Page 21 of Behind the Scenes

And no woman had ever done that to him.

Chapter Seven

Lauren looked atAlexis and mouthed, “Why isn’t he saying anything?”

She didn’t have an answer for her assistant. She thought giving up her office so he could have somewhere of his own in the apartment would make him happy. When she saw him sleeping on her couch like some uninvited visitor, she instantly knew she wanted to change that.

Didn’t he like that what she’d done?

Alexis looked over at him as he stood as still as statue in the doorway, no expression on his face at all. But in those beautiful dark green eyes she saw surprise registered in them.

After waiting for so long that it became uncomfortable to just stand there, she asked, “Do you like it? I thought since you don’t plan to leave me alone while you’re working on this case that you should at least have a proper bedroom. So I moved my office out so you could have this room all to yourself.”

Hunter opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. She waited for him to say something, but he remained silent. As the seconds ticked by, she began to wonder if she should have even bothered trying to be nice if this was how he reacted to kindness.

Every moment he didn’t say anything made her defensiveness ratchet up another notch. Finally, she said, “Well, say something. It’s got to be better than sleeping on the couch, right?”

He avoided looking at her as he said, “You didn’t have to do this.”

She waited all that time for him to say something, and that’s what he chose to tell her?

“I don’t have to do anything. I wanted to do this.”

When he didn’t respond, she looked over at Lauren to at least see a friendly face. “I thought you’d like this, Hunter.”

Again, he didn’t look at her when he said, “I appreciate it. Thanks.”

The way he said that without a hint of kindness or emotion hurt her feelings. She wanted to lash out, to tell him how his callous reaction to her effort made her feel, but she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’d had that effect on her.

So she just barked at Lauren, “Let’s go. We have things to do.”

Her assistant rushed out of the room, and Alexis followed her, steering them toward her bedroom. Closing the door behind them, she flopped down on her bed, disappointed at how her surprise had gone over.

“I want to get away from all these people and do something fun,” she said as she threw her arm over her eyes.

Lauren sat down on the bed next to her and sighed. “Would you like me to get a driver so you can go shopping on Fifth Avenue today? You mentioned when we were back in LA that you’d want to do that when we got to New York.”

“I don’t want to go shopping. I don’t want to buy anything else.”

“What do you want to do then?”

Alexis lifted her arm and looked up at Lauren. “I want to see Atlantic City. I’ve never been there. I want to see the Boardwalk and walk on the beach. I miss the feel of sand between my toes.”

“Atlantic City? I’ve never been there. I bet not many of the guys have either.”

Sitting up, Alexis shook her head. “No, I just want it to be the two of us. We can see the sights, gamble, go to the beach. We have to do this!”

Lauren’s eyes opened wide in surprise, and she shook her head like she couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “We can’t go alone, Alexis. What if someone recognizes you? You’ll only have me to protect you. What if that awful person who’s stalking you finds us? I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt. I’d never forgive myself.”

“I’m tired of constantly being watched like I’m some kind of China doll. I’ve been hidden away because of that bastard for way too long. I want to have fun with my best friend. Say you’ll keep this secret. Say you’ll do it!”

Always the more fearful of the two, Lauren shook her head as worry settled into her expression. “Alexis, you just got Hunter to help you. Shouldn’t we at least tell him?”

The last thing she wanted to do was tell Hunter about this. Let him hang around here and do whatever he had to. She craved freedom from him and everyone else who wanted to hem her in.

“No! It’s just going to be us girls. We’ll wear wigs and sunglasses so nobody recognizes us. You get a driver and a car. I want to leave by nine.”

Lauren still worried about the details. Frowning, she asked, “What are we going to tell everyone? We can’t just leave without someone noticing.”

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