled heart of yours boss you around. But you haven’t had a vacation in five years, and I’m putting my foot down.”
“But the business—”
“Why did you raise your only daughter in it? So someone you trust can take care of things for you.”
“Are you accusing me of creating my workforce?”
“One child hardly qualifies as that.”
“It is when it’s you,” said Tobias with a smile.
“Funny, sir. Funny.”
“He has no sense of humor,” snapped my father. “And he’s right. And I won’t let you run over me like you do the New York clients.”
“Moi?”
“Your father calls you the wrecking ball,” said Tobias.
Not liking the sound of that, my hands flew to my hips reflexively. “He did?”
“Once. When you pulled that actor, what the hell was his name?”
“Bash Hunt?”
“Yeah, that asshole. You yanked him by the scruff of the neck from that whorehouse and threw the jerk into rehab.”
“You know how short leading men are.”
“Yes. Yes. You need to sit to look them in the eye and barely a handful,” grumbled the elder Alexander.
“And he was in no condition to make any protests. I got him out via the paramedics.”
“Still. He’s been a purring pussy since then.”
“I’m good at my job. That is no reason to pin invectives on me.”
“Oh, I believe he said it with pride,” added Tobias.
“You know,” growled her father, “with friends like you—”
Tobias shrugged and smiled his charming grin that always made me melt and calmed my father. I couldn’t help but admire his rugged body, salt and pepper hair and silver fox features. Tobias’s face featured a slightly hawk nose and prominent cheekbones. Though I’d known him forever as my father’s best friend, growing up I often imagined having him as my boyfriend. It was wrong of me, but I couldn’t help it. I might have said when I was five-years-old that if I didn’t marry my daddy, I would marry him.
A nurse came in to take my father for tests and told us to come back tomorrow. She stared more at Tobias than me, so he must have put his time in here looking out for my dad.
“Sure thing,” said Tobias. “Come on, Jacy, I’ll buy you dinner.”
“That’s right. Leave me alone with this foul hospital food.”
“That’s because you're on a heart-healthy diet,” said Tobias trying to hide his mirth. “No flavor for you since you ate the wrong things for too many years even though I warned you.”
“Get out!” my father declared imperiously.
So we did.
CHAPTER TWO
Tobias
I swallowed hard and struggled to keep cool with Jacine. It was hard to resist the urge to put my arm around her waist, to draw her close and breathe in the scent of her musky perfume.
Forty-eight years old, I am old enough to be her father, but damn if she didn’t light a fire in me that another woman couldn't.
I always had a thing for Alexander women. Jacine’s mother was a beauty that took my breath away. Franklin had damn good taste. But Jacy was exceptional. With her mother’s beauty, blonde hair, startling blue eyes, her tall hourglass figure and her father’s smarts, she was the full package.
It wasn’t until that first Christmas back from college that I noticed how much she’d grown. She left for Harvard a gangly teenager, a kid that I regarded with paternal affection and returned a bare four months later with a polish that belied her years.
Jacy knocked me off my feet.
But Franklin was my best friend, and I would never make a move on his daughter. That would cut across boundaries I didn’t want to cross. In fact, my attraction to Jacine freaked me out.
In one way, it was good. No other woman would register on my Richter scale and I could concentrate just on work. The yearning in my heart funneled into making cash, and a lot of it. Franklin and I were on par in the asset area, and I built a solid reputation as an entertainment lawyer. This is why I also worked closely with Franklin and in fact was on retainer with his firm.
So I tell myself this dinner with Jacy is a business expense, though I know in the most secret part of my heart what it is.
Time alone with the one woman I could never have.
Why would such a beautiful young woman want an old man like me? Sure, I kept in shape at the gym, but as each year passed, I felt the workout more in the muscles than the year before.
Even if this was LA and such pairing was as common as fronds on a palm tree, she was still my best friend’s daughter.
Off limits.
Do not touch.
