The Little Shop of Afternoon Delights

by Sarah Lefebve

  She was proud of her life, excited for the future. She needed to keep that in her head, up front and center. She’d power through the awkwardness and focus on her work.

  “Your meal.” The flight attendant made to set a tray down in front of Maggie. As she did so the knife, fork, and spoon wrapped in a linen napkin wobbled and dropped off. Alex held out one large hand and caught it in mid-air. Sleeve rolled back, tanned arm dusted with dusky hairs, an understated platinum watch sat on his wrist. He passed the cutlery to Maggie. Their fingers brushed. Attraction danced in her veins and shimmied to the tips of her fingers and toes. She trembled, discombobulated beyond belief.

  “It’s really good to see you, Maggie.”

  He challenged her with his wicked eyes. If only just sitting beside him didn’t take her breath away. Blast his blatant sex appeal. Everything about his body language screamed an invitation to play. He made her want to smile in spite of herself.

  “You too.” She lowered her eyes only to find herself making a study of his muscular thighs in dark denim. He exuded masculine vitality from every single pore. “I’m looking forward to working with you,” she blurted, adding a second too late “and Nick.”

  Alex turned back and gave her one of his rare smiles. He was devastating when he did that. Not that people got to see him smile much. He was way too cool. She’d done an internet search to check out the looks that they used on the show. She’d unearthed infinite pages of Alex channeling his vampire character Jago – all dark and compelling and smileless. His smile was infectious. Maybe that’s why he didn’t do smile-for-the-camera. Perhaps he’d spent ten years perfecting an image of supreme indifference to save women from themselves. On the receiving end of Alex’s wicked, wide smile she might as well be weightless, as if she’d boarded a rocket for Mars and flown off into space. All rationale eliminated, she had mush for a brain.

  Wound-up, spaceship Maggie returned from outer orbit. Alex Wells had been on planet La La Land for ten years. She’d be crazy to wonder if they could go back to square one – on any level, never mind the events of that last night. He wanted to get up to speed. Make sure she had enough experience for the styling job. She’d worked with celebrities, even a handful of really big names, but mostly she got hired by a well-heeled social elite, who desperately wanted to look like A-listers. She’d be fooling herself if she imagined Alex, with his ”old mates” interrogation and his upgrade, was interested in her beyond the end of this week. He was all fake charm and chumminess because he wanted her to make him look good. She wondered how he handled the publicity, given that he’d loathed being its focus before he got famous.

  “Come on. Out with it, Maggie. Spill the beans. What have you got in the pipeline?”

  She tensed and bit down on her bottom lip, aching to tell him to mind his own business and literally clamping her mouth shut. Alex did not need to know about her recent visit to a private fertility clinic.

  “I can’t say,” she said evasively. “Nothing’s finalized yet. But I can tell you that if it works out, it’s going to totally change my life.”

  Chapter Two

  High-voltage silence reigned while they ate. Even after they’d been served coffee and things had been cleared, electricity still thrummed in the air. Alex shifted in his seat. He stared out the window at the vast, empty sky. He should choose a movie, freeze out the atmosphere by plugging in his headset.

  He’d wanted to break the ice ahead of working together. He hadn’t expected to be affected by her. Something about her had changed. Her business-like appearance was a surprise, but it wasn’t that. She was different beneath the surface. Perhaps she still felt strange about that night they’d spent together. He certainly did. There’d been that awkwardness when he’d taken too long to find a condom. In truth, the delay was deliberate. He’d known he and Nick wouldn’t fail the audition. He shouldn’t have been starting something with Maggie. When he’d kissed her the morning after, he’d hoped with all his heart that he’d be back after Christmas and that life would continue like before. Cutting her off seemed obvious at the time, kinder than stringing her along. He couldn’t go back to London, and her coming to LA was out of the question. She was a year and a term into her degree. Remembering the girl from a dot on the map, who grew up with her mess-with-my-Maggie-and-you’ll-have-me-to-answer-to grandma made him smile. More than once she’d got on the Underground heading in the wrong direction. That’s what had drawn him to her. She’d belonged to a place completely outside his world and she was better off not getting dragged into it.

