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  "This is Alexandria, or Lexi, for short," I said, emphasizing the Lexi. I gestured to Dana and Eric. "Lexi, this is my sister Dana and her husband, Eric. Dana and Eric have been married for two years and are finally going to become parents for the first time. Isn't that amazing?"

  Lexi smiled at my sister. "Hello," she said in a soft voice. "Nice to meet you. Luke has told me so much about you. He's so happy you’re having a baby."

  "I know," Dana said and smiled, leaning in closer to Lexi. "He's been so excited about it and I know he'll be a fantastic uncle."

  Then Lexi turned to Eric, but she didn't seem to recognize him or at least, she put on a great performance. "You must be very excited. To be a father for the first time. I can't imagine."

  "Oh, very," Eric said and took Lexi's hand, kissing her knuckles gallantly. "I'm extremely pleased. So, tell us how you two met?" he said, looking between Lexi and me. "Luke doesn't bring many dates to these functions, so we're very curious."

  "Luke and I share a love of politics," Lexi said and turned to glance at me, an expression of fondness on her face that despite it all, I wished was real instead of fake. "You should hear the discussions we get into about foreign trade rules and whether the Chinese are really currency manipulators." Lexi winked at me.

  "Oh, they most definitely are," I said, winking back at her. "And you know it, no matter how hard you try to deny it."

  She laughed. "But you're wrong. It was me who convinced you they are."

  "Not the way I remember it," I replied, watching Eric's face. He seemed unaffected by Lexi's presence, his gaze moving between the two of us, like he was watching a tennis match, smiling the whole time. He was obviously not a man who showed any remorse.

  The man had zero morals or conscience, apparently.

  I pulled Lexi closer and kissed her forehead, putting on a show of affection. Those two were the consummate actors, to be pretending they had no idea who the other person was. I couldn’t imagine Lexi didn't recognize Eric, and I knew that Eric sure as hell would remember Lexi. There was no way on earth that a man would fuck Lexi and not remember doing it. She was beautiful and definitely sexy. Sexy Lexi was right. She was friendly, at ease with my family full of rich Manhattanites. She was a consummate actress, not showing a moment's hesitation when speaking with Eric.

  Eric was also a man you couldn’t forget once you met him. He had that upper crust British accent that had impressed Dana when he came over to take a job in our New York office.

  I expected to see him sweat, stutter, get red-faced or cough.

  Nothing.

  The four of us made small talk for a while and it was then that John showed up.

  I hadn't expected him to come, and in fact, didn’t want him to. It was John who followed Eric and Lexi to the club in Brooklyn where they danced and drank. Then, it was John who tracked her down for me, finding out who she was after Eric had drunkenly blabbed to someone her name and how one could hire beautiful women for the night if they had the right connections and enough cash.

  It was John who found 9-1-1 Escorts and told me her email.

  It was John who suggested that I hire her and show up with her on my arm. We agreed and that was that.

  My little cover story about John giving me Lexi's email address was great, because he did.

  John smiled at me and at Lexi when I introduced them. On her part, Lexi choked on her drink and seemed to freeze, her eyes widening like she was shocked. On his part, John said a round of hellos to Eric and Dana and then grabbed my arm.

  "Can we talk for a moment?" he said, giving me the eye.

  "I'm kind of busy," I said, tilting my head to the side. "Chatting with Dana and Eric."

  "It'll just take a moment."

  “Can’t it wait?” I said, frustrated that he wanted to leave.

  “Now, Luke.”

  I finally gave in. “Will you excuse us?" I said to Lexi and then to my sister and Eric, who looked like everything was just hunky dory.

  That was definitely not at all the effect I was hoping to have.

  When we got out of ear shot, and were standing at the bar a dozen or more feet away from them, John turned to me.

  "That's not Lexi."

  "What?" I frowned and turned to glance at her. She'd been looking at me and quickly looked away -- almost guiltily.

  "I don’t know who she is, but she's not the Lexi I saw get into Eric's car. Not the Lexi I saw dancing with Eric, nor the one whose email I gave you."

  I was at a loss for words, standing there with my mouth hanging open.