A big neon sign flashing “forbidden.”
So, idiot me, that made her even more enticing than she should be. Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest.
I am not listening to what Jacy is saying because I think her plump lips look especially juicy, and I fantasize about biting her lower lip with my teeth and my hands cupping her creamy breasts. She dropped the tanning in favor of New York pale, but I like the look on her. Her blue eyes seem to shine brighter above the rose blush of her cheeks and her blonde hair done up in a tight bun is the stuff of librarian porn. My breathing grows shallow, and she looks at me with alarm.
“Are you feeling okay, Uncle Tobias?”
Uncle Tobias. The kiss of death. Relegated to the old man zone.
I deserved that. I am a horn dog, a dirty old man standing next to a sweet young thing, and my thoughts aren’t just inappropriate. They are downright sinful.
I wish I were a religious man because I think there is a prayer that says “lead me not into temptation.” I could use that kind of help right now.
“I’m fine, Jacy. It’s been a long day.”
“We don’t need to do dinner now. It feels like lunch to me, and you know New Yorkers don’t do lunch.”
“You don’t?”
“Not unless it is a job interview. You don’t intend to interview me for a job, do you.?”
Oh no, but I could put those sweet lips to work.
I really, really must stop thinking like this, but when I am with Jacy, I can’t seem to help myself.
Wrapped in illicit thoughts, I didn’t realize that Anson brought us to an out-of-the-way bistro that seemed quiet. One of Anson’s talents was finding the right place to eat for the occasion, and today he deemed we needed a place outside the prying eyes of LA media.
“This okay?” Jacy asked.
“Looks fine.” I didn’t care. Sharing air with Jacy made me happy.
We took our seats and ordered, me a steak fajita platter, and Jacy a chicken salad. I got the feeling she wasn’t hungry, and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t either. But I ordered wine for both of us. Maybe that would get me through this meal with my dignity intact.
Speaking of, that particular aspect of myself was not doing well. Our knees bumped accidentally under the postage stamp sized table, and my small head got the idea there was more bumping to come. The wine couldn’t arrive quickly enough, and I took a big gulp almost as soon as the glass hit the table.
Jacy watched me wide-eyed.
“Are you sure you are okay?”
I swear if she calls me Uncle Tobias I will lose it.
But she didn’t. Jacy gave me a compassionate gaze that melted my heart. My jaw loosened, and if I didn’t keep it firmly in place, I’d pant at her like the horn dog I was.
“I’m sorry,” she said gently.
“Sorry? What do you have to be sorry about?”
“My father. Acting like he did at the hospital.”
“He had a scare. It’s natural he’d act a little off.”
The waiter brought me a green salad with raspberries and walnuts. Was that part of the menu? Apparently, it was. Jacy scored a cup of soup. I took the opportunity to jam a forkful of arugula in my mouth before I said anything regrettably stupid. I swallowed hard because Jacy’s breasts stared at me like headlights, and they were lighting my world.
Could I act any more like a teenager?
Where was suave, sophisticated Tobias Marshall? Out to dinner.
With the woman of his dreams.
“So, what’s the damage?”
Again I blanked out on Jacy’s running commentary.
“Excuse me?”
“From Cole Kane, Jersey Dys and Rory Holmes?”
Ah, the troublemakers. Former friend and band mates turned bitter rivals. Jersey had a beef with Cole over supposedly “stolen” material back in the day from when they co-wrote songs. Rory got pissed at both of them for acting like idiots. They split off and formed their own bands, but like brothers, kept the rivalry going. Unfortunately, it turned nasty at Angelo’s last night.
“The damages at Angelo’s was minimal. They won’t file suit as long as the boys pay their share for the damage and agree to be banned for life.”
She grimaced but really, it wasn’t that bad.
“It’s the rivalry that these three have,” Jacy said. “It sparks fan interest, but we can’t have them hurting themselves or others.”
“I’m more worried about their insurance companies dropping them for liability damages.”