  Seven hours on a plane was too much ice-breaking time. Why hadn’t he suggested a breakfast meeting? She was fixating on a magazine as if she had to memorize it.

  Maggie read the in-flight magazine from cover to cover. Including the horoscope page. All twelve star signs. Irritatingly, the cover story was about Drake Wells, Alex’s father, and how at the age of sixty-four he’d reinvented himself and discovered new-found fame starring as the villain in a hit sci-fi movie. In the duty-free section she picked out a new fragrance, which promised to be “beyond zingy”. Its apple-green bottle appealed to her. She made a mental note to try some at the airport on the way home. A preserving jar bursting with rainbow-colored jelly beans gave her a hankering for peachy-pie flavor. She’d definitely get some of those. Disgruntled, she stuffed the magazine into the seat pocket. Drake’s face, handsome, but not in the least bit like Alex’s, stared back at her.

  On edge, she stared into space and caught sight of Nick Wells. Her eyes popped open. She hadn’t realized he was on the flight. There seemed to be no getting away from Wells men. He was schmoozing a flight attendant; the one with the candy-pink pout. A moment later he vanished behind the curtain, with the pretty woman in hot pursuit. The toilet-occupied light popped on. Maggie glanced around the cabin. Had anyone else noticed?

  Alex had. He rolled his eyes, implying he hadn’t seen a thing.

  It was impossible to ignore him.

  “Please tell me they’re not doing what I think they’re doing. People don’t, do they? Not in the real world?”

  “That depends what you’re thinking.” He was just the right amount of unshaven. His white shirt accentuated his tan. With some of the top buttons undone the fabric fell open in a loose vee. Her eyes were drawn to his broad chest. Amazing pecs hid under that designer shirt – she’d watched the TV show. She’d seen the evidence. “I guess they’re renewing their membership.”

  “Sorry? What?” Maggie’s cheeks glowed. The burning memory in the back of her head had come out of storage despite her efforts to contain it. It was in the front part of her brain. It wasn’t likely to go away anytime soon.

  Her one-night-flop with Alex had given her more to daydream about than most fans of Mercy of the Vampires could lay claim to. Shame the night of giving in to temptation had faded into a fiasco.

  “Keep up, Maggie. Nick and his pick-of-the-day are fulfilling the terms and conditions of the mile-high club.” He narrowed his eyes, studying her carefully. “Have you become a bit of a prude?”

  “Certainly not.” She wasn’t about to let him make her feel like a fuddy-duddy. “Sex plus a toilet cubicle don’t add up to fun times in my book.”

  “Perhaps we should put that theory to the test. I might be able to change your mind.”

  Is he for real? The mile-high club seemed more fantasy than reality. Dead set on proving that she was as worldly as the next person, she raised a brow and blurted, “Bet you’re a fully paid-up member already, right?”

  His seductive eyes sparkled. “Is that a proposition?” His ve-ry sexy drawl sent party poppers of attraction bursting through her. She was absolutely not going to repeat her past mistake with this guy. A faint smile twisted his lips. “Relax, Maggie. I’m kidding. Anyway, we’ve kinda been there, nearly done that. Minus the altitude factor. Remember?”

  He’d mentioned the unmentionable night.

  “How could I forget?” Oh the shame. The embarrassment! Was that w
hat this upgrade had been about? Getting things out in the open. She was none too sure how much air-clearing she could handle. Her throat was dry. She’d better get a grip. Her night with Alex didn’t matter anymore. Except – she’d gained an immensely unforgettable one-night-disaster, and she’d lost a friend. Instant unfriending! Alex smiled his potent smile. Did he have to bring this up? “Our one night non-event. The least said about that the better.”

  “You couldn’t keep your hands off me.”

  Oh no! She wasn’t taking that. The impertinence! In defiance of her newly acquired coyness with Alex the TV personality, she challenged Alex, her once-upon-a-time friend.

  “We couldn’t keep our hands off each other.” She cleared her throat. “Best not go there.”

  “You fell asleep.”

  She assessed the eaves-dropping potential of the passengers around her, and hissed through gritted teeth, “You couldn’t find a condom.” The corners of Alex’s mouth twitched.

