AKA Lexi Frost (Lexi Frost Series)

by Tori Brooks

  Nicholas looked over the proposal carefully, several times. It looked completely valid. He checked up on Blue Horizons Media and Jason Nexler. Jason directed several documentaries for the company, some of them received very high praise.

  Nicholas conceded there was a very slim chance that Paul wasn’t involved, although he didn’t believe it for a second. Overall, he stood a chance of being able to sell this plan to her and quietly thanked Paul for handing him something plausible.

  After the busy morning, Nicholas brought lunch home to Teri. She wasn’t in her room for a change, she was in her workroom staring at old pictures Allen took. He didn’t really see it as an improvement.

  “I brought lunch and a proposal. Let’s eat in the dining room,” Nicholas announced and headed for the dining room table. Teri eventually joined him.

  “Where’s the thundering herd?” he asked conversationally.

  “There’s an art show in one of the parks, and since there’s no band, Kenny hustled them down there to play. They’ll probably be awhile. Or the police will call any minute for me to come bail them out.”

  “Two of them are minors, so it’s a hassle to arrest them. They’ll get a warning. Got an interesting message today.”

  Teri looked at him suspiciously.

  “Nothing to do with Paul, I checked.” Nicholas handed her the proposal and described his research in painstaking detail while they ate. After forty minutes, Teri looked almost convinced.

  “I can call and feel it out. If it’s legit I think you need to do it,” he said.

  “Assuming they’re portraying a healthy self-image for girls. I don’t want to be party to the ‘lets convince girls to be anorexic’ movement,” Teri warned.

  “The best way to be sure is to be involved.” Nicholas stood, trying not to show any hint of victory.

  “And Nicholas? See if you can make the appointment for tomorrow or at worst the day after. I don’t want to give Paul time to find out I’m leaving home and set up an ambush.”

  “He’d have to be psychic.” Nicholas nodded. “But I’ll do what I can.”

  “Tomorrow or the next day, or we’ll have to get back to them. Paul’s not psychic, but I wouldn’t put it past his assistant.”

  Nicholas left, wondering about Paul’s assistant.

  Flynn couldn’t shake the desire to see Lexi again. The email from Chris telling him about the studio time he set up for them with Lexi Frost couldn’t have come at a better time. Flynn read it through twice and swore it had to be a sign. Unfortunately, the tentative appointment was still a month away. On impulse he called Chris.

  “Flynn, what can I do for you?” Chris asked.

  “This studio time with Lexi Frost,” Flynn started slowly.

  “Don’t worry, you don’t have to take your clothes off,” Chris assured him.

  Actually that wasn’t a bad idea. Maybe he could book a personal session. He’d rather get to know her off the record, but in a pinch . . .

  “I wouldn’t care if I did. Maybe. Where’s her studio?”

  “Um, Seattle I think. Let me look, Nicholas sent me the address.”

  Flynn heard Wendy’s footsteps in the hall. “Listen, Chris, I’ve got to go. Can you email it to me sometime today?”

  “Yeah, I suppose. Why?”

  “Curiosity. Thanks.” He hung up as his wife walked by, barely glancing at him.

  Flynn left New York for Seattle that afternoon. He drove by the address Chris gave him for Lexi’s studio, then called Chris again to be sure it was the right address. The squat little building was unimpressive and not what he pictured for a successful photographer.

  There was a camera store on the ground level and a sign for a photography magazine on the second floor. One half of the second floor was dark. Nicholas worked for some photography magazine, so maybe that dark half of the upstairs was Lexi’s studio. There was some sort of sign, but it wasn’t lit, so Flynn couldn’t quite read it.

  Parking the car, he headed into the camera store on the first floor of the building. The lanky teenage boy behind the counter recognized him instantly. Flynn smiled.

  “I’m looking for Lexi Frost.”

  “Oh. Her studio is upstairs, but she hasn’t been in much lately. Was she expecting you?”

  “No. Not yet anyway. Thanks.”

  Flynn smiled as he left; he knew where her studio was. He’d head down to Los Angeles tomorrow and see if Drew could bring him to his senses. If not, maybe he’d hang out here for awhile.