  "Are you sure?" I asked, leaning in closer. "She passed herself off as Lexi, whoever she is."

  "Maybe the real Lexi was busy and she sent someone else in her place?" John offered. "But then, why not just admit it?"

  "Lexi, or whomever I texted, did say she was really busy tonight and couldn't do it but I coaxed her until she said yes. I even offered to pay four times her usual rate.”

  I glanced back at whoever it was standing with my sister and her cheating husband and who obviously wasn't Lexi of 9-1-1 Escorts.

  "Well, that's definitely not the woman Eric was with at the club. She wasn't as short and not a blonde. She was attractive, like I said – hot in this classy hookerish sort of way. Smart, too. That's not Lexi. What email did you send to?"

  "The one you said." I spelled it out. "Lexi911 at yahoo dot com."

  John frowned. "Wait – it was supposed to be Lexxi911 at yahoo dot com. You know – with two X's like in X-rated. The porn thing."

  Now it was my turn to be confused. I pulled out my cell and checked my email sent folder.

  "Oh, God, I sent it to Lexi911 with one X."

  I glanced up at John and we stared at each other for a few seconds.

  Then we both burst out laughing.

  John laughed so hard, he snorted. After we calmed down and he wiped his eyes, he looked at me, his brow furrowed, and spoke in a more serious tone. "If she isn't Lexxi, who the hell is she?"

  I shook my head and turned to stare at her, standing with my very pregnant sister and cheating bastard of a brother-in-law.

  She was beautiful. I’d even considered asking for something more than just a date, despite the fact I didn’t approve of escorts.

  Who the hell indeed?

  Chapter 7

  Alexa

  * * *

  When a handsome blond-haired man who looked like a surfer in a suit walked up to us, I turned to him, wondering who he was. When Luke identified him as his best friend John, I almost choked on my Bellini from shock.

  John was there?

  Luke said John wasn't coming. He'd know I wasn't the Lexi that Luke was supposed to have hired. He'd tell Luke and the jig would be up.

  I'd be outed as an impostor.

  What would Luke do? What could he do? I hadn’t broken any law, as far as I could tell, but I was impersonating someone. Could you impersonate a stage name? I was sure she wasn't really named Lexi. That was an obvious made-up name that was probably used on the promotional website.

  Finally, the two of them walked over, and Luke stood close to my side. When I glanced up in his face, he smiled at me but there was this look in his eyes... It was a look that told me my little game was over. Now, how would he handle it?

  "How are you doing, Lexi?" John asked, smiling at me. "Long time no see."

  "Oh, ah," I stuttered, "I'm doing fine. And you?"

  "Never better. You're looking good. Different from the last time I saw you. What is it – did you do something to your hair?"

  What was he doing? Was he pretending that I really was Lexi?

  I touched my hair, trying to make it look like I'd done something to make me look different.

  "My hair was a bit darker before," I said, my voice wavering from nerves. "I got highlights."

  "That must be it,” he said and made a clicking sound with is tongue, pointing his finger at me like it was a gun. “Because, I only saw you a week ago." Then, John turned to
Luke. "That's right, isn’t it?" Then he turned to Eric. "Have you met her? Lexi?"

  "Who?" Eric said, his face changing. He glanced at me. "You mean Alexandria?"

  "Lexi, Alexandria, whatever. I mean Luke's new date. Quite the looker, isn’t she?"

  Eric seemed upset and nodded quickly. "Yes, we met. Luke introduced us earlier." Then, he changed the subject. "How are you John? How's business been treating you?"

  He had a nervous smile and I wondered what the heck was going on between the three men. Dana turned to me and smiled. "Don't you hate it when men talk about us like we're not actually here?"

  "Oh, really?" I said, laughing nervously myself. "I didn’t notice."

  "Well, what if I said something like, gee, doesn't Luke have nice pecs? He's quite buff, don't you think? Do you think these guys would like it?"

  I frowned, not really wanting to get into any kind of controversial discussion.

  "Oh, sorry, Dana," John said, a hand over his heart. "My bad. I was just so taken with Luke's new escort for the night that I lost my mind."

