I couldn’t feel anything, even though there was blood on the front of my shirt, my hands, and my knees. My head had hit the side of my car as I sat there waiting for something to happen with Ben.
I wasn’t sure how long we sat there until an ambulance and the police showed up. It was all a blur as I sat stunned and tried to answer their questions. They told me I was probably in shock and wanted me to go to the hospital to make sure I was okay. All I could do was nod.
I thought I heard a phone ring, but there was too much going on around me. Looking to my right, I saw Raine talking on my phone, but I had no idea who she’d be talking to at a time like this. When she was done, Raine came over and stood by my side, her face streaked with tears.
“How are you doing?” She barely got the words out, she was so upset.
“Fine, but they say I’m in shock. They’re going to take me to the hospital to check me out just in case.”
“Do you want me to come with you?
“I don’t know.” I shook my head. This all felt like a dream. I’d never been assaulted before, and now Ben had attacked me twice. This time he’d been waiting for me to come out of the restaurant. “Can you drive my car so you can take me home?”
“Of course, anything you need.”
“Thank you, Raine.” I rested my head against her arm. I was starting to get tired. “You’re a good friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You might not think that after I tell you who I was on the phone with.”
Lifting my head, Raine’s body was held tight as she looked down at me. “Just spit it out because I have no clue who it would be. My family is dead, and you’re my only friend.”
Her eyes got glassy behind her glasses. “Please don’t be mad, but it was Ryder. He was calling you back, and I told him what happened.” She bit her bottom lip. “You really should call him back. He seemed really upset when he heard you were hurt.”
Holding my hand out, I tried to keep my voice calm. It wouldn’t do any good for her to know how pissed off I was at her for speaking to Ryder. “Give me my phone, and I’ll call him while I’m at the hospital since I’ll probably be there a while.” I spit the last part out.
Handing my phone over, she looked everywhere but at me. “Please don’t be mad. What was I supposed to say?”
I guess I hadn’t hidden my anger very well. “You shouldn’t have answered my phone, no matter who it was.”
Raine’s hands went to her hips. “Why, so you could never tell him?”
“He’s all the way across the globe. What would telling him do but make him worry?” Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and let it out. “Let’s just drop it. What’s done is done, and I don’t have the energy to argue with you.”
“I’ll see you at the hospital.” Turning around, she walked over and got in my car without a backward glance. I wasn’t going to feel bad for being mad at her for meddling in my life.
* * *
“Lexie,” Ryder answered the phone worriedly. “Are you okay? Raine said—”
“She overreacted,” I interrupted. “They brought me to the hospital to make sure I’m okay, which I am.”
“The hospital? She didn’t mention you were going to the hospital. That sounds serious.” I hated that he was worried about me for no reason.
“It’s not. I only have one superficial cut, and they’ve already fixed me up. Now I’m just waiting to be discharged so Raine can drive me home.” Only I didn’t want to go home now. I was afraid Ben would show up tomorrow, demanding some mystical drugs.
“Your voice tells me something different. Talk to me, Lexie. You can tell me anything.” Even all the way across the world, he could tell something wasn’t right.
“I’m scared to go home.” Tears filled my eyes, and my chin started to quiver. “He…Ben said he’d be back in twenty-four hours, and he wanted his drugs. But I…”
“Take a slow, deep breath.” His deep voice soothed me. “He can’t get you right now. Do you think he has drugs in your apartment?” he asked calmly.
“If you had asked me a month ago, I would have said no, but now I don’t know. When we were together, he didn’t do drugs, so I don’t know why there would be drugs in my stuff.”
“Okay, I don’t know the law, but maybe you can have the cops come with a drug dog to see if it can sniff out any drugs if he hid some in your things.”
“That could work. Maybe they can stake out my place and catch him. Only…”
“Only what?” He tried to pry the rest out of me.
I was usually a strong person, but Ben’s attack had shaken me up more than I wanted to admit. “I don’t want to be there. I don’t want to be anywhere near here right now. Maybe I need to go back to Hawaii. It was nice when we were there. Or go to—”
“Come to Rio and stay with me. You can be on a plane tomorrow morning, and we can spend the week together. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?”
He couldn’t be serious. I didn’t want to run away from my problems—but I also didn’t want to hurt anymore…or die.
“Pack a suitcase full of bikinis and condoms.”
“Have you already used all the condoms you bought in Oahu?” I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him if he had been having sex with other people in the last couple of weeks.
“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. If we’re together more than a couple of days, we’ll need more.”
“What if I’m on my period the whole time?”
I wanted to laugh at the grunt that filled the phone and then the short pause. “It will be the perfect time to get into your ass.”
It was my turn to choke. I wasn’t sure if I was ever letting Ryder back there. He’d probably do irreversible damage.
“Or…” He chuckled, and I loved the way it sounded. I liked how, for a minute, he made me forget about Ben and him attacking me. “We can do other things. I like hanging out with you. Plus, there’s always oral.”
“There is that,” I agreed.
“I’ll be at the Windsor. It’s probably not as nice as what you’re used to, but—”
“Do you have to stay there?” If I was going to go on a vacation or run away from my ex, I wanted to stay somewhere nice. There was no doubt in my mind the hotel he was staying at would be fine, but I wanted luxury.
