Unveiling the Bridesmaid (14 page)

He'd made the mistake of sleeping with a date only once. She'd been a stunning woman of mixed race and he'd been out with her several times. Her intelligence and grace made him the envy of every man at the foundation dinner they'd attended. He'd been receiving an award and drank more than usual to offset the attention. Being in the limelight tore at his nerves but his date thrived on it. She'd been the perfect person to have on his arm that night and the high of the event had carried them upstairs when she made her interest clear.

Alliyah was gone in the morning and the next time he contacted Excursions he asked for a professional woman so he hadn't seen her again.

Excursions' quality control was slipping if they'd sent him a dancer. And he didn't even have her name beyond Miguel's addressing her as Lexi. He usually got notice and a new profile when he was getting a replacement date. He liked to know something about the women he spent time with even when he paid for the pleasure. He sent off a text.

“A dancer.” He repeated.

“No. I told you, I work at Modern Goddess. I used to be a dancer.” She licked her lips drawing his attention to the sultry lines of her mouth, the perfect bow over a plump bottom lip. “Now I do hair at the spa. I just thought pampering a new mother totally made sense. I remembered how tired and stressed my roommate was after having my goddaughter, Jasmine.”

“Hmm. What's your name?”

“Oh, goodness.” She laughed—an infectious sound that filled the back of the car. “We kind of skipped that part, didn't we? I'm Alexa Malone, but you can call me Lexi. And of course you're Jethro Calder. I read the article in the Pinnacle newsletter where it showed you and the other executives holding up the lifetime award of excellence for the Pinnacle game. That must have been exciting.”

“Yes, it was a nice acknowledgment for the success of the game.”

“I should say so. A top ten seller for ten years, that's awesome.”

“It's actually been for fifteen years and more than half those years it was in the top three, but they wanted to have wiggle room for future awards.”

“What's it like working with Jackson Hawke?”

He frowned. He got that question a lot, mostly from people trying to angle through him to Jackson. But there was nothing in her tone or demeanor to indicate anything other than simple interest.

“He's a brilliant programmer, but he leaves the finances to me.”

“Of course.” She nodded and pointed at him.

She used her hands a lot when she talked. He couldn't decide if he found it charming or annoying. Whether he found her charming or was just attracted to that luscious mouth.

“We all have our talents, don't we? Mine is music. So, Jethro, where are we going?”

Music, he noticed, not dance.

“We're going to an event at Caesar's Palace.” His phone buzzed and he read the text. “At least I am. I'm not sure what you'll be doing.” He held up his phone. “Excursions doesn't have your name on file. Who are you?”

Copyright © 2016 by Teresa Carpenter

ISBN-13: 9781488003202

Unveiling the Bridesmaid

Copyright © 2016 by Jessica Gilmore

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