Page 33 of Loving Lex

“Hi.” She took my hand, her eyes glowing with love for her husband as she smiled at me, not seeming at all surprised or put off by this place, my outfit, or my job. “So, you’re Lex’s lady?”

And there we were.

“I—” My mouth worked as my gaze darted to Lex, who had handled that much more gracefully. “Well—”

I wanted to say it was complicated, that we hadn’t discussed anything about titles or labels, that calling me hisladywas incredibly sexist and antiquated, but at the end of the day, I wasn’t a liar. I relished being his anything.

I also knew how to think on my feet. I ran a hand over his shoulder. “I prefer his queen, actually.”

Lex flashed me a surprised look as Lucky and Grace both burst out laughing.

“What?” I mouthed.

He just shrugged, his mouth quirked up in a smirk.

I leaned over to whisper in his ear. “And the queen always protects her king.” I pressed a kiss to his jaw and pulled back, my attention on his friends. “Well, I need to get back to work. It was really nice to meet you both.”

As I walked away, Lex looked absolutely stunned.

“See you later?”

He could only nod.

I didn’t seeLex or his friends the rest of the night. The bachelor party chaos plus helping Mariah in one of the other VIP suites kept me hopping. I only had my ass groped once, and I handled it with a sarcastic brow lift and an ‘Excuse me?’ The idiot raised his hands in mock surrender, his half-drunk smile remorseful, and I moved away before the muscle at the door had a chance to intervene.

All in all, a good and busy evening, though it was a little bit late when I finally got to take a short break.

While Mariah watched the room, I snuck down to the dressing area to grab a snack and sit down for five minutes to give my feet a rest. As I was bent over my bag, rifling around for my trail mix, two other waitresses, Daisy and Hannah, strolled in, mid-conversation.

“Did youseehim?” Daisy said, her voice breathy and giggly.

“I know, right?” Hannah leaned into the mirror to check her lipstick. “And here I thought Mr. Kane was hot, but hisbrother? Damn. For a numbers geek, he is fine.” Her gaze lifted to Daisy. “I’d fuck him.”

I sat down and pretended to play on my phone, trying not to eavesdrop.

“I heard Vi already was,” Daisy said.

Hannah laughed. “Girl, no. If you knew Vi, you’d know she wouldn’t touch a Kane with a ten-foot pole. Anyway, she’s engaged to that cop.”

“A cop?” Daisy sounded incredulous. “What the hell?”

Hannah’s gaze finally drifted my way, but she turned back to her friend, either dismissing me as unimportant or subtly including me in the conversation. “That’s what we all thought, but the Kanes have let him live, so he must be playing by their rules.”

“Unlike my poor Stone.” Daisy’s voice changed as she said his name, and all my nerve endings went on high alert. This girl had feelings for Lex’s brother.

Hannah put a hand on her shoulder. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry.”

Her gaze flashed my way again, but I busied myself with my phone, pretending I hadn’t heard them. My heart was trying to beat itself out of my chest as I clumsily shot Lex a text message.

Me:I need to talk to u.

Me:Now.

He answered right away:U OK?

I waited a moment until the two women left the dressing area, then replied.

Me:I’m fine... where r u?

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