“Does that mean you’ll come?”
Did it?
“Only if we don’t have to stay at whatever hotel they have set up for you.” I was itching to start searching for a place. Was I really going to run off to Rio with Ryder for the week?
“I…I don’t think they’ll shuttle me to the locations if I’m not staying at the hotel, but I don’t think it’s mandatory I stay there. I am an adult.”
“Fine, I’ll rent a car too. We’d need one, anyway. What time does your flight leave?”
“At five-thirty, I…let me look. I get in at six forty that night. It’s a long flight, but if I have you waiting for me there—”
“Cool your jets, big boy. Your enthusiasm is infectious, so when I get home, I’ll look into flight times. Why don’t you text me your flight info, and I’ll do the same once I have some information to give you?”
“You’re really going to come?” he asked in awe. “Is it bad that I’m kind of happy you were attacked so I can see you again?”
Laughing, I answered. “Yes, it absolutely is.”
“I’m sorry, Lexie. I really am. I’m just happy to spend more time with you. You know I’m not happy you’re hurt, right?”
“I know,” I reassured him. “Don’t worry about it. I should probably let you go so you can get some sleep. Enjoy your last day in Moscow, and I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“Now that I know you’re okay, I am about ready to fall on my face, I’m so tired.” He laughed like a drunk person down the line, making me smile. “Good night, Lexie. I’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks for making me feel better. I appreciate it more than you know.�
�
“Hey, Lexie,” he called as I was about ready to hang up, “if you need anything, call me. I’m here for you.”
He was, until he wasn’t.
11
Ryder
RIO
2 Days Later
For the last forty-eight hours, I’d been a mixture of worried and elated. Lexie’s situation with her ex was troubling, to say the least, and I couldn’t do anything to help her. I hated how much I missed while I was gone, but I knew if I wanted to be able to help my parents, I needed to make money by taking pretty much every job that was offered to me. Lexie’s advice about getting sick and burned out ran through the back of my mind. I knew she was right, and after this year, I would slow down and analyze each offer, but until then, I had to keep pushing and fulfill the obligations I already had.
Stepping out of baggage claim, I couldn’t hide the grin that I’d been pushing down for the last two hours of my flight. While I’d be busy for some of the time, I was excited Lexie had agreed to spend the week with me. It was lonely being a tourist in a city where you couldn’t speak the language, and what better way to enjoy the sights than with a beautiful woman at my side. In actuality, I was surprised she took me up on my offer.
Looking around, I searched for Lexie. She wouldn’t be hard to spot with her turquoise hair and inked skin. Maybe this time I would ask her if her tattoos had any meaning. They were beautiful watercolors that fit her perfectly. She had been my inspiration for finally getting inked for the first time. It also wasn’t a coincidence that the stars I got along my side were the color of her hair.
When I finally spotted her, Lexie’s head was down, and her hair was a curtain hiding her beautiful face, with her arms wrapped around herself. She moved to the side as someone passed by her, and I could see her eyes shifting from side to side as if she was afraid that at any given moment, someone in the airport might assault her. In the past, she was always so self-confident, but in that moment, she was broken. While I knew the attack on her was going to affect her after hearing her voice, I had no idea it would crack her tough exterior.
I made sure to walk up to her as slowly as possible so that she would see me coming. Scaring her first thing wouldn’t do her any good. Adjusting my duffle on my shoulder, I wasn’t sure how to address her. I shouldn’t have been nervous, though. The second I was within reaching distance, her head lifted, and her bright blue eyes twinkled up at me.
That was when I saw the long red mark on her neck, the evidence of the knife wound her ex had given her. There was a butterfly bandage on one part, probably where he’d dug the blade in, and the rest had glue covering it. Her wound was worse than I’d imagined. Worse than she had led me to believe over the phone, but I should have known it was bad after how upset Raine had been when she told me about it. Maybe she was self-conscious about it, and that’s why she’d been looking down, but I didn’t think that was it. I thought my first hunch was correct, and she was afraid. I wasn’t going to let her know that it bothered me to see her beautiful skin marred and how I hated I hadn’t been there to protect her. It would heal, and so would she.
Pulling her into an all-consuming hug, I kissed the top of her head. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hey, dimples,” she answered back, her arms holding me a little tighter as she rested her head against my chest. I couldn’t help but laugh. “What are you laughing about?”
“I think you’re the only one who likes my dimples. When I was young, I used to get made fun of for having them.”
“Well, those guys were assholes, and I can say with the utmost certainty that I am not the only one who loves your dimples. I’m surprised there isn’t a fan page for them yet,” she said, her voice muffled with her face buried between my pecs.
Pulling back, I smiled down at her knowing good and well that my damn dimples would pop out. “You’re just saying that to stroke my ego.”
“I’m really not, but I do love them. I’d claim them as mine if I could.” The tip of her finger stroked my right dimple. “And don’t tell me you’re not showing these to anyone but me.”
“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t.” Someone shoved me from behind, and it was like a snap of the fingers, and we weren’t alone anymore. Whenever I was around Lexie, the world seemed to fall away, and it was only us. “What do you say we get out of here?”
