of embarrassment and an outfit he couldn’t return, he’d hole up at home in his pajamas too.
“Since we were kids, I’ve been the one to take care of her. I want to take care of this for her too.” Her gaze on him sharpened and, if he had been ten years younger, Lex would have quickly excused himself and run like hell. But he sat and waited for what would come out of her mouth next. “This is where you come in,” she said.
Either he was getting braver in his older age or stupid. “I don’t see any room for myself in this equation,” he said carefully. “If you’re that worried, get her to see a shrink.”
“She’s already doing all that, but it’s not working. What I want you to do is distract her from her depression.”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“It can,” Margot insisted with a certainty that would’ve been admirable if she wasn’t talking about manipulating her sister. “Noelle is depressed right now, not clinically but just having a moment in her life. A distraction like you will be good for her.”
Lex didn’t bother to ask what she meant by a distraction like you. “You think asking one of your ex-strippers to sleep with her will solve her problem?” He ignored the flash of anger in Margot’s eyes and pushed on. “I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, Margot, but this isn’t going to go the way you think.”
“No, no, no. You are not going to sleep with her.” Margot shook her head so hard that the ends of her hair slapped her mouth. “I never allowed that in the club and I’m certainly not going to ask you to do that now.”
“You want me to seduce her out of her depression but not have sex with her? Sounds like you want her to be pissed off and more depressed when this whole thing is over.” Just like he would be.
“Noelle has never been a sexual person—wow, I don’t even know why I’m telling you this—” Instead of covering her face as it looked like she was going to do, Margot primly clasped her hands on top of the table. “I don’t think you teasing without delivering will be a problem.”
Her justification for wanting to do this for her sister looked pretty thin. Lex understood about wanting to take care of the people you love, but this...this didn’t seem to be the way to go at all.
“Margot, don’t think I’m not grateful for what you did for me back in Jamaica, but even you have to see this is a little crazy. Making me into a neutered stud for your sister just because she has a little case of the blues doesn’t make sense here. I don’t think you’ll be doing her any favors. Let her find her own way out of this. I’m sure your sister is more capable than you’re giving her credit for.” Especially if she’s your sister, Lex silently added.
“I have to do this for her, Alexander. I have to.” The emotionless mask she always wore bent at the edges and he could see hints of her desperation, the love she had for her sister and the care she wanted to take of her. “You’re just what she needs right now. And I trust you to fulfill those needs without overstepping your boundaries.” She raised a meaningful eyebrow, reminding him again that he wasn’t allowed to go too far with her sister.
Since he wasn’t going to agree to any of her madness, it didn’t seem necessary to bring up his current celibacy.
“Margot, even though I hate to say no to you, I have to step back from this. What you’re planning doesn’t feel right, and it sure as hell doesn’t sound necessary.”
“Consider it a little longer, Alexander. I’m not asking you for a kidney here.”
“That would be easier,” he said.
Margot palmed her water again, looked at Lex as if she was seeing him for the first time and then glanced away to the pedestrian traffic parading past.
“You’ve changed,” she said.
“Of course. I’m sure you have too. After all, it’s been ten years.” He was twenty-eight now. She had to be at least forty.
Her eyes ran a slow course over him, from the top of his head, his hair cut close with tight waves, over his America Eagle jeans, to the simple leather sandals on his feet. “And it’s not just the clothes you wear. No latest-designer gear, no pierced nose.”
Lex grinned, a quick flash of teeth. “The piercings have moved to more inconspicuous locations.” Her eyebrow arched playfully at that. “But I like to think I’ve cultivated some more mature tastes in the last few years. For no other reason than to save money. Keeping up with the Kardashians is expensive.” He quirked the corner of his mouth.
“You’ve definitely changed. I didn’t exactly expect the same arrogant boy from the club, but...”
“But you did.”
“Yes, or at least, I expected to see some remnants of him.” Her eyes dipped to the T-shirt draped across his chest, which was no longer swollen with muscle like it had been the last time she saw him. He’d cut down on that too. Less being more and all that.
He said as much.
“Very droll.”
“I’m just not as worried about things as I used to be.” Then he had to laugh at himself, considering how worked up he’d been when he saw her at the gallery. “Mostly, anyway.”
She nodded, finally taking a sip of water that had to be room temperature now. “Well, I hope the man you’ve become will consider my plea. It’s a favor that I’m asking, not a trade, not a bribe. This is just something you’re uniquely qualified to do. You’re the only man I trust to do what I ask without taking advantage of my sister.”
Lex hummed to let her know he was listening, but he had already made his decision. She wasn’t blackmailing him, so he could safely say no. Maybe after he refused her for the last time, Margot would get her sister some real help.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll think about it.”
“That’s all I can ask.”
Ask all you want, he thought. I’ll still say no. “Now that that’s out of the way, what have you been up to?”
“The same. A little bit of this and that.”
He almost laughed again. In Jamaica, he hadn’t known much about Margot. Not even her name. She came to the club four to six times a year, trusting the running of its operations to a pair of streetwise twins who made sure nothing illegal happened at the place. “So things haven’t changed for you that much, then,” Lex said.
“Well.” She drew out the word, obviously reluctant to share any information with him, despite just asking him to seduce her sister. “I sold the club and invested in some less controversial properties.”
From conversations he and Margot had toward the end of Lex’s time in Jamaica, he knew she’d inherited the club from her parents, who were long dead. She had transformed the slightly sleazy, uptown girly bar into an exclusive, membership strip club that catered to both men and women and had a dedicated ladies’ night when men were not allowed. Women paid for the privilege of ogling hard and oiled masculine bodies without men sitting among them. During the rest of the week, the club hosted mostly rich and powerful men in the audience while gorgeous girls of every
