Chapter 68

Lexi
Lexi was in a foul mood. She’d had to skip a day of classes at UCLA to follow Halle James around and hold her hand. Lexi had received a text from Flo, Halle’s security and driver, that she was on her way to pick her up. Lexi exited her condo to find a Range Rover waiting for her with Halle already in the back seat.

“Ms. James,” Lexi said as she got into the car.

“Stop that right now. We talked about this; it’s Halle. I’m sure David would have a cow if you called him Mr. Dawson.”

“It can be fun to call him that sometimes,” Lexi confessed.

“I bet,” Halle said and then got down to business. “What’s on the agenda for today?”

Lexi dropped into professional mode and gave Halle her itinerary for the day. Halle would be a busy girl because the studio had her booked with back-to-back appointments. Lexi was expected to attend those as well in case Halle needed something.

Throughout the day, Halle quizzed her about David. David and Halle had gone out when they were in high school, and she and David had become more than friends. Then she landed her role in Love Letters and decided to move back to LA to become a full-time actor.

Halle had been in New Zealand and Australia filming the Star Academy movies with David, so it had been only a few months since she’d seen her friend. Lexi could tell that Halle was digging into David’s personal life to see if she could step back in as his love interest.

Halle was set free for an hour at lunchtime, which allowed her, Flo, and Lexi to eat lunch in the studio’s VIP dining room.

“Why haven’t you landed the stupid boy yet?” Halle asked after they’d ordered.

“Going right for the dirt, I see,” Lexi said to deflect Halle.

“Come on. It wasn’t a secret that you had him in your bed every night during the shoot. The cover story was that you two were just hooking up, but I know David. He used to say that sex changes everything. He’s a romantic at heart.”

Lexi knew that Halle could be either a problem or an ally. If Lexi wanted the latter, she would have to give Halle a reason to support her.

“I don’t know if you remember, but I went home a week before his scenes were finished,” Lexi shared.

“I thought it was like your usual procedure, going to the next place before David arrived to have everything set up. Was there more to it than that?”

“Yes, there was. I told him I loved him.”

Halle’s mouth fell open, and then she laughed.

“That explains why he acted weird right before he left. I’d decided that he was sexually frustrated, which caused his bad mood.”

“He didn’t take my announcement well. You know him; David doesn’t like surprises. The hookup story started off being absolutely true. We agreed to it so he wouldn’t be distracted and make the mistake that a lot of actors and actresses make on set. He knew that if he were in a relationship with a costar, it could get messy,” Lexi explained.

“That makes sense,” Halle said and then stiffened.

Ben Cowley, David and Halle’s costar in the Star Academy franchise and Halle’s love interest in Love Letters, had entered the dining room and spotted them. Lexi knew some of Halle’s and Ben’s history. During the filming of Love Letters, Halle had fallen for Ben’s charms. Lexi knew that David had warned her that Ben was only interested in sex. Ben had a longtime girlfriend in Isabel Alexandra, and he wasn’t about to give her up. Isabel was an actress known for her roles in Baywatch and in the just-finished Bond flick in which David played James Bond’s son, Ian.

Halle and Ben had apparently hooked up once, but then she had put the brakes on any kind of relationship with Ben other than as friends and coworkers. Lexi understood why Halle had succumbed because Ben was smokin’ hot.

Lexi hated it, but she compared every guy she was even slightly interested in to David. Ben was the blond version of David, but she still thought of him as ‘David light.’ David was several inches taller and much more muscular. That didn’t mean that Ben wasn’t leading-man material; he was. He just didn’t have the presence or the charisma that David had. Nor did Ben have anything approaching David’s integrity, now that Lexi thought about it.

“Welcome back,” Ben said to Halle and kissed her cheek. “I heard you were in the building and had to track you down. We should get together and catch up.”

“Maybe we could go out to dinner, and Isabel could join us,” Halle offered with a faux sweet smile.

Lexi about choked on her iced tea at Halle’s jab. Ben took it in stride.

“That would be great. Why don’t I have my people talk to yours, and we figure something out?” he suggested.

“Let’s,” Halle said and allowed him to kiss her cheek again as he left.

Ben quickly found another target, and they watched as he turned on his charm.

“I can’t believe I slept with him,” Halle confessed.

“I don’t know. He might do in a pinch,” Lexi said with a smile.

“I’d do him,” Flo said to join the conversation.

Both Lexi and Halle broke out laughing at that.

“You should go for it,” Lexi suggested. “I bet Halle could get him back over here and make your dreams come true.”