Page 55 of Behind the Scenes

“No reason,” she said, avoiding his gaze. “Just that you said you have sex with beautiful women, but earlier yesterday I got the feeling you had someone waiting for you.”

He dipped his head and kissed her softly on the lips. Tilting her chin up, he looked into her eyes and told her the truth.

“There’s no one waiting for me anywhere. As for sex with beautiful women, you’re the only woman who qualifies as that in a long time.”

“Oh. Okay,” she said with a little smile. “Okay. Let’s do this. Operation Distraction is underway.”

“I’m on it. Give me a minute and you’ll be safe to go to your room. And by the way, feel free to knock on my door anytime.”

She blushed in such a cute way he wished they could have another few minutes alone together. Disappointed they couldn’t, he left her standing in his room and walked out to the kitchen where everyone already waited for him.

“Morning everyone.”

He turned his back on the group of people and poured himself a cup of coffee while he tried to get the smirk Alexis had chastised him about off his face. He couldn’t help it. Why shouldn’t he smile? It wasn’t everyday he could say he woke up with one of the most beautiful women in the world beside him in bed after a night of phenomenal sex.

Damn. His body was still interested in another go, even though he had to address an entire household of people about the very woman he wished he could be burying his cock inside at that moment.

Well, Operation Distraction couldn’t wait for him to go soft. Time for him to put on his show.

Turning around, he leaned against the counter and tried to look as casual as possible. “You all know what my job is here. I’m going to find out who’s behind the letters and packages that have terrorized Alexis for months. I’ve begun my investigation, but I want to know if any of you who are closest to her have any opinion on who might be doing this.”

Hunter didn’t have a sense that any of them would necessarily give up that information even if they knew it, but he watched each of their reactions to what he said. Carla didn’t look surprised, likely because he’d just spoken to her last night, but Lauren looked utterly baffled as to why he’d chosen this very moment to make this point since her concern revolved around the fact that she still hadn’t been able to get Alexis to answer her that morning, even after two attempts.

The bodyguards didn’t look particularly surprised, either. Malcolm nodded and looked around at the rest of the people around him, while Kyle simply scowled at him. The other two, Kevin and Mark, looked angry, but he had the feeling it was more because they felt protective about the woman they worked for instead of something else.

Believing he’d given her enough time, he abruptly said, “Okay, well, if any of you want to tell me something privately, please don’t hesitate. Thanks and have a great day!”

Lauren waved at him from behind Carla and said, “Hunter, I still don’t know what’s going on with Alexis. I can’t get her to let me in this morning. Has anyone seen her yet today?”

He’d almost forgot that poor Lauren had gotten herself worked up into a nervous mess about not being able to reach Alexis yet, so he said, “Oh, yeah. Has anyone seen Alexis today? Any of you bodyguards see her go toward the elevator? I certainly hope we don’t have another situation like yesterday.”

Everyone in the room shook their heads and murmured that they hadn’t seen her yet that day. None of that helped Lauren, though, so she hurried off to try Alexis’s bedroom door yet again. He felt a little bad about messing with her feelings, but it had to be done.

Operation Distraction a success, Hunter took his coffee and sat down in the living room. A few minutes later, Alexis walked into the kitchen with Lauren in tow.

“Then you’re okay?”

“Sure,” Alexis said. “I just overslept.”

Visibly relieved, Lauren’s shoulders dropped from where they’d sat up near her ears. “I knocked and knocked but got no answer. I got scared. I even went to find Hunter because I thought something might have happened. You always answer. What happened? You never sleep like that.”

Shrugging, Alexis smiled at her. “Nothing. I was soaking in the tub. It’s the only thing I love about this place, so I wanted to enjoy it.”

“But your hair isn’t wet. How did you get it all up on top of your head without my help?” Lauren asked, confused and a little more than curious this morning.

Her questioning flustered Alexis, who seemed unable to come up with a good lie to cover her first lie. “I don’t know. Honestly, you’d swear I did something wrong. I didn’t leave the apartment like I was told not to, and I just enjoyed a bath. Everyone needs to calm down. There’s no crisis. Just a woman starting her day a little late. Do me a favor, Lauren, and go get the script on my bed I was up late reading. I want to finish it so I can talk to Melanie about it later today.”

Distracted by her boss’s request, Lauren gave up asking any more questions and ran off down the hall. Hunter waved Alexis into the living room and smiled.

“Good morning! How did you sleep?” he asked as she sat down on the couch opposite where he sat in a chair.

“Pretty good, actually. First time in a long time. Whatever I did, I think I should do it more often. I don’t remember having a night as good as that in a long time,” she said with a sly smile.

“I think you should.”

“And you?” she asked with a slight giggle, looking around to see if anyone was listening to their conversation.

“I got a bit of a workout right before I fell asleep, but I woke up feeling better than I have in a while. Must be the new bed. Thanks for that, by the way.”

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