  A really super weird vibe passed through the guys. Was John deliberately trying to out me as an escort? Why did he mention the word escort? Why was Eric's face so white and why was he pulling Dana closer?

  "We really must mingle," Eric said quietly and started to lead Dana away from us. "Come along, darling," he said and leaned down to kiss Dana on the cheek. "We should go say hello to your mother."

  Dana smiled at me before she left. "Nice to meet you Alexandria. That's such a pretty name. Very exotic."

  "You can call me Alexa," I said.

  "I hope we see you again," Dana said, eyeing Luke, narrowing her eyes. "Luke, you should bring Alexa to the beach house some weekend. Remember, we're having our annual family meeting in two weeks and there'll be lots of people there. I'm sure everyone would be glad to meet her."

  "I plan on it," Luke said and squeezed me, his arm slipping around my waist. "As long as Lexi's free. She has exams, so…"

  Then, Dana and Eric walked off, leaving me alone with Luke and John.

  "So, what's the deal, Alexandria," John said, putting emphasis on my name, his blue eyes narrowed. "Tell us who you really are. You're not Lexi. Are you one of the other escorts at the agency?"

  "I, I…" I stuttered, unsure of what to say. "I'm not from the agency."

  "What?"

  I looked at them both and took a step back. "I'm so sorry. I got your email by mistake and, well," I said to Luke, shrugging. "I went along just to see who you were. Then, I got too far in and couldn't find a way to bow out gracefully."

  Luke glanced away, and I could see a muscle in his jaw twitch.

  "Who the hell are you, then?" John said.

  "I'm Alexandria Dixon. I'm an MA student in Political Science at Columbia."

  "How did you get Lexxi911's email?"

  I made a face. "I got Luke’s message in an old email mailbox I used when I worked for 9-1-1 as a relief operator. My friend and I, we thought it would be fun to play along. See who it was with an alias like Mr. Big Shot 69." I glanced at Luke who wasn't looking at me. Instead, he was clearly angry, his face dark. "I mean, what grown-up uses an email ID like Mr. Big Shot 69?"

  "Oh, that?" John said with a laugh. "Let me tell you about Mr. Big Shot. He's been in business practically since kindergarten."

  "John…" Luke said, giving John a deathly look.

  John wasn't fazed. "No, I swear. He used to get all these comic books that he didn’t like. You know – Archie and Veronica, Scooby Doo. He sold them in public school. Then, he moved up to graphic novels. He had enough money saved up from selling used stuff that he started an online business when we were in high school. We called him Mr. Big Shot because he bought a really cool car when he turned sixteen with his own money made from his business. The name stuck."

  John clapped Luke on the back, smiling at him. "Isn't that right, Mr. Big Shot?" John turned back to me. "As to the 69 part? Well,” he said and grinned. “I’ll leave that to your imagination."

  He smiled so broadly I couldn’t help but smile to myself. I turned to Luke, who was frowning.

  "I thought your family was really rich. Why were you selling used comics?”

  Luke finally glanced my way, our eyes meeting. "I wanted my own money. So, I went out and made it."

  "That's admirable," I said, wondering what it must have been like to grow up in such a wealthy family. "I'm surprised you felt that way. Most kids would just enjoy their family's money."

  "I have a very independent streak. John and I started Chatter to break free of our families. John's family is almost but not quite as bad as mine."

  "That's right," John said and wrapped an arm around Luke's shoulder. "We're brothers in arms. Tackling Wall Street together. Casting off the bonds of our families together. And, if our deal goes through, we'll be free. Free of the old money and finally our own men."

  "I'm already my own man," Luke said, laughing finally, his mood lightening. "If only Dragon Queen would get the message."

  I turned to Luke. "Why did you have to hire an escort if you're so wealthy? I'd think you’d have to fight off the women wanting to date you…"

  Luke glanced at me almost guiltily and bit his bottom lip. "I haven't been honest with you either. You see that slimly worm of a man with my sister?" He gestured with his head to where Eric and Dana were standing, talking to some other people at the function. "He's been cheating on my sister with Sexy Lexxi of 9-1-1 Escorts. I wanted to hire her and bring her to the event tonight to rub her in his cheating face. Give him a message that he'd better get clean or I'd expose him."