Jacy pinched the bridge of her nose. “We’re their PR guys, not management, but for the interest of keeping everything from blowing to smithereens, I’ll get them into a meeting and inspire them to slow their roll.”
“You think you can do that? With three high energy guys who haven’t heard the word ‘no’ in the past ten years?”
“I can do it,” said Jacy with steel in her voice. Her sapphire blue eyes glittered prettily at me and my big head got lost in little head thoughts.
CHAPTER THREE
Jacine
My email came straight from my father’s account. I wanted no pussyfooting on this issue. The media circled like hungry sharks for any new tidbit of the “feud” between the three key members of the three hottest rock bands on the planet. So I summoned Cole Kane of Arcane, Jersey Dys of Obsidian and Rory Holmes of Clash, and sent limos to their houses to bring them in.
Tobias offered the previous night to sit in on the meeting, and I thought it was a good idea. He arrived a few minutes before noon and fixed a drink with the familiarity of family. Tobias settled onto one of the black leather sofas that graced my father’s enormous office high above LA’s skyline.
My father’s best friend fits here, on that black leather sofa and among the dark brown wood paneling streaked with tan. He leaned his head back a minute and took a deep breath. It was an old realization habit of his though I had no idea why he would be nervous. It was me who had the reputation of Alexander and Wells on my shoulders.
I spent the morning with my dad’s best teams, all of whom needed no prompting on staying up all night to come up with a damage control plan. Their assistants were on the phone or the internet working on the scheme. I should bring Tobias up to speed before the Terrible Three showed their overhung faces. With rock stars sense of time, we were in no danger of them interrupting us.
“I met with the creative team this morning. They had some great ideas. One of them was that the scuffle was a publicity stunt that got out of hand.”
Tobias stared into his whiskey.
“You guys know best,” he said. “I don’t know how you do it anyway. This is a freaking mess with court cases hanging over their heads and the public—”
“The thing is, Uncle Tobias—”
He frowned and then tossed back the finger left of his whiskey. “Please
, Jacy. We’re both adults. Stop calling me Uncle Tobias. You make me feel like an old man.”
“Wow,” I said in surprise. I had no idea Tobias felt that way. “If that’s what you want.”
“I do,” he affirmed with a nod of his head.
“Then that’s what you get. Us Alexanders aim to please.”
He closed his eyes then for a second and took another breath. What was wrong with him?
“You okay?”
“Yes. It was a late night for me.”
He dropped me off at eleven, so it wasn’t that late. Well, it was for me because my body was still on New York time. It felt like two in the morning to my jet-lagged self, but with my schedule, that’s almost normal.
“Up late?” I asked and a blush came to his cheeks. Now I was getting worried. I marched over to the couch and laid my hand on his forehead.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Checking to see if you have a fever.”
He waved me off. “I’m fine.”
When did Tobias get so touchy?
“Have it your way,” I said. Tobias’s refusal annoyed me. It’s not like I’ve never touched the man. But then again I never wanted to lay my hands on him as I do right now.
But maybe he’s picking up on your feelings for him.
I brush the ridiculous stray thought out of mind. I’ve only ever shown Tobias familial affection.
“Anyway, members of the team think and I agree that we should spin this incident as a publicity stunt gone wrong for an upcoming Battle of the Bands concert between Arcane, Obsidian, and Clash.”
Tobias raised an eyebrow.
“And just who is going to back this concert?”
“The team is on it.”
“You want to put three bands with animus toward each other on the same stage?” His voice carried disbelief, and I don’t blame him. When I first heard the idea, I wasn’t keen on it either. This proposition carried a high risk. All it took was one more scene like the other day, and whatever venue we hired would cancel out. And the insurance too. No one wants to back an event that carried a risk for violence.
“Yes, and do promotional spots with each other.”
The Penthouse Secrets: A NYC Billionaire Romance Trilogy Boxed Set Page 36