  “Um – how are we even having this conversation?” His silence forced her to fill the void. “It was a long time ago. About a hundred years.”

  “Ten, actually. Before I became a dropout.”

  “Before you became television’s most popular vampire.”

  “I think you’ll find that’s Nick.”

  “Not according to what I’ve read. I’ve done my research. Allegedly, women the world over go weak at the knees for – and I quote …” She made annoying squiggles in the air with her fingers. “… The complicated twin.” Their eyes locked in combat. “That’s you.”

  “I’m not complicated. That’s PR. Nobody pays any attention to that stuff.”

  “So what are we doing in Boston – if no one pays any attention?”

  Alex shrugged. “Work. The last part of my contract, before I shake off Jago for good, and get on with my life.” Something electric fizzed between them. “Where were we? Let’s get back to debating the mile-high club. I like that topic better.” He trained his eyes intensely on her neck. “What does it take to qualify, do you reckon? Does this count?”

  He took her hand in his, turned it over and touched the inside of her wrist, firmly tracing a figure of eight with the pad of one finger. Awareness prickled her skin. He pushed back her sleeve and drew a line with his finger to the indent of her elbow. He marked out another invisible figure of eight on her skin. It was his character’s trademark gesture when seducing women in the vampire show. It gave her goose bumps of pure pleasure.

  His mouth was kissingly close. She trembled.

  He lowered his head and his mouth grazed her neck, his heat injecting lava into her veins. She breathed in his scent of spice. His shiny black hair brushed her skin, oh so softly. “Alex,” she breathed, aiming for mock stern. “If that’s your party trick, I think it’s time to get a new one.”

  He touched her neck very gently, pushed back a wave of hair that had escaped her ponytail and moved his thumb in sensuous figures of eight around her pulse point. Her heart raced.

  “I’m not up for being practiced on like some kind of seduction technique guinea-pig,” she burbled. “I can’t play your game. It might work on the zillion other women in your life. But it doesn’t do anything for me. I knew you before you were television’s sexiest vampire …” She was aiming for sarcasm. It was a struggle. “In case you’d forgotten.”

  “Ohhhhh, I’ve definitely not forgotten,” he rumbled. Before she could respond he silenced her, feathering her lips with his for a fraction of a nano-second.

  “Alex!” She exhaled his name and sucked in a breath, almost fighting for air. There was no confusion. Vampires were fiction. This was real. He’d hijacked her controls and she was tipsy on a cocktail laced with one hundred per cent temptingly awesome man.

  He settled back into his own seat. Leaning on the cushiony headrest, he taunted, “It’s no good. If you want to make me a club member there’s only one thing for it.” He nodded towards the front of the aircraft. “We’ll have to join the queue.”

  “Ha flipping ha.” She smirked at him caustically. “Very funny. Like that’s going to happen.” Apparently fashion stylist Magenta had put on a parachute and jumped, leaving the teenager she’d been when she first met him in her place.

  Maggie was in a crazy spin. She wasn’t going to let Alex know it. He was only flirting with her. Even so, he was sinfully hard to resist.

  She glanced around the cabin. In the low light the other passengers either worked on laptops or dozed. Luckily.

  Her heart squeezed. Her life plan didn’t include a man to share it. She’d convinced herself that she didn’t need one. Alex’s provocative half a heartbeat of an almost kiss told her in no uncertain terms that men had their uses. For some things they were indispensable, even.

  That was by the by. There was still no such thing as The One. He didn’t exist. For one sugary moment ten years ago she’d wondered if Alex might be her One. As it turned out – he wasn’t. She got over it – eventually. She hadn’t seen it at first, but the writing had always been on the wall for Maggie. Her dad hadn’t stuck around for her mum. And no guy was going to stick around for her. Even her grandfather hadn’t been a long-haul guy. He’d gone off with an ahead-of-her-time cougar from the village fish-and-chip shop.

  In spite of the evidence, Maggie had remained positive. She’d truly believed she could find her Mr. Right and beat the family curse. Only things had changed when Marcus came along and burst that bubble. Men were fickle creatures. And as if she needed any more proof. Here was Hot Vampire Guy, charming the life out of her, just to pass the time.