  My mouth dropped open in shock. "That's what you meant?" I shook my head. "I thought you wanted to rub me in your ex's face."

  "Nope," Luke said, shaking his head. "Eric's cheating face."

  "Maybe you should just tell your sister the truth?"

  "What?" He frowned. "And break her heart? She’s going to have a baby.”

  I shrugged, thinking to myself that I’d want to know if my husband was cheating on me.

  "If he's been cheating on her with an escort service while she's pregnant, their marriage is doomed. Better to know now than later when she's been with him longer."

  "She’d be a single mom before her baby's even born."

  "Better a hard truth than a comfortable delusion," I replied.

  "Well, that's easy for you to say. You're not in her shoes. I've talked to her before. She said she didn't think she could survive as a single parent. I don't want to force that on her, so I thought I'd send a message to Eric instead. If he doesn't wise up and clean up his act, then I'll let her know. But only if he doesn't stop. If he does, maybe they can stay together and things will improve."

  "I doubt it," I said, thinking about my own experience with cheating bastards. "Better to have a clean break than stay with someone who's clearly not monogamous."

  He shrugged. "Well, that's your opinion, I guess."

  "It is," I said and the two of us stood our ground, both of our arms crossed, turning slightly away from each other.

  "Look," I said and took in a deep breath. "I didn't mean for things to go this far, but it was fun and my best friend and I were going along for a laugh. When I told you no, that I couldn't attend tonight, you sounded so desperate. I didn't want to let you down. I never planned to take your money.” I looked him in the eyes and he finally nodded. "I told you I couldn't do anything more than just a date, and so I figured I was doing a good deed. Getting some good karma by helping a stranger. I had no idea you were going to use me as a threat to your brother-in-law. If I had, I would never have agreed to come tonight."

  "What do you mean, you never would have come tonight?" a woman's voice from behind us said. "Lucas, John, so glad to see you both here.” She smiled at Luke and John then she turned to me, frowning. “Lucas, you must introduce me to your date. I'm so surprised you brought someone. You never do."

  At that, Luke turned and then extended h
is arm, gesturing to a woman who was approaching us and who must have overhead my last sentence. She was in her fifties and looked like she'd been spray-painted into existence, her makeup thick and professional, her hair bouffant with every single hair lacquered in place like she used Gorilla Glue.

  "Mother," he said, his voice flat. "May I introduce Alexandria Dixon. She's a friend from Columbia. We've been seeing each other for a while and I invited her tonight.” He turned to me. “Alexandria, this is my mother, Janet Marshall.”

  "Alexandria?" Mrs. Marshall said, turning to me. "You've never mentioned her before. My dear, why do you keep your…girlfriends… secret? We had no idea you were bringing someone..."

  Mrs. Marshall smiled at me, but it was the least friendly smile I had ever experienced. She didn’t extend her hand and simply pressed her coral lips together in a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

  “You can call me Alexa, Mrs. Marshall," I said, nodding my head. "Pleased to meet you. Luke's told me so much about you."

  "All of it good, I hope," Mrs. Marshall said, giving Luke the evil eye. "Lucas is such a closed book, it's hard to know what's going on with him at times. He never comes by for dinner or just a visit. It's terrible for a son to be so negligent."

  "Mother, you know I'm currently busy working with John to finalize the sale,” Luke said, his voice sounding tired, like he'd had this argument with his adoptive mother forever. "That's taken up all my time. Father knows that I'm planning to spend time at the beach house as soon as it goes through."

  "He knows, but he misses you, darling. Are you coming to the party in two weeks? I know there'll be many people who will want to congratulate you on the deal. Felicia will be there. She'll be happy to see you. You've been so busy lately…"

  "I'm bringing Alexandria with me to the party, Mother."

  "But I told you that Felicia and her family were coming."

  I caught the frown that passed between her and Luke. Apparently, Mrs. Marshall wanted to push Luke together with Felicia and Luke didn't appreciate it. He was using me as an excuse to avoid her.