Lexie knew better than to ask why. “We are way, way bigger than Monaco,” she felt compelled to add for Mary Lou's benefit.
Blair just rolled her eyes in exasperation.
The bodyguards stationed outside the suite did not even so much as blink their surprise at why, at ten in the evening, Lexie was wearing a hat and sunglasses. They just nodded at her pronouncement. When she came back inside, it was to find Blair stripping out of her Versace gown.
“Strip, Your Highness,” Blair ordered succinctly.
“Hey, we haven’t closed the deal yet on the price for the threesome,” Mary Lou glared at Lexie. Lexie opened her mouth to protest at the housekeeper’s outrageous assumption.
“Shut up,” a put-upon Blair snapped at the two of them, even if Lexie hadn’t actually managed to voice out her indignation. “This is the plan.”
And with much, much trepidation, because she was going all carpe diem tonight, Princess Alexandria did as she was told.
* * *
Blair, dressed as Lexie in her sedate black ball gown and wearing the broad-brimmed hat suitable for a Kentucky derby and sunglasses she had made her wear a few minutes ago, made a show of coming out of her suite.
“I need you to change the towels in the bathroom,” Lexie heard Blair saying a bit loudly as she stepped out into the corridor, heading to Lexie’s own suite several rooms down the corridor, with Mary Lou trailing after her with her trolley. She was speaking in an odd manner. Then it hit her. The slightly modulated and strange accent she was hearing was Blair mimicking her!
As she had been told to do, she waited for her mobile phone to buzz, which took about fifteen minutes from the time Blair left. Peering through the peephole, she saw the corridor was clear but was still careful to check if the bodyguards had indeed followed Blair back to her suite down the corridor.
She made her way out of the suite casually, her heart in her throat, hoping from afar she managed to walk to like she was “working it” a la Blair. She pressed the elevator button nonchalantly. Couldn't it go any faster? Finally, the muted ping of the doors opening coincided with the sigh she breathed in relief.
There was another occupant inside the elevator, a man who appeared to be in his sixties with a combed-out fringe to disguise his thinning top. He flashed an interested smile. She smiled back politely, avoiding further eye contact, then froze when she saw her reflection in the mirror. She had forgotten she was wearing Blair’s outfit from the gala. It was a black lace bustier dress that ended mid-thigh, more suited for a night out of town than a charity event, showing more leg and breasts than Lexie was used to. Stepping out of the elevator in a hurry and keeping her head down, she made her way to the back entrance of the lobby.
She immediately saw Blair, smoking, already with her wig on but still wearing her ball gown.
“We did it!” she squealed giddily, flicking her cigarette into a nearby metal bin. Several bystanders glanced their way curiously. “I’m a fucking genius! It’s a good thing I’m on a vegan diet or else I wouldn’t have been able to fit in that trolley compartment.” She shuddered, “Got a bit claustrophobic for a while.”
Lexie tugged the hemline of the dress down and then had to pull up the bustier again as it threatened to expose her breasts. “Keep your voice down,” she warned her cousin, who was skipping with excitement. “Let’s find a bathroom where we can change back to our outfits.”
“No time for that, cuz,” Blair replied, hailing a cab and shoving Lexie in. “Here.” She thrust a plastic bag onto Lexie’s lap.
She stared at it blankly.
Blair dumped the contents onto her lap impatiently. It was the red hairpiece. “Put it on.”
With a wrinkle on her pert little nose, Lexie grudgingly adjusted the shockingly red wig on her head. “Could you not have chosen something a little less…” she searched for the right tone to convey her sarcasm, “subtle?”
She saw the cabbie glance at her cleavage in the rearview mirror as she studied her reflection and fell back onto the seat at once, disconcerted. It was true that she and Blair had the same build but around the bust area, Lexie had an inch or two more going for her, so it was a tight fit.