“Ugh, yes, please. I hate airports.” She eyed my duffle. “Is that all your stuff?”
“Yeah, I don’t need much.” I threw my arm around her shoulders. “How many bags did you bring?”
Her arm wrapped around my waist as we left. “A big suitcase and an overnighter for my carry-on.”
“How many bikinis did you bring?” A low laugh came out as I joked with her. I didn’t think she’d actually bring only swimsuits and condoms, although I wouldn’t have minded.
“Probably like fourteen, give or take. I own an insane amount that I don’t use often enough.”
“Well, we’ll have to change that and make sure you wear each one you brought. Where’d you park?” I asked as we stepped off the curb.
“Ryder, man. Over here,” one of the models called. I looked over to see him standing by a van waving us over.
With my arm still around Lexie, we walked over to Parker and a van full of bodies and equipment. “What are you doing, man? Your ride’s here.” I liked Parker. I’d done a couple of shoots with him before. Where he had looks, unfortunately, he had no brains.
“I’m going with Lexie, but I’ll see you in the morning.”
“But your ride.” His brows pulled down as if he was trying to solve an impossible math problem.
“I know. We’ve got a car. I cleared it with Tom, so don’t worry.”
“Who are you?” he asked in his best seductive tone directed at Lexie.
I could feel Lexie’s body shake against mine as she held back her laughter. She obviously wasn’t falling for his charm.
Lana stopped by Parker’s side and looked Lexie and me up and down with a sneer. “That’s Lexie Keene, Parker. I can’t believe you don’t know who she is. She’s one of the top fashion photographers.” With the compliment, you would have thought the words coming out of Lana’s mouth would have sounded nice, but they came out in an irritated bitchy tone. I wondered if Lana knew how much Lexie didn’t like her. I had a feeling she did.
Parker’s eyes widened as his mouth fell open. Not that it was hard to shock him, but it was always comical. “You’re Lexie Keene?” He held his hand out to shake hers and proceeded to shake it the whole time he spoke. “I’ve been dying to work with you. How can I make that happen? Wait, are you the photographer for the Romadi shoot?”
Lana rolled her eyes as she left her bags on the sidewalk and got inside the van.
“I’m only here on vacation, but I’m sure I’ll see you around.” Turning to look at me, she asked in a quiet voice. “Are you ready to go? You must be hungry.”
I was starved. I hadn’t eaten anything in hours. I wasn’t about to put the airline’s food into my body, so I was on the verge of ravenous. “Starved.”
“Where are you going? Maybe we can all go to dinner together.” Parker inviting himself was annoying. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings because he was nice to me, and I liked to hang out when we were working together, but there was no way we were having dinner with him, Lana, or anyone else.
“Oh, I didn’t know Ryder would be flying with others, so I only made the reservation for the two of us. Maybe next time.” Lexie rested her hand on my waist and pinched my side.
“We didn’t fly together. I’ve been here for like two hours waiting for Lana to get here.”
Stupid. That was the only word that could describe him for waiting in an airport for two hours. Although I would have waited for Lexie if I’d arrived sooner. Maybe they were hooking up.
Lexie turned to me fully, her mouth pinched. “Did you fly with Lana?”
“Not from Moscow, I think she got on in Amsterdam,” I shru
gged the shoulder without my bag on it. “I didn’t see her on the flight.”
She turned to the van and narrowed her eyes at Lana, who was peering through the window at us.
“Okay.” I started to pull Lexie away. I didn’t really understand her disdain for Lana, and while she was normally professional, I had a feeling she might lose her shit on Lana if she provoked her in even the slightest way. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” Parker made some confused noise as we walked off. When we were out of earshot, I asked, “You want to tell me what that was about?”
“The way she uses everyone within a ten-mile radius drives me nuts. Parker was sitting there for two hours waiting for her.” She shook her head, her mouth in a thin line. “I have no doubt it was her idea. She’s known to try to sleep her way to the top, and since she can’t have sex with me, she doesn’t hide how shitty of a person she is around me.”
I remembered when I first met them both in Lexie’s studio, and Lexie thought I wanted to have sex with Lana. I knew that if I had fallen prey to Lana, I wouldn’t have my blue-haired girl by my side now, and I’d never been more thankful.
“Do you really have reservations somewhere?” She’d only been in Rio since early this morning.
She stopped us by an old Jeep. “No, but there was no way in hell I was going to eat dinner with them. I’d rather stab my eyeballs out than eat with Lana.”
I chuckled to myself. “Is this your rental car?”
“Yep, get in because I really am hungry. I fell asleep when I checked in and haven’t eaten all day. I figured we can eat at the hotel tonight unless there’s someplace you want to go.”
“That’s fine. I’m sure they can make me some chicken and vegetables.”
She groaned. “That’s got to be hella boring.”
“It does get old sometimes, but I splurge every once in a while. I plan on eating whatever I want in December when I take time off.” I couldn’t wait to eat my mom’s zucchini muffins and her sesame noodles. “Are you regretting coming now that you know Lana’s here?”
The Model: A Workplace Romance Page 8