Page 36 of Behind the Scenes

He turned to leave, and she added, “Please.”

Looking back at her, he smiled in that sexy way again. It made her stomach flutter even more this second time.

“Okay. I’ll be out here working, but if you plan to go out, just let me know, okay?”

“Thanks, Hunter.”

As the door closed and he disappeared, she thought about how much she knew he agreed with Paul. That he didn’t just stand there and let her get lectured on how stupid she’d been that day showed he really wasn’t just another one of her bodyguards since none of them would ever dare to stand up for her to Paul before.

He defended her.

No one had ever defended her. People told her what to do and what not to do. They told her how to act. Fans told her how much they loved her. Critics told her what they thought of her work. Haters told her to give up acting and stick to being a dumb blonde who should do nothing but model.

But no one, not even her ex-husband, had ever stood up for her like that.

A tiny knock on the door she recognized as Lauren’s roused her from her thoughts, so she called her in. She hurriedly locked the door behind her and rushed over to sit next to Alexis on the bed.

Wide-eyed, she said, “Oh my God! Paul was so furious when we got back. He was so mad. I thought he was going to stroke out right there when I got off the elevator. I wanted to cry he was yelling so loud.”

Alexis didn’t want to think about Paul now. Turning to face Lauren, she excitedly asked, “Did you see how Hunter stopped him from giving me chapter and verse about how I should have been more careful? I couldn’t believe it! I thought the two of them were going to read me the riot act for at least an hour when I got here.”

All the worry and stress faded from Lauren’s expression, replaced by a huge grin that lit up her face. “I did. What happened in the car on the way back to make that happen? I figured they’d both pile on once you got home since Paul was the one who brought him here.”

“I don’t know. Nothing. I know he was as furious as Paul is when he found us, but he didn’t yell at me or even scold me about it. All he said was if I wanted to go somewhere to just let him know.”

“That was it? Nothing else? I thought you’d tell me he bitched you out all the way home.”

Alexis shook her head, still stunned he didn’t. “Me too, but there was no bitching.”

“I guess, now that you mention it, he doesn’t really seem like the bitching type. He’s more of a quiet kind of person, but sometimes those are the ones who yell the loudest.”

Thinking back, she went over the ride home in her mind and smiled. “Well, there was no yelling of any kind. I kept expecting it too, but it never came. For the first twenty miles or so, I just sat in the backseat curled up and waiting for him to start in on me about how stupid I’d been and how I could have gotten myself killed, but he never did that. He definitely wasn’t happy with me, but he didn’t yell like Paul.”

Leaning in toward her, Lauren asked, “Well, what did you guys talk about all that way if he wasn’t explaining how stupid what we did was, which it was, you know.”

“I know, but I’m not sorry we did it.”

Alexis stopped and thought about what she just said. That wasn’t exactly the whole truth.

“Well, I guess maybe I’m a little sorry. I never wanted you to be in trouble with Paul, so I’m sorry about that. And I could have been hurt by that stalker, so that wasn’t so smart. And I would never be able to forgive myself if you got hurt because of what I made you do. But it was nice seeing the beach again.”

Lauren hugged her. “It was. Maybe next time we go we don’t cause a ruckus and freak everyone out.”

“Okay. I can deal with that.”

“So what did you guys talk about the whole ride home?”

“We talked a little about a lot of stuff. We stopped for hamburgers at a rest stop. He didn’t treat me like I’d committed a crime just because I wanted to get out of the house for a few hours. He definitely wasn’t thrilled at what we did, but he didn’t act like I deserved to be punished for it like Paul did. I liked that.”

She slid the brown wig off her head and tossed it on the bed behind her. Lauren immediately reached out to arrange her long blond hair over her shoulders and smiled.

“I probably look like a mess, don’t I?” Alexis asked, self-conscious as always about how she looked.

Shaking her head, Lauren said, “No, you look like you always do. Beautiful.”

“Then why are you smiling?”

Her friend shrugged while her smile grew even bigger. “It’s just that I don’t remember the last time I saw you look so genuinely happy like you do now. That little trip to Atlantic City seems to have done you a world of good, even if it did give Paul the worst scare of his life.”

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