Healed with a Kiss (Bride Mountain 3)

Alexis was smiling when he lifted his head, and she looked as unconcerned as he was about any potential spectators.

“So, are you about done with that drink?” he asked, hearing the husky edge to his own voice. “Ready to head back to the room?”

She set down the almost-empty glass. “Actually, I am getting—”

“Alexis? Alexis Mosley? Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe it!”

In response to her name, Alexis turned so fast she almost knocked her glass off the table. Logan reached out quickly to steady it before looking up.

The woman was tall, very slender except for impressive breasts, very spray-tanned, very blonde. Clothes too skimpy for the weather, heels too high for walking more than a few feet. Jewelry jingled when she bent to kiss the air at either side of Alexis’s face.

“Isabella, what a nice surprise!” Alexis said, her voice more artificially sparkling than Logan had ever heard it. “It’s been ages since we’ve seen each other.”

“Oh, girl, I know. When was it? Two? Three years ago?”

“Closer to three, I think. It must have been that thing at Brayden’s place.”

“Oh, my God, that was wild, wasn’t it? I’m pretty sure my elbows are still purple.”

Which made no sense to Logan at all, of course, but Alexis laughed brightly. It didn’t sound at all like the easy laughter he’d heard from her earlier. “Crazy,” she said. “So what are you doing in Seattle?”

“I’m in a show at the cutest little theater here. It’s a new play by an amazing young talent. Final rehearsals this week, and opening night next weekend. Please tell me you’ll still be in town.”

“I’m afraid not. I’m devastated.”

“I’m heartbroken.”

And I’m nauseated. Logan bit the inside of his mouth, staying still and quiet so as not to draw attention to himself. Isabella had given him a quick once-over and then turned away, obviously writing him off as unimportant.

“I see Paloma occasionally,” she said to Alexis. “She’s really making a name for herself these days. Have you stayed in touch with her?”

“Yes, we’re sti

ll quite close, though I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She looks great. I think she’s had something done, though I can’t figure out exactly what it was. Obviously, she’s found a brilliant doctor. You should ask her next time you talk to her. Oh, and by the way, Jerry was asking about you a few weeks ago. He’s getting some things together for early next year and he’d be thrilled to hear from you. You are going back to the city, aren’t you?”

Alexis murmured something inaudible, then exchanged more smacking air kisses with Isabella, who rushed away immediately afterward.

Logan stared hard at Alexis when they were alone again. “Who the hell was that?”

“Isabella Larkins. We knew each other in New York. Sorry I didn’t introduce you, but I thought—”

“I wasn’t talking about her,” he interrupted. “I meant you. I’ve never seen you act quite like that.”

Her face went pink in response to his comment, and he realized he’d displayed his usual lack of tact. But, damn. That had been a weird exchange.

“That was the New York Alexis,” she muttered, looking down at her hands. “I’m not sure you’d have liked her. There were times I wasn’t crazy about her myself.”

He couldn’t imagine not liking Alexis. But then, he’d rather be stabbed with a million sharp toothpicks than to mingle with the New York theater crowd. He remembered the way she’d hesitated before answering when Kinley had asked if she missed performing, though she’d ultimately replied that she did not.

Odd to think they never would have met if she hadn’t decided to give up performing and start directing, in a way. They’d never really talked about what had triggered that decision. But then, there were a lot of things they’d never talked about.

Chapter Eight

Alexis tossed her bag onto the table in the room, which had been tidied and turned down during the hours they were gone. It had been a long day, she thought, replaying everything they’d seen and done during their adventures. Yet it had seemed to pass all too quickly, in some ways.

The room seemed particularly quiet after the busy day and the noisy club. She pushed a hand through her hair and turned to look at Logan, who’d fallen quiet again. “Who’d have thought I’d actually run into someone I know all the way on the other side of the country?” she asked wryly.