Cristal from the fridge. ‘This calls for a celebration.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Alexa accepted the champagne flute though—how could she not? The sip she took was heavenly and exactly what she needed right now. They settled down onto the sofas. ‘I’m not looking for the one.’ And even if she was, Alexa knew it wouldn’t be Ric. Lush as that chest may be…
‘Just imagine. We could all end up getting married this year!’ Sarah bounced up and down in her seat, her short blonde bob swished around her shoulders.
The blood drained from Alexa’s face and the weight in her stomach felt heavier than lead. ‘No.’ Her protest was barely a whisper. Bunnies would rule the earth before she married a man even remotely like her father. From her experience, successful men, even aspiring ones, were all the same. God knows her father had tried to set her up with enough of them. He’d even staged a proposal from one. She had pulled on her running shoes and bolted in the opposite direction.
Jenna saved her. ‘Sarah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. They’ve not been on the date yet.’
Alexa flashed her a grateful smile.
Sarah just pouted. ‘Where’s he taking you? You said mortuary?’
Shrugging, she sipped her wine then tucked her legs under her. ‘He said formal, which means black-tied, straight-laced, men dribbling on about their success. Might as well be a wake. Those kind of parties are always dull.’
Rolling her eyes, Sarah said, ‘You never moan when we go to functions like that.’
‘That’s different. That’s networking for my business. This is a boring date with a boring guy whose sole idea of fun is a frisk between the sheets.’
Hell, in other words. Shivers ran through her again and her body tingled, betraying her thoughts. It seemed her hormones liked the idea of a frisk with Castillo. Well, they’d just have to be disappointed.
‘Sounds like fun to me.’ Jenna giggled. ‘Seriously though, what are you going to wear? You’ve nothing formal with you.’
Sarah clapped her hands together again. ‘We could go shopping tomorrow.’
Alexa smirked. ‘No need. I have the perfect dress.’
Jenna frowned at her, unconvinced.
‘The bronze silk Gucci.’ Her lips curved wider. She couldn’t wait to see Ric’s face. It would serve him right for blackmailing her into going.
‘Alexa, that scrap shows off more than it hides. He said formal.’
Suppressing a giggle, she pulled her face into her best innocent expression. ‘It’s ankle length.’
Still, Jenna was right. It was over-the-top and revealing. But, with her sun tan at its peak, the dress would be a killer, and she’d work on ridding herself of the bikini lines in the morning. Maybe it would teach Ric he couldn’t push her into doing what he wanted. Maybe he’d stare at her with that hungry-predator gleam in his dark eyes. Alexa’s stomach quivered. Either way, tomorrow promised to be interesting.
Her phone beeped on the counter and she rose, crossed the room and opened her emails. Her eyes almost bugged out of the sockets when she saw the name of the American actress asking if Alexa’s business Together could set her up with a companion when she visited London for business next week.
She brought her phone back to the sofa and showed Jenna and Sarah. ‘Look at the new client I got!’
Sarah grabbed the phone out of her hands and gawked at the screen. ‘Can I be the one you set her up with?’
Jenna and Alexa rolled their eyes.
‘She wants a tour guide and a dining companion, not a crazed stalkery fan,’ Alexa teased.
‘I can’t believe she heard about your business in the States,’ Jenna said. ‘But we agreed, Alexa. No work on this holiday.’
‘I can’t lose a client, Jenna. It will only take half an hour to set things up. I have the perfect woman in mind.’ She didn’t mind setting clients up with the opposite sex, she based the service Together provided on common interests, but she didn’t think an A-lister would want to be seen with a mystery man. The press in London would be all over that like a rash.
Sarah nodded. ‘Alexa, reply before she changes her mind.’
Jenna grumbled something under her breath and guilt broke through Alexa’s excitement. But holiday or not, Together was her livelihood and big named clients would mean better publicity. With her reputation still shot to pieces and her refusal to touch her trust fund, she couldn’t let a client like this slip through her fingers.
She scrolled through her contacts and found the number she needed. It was great business and a brilliant distraction from the whirlwind of hormones and irritation Ric had brought to the surface. Hitting dial, she ignored Jenna’s pout and brought the phone to her ear.
The midday sunshine heated her skin like she was in a just-too-warm jacuzzi, but Alexa didn’t care. She had tan lines to get rid of and lying topless was the only way to do it, even if that meant being more wary of low-lying paparazzi.
‘I can’t believe you made us pick a spot this far away from the bar,’ Jenna grumbled as she returned with a tray of cocktails. ‘There are plenty of topless women next to the pool; you don’t need to hide away here.’
Alexa opened her eyes to squint at Jenna. ‘Last thing I need is to be back in the papers, especially with the new client I’ve just scored.’
Jenna laid the tray of multi-coloured cocktails down on the table between Alexa and Sarah’s sun loungers. Jenna then pulled a Spanish magazine from her bag and threw it at Alexa. She caught it, exposing herself to the sun again, so rolled onto her stomach.
‘Page three,’ Jenna said.
Alexa opened the magazine to the page Jenna had pointed to, and her breath caught. ‘You’re kidding me.’
The sneaky paparazzi had the cheek to snap a picture of her at Sarah’s hen party. Alexa was tipsy and in the process of getting out of a limo, with her knickers in full view. ‘Can’t they just leave me alone, I wasn’t even doing anything shocking. Two seconds later and they wouldn’t have seen a thing.’
She wished she could read Spanish to see what the article said, but she wasn’t an idiot and could guess. Exaggerated rubbish, since she wasn’t as crazy as she had been in her teenage years.
‘What is it?’ Sarah asked.
Alexa handed the magazine to Sarah, her blood heating with irritation. Jenna lowered onto her lounger with a pink cocktail. Alexa went for the tray, picked up the glass with the red contents, and drained half. The fruity liquid was cool and relaxed her a little. If she didn’t have Together to worry about, she wouldn’t care. But being caught with a goofy expression on her face and her knickers on show wasn’t exactly sending images of the professional business woman she wanted to be.
‘It isn’t as bad as the one where you fell out of that club,’ Sarah said, flicking through the pages, ‘it hasn’t made any of the gossip rags in the UK. The Spanish must be short