  A truck pulled through the parking lot to the outside stairs heading up to the studio. Anxious, Flynn changed direction from his car to the truck and wasn’t surprised to see Nicholas get out. Nicholas, however, was surprised to see him.

  “Flynn? About a month early aren’t you?”

  “I was on my way to L.A. and figured I’d detour in the hopes of running into Lexi. The kid in the store said she doesn’t come into the studio much.”

  Nicholas looked around in indecision. “Okay, listen, you didn’t hear this. Paul misstepped and she’s pissed at him. We’re on flight 1716 from SeaTac to LAX at 7:30 tomorrow morning, she’ll be in seat 3b.”

  “Thanks,” Flynn stammered, stunned by his turn of luck.

  “Don’t thank me. I’m not really sure I’m doing you a favor by telling you this. Lexi’s hurt and not thinking clearly. She might not be interested. She might not be ready. She might consider you just to piss off Paul. He’s smart, resourceful, and he won’t let her go without a fight. And I recently heard his assistant might be psychic.”

  The sincerity in the warning didn’t make Flynn happy, but he decided it was worth the risk. Paul screwed up. Now he had a chance and an opportunity to talk to her. He had to take it. Flynn turned to leave, but Nicholas caught his arm.

  “One more thing, that studio appointment? I set that up, Lexi doesn’t know a thing about it. I intentionally put it a month out to give her a bit more time and I’m waiting to tell her, so not a word, okay?”

  Flynn nodded and returned to his car, considering his meeting with Lexi in the morning.

  He spent the night at an airport hotel and surprised himself by actually getting a few hours’ sleep. The next morning he boarded the plane and settled into the roomy first-class seat to wait. His anxiety started to kick in when Nicholas Daley stepped into the cabin and sat down in the window seat across from him. Sure enough, Lexi followed, taking the aisle seat next to Nicholas.

  Flynn expected her, but he was stunned nonetheless. He simply stared at her profile as she put on lip gloss. Her dark hair hung to her shoulders in soft waves.

  Lexi turned and noticed him staring at her. She smiled. “Hello again.”

  “Hello. You’re a difficult person to get hold of,” Flynn said, immediately wishing he hadn’t.

  She frowned. “Just call the studio. What’s up?”

  Flynn grasped for any reason for an unofficial meeting. “Maybe nothing anymore. Drew and I talked before about calling on your expertise, but Zane was resistant. There’s no point bothering you with it at the moment.” The words came to him from out of nowhere and he thanked whatever muse was watching over him. Lexi just nodded, accepting his sketchy explanation.

  “Fair enough.” She reached in her purse and brought out a Post-it pad and pen. Scribbling on it quickly, she handed Flynn the paper. “If you need to, send me an email.”

  Flynn accepted the paper gratefully, then read it twice in confusion. It had an email address for a Teri Giles. Her assistant maybe? That wasn’t going to help him.

  Beside him, Lexi laughed. “I use a pseudonym for work. You may have noticed some of my work is rather colorful? It insulates my kids from association with what I do. Call me Teri. Privately of course.”

  Flynn nodded, not quite believing his luck. No wonder he had trouble finding personal information on her.

  “Understandable I suppose. How old are your kids?”

  “Cassie is seventeen and Dev is fifteen. You?”

&
nbsp; “The twins, Simone and Saffron, are nineteen and Mindy’s eighteen. Mindy’s the only one still at home.”

  “Lucky. I can’t wait until I’m down to just one. It’ll never happen though,” she laughed.

  “Why not?” Flynn turned and leaned forward into the aisle, hanging on every word.

  “Cassie is part of an inseparable duo. They have sleepovers even on school nights, so I’m constantly having my closet raided by two girls instead of just one.

  “Dev, for whatever reason, had three older boys adopt him into their little basement band and they now spend every available hour at my house. At least I always have someone to mow or whatever.”

  “Tell him about the cat,” Nicholas said. He looked like he was fishing through his briefcase for a magazine, but apparently he was paying attention after all. Flynn wasn’t sure what to think of that. Teri groaned.

  “What cat?” Flynn asked.

  “I came home one day from a quick vacation.”