  The plane juddered. The seatbelt lights pinged on. “Ladies and gentleman – we are experiencing some turbulence. Please return to your seats and refrain from moving about the cabin.”

  Nick was ejected from the toilet; followed after about thirty none-too-discreet seconds by the petite flight attendant.

  Nick ignored the instruction to sit. He stopped beside Maggie.

  “Maggie Plumtree – we meet again.” He raked his gaze over her. “Last time I saw you, you were wearing a fetching little Santa Girl number,” he teased. “I’m glad to see your dress sense has improved.”

  She laughed off his jokey remark. It dawned on her, somewhat belatedly, that the fashion shoot had the makings of the old friends’ reunion from hell. Why hadn’t she seen that coming? She needed a thick skin.

  Alex glared at his brother.

  Nick crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I’ve heard a lot about your work – all good, of course.”

  “Of course.” She looked him up and down, hoping the looks she had planned were going to work. “It’s good to see you too, Nick.” She pointed to the fasten seatbelts lights. “Shouldn’t you go back to your seat?”

  Nick had been a bit-part actor when she’d known the brothers in London. Unlike Alex, he’d avoided drama school, scoring roles mostly through luck and the helping hand of a famous name. It opened doors and got him into TV medical dramas and whodunits. The way she remembered it, Nick and their mother had more or less kidnapped Alex when Mercy of the Vampires came along. It would have been crazy not to go for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But, ultimately, TV in Hollywood had been Nick’s dream, not Alex’s. Seeing the brothers together now, she wondered what direction Alex’s life might have taken if he hadn’t gone to LA. Before he’d dropped out of drama school to play Nick’s evil vampire twin in the pilot series of Mercy he’d talked about getting into theater, serious stuff like directing and Shakespeare.

  Nick pinned her with his sparkly almond gaze and didn’t budge.

  “So, what have you got planned for us? Or is it top secret?”

  Maggie snapped into professional mode, reminding herself that she needed to let bygones be bygones.

  “Day one we’re in downtown Boston. We’re planning something rural meets urban – with fresh produce.” Nick frowned. “Apples. Flowers. Helium balloons.” She bubbled with enthusiasm. “I’m aiming for a kitsch vibe with p
retty girls in retro florals. And you guys in country tweeds.”

  “Tweeds?” Alex and Nick echoed in sync. They exchanged a skeptical look.

  “It’ll be fab. Trust me. The magazine wants something cute. A farmers’ market in the heart of the city feel. I’m going to work with a devil within theme to keep the focus on the vampire premise of the show.”

  “Brainy as well as beautiful. No wonder you’ve done so well for yourself.”

  Nick’s playboy reputation was as legendary as Alex’s mystery. Lately the tabloids couldn’t get enough of his allegedly on-off affair with his on-screen love interest Ella Swift. Going by what she’d just witnessed, it was more off than on.

  In contrast, scandal about Alex rarely appeared in the gossip magazines. Even so, the paparazzi frequently photographed him with some glitterati girl glued to his side. Only last week she’d seen his name on a list of the world’s top twenty most-eligible bachelors.

  The show had been a huge success, running for almost ten years and making them household names. It helped that their mother was the flamboyant Cassandra Wells, and being real-life twins didn’t hurt either. It added to the hype that surrounded the Wells brand.

  “We’re at Cape Cod the second day. Doing something atmospheric in the dunes.”

  “Tell me more. I’m intrigued.” Alex butted into the conversation.

  “Leather and lace. Anyone?” Oops. She wasn’t doing very well on the act-professional-absolutely-no-flirting front.

  “Just as long as it’s you in leather and Alex wearing the lace. Or should it be the other way around?” A cheeky grin spread across Nick’s face.

  “Well, no.” She feared that working with Alex and Nick might require the bringing out of her inner schoolmarm – if she had one. “We’ve booked some lovely willowy girls to do something a bit Victoriana meets boho chic. We’re going to blend that with sea, sand, and a sexy biker-boy look.” She gave a little shrug. “That’s where you guys come in.”