“Carol, I’m packing right now,” Dad said as he grabbed my phone.
Mom must have been in a good mood because I heard her laughing. If he’d called, she would probably have taken his head off. Thanks to my track record, I think she expected me to get into these sorts of situations. Mom found it amusing that my dad had been caught in the crossfire. I hoped she would call Greg and fill him in as to what was happening. Only in LA.
Dad came back, looking dazed.
“She said to go enjoy myself.”
“Go put on a swimsuit and join us. Fritz, I have something that will probably fit you in the top drawer of my dresser,” I said and sent them off to change.
Me, I just took my clothes off. When the guys came back, they looked at me, and they seemed more embarrassed to see me naked than they were to see the girls.
“Help me carry all this out,” I told them.
“Are you sure you want to go out like that?” Dad asked.
“Yeah. Adrienne is giving me a hard time. She knows how I feel about Brook. I can’t let her get the better of me,” I said.
“I hope she has more ideas like this,” Fritz said.
“Me, too,” Dad mumbled.
I strode out back like I owned the world. The girls found it amusing. Adrienne upped the ante when she stood up and came over to the table where we deposited the appetizers and wine and hugged me. My dad had a ministroke when she also hugged him. Fritz stuck his hand out.
“You don’t want a hug too?” Adrienne asked.
“My heart couldn’t take it,” Fritz said.
Adrienne lit up and gave us her best sexy smile. Fritz was in love. She had that effect on guys; she certainly had that effect on me. All the girls got up, and Fritz poured them glasses of wine. I got myself a plate of food and stole Adrienne’s deck chair, next to Tyler’s. Tyler reached over and grabbed my hand.
“How’ve you been?” I asked.
Tyler and I caught up. Aubrey, Adrienne, and Sarah all sat down at the table and talked to Dad and Fritz. Sarah had found her cover-up. Lexi kept glancing at me like she wanted to say something. I ignored her until Tyler needed a refill on her wine and left us alone together.
“David,” Lexi began.
“Save it. You crossed too many lines with me. I’m not willing to put up with your crap when I’m working. I’m sure they’ll find something else for you to do,” I said.
Lexi burst into tears. I blinked a couple of times while trying to figure out what I’d said to cause that. Aubrey came over.
“I think we need to get dressed and go inside and talk about this.”
I was smart enough to recognize that Aubrey didn’t want to be my PA. She had clients who needed her, and they helped pay the bills. I looked over at Dad, and he nodded.
I’m sure Dad and Fritz were either relieved or devastated—maybe both—when the other girls put on their swimsuits. Lexi, Aubrey, and I stepped inside. I put my clothes on and joined the others in the living room. By then, Lexi had stopped crying.
“I’ll put in my notice on Monday,” Lexi said.
“I never said I wanted you to do that,” I said with a sigh. “Look, with as busy as I’ve been, I need to be able to rely on whoever’s working with me. What you did with my girlfriend was completely counterproductive.”
“What did you do to his girlfriend?” Aubrey asked.
I made Lexi tell her.
“Are you an idiot or something?” Aubrey asked.
“Yes. Yes, I am,” Lexi said. “I let my feelings for David cloud my judgment.”
Aubrey and I looked at each other, trying to decipher what Lexi had meant by that bombshell. Then I got mad.
“I didn’t shoot you down when it was proposed we hire you, against my better judgment. The first time I met you, you were horrible to my friend and started a fight at her party. I pegged you as a spoiled little rich girl who used her daddy’s influence to get her way. I have zero use for someone who embodies a ‘mean girl’ in the worst possible way.
“Then you try to drive a wedge between my girlfriend and me. If you knew anything about our relationship, you would have known we would figure it out. If I lost her because of your antics, what did you think would happen?” I asked.
“That’s a good point. Did you think he would reward the little schemer?” Aubrey asked.
Lexi started the waterworks again.
“Stop it!” I growled. “Lexi Andon, I don’t for one minute believe that you cry at the drop of a hat. Quit the theatrics.”
Aubrey barked out a laugh when Lexi stopped.
“How did you know?” Lexi asked.
I smirked.
“I didn’t,” I admitted.
“Shit.”
“You’re a real piece of work,” Aubrey said. “I planned to talk David into taking you back for my own selfish reasons.”
“You’re busy,” I guessed.
“That, and I would want to do nasty things to the boss all day,” she said, winking at me.
“I’m not sure I could resist for long.”
“I know you couldn’t,” Aubrey said, and then turned back to Lexi. “You still haven’t answered the question. What exactly did you think you would accomplish?”
“Revenge.”
That got both our attention.
“For what happened on the boat?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Unbelievable,” I said.
“I’d never done any of that. I’d always been in control. What you did to me …”
Her voice trailed off.