  “Which is amusing because she gets more stressed by being away from home than being there,” Nicholas added.

  “Shut up,” Teri called over her shoulder, turning back to Flynn. “Anyway, I walked in and Nicholas is there, as usual. I have a room for him too since he spends so much time dropping in unexpectedly to pester me.”

  “If you took your marketing and booking as seriously as the actual photo sessions, I wouldn’t have to pester you.”

  “Then where would you spend all your free time?” She looked over her shoulder.

  “I’d have time for a hobby.”

  “You say that now.” Teri focused on Flynn again. “Anyway, I walk in and the first thing that hits me is the smell: like a pet store. I asked Nicholas about it and he said it was the cat. I reminded him I didn’t have a cat. He said maybe I should mention that to the little hairball before it clawed up his other hand. He held up his hand and, sure enough, it was shredded. So I went looking for a cat, and tried to figure out which teen was in trouble, when I found out why the house smelled. Some bright kid, Jess I found out later, put the litter box in the laundry room but left the door closed. For a while was my bet.”

  Flynn groaned sympathetically.

  “My patience was gone at that point. I just sat down and hit speed dial on my phone over and over until all the kids were in the living room in front of me. I set them to work cleaning up the messes hidden all over the house. While I was yelling at them, the cat raced through the room: just a little gray streak. The kids all took off after her, but she got away.

  “That was almost a year ago. We still have the cat and no one ever really sees her.”

  “So where did it come from?”

  “I’m still not sure about that. I suspect she’s a stray that slipped into the house, and the kids just decided to let her stay. Rumor has it she’s fixed and declawed, but Nicholas can attest that’s not completely true. She doesn’t claw the furniture at least.”

  “Are you sure it’s a girl?”

  “Not really. Cassie named her ‘Catherine,’ so I hope so.”

  “Tell him the rest of that,” Nicholas prompted. Flynn grinned as Teri sighed and rolled her eyes.

  “Cassie named her ‘Catherine’ because that way I could continue calling her ‘Cat’ and it was acceptable. I’m not overly creative on naming animals.”

  “Sounds reasonable,” Flynn laughed.

  “No it’s not,” Nicholas argued, leafing through the latest issue of Time. “Tell him about the rest of the zoo.”

  “You’re annoying, read your magazine,” Teri snapped.

  “The zoo,” Flynn prompted, a smile spreading across his face.

  “Fine. We have sugar gliders. You know, the little nocturnal marsupial version of flying squirrels?”

  Flynn nodded he was familiar with the creature.

  “Anyway, the gliders are Dextrose, Maltose, and Sucrose.”

  “Sugars,” Flynn acknowledged.

  “Naturally. Although we call them Dex, Mal, and Suki for short. And they are completely misnamed! Sugar gliders my foot, they are little furry piranhas. Those little things love their meat!”

  Flynn laughed at her indignant outburst about the mislabeled pets. He watched her, mesmerized by her energy and the animated expressions on her face.

  “Then I have Monty, the python; Elvis and George the king snakes; Savannah, the monitor; Nippy and Trouble, the tree lizards,” Teri nodded thoughtfully. “Oh, and all the feeder mice are named Lunch and the crickets are Jiminy.”

  Flynn paused. “Snakes?”

  “I was terrified of snakes as a child and my stepfather filled the house with reptiles to cure me. It worked.” Teri shrugged.

  “Okay. A little unexpected.” Flynn wasn’t really a fan of snakes, but he pushed his misgivings aside.

  “I’ve been considering poison dart frogs, but I just don’t have the time or space right now to do it right. I’m putting it off to reward myself after I successfully kick all the kids out.”

  Flynn nodded. “Interesting goal.”

  “Another reason I keep my work separate. The kids like the zoo, but most other people think I’m nuts. You’re looking a little dazed yourself.”

  “Aren’t you glad that I’m not?”

  Flynn looked up to see Paul putting a bag in the overhead compartment for the seat in front of Teri. He suppressed a groan, but only just.

  “So, Paul, business or pleasure?” Teri asked coolly.

  “Pleasure.”

  “Back to stalking again?”

  “I decided since Flynn took an interest I’d better show up again before his wife noticed.”

