Page 51 of Love Is: Two Bodies One Soul

Alone with Owen again, Lexie leaned across the table and whispered. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘Can you imagine her reaction if she’d seen the Harley Street feature with all of me, face included, standing in nothing but my birthday suit on the doctor’s scales?’

‘I can. That’s why I took the shots the way I did. I didn’t like that George was exploiting you.’

‘Neither did I, but we’d already had a row on Monday about me doing what he wants. He more or less said, do as you’re told or leave. I can’t leave, and he knows that. So I owe you a big thank you for helping me out of a problem.’

‘Think nothing of it.’ Lexie sipped her coffee. ‘George let slip he wanted naked shots of you to gee up your social media following. Apparently you’re hot stuff on Twitter?’

Owen picked up his coffee and tested the temperature. ‘When I was a kid in this industry, I made a few mistakes. Quite a lot, actually. One was taking my shirt off on location in Oz, and another was swimming butt-naked in the Andaman Sea. Someone took shots of me and sometime later posted them on-line in an act of revenge. A chain of events was started.’

‘Why did you? Swim naked I mean.’

‘It was hot, and I hadn’t learned the danger of social media or the value of privacy. I know better now, which is why I’m so grateful to you for what you did, or rather didn’t do, yesterday.’

‘It was nothing.’

‘It was everything, Lex.’

Lexie took another sip of her coffee and looked over the cup rim at Owen. He was watching her with such intensity; it made her insides tremble. Fearful she might spill the coffee, she put the cup down. ‘Is George furious with me?’

‘He was angry at me – he thought I’d put you up to it, because he’d seen us talking yesterday. Said I was cosying up to you.’

Another shimmer went through Lexie. ‘What did you say? Did you tell him you had nothing to do with it?’

‘No, I didn’t get a chance because the brothers arrived. But I will tell him it was me. I won’t have him fire you.’

‘I’ve only got a little over a week left, so it wouldn’t matter too much if he did.’

‘It would. It would matter to me, Lex.’

Trapped in the blueness of his eyes again, she believed him, but sincere or not, she would not let him lose his job for something she’d done. She argued, ‘They’d find you another photographer. Besides, you shouldn’t take the risk. You need this job.’

‘Do I?’ He sat back, surprised.

Lexie felt her skin go red. ‘You’ve caught me out. I’m sorry, Kate and I were talking about you, and I know we shouldn’t have because it was private stuff, but Kate was only sticking up for you. She said you had a lot of worries, that you were fighting for custody or something.’

‘Access,’ Owen corrected. ‘I’m a long way off even thinking about custody.’

‘So, lawyers cost a lot. That’s why, if anyone is to be sacked around here, it’s me.’

Owen took Lexie’s hand. ‘You are an angel, Lex. Maybe my guardian angel.’ He smiled, a wistful expression in his eyes before he added, ‘What took you so long to show up?’

Lexie removed her hand before it melted and ignoring the tumult going on inside her chest, she said, ‘We’re agreed then? I clear up this confusion with George and tell him it was me. I’ll say I made a professional decision to make the shots impersonal because I thought it was more appropriate in a medical setting, and I’ll tell him you didn’t know about it because we don’t talk. We don’t get along.’

‘Ah.’ Owen took her hand again. ‘About that – can we try? I know it’s my fault we got off to a bad start, and I am truly sorry. Will you let me make amends and also thank you for what you did yesterday?’

‘You don’t have to.’

‘I’d like to. Please. Let me take you to dinner tonight … nothing special. As you say, lawyers cost, and I haven’t got a load of money. So, it would just be a Chinese meal, but a good one, and it will give us a chance to know each other a bit more – perhaps get along, maybe become friends.’

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