Tell Me Lies by Locklyn Marx Page A

shoulders and that he ran every morning, but this – this was more beautiful than she could have imagined.
    Every muscle of his upper body was cut and defined. He was lean and strong-looking, with the perfect amount of bulk. His stomach was tan and flat, with more than a hint of a six-pack. A thin line of hair started at his bel y button and disappeared into his shorts.
    Alexis swal owed hard
    “I thought you had a meeting,” she said weakly.
    He dropped a bottle of suntan lotion and a book onto the chair next to hers.
    “Meeting was cancel ed.” He turned to her and grinned. “So I’m al yours.”

    ***
His meeting had been cancel ed. That wasn’t a lie. But Reid had come down to the pool not because he’d wanted to – he stil had a lot of things to get done, and the extra time he’d been given would do nothing except make him work harder to come up with more ideas – but because he’d been worried about Alexis.
    The whole time he’d been in his room, he hadn’t been able to concentrate. He just kept thinking about the way she’d looked last night when he’d gotten that buzz on the intercom. Obviously she was afraid that someone was going to find her. And obviously it had something to do with the panic attack she’d had. She’d said it was an ex-boyfriend. But what was the story? Why was she so afraid of him?
    After a couple hours of driving himself crazy, Reid had gotten the cal from Richard Muel er that the meeting with Vista Col ection had been cancel ed. Someone at Vista had apparently decided to cal the agency phone, and the receptionist had cal ed Richard. At least, that was Richard’s story. Reid had suspected that Richard had given Vista his own personal cel number and told them to cal him if anything came up.
    God, the guy was such a tool.
    Once he was done talking to Richard, Reid had felt restless. He needed to get out of the room. He needed to check on Alexis. He’d knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer. So he’d headed down to the pool in the hope that he’d find her.
    And he had.
    She’d been sitting there, lounging on a pool chair, looking longingly at the tray of drinks the waiter was holding. When Reid had taken his first steps into the pool area, the waiter’s back had been to him, and al he’d been able to see was Alexis staring up at the dude with a big smile on her face.
    Jealousy shot threw him like a sharp arrow, along with a raging desire to protect her. He was halfway across the pool area, on a mission to punch the guy out, when he realized it was a waiter.
    “Are you sure it’s okay?” Alexis was asking now. “To get a drink, I mean?”
    “It’s fine.” It was true. His company didn’t give a shit about a couple of drinks.
    Hel , they’d love it if they knew he was wining and dining women on this trip. If word got around, The Lawson Agency would be able to steal away whatever advertising executives they wanted. Everyone wanted to work at a company that encouraged its employees to play as hard as they worked.
    Reid surveyed the tray. “What would you like, Alexis?” he asked. “Pina colada?”
    “Perfect.”
    Reid grabbed two and charged them to his room. Pina coladas weren’t usual y his thing – they were a little girly –
    but al the waiter had on his tray was fruity drinks, and Reid didn’t want to order something different, because then the water was going to come back. Reid didn’t like the way the guy was looking at Alexis, like a shark who couldn’t wait to just sink his teeth into her.
    He gave the dude a good tip anyway. It wasn’t the waiter’s fault that Alexis was hot, even covered up in that ridiculous t-shirt.
    Once they were alone, Reid sat down in the chair next to her.
    Alexis’s legs were stretched out in front of her, long and tan and gorgeous. She was wearing sandals with purple and white beads on them, and her toenails were painted a hot pink. Reid wasn’t real y into feet – he didn’t understand the al ure when there