  Flynn wanted to hit the man again. He forced his hands to unclench before Teri noticed.

  “Paul, that wasn’t nice,” Teri scolded. Flynn didn’t know whether or not to feel better. “You should be concerned about your own wife, not Flynn’s.”

  “Touché. But I asked Sara for a divorce over ten years ago, long before I met you. Flynn hasn’t asked yet and probably wouldn’t except for you.”

  “I’m touched by your concern, Paul, but Wendy and I have been having trouble for quite awhile now. We’re still exploring options,” Flynn said.

  “And you think running off to L.A. with Drew will help?” Paul asked.

  “Yes.” Flynn was concerned about the amount of information Paul had on him. He no doubt at least suspected the unofficial relationship with Drew. The simplicity of the answer, he hoped, would end this line of questioning before it got any worse.

  “Now boys, play nice,” Teri warned. She looked Paul in the eye. “That means you.”

  Flynn smiled in amusement. Paul might have won the first round, but it didn’t sound like he was winning the war.

  “Of course, Lexi dear,” Paul replied coolly.

  “Flynn knows my name, Paul. It’s okay,” Teri said firmly. Flynn noted the barely contained hostility in her voice with a sense of hope.

  Paul gave Flynn a tight smile.

  Flynn spent the flight keeping Teri talking about the kids. He was interested, but more important, she was warming up because mothers loved to talk about their children. It also kept Paul at bay. Flynn was on familiar ground discussing her son’s band and he used that to keep her attention. He started to think he might have a chance to beat Paul for her affection after all, and he was worried mostly because Paul didn’t seem to be.

  Teri had firm opinions about the sanctity of marriage. She managed to extract a promise from Flynn to make an effort with Wendy, perhaps see a counselor again. Flynn didn’t have a choice. It wasn’t unreasonable, and refusing would have ended their relationship before it started. And it might actually help, Flynn reflected. He still felt something for Wendy, it was just overshadowed by their fighting and his obsession for Teri.

  By the time they landed in L.A., Flynn was committed to trying to fix his marriage before he could push his advantage, and nervous about Paul’s continued silence. Teri seemed oblivious to the emotional havoc she’d w
reaked among the men around her. Even Nicholas seemed agitated, although Flynn couldn’t figure out why.

  They parted ways when they exited the terminal. Paul and Flynn were staying at different hotels, and Teri and Nicholas weren’t staying at all. She and Nicholas were there for a business meeting and returning home again that afternoon. Flynn had mixed feelings. He was going to count the encounter as a win, but Nicholas’s warning about Paul weighed heavily on his mind as he said goodbye to Teri.

  Chapter Twelve

  While Flynn tallied his wins and losses during the flight, Paul hurried to get to his hotel and drop off his bags. He was going to be late for his meeting. Paul hadn’t planned on being on the same flight as Teri, only meeting her in L.A. And he certainly hadn’t anticipated Flynn’s presence. At least he was able to let Teri know Flynn was married too. That temporarily took his competition out of the picture. Only temporarily. Flynn could still get divorced.

  That he could use Dev’s band to his advantage wasn’t lost on Flynn. Paul felt the pressure building. He needed to talk to Teri, coax her into letting him explain. Flynn knew who she was now, and his music background practically gave him a key to her front door.

  Arriving at the hotel, he had the limo wait for him while he checked in and the bellhop took his bags up. He followed, tipped him and quickly checked his appearance with a critical eye. Taking just a moment to brush his teeth and straighten his tie, he was back out of the room, downstairs, and on his way within fifteen minutes of arrival.

  The meeting wasn’t far and Paul tipped the driver generously to get him there on time. Weaving through traffic at high speeds made for an interesting ride, and he walked into the office only three minutes late.

  Teri was already there, sitting opposite the director, Jason Nexler. Nicholas sat beside her, with the typical apprehensive expression on his face. They both looked up as Paul walked in.

  “Jason?” Teri asked calmly. “Can you explain why Paul Lovett is here? I thought this was a business meeting.”

  “Um, I’m directing the documentary for Blue Horizon Media,” Jason replied, checking a folder in front of him to be sure. “I assume he’s representing them.”